Sodom and Gomorrah
Summary:
Once upon a time there were two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent two angels to Gomorrah for reasons known only to Him in His divine wisdom. Some believe it was because He'd heard that the cities were sinful and He wanted to make sure they were as bad as they seemed before He totally wrecked their shit. Others say that He was pretty sure the cities were sinful and He didn't need two angels two tell Him that so it was more likely that the angels were sent to find the one good man in Gomorrah and worn him to get his broke ass out of there before God committed the sin of Wrath and made a serious example of the cities. These are both delightful theories but King James doesn't specify so as far as I'm concerned the angels were just out on a night walk, broin' it up.
Whatever the reason they were there, the Bible tells us that the angels came upon a man called Lot. Lot was the gatekeeper of Gomorrah and he was obviously a friendly guy because he said unto the angels, "Lo, it is late and you are weary. Come inside my home that I may wash your feet and feet you unleavened bread." Lot was basically the into all the same things God was into back then because as far as God was concerned, foot-baths were the shit. Lot took the angels into his house and he gave them foot-baths and fed them Jew-friendly bread.
Everything seemed to be going just fine until to Lots dismay, a crowd formed around his house. The crowd was made up of every man in the city as well as every man from the neighboring city of Sodom. Lot went outside to see what could have brought such a crowd to his humble abode. As he stepped outside the crowd started chanting and demanding to have sex with Lot's strange guests.
Lot knew not that his guests were angels but Lot was a good man. He knew that he could not allow the entire city to rape his two guests. Lot told the crowd that they could not have his guests but the crowd would not be deterred.
At this point, Lot, the one good man in all of Gomorrah, knew that there was only one thing left for him to do.
Offer up his two virgin daughters for the crowd to rape.
"People of Sodom and Gomorrah! You may not have sex with my strange guests. However, I have two beautiful virgin daughters that you can totally rape. Seriously. Go nuts."
At this point most people would be pretty disgusted with Lot. But not the angels apparently because they struck the crowd with blindness and as the blind crowd stumbled back to their own homes, the angels said, "Lot. You have given us foot-baths and baked us a mean batch of unleavened bread. Then, rather than let an angry crowd rape the two strangers you only just met, you encouraged the crowd to rape your own daughters. This is pleasing in the eyes of God. Therefore we have decided to warn you. Take your family and leave this place. God will destroy these cities for their sins."
Lot immediately told his family to come with him and leave the city at once. His wife and daughters were down with that but his two son-in-laws were not. I was slightly confused as to how Lot had two virgin daughters and two son-in-laws but that's what the bible says and I'm not about to question the word of the Lord.
At any rate, the son-in-laws weren't okay with leaving the city even in the face of certain divine destruction so Lot and his wife and two daughters left them and set out.
As Lot and his family left the city the angels spoke to them again. They warned Lot not to look back at the cities as God rained holy judgment upon them. They didn't say why but don't read too far into this. It's pretty goofy.
As the family left Gomorrah Lot's wife turned back to witness the rain of fire and sulfur consuming her friends and extended family and she was immediately turned into a pillar of salt. So Lot and his daughters left her there.
Lot and his daughters decided to settle down in a cave. As their father slept in the cave, the daughters conspired.
"Our father is old and he has no sons. It is our duty to ensure that his seed is spread," said the elder. "Tomorrow, I will get him drunk and I will lie with him."
The younger did the same the next night. Their sons were Moab and Benammi. Moab's descendents were the Moabites and Benammi's descendents were the Children of Ammon.
I would say they lived happily ever after but Lord knows they didn't. The End.
Theme:
Punishment of the wicked. Wrath of God. Rewarding obedience and righteousness. Typical biblical themes. Often the allusion of Sodom and Gomorrah is used to convey either total destruction or punishment of sinners.
References to Sodom and Gomorrah:
War of the Worlds:
"Why are these things permitted? What sins have we done?
The morning service was over, I was walking through the
roads to clear my brain for the afternoon, and then-fire,
earthquake, death! As if it were Sodom and Gomorrah! All
our work undone, all the work- What are these Martians?"
This allusion was included to convey the complete and utter destruction the aliens wrought.
Fallout New Vegas:
Fallout has a post apocalyptic setting. Frequent references are made to an assortment of biblical themes including Sodom and Gomorrah.
"Nipton was a wicked place, debased and corrupt. It served all comers, as long as they paid. Powder Gangers, Profligate troops, men of the Legion such as myself. The people here didn't care. It was a town of whores. And now it has met the fate of Sodom."
There is also a casino called Gomorrah. The casino is seedy and totally fits the name.
Quest of the Golden Girl:
"I had always, I confess, been brought up to think of Paris as a sort of Sodom and Gomorrah in one." This quote explains that the author felt that Paris was a place of decadence and sin.
Uncle Tom's Cabin:
"And the only reason why the land don't sink under it, like Sodom and Gomorrah, is because it is used in a way infinitely better than it is."
Sodom and Gomorrah is used to create the image of destruction.
Works Cited:
Genesis. King James Bible. N.p.: n.p., n.d. BibleGateway.com. Web.
Wells, H.G. "Cahpter 13 How I Fell In With The Curate." War of the Worlds. N.p.: Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication, n.d. 61. Print.
"Vulpas Inculta." Fallout Wiki. Accessed February 13, 2013. fallout.wikia.com <http://fallout.wikia.com/> .
Gallienne, Richard Le. Quest of the Golden Girl.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Once upon a time there were two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent two angels to Gomorrah for reasons known only to Him in His divine wisdom. Some believe it was because He'd heard that the cities were sinful and He wanted to make sure they were as bad as they seemed before He totally wrecked their shit. Others say that He was pretty sure the cities were sinful and He didn't need two angels two tell Him that so it was more likely that the angels were sent to find the one good man in Gomorrah and worn him to get his broke ass out of there before God committed the sin of Wrath and made a serious example of the cities. These are both delightful theories but King James doesn't specify so as far as I'm concerned the angels were just out on a night walk, broin' it up.
Whatever the reason they were there, the Bible tells us that the angels came upon a man called Lot. Lot was the gatekeeper of Gomorrah and he was obviously a friendly guy because he said unto the angels, "Lo, it is late and you are weary. Come inside my home that I may wash your feet and feet you unleavened bread." Lot was basically the into all the same things God was into back then because as far as God was concerned, foot-baths were the shit. Lot took the angels into his house and he gave them foot-baths and fed them Jew-friendly bread.
Everything seemed to be going just fine until to Lots dismay, a crowd formed around his house. The crowd was made up of every man in the city as well as every man from the neighboring city of Sodom. Lot went outside to see what could have brought such a crowd to his humble abode. As he stepped outside the crowd started chanting and demanding to have sex with Lot's strange guests.
Lot knew not that his guests were angels but Lot was a good man. He knew that he could not allow the entire city to rape his two guests. Lot told the crowd that they could not have his guests but the crowd would not be deterred.
At this point, Lot, the one good man in all of Gomorrah, knew that there was only one thing left for him to do.
Offer up his two virgin daughters for the crowd to rape.
"People of Sodom and Gomorrah! You may not have sex with my strange guests. However, I have two beautiful virgin daughters that you can totally rape. Seriously. Go nuts."
At this point most people would be pretty disgusted with Lot. But not the angels apparently because they struck the crowd with blindness and as the blind crowd stumbled back to their own homes, the angels said, "Lot. You have given us foot-baths and baked us a mean batch of unleavened bread. Then, rather than let an angry crowd rape the two strangers you only just met, you encouraged the crowd to rape your own daughters. This is pleasing in the eyes of God. Therefore we have decided to warn you. Take your family and leave this place. God will destroy these cities for their sins."
Lot immediately told his family to come with him and leave the city at once. His wife and daughters were down with that but his two son-in-laws were not. I was slightly confused as to how Lot had two virgin daughters and two son-in-laws but that's what the bible says and I'm not about to question the word of the Lord.
At any rate, the son-in-laws weren't okay with leaving the city even in the face of certain divine destruction so Lot and his wife and two daughters left them and set out.
As Lot and his family left the city the angels spoke to them again. They warned Lot not to look back at the cities as God rained holy judgment upon them. They didn't say why but don't read too far into this. It's pretty goofy.
As the family left Gomorrah Lot's wife turned back to witness the rain of fire and sulfur consuming her friends and extended family and she was immediately turned into a pillar of salt. So Lot and his daughters left her there.
Lot and his daughters decided to settle down in a cave. As their father slept in the cave, the daughters conspired.
"Our father is old and he has no sons. It is our duty to ensure that his seed is spread," said the elder. "Tomorrow, I will get him drunk and I will lie with him."
The younger did the same the next night. Their sons were Moab and Benammi. Moab's descendents were the Moabites and Benammi's descendents were the Children of Ammon.
I would say they lived happily ever after but Lord knows they didn't. The End.
Theme:
Punishment of the wicked. Wrath of God. Rewarding obedience and righteousness. Typical biblical themes. Often the allusion of Sodom and Gomorrah is used to convey either total destruction or punishment of sinners.
References to Sodom and Gomorrah:
War of the Worlds:
"Why are these things permitted? What sins have we done?
The morning service was over, I was walking through the
roads to clear my brain for the afternoon, and then-fire,
earthquake, death! As if it were Sodom and Gomorrah! All
our work undone, all the work- What are these Martians?"
This allusion was included to convey the complete and utter destruction the aliens wrought.
Fallout New Vegas:
Fallout has a post apocalyptic setting. Frequent references are made to an assortment of biblical themes including Sodom and Gomorrah.
"Nipton was a wicked place, debased and corrupt. It served all comers, as long as they paid. Powder Gangers, Profligate troops, men of the Legion such as myself. The people here didn't care. It was a town of whores. And now it has met the fate of Sodom."
There is also a casino called Gomorrah. The casino is seedy and totally fits the name.
Quest of the Golden Girl:
"I had always, I confess, been brought up to think of Paris as a sort of Sodom and Gomorrah in one." This quote explains that the author felt that Paris was a place of decadence and sin.
Uncle Tom's Cabin:
"And the only reason why the land don't sink under it, like Sodom and Gomorrah, is because it is used in a way infinitely better than it is."
Sodom and Gomorrah is used to create the image of destruction.
Works Cited:
Genesis. King James Bible. N.p.: n.p., n.d. BibleGateway.com. Web.
Wells, H.G. "Cahpter 13 How I Fell In With The Curate." War of the Worlds. N.p.: Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication, n.d. 61. Print.
"Vulpas Inculta." Fallout Wiki. Accessed February 13, 2013. fallout.wikia.com <http://fallout.wikia.com/> .
Gallienne, Richard Le. Quest of the Golden Girl.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin.