Dr. Dylan Johnson

And in a little while, we'll get to what those other three cities are. But for the most part, these two are a pair, Sodom and Gomorrah. They're mentioned together quite frequently, not always, but quite frequently. And the content of Genesis 18 through 19 is kind of two stories smushed into one. The first story in chapter 18... is about a divine visit.

Three men, they're called men initially, show up to the house of Abram and his wife, Syrah or Sarai. And these three men are very, at least one of them is very quickly identified as none other than God himself. So very interesting, has kind of parallels with Greek stories about divine visitors. And hospitality as well, I'm guessing, as well, isn't it? Exactly. Hospitality is one of the key themes.

Three men, they're called men initially, show up to the house of Abram and his wife, Syrah or Sarai. And these three men are very, at least one of them is very quickly identified as none other than God himself. So very interesting, has kind of parallels with Greek stories about divine visitors. And hospitality as well, I'm guessing, as well, isn't it? Exactly. Hospitality is one of the key themes.

Three men, they're called men initially, show up to the house of Abram and his wife, Syrah or Sarai. And these three men are very, at least one of them is very quickly identified as none other than God himself. So very interesting, has kind of parallels with Greek stories about divine visitors. And hospitality as well, I'm guessing, as well, isn't it? Exactly. Hospitality is one of the key themes.

In fact, it's probably the connecting theme between the two chapters. And so in this first divine visit, these three visitors come, one of whom is God, the other two, who knows, obviously Christians. Very simple answer for who those other two are. But for the ancient Jews who produced it, this is actually somewhat of a mystery who these other two are. We'll get to them maybe in a moment.

In fact, it's probably the connecting theme between the two chapters. And so in this first divine visit, these three visitors come, one of whom is God, the other two, who knows, obviously Christians. Very simple answer for who those other two are. But for the ancient Jews who produced it, this is actually somewhat of a mystery who these other two are. We'll get to them maybe in a moment.

In fact, it's probably the connecting theme between the two chapters. And so in this first divine visit, these three visitors come, one of whom is God, the other two, who knows, obviously Christians. Very simple answer for who those other two are. But for the ancient Jews who produced it, this is actually somewhat of a mystery who these other two are. We'll get to them maybe in a moment.

But because Abram and Sarai demonstrate the guest hospitality rights, which are basically, you know, to welcome your guests, to offer them food, to house them, give them lodging, they're rewarded with a divine blessing. And that divine blessing is a promise that Sarai, who's well advanced in age already, will bear a son. And that son would eventually become Isaac.

But because Abram and Sarai demonstrate the guest hospitality rights, which are basically, you know, to welcome your guests, to offer them food, to house them, give them lodging, they're rewarded with a divine blessing. And that divine blessing is a promise that Sarai, who's well advanced in age already, will bear a son. And that son would eventually become Isaac.

But because Abram and Sarai demonstrate the guest hospitality rights, which are basically, you know, to welcome your guests, to offer them food, to house them, give them lodging, they're rewarded with a divine blessing. And that divine blessing is a promise that Sarai, who's well advanced in age already, will bear a son. And that son would eventually become Isaac.

So that's basically the first part of the story. Positive, happy, and then it turns a little darker. And then it turns a little dark because this guest, who is none other than God himself, reveals what he's been conspiring to do to these two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. We'd had a couple references a little bit before this episode, so we know that Sodom and Gomorrah, they exist –

So that's basically the first part of the story. Positive, happy, and then it turns a little darker. And then it turns a little dark because this guest, who is none other than God himself, reveals what he's been conspiring to do to these two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. We'd had a couple references a little bit before this episode, so we know that Sodom and Gomorrah, they exist –

So that's basically the first part of the story. Positive, happy, and then it turns a little darker. And then it turns a little dark because this guest, who is none other than God himself, reveals what he's been conspiring to do to these two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. We'd had a couple references a little bit before this episode, so we know that Sodom and Gomorrah, they exist –

somewhere near the Dead Sea or maybe in the Jordan Valley. We're not exactly clear.

somewhere near the Dead Sea or maybe in the Jordan Valley. We're not exactly clear.

somewhere near the Dead Sea or maybe in the Jordan Valley. We're not exactly clear.

Yeah. So again, not consistently, but it seems to be that based on quite a few descriptions geographically, but also geological descriptions of the region should situate them in the Dead Sea. And we can kind of get to that in a moment. But basically, these two cities are for some reason synonymous archetypes of places of sin, the worst places that that could possibly be.

Yeah. So again, not consistently, but it seems to be that based on quite a few descriptions geographically, but also geological descriptions of the region should situate them in the Dead Sea. And we can kind of get to that in a moment. But basically, these two cities are for some reason synonymous archetypes of places of sin, the worst places that that could possibly be.

Yeah. So again, not consistently, but it seems to be that based on quite a few descriptions geographically, but also geological descriptions of the region should situate them in the Dead Sea. And we can kind of get to that in a moment. But basically, these two cities are for some reason synonymous archetypes of places of sin, the worst places that that could possibly be.

And basically what this divine visitor reveals after the blessing he gives to his guests is that he's planning to destroy these two cities, fire and brimstone.