Groping for the Door

“And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.”

 —Genesis 19:11

Sodom and Gomorrah, two of the most infamous cities in history, are known for their sin and their destruction, two examples of corruption at its worst. Sodom and Gomorrah appear in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. The great founder of Judaism, Abraham, had a nephew by the name of Lot who lived in corrupt Sodom. Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) who lived in a city that had given itself over to wanton sexual immorality, but specifically homosexuality. God knew of their sin and had tolerated it for a time, but it had become so rampant that it merited God’s direct intervention. Before destroying the city, God manifested Himself in the flesh and, along with two angels, visited Abraham. He told Abraham what he was about to do, and because of his love for his nephew, Abraham dared to speak to God, interceding on behalf of his nephew, inquiring whether His mercy would trump His judgment if there were 50 righteous persons in the city. God assured him that if there were 50 righteous persons, then he wouldn’t destroy the city. Abraham then proceeds to question whether God would destroy the city if there were 45, then 40, 30, 20, and finally, 10 righteous persons in the city. God assures Abraham that if there were 10, then he would not destroy the city.

With this assurance in mind, Abraham watched God and his two traveling companions journey off to Sodom, most likely wondering what would happen to his nephew. Fast-forward a bit to their arrival in Sodom and God Himself has left the story, leaving only His two angelic messengers to deliver the judgment He had foretold to Abraham. He already knew their sin and did not need to manifest Himself to deliver judgment; His presence to Abraham was an act of mercy, a divine revelation of the possibility of mercy at the threshold of destruction, but it was of no use, they had given themselves over to their sin.

The angels arrive in the city that evening and encounter Lot sitting in the gate of Sodom (Genesis 19:1). The two angels were desirous to spend the night in the open square, but because of Lot’s insistence the two ended up going to Lot’s place instead. Soon after it got around town of their arrival, the Bible says that all of the men of the town showed up:  

“the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house”—Genesis 19:4. 

It was a gang of men who had gathered together seeking an orgy of rape. Lot decided to pacify the crowd by cowardly offering his two virgin daughters to the group, only to be rebuffed and further maddening the crowd, sending them into a horrendous tizzy of sensual destruction. Now the group didn’t just want the heavenly visitors, but Lot as well. They pressed in at Lot, and were going to break down the door, but the angels grabbed Lot and drew him inside the house and shut the door behind them. They struck the men with blindness and then the incredible happened. The text indicts their wicked behavior by saying that they “wore themselves out groping for the door.” Even in the midst of being struck with blindness they wouldn’t stop sinning. They continued to grope for the door in their perverted desire to satisfy their sinful cravings.

The story concludes with Lot and his family being led safely out of the city while it’s being destroyed in their rearview mirror, an example of God’s judgment toward sin. As Peter wrote,

“…by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly”—2 Peter 2:6.

Sin knows no limits. Left unchecked, sin by nature consumes, descending further and further along the downward spiral of disobedience, until it comes to the point where it will not respond to God’s opportunity for mercy. The conscience will become seared and God will give the person over to what they desire most.

My brother or sister, we must not fail to see the men of Sodom as an example of where sin left unchecked leads. Sin by nature destroys its host, like a parasite. We must make sure that we do not let sin take root in our hearts! We must be on guard, because if we let sin continue unchecked in our lives, it will take us over until we are left groping for the door of our sin, willing to do anything to satisfy whatever sin craving we have set before us!

May God enable us to be sensitive to even the smallest sins, and may we ever be mindful of sin’s enticing and seductive power! May we run to the cross at the moment of temptation and plead to God for strength, claiming His promise that whenever temptation comes, He will always provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13)! May God protect us and keep us from such evil, and may He continually strengthen us that we might be able to leave our lives of sin behind as we continually run to Him! Amen.