Why would angels need protecting from a raging mob?

[OnceConvinced]

The story of Lot tells us that a couple of angels visited Lot and that a gay mob demanded they be brought out so they could have their way with them. Lot then did the absolutely atrocious act of offering up his daughters to them to protect the angels.

The question I have about this story and I can never get a straight answer is why would angels need to be protected anyway? Angels are spiritual beings and even if they somehow manifested in human bodies I still don't see what harm could possibly befall them.

So why did these angels need to be protected from the angry gay mob?

[Danmark]

Defending one's guests is hospitality. Again, a little homework will dispel ignorance:

"In response to the mob, Lot acts like a virtuous host: he steps outside the house and places himself between the visitors and the mob (19:6). Lot's second desperate attempt to safeguard his strangers, offering his two virgin daughters to the Sodomites for sexual pleasure, is morally repugnant but further demonstrates Lot's resolve to fulfill the hospitality protocols at any cost (19:6-8). In fact, he begs the men to cease from their wickedness since the strangers "have come under the shelter of my roof"

Why does he value hospitality over his responsibility to protect his own family?

One need do no "homework" other than to read the actual passage rather than someone else's commentary.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.� Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.� But they said, “Stand back!� And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.� Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
Genesis 19:4-11
This is just another story of despicable , immoral conduct by one of God's servants.
What commentary or excuse making "home work" could possibly explain away the fact Lot is offering up his own daughters for the sexual pleasure of the mob? If being hospitable to "angels" of the Lord is better than offering up your children to be raped, than once again, we have a Bible story that encourages immorality.

God asking Abraham to kill Isaac, for no fault of the lad's, is another example of this "divine" immorality.

[OnceConvinced]

Judging by Lot's lack of shock and amazement at what the angels did to the mob

And how do you arrive at this reading?

Seems pretty obvious to me by reading it.

Is it going to be something along the lines of 'absence of evidence is the evidence of absence'?

Important things like emotion are crucial if you want to portray a story accurately. If you want to claim that Lot was amazed or shocked by the discovery he was rubbing shoulders with angels, then you need to show evidence of that. There is no evidence of that amazement in this story as far as I can see, so it makes sense to presume that Lot was not surprised by this incredible event. Thus he knew they were angels already.

Look I'm not saying you're wrong. I guess because I am a writer myself I expect better detail in stories that I read, especially if I am reading from the word of God. I question little things like this. I want to know what's going on and why I should accept claims made by Christians when the stories themselves aren't exactly clear about those details.

[KCKID]

The story of Lot tells us that a couple of angels visited Lot and that a gay mob demanded they be brought out so they could have their way with them. Lot then did the absolutely atrocious act of offering up his daughters to them to protect the angels.

The question I have about this story and I can never get a straight answer is why would angels need to be protected anyway? Angels are spiritual beings and even if they somehow manifested in human bodies I still don't see what harm could possibly befall them.

So why did these angels need to be protected from the angry gay mob?

Why are you referring to the people of Sodom as 'an angry GAY mob'? This might come as a shock to many people but the TaNaKh tells a slightly different story than does the average Christian Bible. Here are a couple of verses:

19:4 When they had not yet retired, and the people of the city, the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end [of the city]. דטֶרֶ� יִש�ְכָּבוּ וְ�ַנְש�ֵי הָעִיר �ַנְש�ֵי סְדֹ� נָסַבּוּ עַל הַבַּיִת מִנַּעַר וְעַד זָקֵן כָּל הָעָ� מִקָּצֶה:

19:5 And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us be intimate with them." הוַיִּקְרְ�וּ �ֶל לוֹט וַיֹּ�מְרוּ לוֹ �ַיֵּה הָ�ֲנָש�ִי� �ֲש�ֶר בָּ�וּ �ֵלֶיךָ הַלָּיְלָה הוֹצִי�ֵ� �ֵלֵינוּ וְנֵדְעָה

We're told here in the TaNaKh that every man, woman and child - the entire populace of Sodom - were those that called out to Lot and his visitors. Are we to believe that all the men, women and children of Sodom were gay?

[tam]

[Replying to post 22 by KCKID]


Nice! So that what is translated as man or men, may mean something more along the lines of mankind, rather than just the males of mankind.


Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[Danmark]

We're told here in the TaNaKh that every man, woman and child - the entire populace of Sodom - were those that called out to Lot and his visitors. Are we to believe that all the men, women and children of Sodom were gay?

If they were, God had no need to fire bomb Sodom. They would have died out for failure to reproduce.

[tam]

We're told here in the TaNaKh that every man, woman and child - the entire populace of Sodom - were those that called out to Lot and his visitors. Are we to believe that all the men, women and children of Sodom were gay?

If they were, God had no need to fire bomb Sodom. They would have died out for failure to reproduce.

This is the second time I have heard that, and I want to say good point. I really do want to. But... it is not true that they would have died out for failure to reproduce, because gay men marry women and have sex and have children. Men have done that for a long time, hiding who they are from others.

So they are capable of having sex with women and reproducing.


Still, I do agree that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not homosexuality, and that the entire town was not gay. The account makes clear, as do later corroborating passages, that the sin was the blood they spilled, the people (strangers passing through) that they harmed, raped, and/or murdered.

God answered the outcry from people they had harmed that came up to Him.


Peace to you,
your servant and a slave of Christ,
tammy

[Hamsaka]

Defending one's guests is hospitality. Again, a little homework will dispel ignorance:

"In response to the mob, Lot acts like a virtuous host: he steps outside the house and places himself between the visitors and the mob (19:6). Lot's second desperate attempt to safeguard his strangers, offering his two virgin daughters to the Sodomites for sexual pleasure, is morally repugnant but further demonstrates Lot's resolve to fulfill the hospitality protocols at any cost (19:6-8). In fact, he begs the men to cease from their wickedness since the strangers "have come under the shelter of my roof"

Why does he value hospitality over his responsibility to protect his own family?

The daughters were his property, not his family.

[The Nice Centurion]

[Replying to Hamsaka in post #27]
Yes, finally you are on to something here. Even though I must say that Lots two daughters were his property AND his family.

What worth had females back then (or now) from a believieng Jews viewpoint?

Much less than men for sure. So it makes sense for god-fearing Lot to give both brats over to the mob for mass rape gangbang to protect two men. Especially in a case when this men looked like young Peter O Toole.

Or perhaps Lot knew all Sodomites were Sodomites, meaning homosexualists and wouldnt have had a clue what to do with two females anyway. A lesbian rape then would have benn the worst scenario that could have come out of Lots offer. Meaning the medical virginity of his daughters might have remained intact.

[KCKID]

Don't lose too much sleep over the story of Lot and the Angels ...it's an allegory, i.e., a tale that never occurred in actuality.

[Mae von H]

The story of Lot tells us that a couple of angels visited Lot and that a gay mob demanded they be brought out so they could have their way with them. Lot then did the absolutely atrocious act of offering up his daughters to them to protect the angels.

The question I have about this story and I can never get a straight answer is why would angels need to be protected anyway? Angels are spiritual beings and even if they somehow manifested in human bodies I still don't see what harm could possibly befall them.

So why did these angels need to be protected from the angry gay mob?

They weren’t concerned about their safety. They cared about preventing evil from occurring.