The Lord rained—from the Lord— Houbigant asserts, and Calmet also is of the same opinion, that the Jehovah here repeated refers to the Father and the Son: and so, says he, almost all the ancient fathers have understood it, as they doubted not that the Son of God appeared to Abraham in a human form.
Rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah— Which are only mentioned as being the principal cities, though all the rest were consumed. Strabo, the historian, says, that there were no less than thirteen of these cities, upon which this fire and brimstone, these sulphureous flames descended, like floods of rain from heaven; or, as Salvian glosses it, God rained hell from heaven upon an impious people. "A most hideous shower, or rather storm of nitre, mingled with fire, (says Bishop Patrick,) fell upon this country, and, as the tradition was among the heathen, accompanied with a dreadful earthquake, which made an irruption of those bituminous waters, whereby the country was turned into the Salt, or Dead-sea; so Strabo, Genesis 50:16 : in his description of that lake. But Tacitus, (another great historian,) who was better informed, says these cities were burnt by the stroke of thunderbolts from heaven, fulminum jactu arsisse; and a little after were set on fire and consumed by lightning, igni coelesti flagrasse." To have the best idea of this dreadful event, let it be observed, 1st, That all the vale of Siddim, where Sodom and the other cities stood, was originally a very bituminous soil. 2nd, That by the brimstone and fire which rained from heaven, we may understand, according to the language of Scripture, brimstone inflamed, which in the Hebrew style signifies lightning. 3rdly, That, therefore, this fire from the Lord may describe the lightning and thunderbolts: so that, in agreement with Mr. Le Clerc, we may apprehend, that the lightning and thunderbolts falling in immense abundance upon the pits of bitumen, the veins of that combustible matter took fire immediately; and as the fire penetrated into the lowest bowels of the bituminous soil, these wicked cities were subverted by a dreadful earthquake, which was followed with a subsiding of the ground: and as soon as the earth was sunk, it would unavoidably happen, that the waters running to this place in great abundance, and so mixing with the bitumen, which they found in great plenty, would make a lake of what was a vale before, and a lake of the same quality, with what the Scripture calls the Salt or Dead-sea. The memory of this fearful catastrophe has been preserved by many ancient writers of the first note. Not only Strabo and Tacitus, but Diodorus Siculus, Solinus, and several others, attest the truth. But be that as it will, we have an everlasting monument of this destruction in the Salt-sea into which that country was turned; the quality of which, and of the soil about it, is so contrary to the nature of all other seas and inland lakes, that no philosopher can give us an account of it, like that which Moses has given. And the matter of the soil is so inflammable, that, from probable accounts, it continued burning, in a degree, till after the Apostles' times, and was burning in Philo Judaeus's time. Nor will this appear so extraordinary to those who consider that the earth affords many such phoenomena of perpetual fires, as Vesuvius, AEtna, and other mountains; though, doubtless, in the present case, the whole must be deemed miraculous; for, while we endeavour to account for this awful event in a natural way, it is nevertheless certain that God was the proper author of this effect, not only because the constitution of nature is the original work of his power and skill, but because the sacred historian gives us fully to understand, that this event would not have happened at least at that conjuncture, nor with all the circumstances here related, without the extraordinary interposition of the Lord; while it should be remembered, that particular events, like this, are not the less miraculous, because God effects them by the intervention of second or natural causes. Those who would see more on this interesting point, will be much gratified by reading Le Clerc's dissertation on the subject; who observes, that the celebrated story among the heathens, of Baucis and Philemon, Ovid. Met. lib. 8: was (doubtless) drawn from this event. They were supposed to have been preserved by flying to the mountains, for their hospitality, by two gods, who visited them, and saved them from the destruction brought on a wicked country, which, like the vale of Siddim, was turned into a lake or sea.
I cannot here withhold from my readers Mr. Maundrell's account of this wonderful lake.—"On our approaching that sea, we passed through a kind of coppice of bushes and reeds; and on our arrival at it, found that it is inclosed on the east and west by very high mountains. On the north it is bounded by the plain of Jericho, on which side it receives the water of Jordan; and on the south it extends farther than the eye can reach. This lake is said to be twenty-four leagues in length, and six or seven in breadth. On the shore of this sea or lake we found a black sort of pebbles, that burn on being held in the flame of a candle, yielding a smoke of an intolerable stench; but though they lose their weight in burning, they do not at all decrease in bulk. The neighbouring hills abound with these sulphureous stones; and I saw pieces of them at the convent of St. John in the wilderness, which were two feet square, carved in basso-relievo, and polished to as great a lustre as black marble is capable of. These were designed for the ornaments of a new church and convent. It is a common tradition, that all the birds which attempt to fly over this lake drop down dead into it, and that no fish or any other animal can support life within these deadly waters; but I actually saw several birds flying about and over this lake, without any visible injury. I also observed among the pebbles on the shore two or three shells of fish resembling those of oysters cast up by the waves. The water I found to be very limpid, and not only salt, but also extremely bitter and nauseous; and being willing to make an experiment of its strength, I went into it, and found that it bore me up in swimming with uncommon force: but as to what is said by some authors, that persons wading in it were buoyed up to the top as soon as the water reached the navel, I found it false by experience. As for the bitumen, for which this lake has been long famous, there was none at the place where we were, though it is gathered near the mountains on both sides in great plenty. I had several lumps of it brought me to Jerusalem, and found that it exactly resembled pitch, from which I could no otherwise distinguish it than by its sulphureous taste and smell.
Being desirous of seeing if there were any remains of the cities anciently situated in this place, and made the dreadful example of the Divine displeasure, I carefully surveyed the waters as far as my eye could reach, but could not see any heaps of ruins, nor any of that smoke ascending above the surface, which is usually mentioned in the writings of geographers. I was told, however, by the Father Guardian, and the procurator of Jerusalem, both of whom were men in years, and to appearance neither destitute of sense nor probity, that once they actually saw some of these ruins, which were so near the shore, and the water at that time so shallow, that they, with some Frenchmen, went to them, and found several pillars and other fragments of buildings; but they were now probably concealed by the height of the water. On the west side of the lake is a small promontory, near which our guide told us is the monument of Lot's wife metamorphosed into a pillar of salt; but we did not give credit enough to the report, to take the trouble of going to seek for it. As to the apples of Sodom, of which so much has been said, I neither saw nor heard of any about this place; nor was there any tree to be seen near the lake, from which any such kind of fruit might be expected." See Maundrell's Travels through the Holy Land.
REFLECTIONS.—Bright was the sun which rose upon devoted Sodom. Safe in their foolish confidence, Lot's flight afforded matter of fresh ridicule; and now they can welcome the returning day. But see, when sinners are in the height of their security, how destruction overtakes them. The sun is covered, the storm arises, the lightnings glare, the heavens are on fire, the flames descend, the smoking cities send up their dying cries. Too late to call for mercy, it is the time of judgment. Mark the end of the vain confidence of sinners.
Learn, 1. If judgments are upon the earth, it is the Lord's work. The Lord Jesus is not only the Saviour of those who believe in him, like Lot; but he is the Judge and destroyer of those who, like Sodom, reject his salvation. 2. They who go after strange flesh, may expect to be punished with strange judgments. 3. What a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the Living God. Fools now make a mock of sin; but they will find it a bitter thing, when they shall feel, with Sodom, the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:7.