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Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Jude 1:7 A Fact of History. Some archeologists state that Sodom and Gomorrah are beneath the Dead Sea, the saltiest body of water on the face of the earth. The Bible is a history book recording the real facts that occurred. Lord God Almighty, open the reader's mind and heart to Your thoughts and ways, and draw near to him or her and draw them near to You. Save them, O God, from a living hell and eternal damnation so they will turn to You to be saved. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen. This is the true account of two cities and their surrounding towns and the account of one man who pleaded for mercy mixed with justice, and another man who was caught in one of the cities. Recorded from God's Word, the Bible, Genesis 13:13; Gen 18:16-33 ; 19:1-29 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. Gen 13:13 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will know." The men turned away and went toward Sodom, … Won't someone plead to the Lord for mercy on the people living there? Yes The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the
square." But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered
his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they
ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of
Sodom - both young and old - surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where
are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have
sex with them." "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here-sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it-it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.) By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities - and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD . He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,
He remembered Abraham, and He
brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had
lived. Gen 19:1-29 Abraham intercedes for the people of Sodom - but justice still must be done. God cannot betray His character. This recorded conversation shows the relationship between God and one of His people. God's respect and care, mercy and listening, are all based on His unselfish love for each of His children. When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him." Gen 18 but the LORD remained standing before Abraham. Gen 18:16-22 Explanation - The Lord remained standing in front of Abraham because He wanted to talk with Abraham. The Lord knew Abraham would be affected by His decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord knew that Abraham's nephew Lot and Lot's family lived there, and that if they were destroyed, then Abraham would be sad. So the Lord remained standing in front of Abraham because He wanted to talk with Abraham. The Lord cared about Abraham's feelings, just as He does about all of His children. A Challenge -Read on and see if God listens to Abraham. Does the Living God change His mind according to Abraham's thoughts? How do you know? What does God say and do to support your understanding? What happens in the end? How many righteous are found in that area? Did any of those righteous turn away from God, disobeying His command to not look back, as they were fleeing Sodom? Then Abraham approached Him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Explanation - When Abraham hears of God's news, notice what Abraham says, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?… treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham knows that God does not treat the wicked and the righteous the same way. The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. Gen 18:23-33 Explanation - Notice Abraham doesn't get very emotional and plead for his own nephew and family, but instead, thinks of every person living in that area who may have a relationship with the Living God Almighty, that is, the righteous. Abraham pleads for their mercy, not for the mercy of the wicked, for the wicked are not on God's side. The Bible calls them the enemies of God. Brief Answers - Yes, Lot's wife, ( who is recorded with no name, for the names of the wicked will be remembered no more.) disobeyed God and looked back at the sinful city. She did not keep her eyes ahead on God and trusting in where He was bringing her for her safety and hope. Mercy for the righteous was pleaded for to the Living God and God granted mercy, for only He can. Looked Back - Do not look back when you are following the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do, you will not be seeing where He is taking you! Jesus died to take away your sins to give you a New Life. When you receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and choose to live for Him through His Holy Spirit, God promises you hope and a future, not to harm you, but to have you prosper. If you are trusting in Him, you should not be looking back at your old life and your old ways. Anyone in Christ is a New Creation, the old is gone. When you confess your sins to the Lord God Almighty and ask for Him to apply the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ at the atonement for your sins, God promises He will remember your sins no more, scarlet-white, removed transgressions… There is no need to look back, and do not look back. There is no
false guilt in Christ Jesus, for there
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Rom 8:1
Nothing in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:39
If you confess your sins to God through His Son Jesus Christ, ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, You will be able to live in and through Him and for Him forever!! That is Eternal Life. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jer 31:3 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Ps 103:12 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isa 1:18 So do not look back to sins and evil, but look ahead with your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ the Lord!! Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:2 I want God's Friendship! Beauty One thing I ask of the LORD , this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. Ps 27:4 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Prov 31:30 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen , eternal. 2Cor 4:18 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, Heb 12:2 Someone once said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." What are your eyes beholding? Where is your gaze? The most beautiful sight we can behold is Jesus Christ the Lord, the Word of God, Who endured the cross out of sacrificial and unselfish love for you and me. If our eyes are beholding Who He is, we cannot help but radiate it through our eyes and our hearts. "Our" beauty, which is Jesus' character and love, will not be fleeting, but fleeing to give it to all we come across. So the next time you are feeling a bit down watching your skin sag or your muscles ache remember, Jesus' eyes are fixed on you, and He is perfecting you just as He desires. Gaze back at Him, smile and laugh with Him. Your beauty is real, and eternal, for your physical body is not nearly as important as keeping the Eternal Holy One in your sights now and forever. Bring me to Sexual Activity or Prayer or Repent or Friendship with God. |
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