65. It is evident from the present verse that the people of Lot Were not
only shameless and corrupt, but were also a people who had sunk in moral depravity
to such a degree that even the presence of a few righteous persons had become
intolerable to them. Their moral degradation left them with no patience for
anyone who sought to bring about any moral reform. Even the slightest element
of purity found in their society was too much for them, and they simply wished
to have their society purged of it.
When these people reached such a low point of wickedness and hostility to good,
God decreed that they be wiped out altogether. When the collective life of a
people becomes totally bereft of goodness and purity, it forfeits the right
to exist on earth. Their example is like that of a basket of fruit. As long
as some fruit remains firm, there is some justification to keep that basket.
But the basket has to be thrown away when the fruit becomes rotten.