Who Destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah?

In Genesis 19, there seems to be different accounts on who destroyed these cities. In Verses 12-13, it states two men did. In Verse 24, it states that the Lord did.

Genesis 19:12-13

"Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:12-13 NASB1995).

Genesis 19:24

"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Genesis 19:24 NASB1995).

There are several proposed solutions to answer this conflict. Firstly, it may be that these two men were incarnate forms of the Lord God. As Jesus came down in the New Testament, it may be that he came down again here in the passage. Some argue against this interpretation as Genesis 19:1 elaborates that these two men are angels (Crossway 82-83); however, it must be realized that the Hebrew word used for angel is "הַמַּלְאָכִ֤ים". This word merely means "messengers" and does not necessarily assume the creature known as an angel (see here for more).

It is also possible that the two men were merely acting under God's authority. At this time, if someone did an act under another, it could be said that the one in authority did the act. For example, if a king ordered a massive wall to be made around his castle, one could say the king made a wall around his castle, even if the king never lifted a pebble (see here for more).

Works Cited:

ESV Study Bible. United States, Crossway, 2008.

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