“The Story That Made My Stomach Drop: Sitting With Genesis 19”
Okay. So, this week’s Sex & Scripture Saturday was… a lot.
Like, genuinely a lot.
I knew Genesis 19 was coming. I saw the chapter title last week – “God Rescues Lot” and “God Destroys Sodom” – and my whole body was like, Nope, we’re not doing two chapters today. Because this one? This one’s heavy. This one has been used to shame, dismiss, condemn, and weaponize people. And it also holds some of the most disturbing scenes in the entire Bible.
And somehow we’re supposed to read this and walk away with clarity?
Yeah. No.
So I opened the chapter, prayed, and told God I needed grace because even just anticipating what was coming made my stomach tighten.
And then I read it.
And honestly, there were moments I genuinely felt nauseous.
The men at the door
The first thing that shook me was the mob outside Lot’s house demanding the two visitors—who are actually angels. The text says:
“Bring them out to us that we may know them.”
(“Know” meaning sex. Rape. Domination.)
This is not about romance. This is not about orientation. This is about power, violence, humiliation, and control. And yet this story has been used for centuries to condemn LGBTQ people—as if it’s describing a consensual loving relationship.
But it’s not.
It’s a threat of gang rape.
And my whole body just… dropped. Because there’s nothing loving here. Nothing mutual. Nothing that reflects the relationships actual queer people are talking about.
Then Lot says the most gutting thing imaginable
He literally says:
“I have two daughters… let me bring them out to you. Do to them as you please.”
And when I tell you my stomach turned—
oh my gosh.
Like, imagining my father saying something like that? Imagining any father? Choosing strangers over his daughters’ safety? Offering their bodies like bargaining chips?
It made my pelvic floor clench and my chest get so, so tight.
I honestly had to pause and breathe because it felt like too much.
And then it hit me:
This is not a story of heroes and villains.
This is a story showing what happens when a whole society deteriorates.
When humanity breaks down.
When the sacredness of people is forgotten.
In a world like that, even “the righteous” look compromised.
And then the plot twist I never noticed before
The part of the story no one talks about.
Like… ever.
Lot’s daughters get him drunk.
They sleep with him.
He cannot consent.
And both become pregnant.
And the irony?
Lot offered his daughters to be raped—and then his daughters rape him.
I just sat there staring at the text like…
What do I even do with that?
Because we talk about women being assaulted in Scripture all the time.
But male sexual assault?
Intoxication?
Incapacity?
Consent?
Nobody touches that.
And yet here it is.
Clear as day.
This story doesn’t give answers—it gives questions
Honestly? I didn’t walk away with clarity on homosexuality.
Or the “sin of Sodom.”
Or why God destroyed the city.
Or why Lot acted the way he did.
What I walked away with was:
the ache of how deeply humans can hurt one another
the reminder that assault is not just a women’s issue
the shock of seeing male vulnerability in Scripture
the grief of how often this is overlooked
the sense that God doesn’t hide the darkness in human stories
the invitation to feel the weight of it instead of skipping past it
This isn’t a feel-good chapter.
It’s not sexy.
It’s not clean.
It’s not simple.
It’s mud.
It’s mess.
It’s pain.
It’s complexity.
And maybe that’s part of the point.
Scripture isn’t afraid to show us the darkest parts of ourselves.
God doesn’t flinch.
And He doesn’t ask us to flinch, either.
Join me for more of these conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osol-dFFJGM