And He Pitched His Tent (Towards Sodom)

by ultimatelaurafan

Lot made some choices that led to the destruction of the city he lived in and also the destruction of most of his family.

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

I owe a lot to my Dod Abram. He took me in as his own when my father Haran had passed away, in our homeland, Ur of the Chaldees. My dear mother, being gone as well,….Dod Abram and Do-dah Sarai were all that I had left. I hardly had anything to my name. No measley coin to rub between two fingers, my parents had given me nothing. I had some clothing,, I had food and drink…and I was still missing something. I had no wife whom I so greatly desired. Abram took me in and I travelled with him, though I had no choice in the matter. There was famine in the land and he had to leave, Jehovah told him, he said….so I left with them… Dod Abram helped me get back on my feet. He gave me my flocks of goats and herds of sheep and tents for myself and my few servants he gave me. The years went by and things were comfortable… Still….I had no wife and no children. Although I was grateful for all he had given me, I desired my independence as well. I needed to be on my own. I needed to find a wife, and there were no women that I desired where we were. I needed to meet someone, somehow….somewhere.

And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

It was a perfect situation. I could leave and it wouldn't hurt anything! This was my chance! Perhaps, my only chance... I paid no attention to what Dod Abram had told me about what land I could choose. I wanted the land that I wanted. I wanted independence. I needed new land. I wanted to meet new people. I never looked to the left, nor the right of us as Dod Abram had said…but I looked ahead, past us…..at the beautiful, rich plains of Jordan…

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Lot brought his herdsmen and his animals and tents and moved near Sodom, setting up his tent so the doorway of his tent looked out at the city of Sodom. Lot would sit there during the time of rest and relaxation and would watch the goings on of the people of Sodom. The people going to and fro. Buying and selling. Daily life. Children running and playing. Families spending time together. The great parties, and the sensuous, inviting, loud music he could hear coming from the city.

"They all look so very happy….They're just…normal people." Lot smiled to himself. A year or so went by and he found himself moving his tent, yet again, closer to Sodom. Nearly every day, he saw a certain woman of the city carrying vessels and different pieces of pottery with her as she walked. Where she always went, Lot didn't know. Till one day, she spoke to him.

"Greetings from Sodom….stranger…." The woman smiled at him. There was something different about her, something wild in her eyes. Something interesting and exciting. Lot couldn't help but be intrigued by her. He looked closer at her one afternoon and saw how fair she was to look upon. This mystery girl was pretty…There was indeed something different about her. She wasn't like the women Lot knew back at home.

"Where dost thou go….day to day?" Lot mustered up the courage to ask her one day.

A gleam in her eye appeared as she saw he had finally noticed her. "Why….to sell my pottery in…"

"A businesswoman!" Lot remarked with a smile and the woman chuckled at him and his enthusiasm. "Now, I have a question for you…." The woman grinned slyly. "What is thy name? Who is the man I see as I go my way unto the cities of Admah, Zeboim, and unto Zoar?"

"My name is Lot." He smiled back at her.

"Idit…." The woman told him her name and nodded to him as she went her way.

Soon, Lot found that Idit, or Edith as we would call her, this woman of Sodom, continued to come by his tent daily. They talked, they walked together. Lot would help by carrying her large pottery vessels once in awhile. It wasn't long that they soon fell in love…..and Lot moved into the city of Sodom with her. They married soon after, and Lot then became a resident of Sodom. His wife bore him daughters and sons…..and Lot was quite happy and content with his life. He had all he wanted! Riches, a wife and family. Yet, the people of Sodom were very wicked. Lot knew. And he was a righteous man in the midst of a wicked city, but his wife grew up there in Sodom. She abode there her entire life and would not move. So Lot and his family stayed there. His older daughters married Sodomite men and Lot and his wife had two unmarried daughters living at home with them. The people of Sodom grew more wicked by the day in sexual sins and many other sins. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." As it says in Ezeziel 16:49… and,…giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh…as it is said in Jude 1:7.

And the LORD appeared unto him (Abraham) in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;…..

Abraham dozed a little and then began to see figures that looked like men off in the distance. He thought as if he were dreaming and he lazily blinked.

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,…." Abraham knew that he was in the presence of the Lord God himself, and his messengers.

And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. Sarah made herself busy again in the tent preparing the little cakes as her husband had asked her.

And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

Sarah heard her name mentioned and of course, she was curious and stood as close as she could to hear, while still in the tent…and she listened to the men…God and His angels…talk with her husband, Abraham.

And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" Sarah had listened and couldn't help but laugh softly to herself. "Me at my age…and my husband! Being intimate again with that man after all these years?!" "Me…..at my old age…have a baby…..Now that's impossible! Laughable!" Sarah must've thought and had one last little laugh about it, her cheeks pink and rosy! She went back to busying herself kneading and cooking the little cakes made of meal, made of corn or wheat or barley. Suddenly, Sarah became deathly quiet and listened as they were talking about her, but then something compelled to her to go to them. "I laughed not!" she insisted. For she was afraid.

And he (the Lord) said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. Sarah just stood there as silent as could be. She knew not to argue with God himself!

And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. The angels of God left for Sodom….and Abraham stood there with God. He thought to himself and leaned in to whisper to God."…Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Surely there would be 50 righteous, Godly, God-fearing, good people that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. Surely there would be, Abraham thought!

And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

Sodom was of course where his nephew Lot was! Abraham couldn't bear to see the city destroyed with Lot and his family in it. So Abraham began to bargain with the Lord, although not wanting to make God angry. He knew not to anger the Lord God. 50, and then 40. The number kept reducing. God assured him He would spare the city if He found 40 righteous people within. 40 soon became 30 and then 20 and lastly 10. God promised he would save the city if he found 10 righteous, Godly people in the city of Sodom.

And there came two angels to Sodom at even;….and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

"Please come stay in my home for just tonight! I'll feed you!...You cannot stay out in the streets….with the people like they are in this city. Please." Lot had to have begged them. Finally, they came to Lot's home and he ordered his wife to feed them. "Mrs." Lot was against having these people, these strange men in her home! They weren't HER guests, they were Lot's! She was bitter and much set in her ways, and she divided their home in two parts! "If you wish to receive them, do so in your own part!" she told her husband and walked off into her part of the home, with Lot following her.

"Idit!" Lot was amazed at her! How could she act like this?! He thought she had been different than her people were. "I want my family to be hospitable!" He told her.

"Such is not the way of Sodom…..You knew the way of my people when you took me as your wife, Lot…." She stared at him.

"Our oldest daughter is dead because of your people!" He argued. The silence was so great in the little room and no one moved or spoke. " Dead, Idit!...They killed her. Burned her alive….for being a woman of compassion!…." Lot looked at his wife with tears forming and let out an agitated sigh. She was a hard, bitter woman. He thought, however that he saw she was softening slightly. They were all still grieving Paltith's death. Lot's wife was hard and she buried her pain, not admitting the wrong doings of her own people.

"Please…at least bring them salt….our servants will do the cooking!" He pleaded.

Lot's wife huffed, "Do you even wish to learn this bad habit from Abraham?" she spat, bitterly. Finally, she went anyway and went to her women neighbors to ask for salt, also in an effort to rid them of their guests.

"Why do you need salt?! Didn't you prepare enough beforehand?" Her neighbors asked her.

"I took enough for our own needs, but guests came to us and it is for them that I need salt!" she replied sourly. Soon all the townspeople found out that Lot was harboring guests! Soon the men of the city, both young and old surrounded Lot's home. Banging on the doors and sides of the home. Their shouting was heard from afar and near.

"Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them!"

"What's ours is ours and what's yours is yours, Lot! They came to OUR city!" Came again the shouting from the Sodomite men, young and old and in between. "We want the men!...We've never seen such beautiful men!...Bring out the men!...Bring out the men!" Came the angry Sodomite mob's chanting and awful yelling. "Bring out the men that they may be ours!...They came to OUR city!"

Soon, Lot met the Sodomite mob outside and shut the door of his house after him. "And they came to my home!…..I pray you, brethren do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing….."

"Do you hear this, my sister?!" Lot's youngest daughter whispered, listening at the door.

"Be silent!" Her sister replied and they listened. The younger daughter, terrified her father would give her up to evil men. She was just nearly a young woman! Her heart pounded in her chest, and the moment of silence was eerie and deafening. Then the men of Sodom moved against Lot forcefully and came to break down the door, till the angels grabbed Lot and pulled him into his own home.

Lot's youngest daughter breathed a breath of relief and calmed herself as the man had refused her father's request. Surely she knew her father was a good, righteous man like he professed to be, and wouldn't have let any harm come to her! Oh, why had he attempted to offer up his own flesh and blood to be Sodomized and violated….raped by these wicked men of their city, she wondered?! Her oldest sister was burned alive in the street of the city just for having compassion on a beggar man and kept him from starving by feeding him bread and water for days… Now her father had tried to do this awful thing! What was becoming of their family?! What had become of their city of Sodom?!

And they (the angels) smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door….

And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

So Lot went out to his sons in laws who married his two older daughters. He begged them to come with him.

"Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!"

"Lunatic…" His son in law remarked, thinking he was crazy….. for….he (Lot) seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

"I'm staying with my husband, Father….Thou gavest me over to him…I must stay." His daughter told him, holding a baby on her hip and a young child at her feet, and one yet unborn. An arrow went through Lot's heart right then. His heart broke, shattered like glass, to think of his grandchildren perishing in the destruction of this city! The innocent ones! He wished he could grab his daughter and grandchildren and run! He would have if he could! He couldn't go to one other daughter…..she was estranged and had nothing to do with their family. Lot knew not where she was. If she were married or had a family. His heart shattered, thinking about her. What if she were here in this awful city?! Or Gomorrah?! She would die, he knew!

Lot soon ran to his other son in laws home. The man that married his oldest daughter, Paltith. The Sodomite man didn't listen to Lot either. "Paltith is dead….I shall die as well then….if it is true what thou saidst." The grieving man slammed the door and Lot's heart sunk yet again.

He didn't dare run to his sons' homes. He knew they wouldn't listen to him either. They had become just like the men of Sodom. Going after strange flesh of their own gender. One preferred them both. Another, an adulterer…and they all had disgraced their name, their reputation as the "sons of Lot." Oh, why hadn't Lot's sons followed their father's footsteps as a righteous man?! Had he not been righteous and Godly enough to be a true example to his sons?! Had living their whole lives in this wicked city affected them that much?! They had professed to be believers in Jehovah, like Lot. Oh where had he gone wrong?!

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

"Idit…..Girls,…..we must go…..We must leave now. Quickly!" Lot commanded.

"I shall not go with you, Lot…" His wife insisted. "How doth thou knowest what they say is truth?!"

Lot thought a few moments…..but then he begged her one last time. "Idit…please! We must go now!"

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

And Lot said unto them, "Oh, not so, my LORD!"

Lot ushered his wife and two unmarried daughters the rest of the way and fled the city as quickly as they could run. Lot's hand firmly grasped his wife's for several moments till he ran too fast her. Her daughter's ran ahead and followed their father closely. Idit stood there. She heard the sizzling, smoking spheres of fire come down from the heavens, striking the city. She felt heat at her back….She smelled smoke and what she also familiarized as something that smelled awful….like the rotting of eggs. It was brimstone. She heard the explosions and smelled the awful smells and she thought she nearly heard screams and cries of the people. Her people! Her friends and neighbors!….Her daughters! Sons! Sons-in-laws…..Her beautiful grandchildren!…she would see them no longer! The love she had for them manifested itself into tears that streaked her matronly face, a lump in her throat and a pressing on her hard heart. She looked and saw Lot and their two younger daughters, afar off, running for shelter in a cave, some distance away from the city. She didn't run to catch up with them. Fire and brimstone fell down from the sky a short distance from her. She sobbed as she glanced at it. She sobbed, her voice cracking as she gazed up at the sky as Heaven rained down judgement. Still, she didn't move. Lot's wife sobbed, and as her trembling body faced in the direction she had been going, her head began to turn back at her beloved city of Sodom she grew up in! All the memories! Everything flooded her mind and she let out one last sob, standing amongst the raining balls of fire and brimstone. "My children!...My grandchildren!" Slowly and yet all at once, her head turned towards Sodom and she looked back. And she was turned into a pillar of salt. This was her end. Amidst the fiery judgement of the Lord God Almighty. If only she had listened….if only she had obeyed what Adonai had said….She would have been spared along with them!

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

LOT'S WIFE. In Judaism, one common view of Lot's wife turning to salt was as punishment for disobeying the angels' warning. By looking back at the "evil cities," she betrayed her secret longing for that way of life. She was deemed unworthy to be saved and thus was turned to a pillar of salt

Another view in the Jewish exegesis of Genesis 19:26, is that when Lot's wife looked back, she turned to a pillar of salt upon the "sight of God," who was descending down to rain destruction upon Sodom and Gomorrah. One reason that is given in the tradition is that she turned back to look in order to see if her daughters, who were married to men of Sodom, were coming or not.

Another Jewish legend says that because Lot's wife sinned with salt, she was punished with salt. On the night the two angels visited Lot, he requested that his wife prepare a feast for them. Not having any salt, Lot's wife asked her neighbors for salt, which alerted them to the presence of their guests, resulting in the mob action that endangered Lot's family.

In the Midrash, Lot's wife's name is given as Edith. Wikipedia lists her name as Ado or Edith. Rabbis referred to her name as Idit. Irit was another name that thought might have been her name. The Idit/Edith made sense so that is what I chose.

PALTITH. Paltith is said to be the name of the daughter of Lot, mentioned in the Book of Jasher. She is believed to be Lot's oldest daughter. The Book of Jasher mentions her, that she had compassion on a homeless beggar and fed him bread and water, keeping him alive. The people of Sodom found out and burned her alive in the street of the city. It was said she had married a man of Sodom and no children were mentioned. It is thought that she was Lot's oldest daughter.

LOT'S CHILDREN: It is not said how many daughters or sons Lot had. Or if he even had sons, except for the angel saying, "thy sons" so I made those up about Lot's sons and estranged daughter. Could have happened though, you never know. And it adds to the story. We know Lot had at least two older, married daughters…..and two younger unmarried daughters, we know of those two, who fled the city with him.

THE BOOK OF JASHER. The Book of Jasher (also, Jashar) or the Book of the Upright or the Book of the Just Man(Hebrew: סֵפֶר הַיׇּשׇׁר ; transliteration: sēfer hayyāšār) is an unknown book mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The translation "Book of the Just Man" is the traditional Greek and Latin translation, while the transliterated form "Jasher" is found in the King James Bible, 1611.