The name Sodom has become synonymous with sexual activity, which some consider “unnatural.” We must be cautious. It is easy to read the text through assumptions and lose sight of God’s unconditionally loving nature, in whose image we are all created.

The text never explicitly states that Sodom was destroyed because of homosexuality. We are told only that the people were “wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). To assume the issue was same-sex relationships alone is presumptuous.

Genesis 19 describes a city in crisis. The men of Sodom gather around Lot’s house and demand access to the visitors. This is not a picture of loving, consensual intimacy. It is mob aggression, humiliation, and domination. Only men are mentioned, and their intent is coercive. Lot’s shocking offer of his daughters reveals how distorted the situation has become. This is a story saturated with violence and fear, not romance.

Placed within its ancient Near Eastern context, Sodom may reflect the influence of fertility cult worship, particularly Baalism, where ritual sex and even child sacrifice were tied to agricultural prosperity. If the land was failing and society unravelling, desperation would follow. In such environments, people often sacrifice others to secure their own survival. Bodies become tools. Neighbours become expendable.

The behaviour in Sodom mirrors addiction. When a system promises fertility, wealth, or power but fails to deliver, people double down. They use others to try to regain control. The issue is not sexual orientation but dehumanisation. The crowd does not seek any relationship; it seeks dominance.

The story also exposes the vulnerability of women. Lot’s willingness to offer his daughters reflects a culture where female bodies are treated as bargaining chips. Genesis 19 allows us to see the world as many women experience it: pressed upon, unheard, expendable. Trauma lingers. Lot’s wife was frozen in salt, and his daughters’ later actions reflect lives shaped by fear and harm.

Sodom is not primarily a warning about who people love. It is a warning about what happens when power, fear, and false worship distort how we treat one another. When people become used as a means to an end, destruction follows.

If it is not about Love, it is not about God.

Adapted from the Liberated Life Bible Commentary: Genesis.

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