“Men Loved Darkness”

Sodom was a city of darkness, which can be clearly seen in the action of the males who lived there. We know that the city was given over to the practice of homosexuality because men of every age, from the best and the worst neighborhoods, surrounded Lot’s house where the two male visitors were lodging with him for the night (Gen. 19:4). They wanted to lie with the men carnally and refused to be dissuaded from that goal. This is seen, in part, by the fact that, when the two men (who were actually angels) struck them with blindness, they wearied themselves trying to find the door. These were the small and great men of the city, and they refused to be deterred (Gen. 19:11).

Would they have had such commitment for a righteous cause? Think about it. Anyone who has ever experienced an eyesight problem begins to imagine immediately what life would be like without good vision—or any eyesight at all. The likelihood is frightening. These men cannot see, yet they are still endeavoring to carry out their nefarious, original intention. As they learned that all of them were blind, did it ever occur to them to ask, “Who has the power to cause all of us to lose our sight?” What could cause such dedication that all of these facts were overlooked?

Jesus explained it some 2,000 years later: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). The men of Sodom did not just flirt with evil; they loved it. They cared about their wicked practices more than anything else—even their eyesight. They did not seem to mind being in either spiritual or physical darkness. For them, it was better than the light.

They also did not hesitate to be disloyal to Lot. When he tried to talk them out of the evil they desired to commit—even calling their behavior wicked—they snapped back that they would now deal worse with him than the others (Gen. 19:9). Had they forgotten that it was Lot’s uncle, Abraham, who had rescued Sodom and the other four cities of the plain (Gen. 14:14-16)? Because Chedorlaomer and his three confederate kings had captured Lot, Abram pursued them, defeated them, and set all of the captives free. The inhabitants of Sodom owed Abram a debt. In their wickedness, they quickly forgot his efforts and further excoriated Lot for trying to exercise a righteous influence on them over a period of time; his efforts went unappreciated. What Jesus taught later explains their behavior: “For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). May God’s people never choose darkness!