Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest -- all the people from every quarter.
The two visitors have barely stepped inside Lot's house when the whole town arrives at his door. This is not a gang or a fringe group. It is the whole male population, young and old, from every part of the city. Such complete corruption raises a hard question — about the city, and about the believer who chose to live in it.
The verse sets the stage. The next verse gives the demand. One writer sums up what the crowd came for:
But many men of Sodom, both young and old, rudely interrupted their visit. They boldly demanded that the two men who had come to Lot's home come out to them, to suffer the horror of homosexual relations (vv. 4-5).
The arrival of God's messengers did not create this evil. It brought the evil into the open, where Lot could say nothing to excuse it:
The presence of the angels exposed the wickedness of Sodom at Lot's very door. It only magnified the guilt of "both old and young, all the people from every quarter." What could Lot say to lessen such unbridled lust?
The phrases in this verse are the point. No age group is exempt and no district of the city is missing. One commentator reads the wording as the moment when the city's real character finally speaks for itself:
Their visit brings out the open and unnatural depravity of the people of the city — "both old and young, all the people from every quarter" (v. 4). They pour out their shame without shame (v. 5).
Just before this, Abraham had pleaded for the city. He asked God to spare it if ten righteous people could be found there. Verse 4 gives the answer, and the timing matters:
It is beautiful to see that the Lord does not judge Sodom until it has become so bad that not even ten righteous people are left there. If there had been ten, God would have spared the cities. Abraham keeps interceding until this comes to light.
One writer traces such evil back to its root:
The first chapter of Romans puts this before us. There we find a list of crimes that shames us even to read, given not as some rare result of man's sin, but as the natural fruit of his departure from God. God gives them over to evil like the evil that brought judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. He gives them over to evil so corrupt that no one can even speak of it. It is as though the Spirit of God set the root and the fruit side by side and said to men: cut loose from God, and you give free rein to every form of evil the flesh can produce.
Lot had a seat in the gate of Sodom — a place of civic authority. The mob at his door shows what that position was worth:
The shameless proposal Lot made to his fellow citizens showed how powerless he was. The man who sat in Sodom's gate could not restrain their corrupt and lawless ways. If he had ever thought he could improve the people of Sodom by his influence and advice, this moment must have brought the truth home to his poor deceived heart. His life among them had been wasted, and all his efforts were useless.
Another writer explains why Lot could do nothing:
Off the path of faith, he does not master his circumstances; they master him. The men of Sodom break in on him. His very effort to host the heavenly guests only stirs up the lusts of the flesh.
Jesus pointed back to this night. One writer reads the scene as a picture of what is still ahead:
Lot holds an honoured place as a city official. But the city is doomed, and the time has come when it is ripe for judgment. From the Lord's own words in Luke 17, we know that this solemn scene foreshadows the judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "As it was in the days of Lot… so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
- Exposed. The angels' arrival did not cause Sodom's sin. It drew that sin out into the open at Lot's door, where old and young alike stood condemned.
- Complete. "Both young and old, all the people to the last man" — the corruption had no exceptions. The search for ten righteous people had its answer.
- Patient. God waited until the evil was complete; ten righteous people would have saved the city.
- Powerless. Lot's seat in the gate gave him no power to stop anything. The world masters the believer who settles in it.
- Prophetic. Jesus pointed back to this night as a picture of the world's state on the day He is revealed.
And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night? bring them out to us that we may know them.
The whole town — every man, young and old — comes to Lot's door and states its intention out loud. An evening of hospitality turns into a public display of Sodom's guilt — and it settles a case heaven had already opened.
The verse does not soften what the crowd wanted, and neither do the commentators.
But many men of Sodom, both young and old, rudely interrupted their visit. They boldly demanded that Lot bring out the two men who had come to his home, to subject them to the horror of homosexual relations.
The angels did not cause the evil. Their arrival brought it into the open.
The presence of the angels fully exposed the wickedness of Sodom at Lot's very door. It only increased the guilt of "both young and old, all the people to the last man." Lot might plead with the sinners to hold back from the gross evil planned in their wicked hearts... but he could not plead with the angels to spare the men of Sodom. Nothing but divine judgment could meet the evil.
God had said He would come down and see whether the reports matched the reality. That night at the door settled the question.
The Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me." Sadly, when the angels came into Lot's house, they found that Sodom's grievous sin matched the cry the Lord had heard in heaven.
God's delay was never ignorance:
Of course the Lord knew every detail of the evil in those cities. But He is always slow to judge until the wickedness proves beyond remedy.
Commentators trace the outburst back to comfort. Sodom sat in a rich, easy place, and ease left the men time on their hands.
There was also "abundance of idleness," which gave the men of Sodom plenty of time for their pleasures. When Adam was driven from Eden, he was to eat of the ground with sorrow all the days of his life. God added, "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread." ... With all their idleness, the men of Sodom had clearly managed to eat their bread without the sweat of Adam.
Lot sat in the gate, the seat of a judge. The crowd at his door showed what that was worth.
Lot's position as judge now counted for nothing. In fact they threw it back at him as though he had no right to the office at all. If he had flattered himself that he could exercise an influence for good, he was now undeceived.
The root of the failure was where Lot had chosen to live:
Lot settled in Sodom with apparently some hope of improving it. He was a righteous man, but he "tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds" (2 Peter 2:8). He was simply in the wrong place, and made himself incapable of warning the people of God's judgment against evil.
The New Testament looks back at these cities and names the kind of sin it was.
Jude says: "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." Here it is clear that this was a breaking out. It was not merely into sin, but into what was flagrant beyond measure — not evil alone, but contrary even to fallen nature.
Two things outlived the city — a word, and a warning:
The memory of the evil and its judgment has lasted. Our language still uses the word "sodomy" for sin of an especially vile and unnatural kind. This judgment, moreover, was a sample of what is yet to come on a much greater scale in "the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Peter 3:7).
Jesus Himself used this night as a preview of His return.
The city where Lot holds an honoured place as a magistrate is doomed to judgment. The time has come when it is ripe for judgment. From the Lord's own words in Luke 17 we know what this solemn scene means. It foreshadows the judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "As it was in the days of Lot... so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
- Cry. Sodom's sin had already reached heaven as an outcry. God came down to see, and the demand at Lot's door matched the report.
- Cause. Plenty and idleness fed the appetite. These men ate their bread without Adam's sweat, and had spare time for their pleasures.
- Collapse. Lot sat in the gate as a judge. When the mob came, his office counted for nothing. Settling in the world gives a believer no power to restrain it.
- Condemnation. Scripture treats this as evil beyond ordinary sin, against even fallen nature. The ruined cities remain an example of judgment.
- Coming. The Lord makes that night a preview: as it was in the days of Lot, so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.