Blindness

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

BLINDNESS

Gen 19:1-11

19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." 3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." 6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." 9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. 10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

NIV

Now, the story of the wickedness of Sodom shows us there is nothing new under the sun. Of course, before the days of the flood, the wickedness of mankind was so great that the LORD was grieved he had made man and decided to wipe them all off the face of the earth, except Noah and his family, because he found favor in the eyes of the LORD. The men of Sodom were just like those before the flood, with evil in their hearts all the time. Their hearts were perverted from the natural to the unnatural. Lot knew the sins of this city, yet he lived among them, and even sat at the gate, which was either the place of business or judgement as a magistrate, hearing cases of dispute. We wonder if Lot was there to warn weary travelers of the problems of the city, to either turn them away or invite them into his home for protection. This is what he did to the two angels, but the men began to force their way, wanting Lot to send the two men out for their perversion. The power of the Most High was in the hands of those angels as they struck the townsmen with blindness, so they could not find the door to Lot's house. Could this be a metaphor of all who practice perversions in the flesh? Our world is not much better, if not worse, than what was going on within Sodom. This world even celebrates its perversions to the point where it demands equal rights, or special rights, protections by law for its wickedness, holds great demonstrations and parades, flaunting its perversion before the world. As the rest of this story of Sodom unfolds, we will see God's judgment, and we know his judgment will stand again against the evil of this present age. We wonder if the men of Sodom would have turned from their wicked ways, God would have relented his judgment of hail and fire against them. We know anyone can find forgiveness today because of his offered grace through Jesus. But it still comes down to this: turning away from wickedness and turning to Jesus. It is still a quandary as to how we, in the church, deal with our wickedness, because we profess our faith in Jesus. Do we just pretend we are all holy and righteous, ignoring our wicked ways, our sin? Sure, we are not like those of Sodom or of these perversions of this present age, but what about those traits of envy, jealousy, gossip, unforgiveness, pride, and such that continue to be part of our humanity? Does God overlook our transgressions because we are in Christ? The angels struck the men of Sodom with blindness so they could not find the door. Let us not be blind to our sin so that we can find the door.