The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 9: Sodom and Gomorrah (2023)

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Fr. Mike breaks down the story of Sodom and Gomorrah today as we read Genesis 18-19, Job 7-8, and Proverbs 2:1-5. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day nine. Let's get started. We are continuing our journey with Abraham in Genesis chapter 18 and chapter 19. We're also continuing our journey with the righteous suffering man, Job, by reading Job chapter 7 and chapter 8.

We're also following the Lord's wisdom by reading Proverbs chapter 2, now in the second chapter, Proverbs, reading verses 1 through 5. The Bible translation that I'm using and use every day is Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. It's the RSV-CE. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension and also following the reading plan that you can also download. If you go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year, you can get your own Catholic Bible in a Year reading plan by going to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year.

You can get these updates on the podcast by simply subscribing, and you can also sign up for our email list by texting the word Catholic Bible to the number 33777. With all that out of the way, let's get started with Genesis chapter 18 and chapter 19. And the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, the three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, my Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought,

and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves. And after that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant. So they said, Do as you have said. And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent.

The Lord said, I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent. The Lord said, I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age. It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure? The Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh? And say, Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?

At the appointed time I will return to you in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said, No, but you did laugh. Then the men sent out from there, and they looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him that he may charge his children and his household after him, to keep the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness

and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. Then 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 which has come to me, and if not, I will know. So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city, will you then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked,

so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be that from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered, Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for the lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy

it if I find forty-five there. Again he spoke to him and said, Suppose forty are found there. He answered, For the sake of the forty, I will not do it. Then he said, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there. He answered, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. He said, Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there. He answered, For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it. Then he said, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again,

but this once. Suppose ten are found there. He answered, For the sake of the ten I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, No, we will spend the night in the street. But he urged them strongly so that they turned aside to him and entered his house, and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man,

surrounded the house, and they called to Lot, where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them. Lot went out of the door to the house, and they called to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them. Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand back. And they said, This fellow came to sojourn, and he will play the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them.

Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. But the men put forth their hands, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door. Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here, sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone who you have in the city? Bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city. And when they had brought them forth, they said, Flee for your life.

Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Flee to the hills, lest you be consumed. And Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life, but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die. Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there.

Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved. He said to him, Behold, I grant you this favor also, but I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Make haste, escape there, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became

a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and behold, the smoke of that land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. Now, Lot went Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. Now Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. So he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn

said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. And on the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him. And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called

his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ami. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. We now continue with our readings from the book of Job. Yesterday, Job responded to Eliphaz, his friend, who tried to convince Job that he must have done something wrong or he should not complain against the Lord. And Job responded to Eliphaz. And now Job continues to speak. And he's spoken to by a second friend, Bildad. This is Job chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Job said, When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise? But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt. My skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. They come to their end without hope. Remember that my life is a breath. My eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more.

While your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up. He returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore. Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea or a sea monster that you set a guard over me? When I say my bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint, then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions

so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. I loathe my life. I would not live forever. Let me alone for my days are a breath. What is man that you make so much of him, and that you set your mind upon him, visit him every morning, and test him every moment? How long will you not look away from me,

nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle? If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth. You will seek me, but I shall not be. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a great wind? Does God pervert justice, or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the power of their transgression. If you will seek God, and make supplication to the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and reward you with a rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great. For inquire, I beg of you, of bygone ages.

Consider what the fathers have found. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing. For our days on earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding? Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish. His confidence breaks in sunder and his trust is a spider's web.

He leans against his house, but it does not stand. He lays hold of it, but it does not endure. He thrives before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. His roots twine about the stone heap. He lives among the rocks. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, I have never seen you. Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth others will spring. Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting. Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more. Proverbs chapter 2 verses 1 through 5 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Father in heaven, we thank you so much. We thank you for your word. We thank you for revealing your heart to us. We thank you for all of the gift that your word is when it's proclaimed to us. And we give you praise. We ask you to please, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, Father in heaven, receive our thanks, receive our praise now. Amen.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. You guys, oh man, confusing, right? Here is the story of Abraham and Sarah. They're blessed with a child. Isaac is going to be born to them. And then these three figures, these three figures that in some way are types of the Trinity in some ways, but they're referred to as angels. We don't know who these personages are because Abraham is also standing before the Lord as they go, these three people go down into Gomorrah or to Sodom, I mean. So we don't know necessarily who they are, but we don't, we know what their role is, and their role is to exact justice. And this is very, very important.

Their goal was to enact justice, not vengeance. This is very, very important. Their goal was to enact justice, not vengeance. This is very, very important. Justice is giving someone what is their due, while vengeance is simply, again, taking out my anger upon somebody. And this justice is clearly established in the story today because you have God destroying an entire city. And Abraham challenges him on that and says, well, but Lord, if there's any righteous people, 50 and 45 and 30 and 20 and 10, would you still destroy it? Would you destroy those 10 for the sake of the unrighteous along with the unrighteous? And God says, no, I'm just, I would not do that. For the sake of those 10 righteous, I would spare the city.

In fact, you have, I guess in some ways, you have Lot and his daughters and his wife who were somewhat righteous, a little bit more righteous because of their relationship with Abraham and the strangers saved their lives. But then you have this devastating, so you have the God's justice established, but you have this devastatingly awful story

about the daughters of Lot and how the daughters of Lot basically have relations with their father so that they can continue their bloodline. And you find like, well, gosh, the Bible didn't say, and that was wrong, right? Sometimes what we have is we don't necessarily have the Bible telling us that something was wrong, that they did the wrong thing. We have the Bible showing us that they did the wrong thing. Why? Because the descendants of these incest, essentially, are the Moabites and the Ammonites, who became then the enemies of the Israelites.

They became the enemies of the chosen people of God. And so there is this way in which the scriptures are pointing out that this was exactly the wrong thing to do. And from this union, this sinful, evil union, there was these two peoples, the Ammonites and the Moabites, who were the enemies of the Israelites. There are so many questions that come up in all these readings, including the questions of, well, at the one point, Lot offered his daughters to these men. How is that good? It wasn't good. And this is the key thing.

Just because something's in the Bible doesn't mean that it's good. But we can still learn from it, even if it doesn't immediately make sense. That goes to the book of Job today. We're following the story of Job, and you have his friends. You had Eliphaz yesterday and Bildad today saying that, Job, this is what we know. We know that God is just, and he never, ever allows evil to happen to someone who doesn't deserve it somehow. So just basically admit that you deserve it somehow, because we know God's just. And here's Bildad today, who's defending God's justice. At the same time, it doesn't help his friend. I don't know if you've ever had that happen, where if someone who gives you kind of like the pat answer, right? They give

you the memorized answer. This is the religious answer of why something horrible is happening in your life. And you're like, that doesn't help at all. And that's going to be Job's response to him as well, which is just like, I appreciate it. Now, he doesn't even say he appreciates it. He is basically saying, but I know this. And we know this is true, too, because we read the beginning of the book of Job. Job says, but I'm righteous.

I haven't done anything evil. I do believe God is just, but I don't get what's going on here. And that's the big question that obviously the book of Job raises. If God is just, why is there so much evil in the world? Why do good people suffer? I want to spare you. I want to share with you, I guess, the story is going to end. It's not going to end with an answer.

It's not going to end with here is why. I just want, I remember reading this book, the book of Job for the first time, maybe in high school or college, thinking, okay, this is going to be the answer to the problem of evil. God's going to say, here is why. Here's why bad things happen to good people. Here's why there's suffering in the world. And I got to the end and realized, oh, that wasn't really an answer. And that's part of it.

What's happening is we're going on the journey with Job. And so my invitation is rather than seeking an answer, like where's that nugget? Where's that kernel that says, this is why. My invitation for us all is to just journey with Job, to enter into his suffering and to allow his questions to be our questions and allow our questions to be his questions so that we can get his ultimate answer. Because there is an answer, even if it's not the answer why. I'll tell you a hint. The answer is not a why.

The answer is who. But we're on our journey, and we're continuing our journey today and tomorrow and the next day. If you have not yet downloaded your Catholic Bible in a year reading plan, please visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. Please subscribe to this podcast. You can also like and share and all those kinds of things. That'd be great. And you can also sign up for our email list by texting the word Catholic Bible.

That's two words, but it's combined into one word, Catholic Bible to the number 33777. Oh, as I said, my name is Father Mike, and I'm so grateful to be able to read the Bible with you and I'm being on this journey with you as well. Please know of my prayers this day and every day as we continue to do this Catholic Bible in a year. Man, oh man,

God bless you.