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8. Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Birth of Isaac.
The shepherds of the
East liked to live in tents. Once in the hot midday hour Abraham sat in
front of the entrance to his shepherd's tent and may well have thought
how unhappy he was that he had no heirs to his great wealth, or how
happy Lot was that he could now live quietly in Sodom again. - God meets
our thoughts. - When Abraham lifted up his eyes, he saw three unknown
men coming towards his tent. They are to be seen as higher beings who
wanted to visit the pious Abraham in human form and tell him things to
come.
Abraham immediately went to meet them; he greeted them according to the
custom of the East and asked them to come to him for refreshment. For
this was one of Abraham's most beautiful virtues, his honourable
behaviour towards strangers. While they were sitting and eating in front
of his tent, one of the three, the most honourable, said: ‘Before a year
has passed, you will be the father of a son.’ Abraham and Sarah did not
want to believe it at first, for they had already waited too long in
vain for offspring. But the stranger only said in a few words: ‘Should
something be impossible for God?’
When the three left, Abraham accompanied them, but before they parted,
one of them told him that Sodom would now be destroyed because of the
wickedness of its inhabitants. Abraham said to the Lord, ‘Will you let
the righteous perish with the wicked? There may be fifty righteous in
the city; will you not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty
righteous? Far be it from you to do to the righteous as to the
unrighteous, you who are judge of all the earth. You will not judge in
this way.’ Abraham had the right faith. God often spares many wicked
people for the sake of the less pious. But the Lord finally said, after
Abraham had spoken to him for a long time: ‘If I find ten righteous
people in there, I will not do it.’
Two of the three then went to Sodom to rescue Lot. Lot was sitting at
the gate of the city when they arrived, and although he did not know who
they were either, he asked them to accept lodging with him for the night,
for it was evening. They told Lot that God would let this city perish
because of their sins and ordered him to leave it with his family. Lot
had a wife and two daughters. He also wanted to save two young men who
were betrothed to his daughters.
But when they heard his speech, they thought what he said was ridiculous.
This is how far a person can take presumption. When the divine
judgements are already at the door, it still laughs and despises the
final warnings that still lie ahead.
The dawn had barely risen when the two forced Lot to leave the city with
his family: ‘Hurry, save your soul; save your life!’ A terrible
thundercloud loomed over the valley of Sittim. The lightning began to
flash; fire and brimstone rained down from the sky. There were many
veins of earth resin in the valley of Sittim. The earth resin caught
fire. The whole beautiful valley of Sittim was on fire. Four cities,
Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama and Zeboim perished. Abraham saw clouds of black
smoke rising in the distance. That was the burning of Sodom. The whole
valley turned into a great pool of water called the Salt Sea. It can
still be seen and is now called the Dead Sea.
Lot had happily reached the little town of Zoar, which was spared. His
wife died in an accident on the way. He then travelled to the mountains
and later became a progenitor of the two nations of Moab and Ammon. That
same year Abraham became the father of a son and gave him the name Jsaac.
He was delighted to see the divine promise fulfilled and his trust
crowned. He now lacked nothing for his earthly happiness.
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