THE CRY OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Matt 10:15; Gen 19:1-29
The Bible says that God was sorry He created man. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." Gen 6:5-7. So what did God do? He judged man and sent a worldwide flood recorded in Book of Genesis, sparing only eight lives. Gen 6, 7 & 8. With this judgment God promises never to flood the whole earth again with a covenant that He made with Noah. Gen 8:20-22. Now! You would think that image-bearers of God, would take this warning as a way of change and worship towards Almighty God. You would be wrong! Time went on and Noah’s sons had children, so on and so on, the land was once again flourishing with life, image-bearers of God. Gen 10
But what did they do?
They tried to reach the Heavens by building a tower and this displeased God, so He scrambled their languages and dispersed them over the face of the earth. Gen 11:1-9. Then we come to a terrible event in human history that is still a reminder today of God’s coming judgement. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before we look at God’s judgement on these people recorded in Scripture, let’s step back and examine what these city were like.
What do we know about these
cities
according to Scripture?
In Genesis 13:10 we read, “And Lot lifted up his eyes (this was more than mere looking, he was looking with his heart because it was a fertile plain that pleased his appetite) and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)” These were beautiful, eye pleasing cities…. to live, to do business, to make memories and settle down if you like the city life. They had great plantation to call home, full of resources for growing, because it was full of life and there was too much to offer. They are even described as equal with the Garden of Eden as we read “was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD.” But we also know there was wickedness, though Lot loved the fertile plains, he look passed that and he didn’t live right in the city. Why? It was a sinner’s playground and Lot had reservations to live amoung them closely. “So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.” Gen 10:11-13
Side note! This was the first steps in Lot’s fall, he looked towards Sodom, pitched his tents near Sodom and then he moved to Sodom. It’s what James said about being careful what we chose. “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:14-15. Lot even became an elder in the city, one of its political and business leaders, it says he “Sat in the gateway of Sodom” Gen 19:1 Unfortunately… Lot positon in the city had no impact on the cities as a man of God who despised the wickedness that was going on there. We know this is true by the visit he had when the two angels came into the city….. Read the 19th chapter of Genesis.
What do we see as these
cities lay in ruin?
Cities decimated by the pure judgment
of God?
Answer! Turn with me to Matt 10:5-15. Sodom And Gomorrah Is A Monument Of Future Judgement For Unrepentant Sinners. Sodom & Gomorrah has been used throughout Scripture as a warning. As a monument to future judgment if we do not listen to the warnings found in holy Scripture. Moses warned Israelites, “Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick—the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah….which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath—all the nations will say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?' Then people will say, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them.” Deut 29:18-26
Jeremiah warned them by saying, "Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who
passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. As
when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the
LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her.” Jer 49:17-18
Jeremiah said the men of Sodom were great sinners; but the
Jews were greater……their sins being more serious. “For the chastisement of the daughter of my
people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a
moment, and no hands were wrung for her.” Lam 4:6
In Luke’s gospel we read, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it
be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying
and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the
flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of
Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom,
fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on
the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30
Peter said in his second epistle, “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;” 2 Peter 2:6. There is a judgment coming and people around us are in great danger. Sodom and Gomorrah is a window into any city today where the gospel is being proclaimed. (v12-v14)
What does today’s Sodom & Gomorrah
look like today?
The
celebration of woman’s liberation, being able to kill their child in womb out
of convenience with the passing bill of Roe versus Wade on Jan 22, 1973.
Indoctrination
in our Government funded Institutions to conform the next generation.
The
right to marry or declare what your sexuality is freely in Canada.
The
hatred and violence done to neighbors and strangers.
Riots
and looting as we have seen in the States. 5.6 billion
dollars of public damages during the Black Lives Matter riots alone.
Alcoholism
and drugs shoot up stations across Canada.
The
multi-billion dollar pornography industry and sexual abuse against women.
Child
prostitution and abductions.
The
entertainment or attraction based church.
The
breakdown of the family.
The only difference today and the time of Christ is that according to Jesus is that the Jews and future generations are judged at a higher level. (v15)
What does Jesus mean?
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah never had the revelation of God through His word. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah never had a prophet enter their cities to warn them of their pending doom. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had no eternal hope outside of Lot and his family. But! For the Jewish people, and the church age, are without excuse for our sinful behavior. According to Paul this generation is, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.” Rom 2:5. Why? For how we accepted the Son of God when He came to save sinners from this coming dread, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3. This sad event of God’s judgment is for future generation to wake up and see that there is a greater judgement coming. The historian Josephus writer during the time of Christ, said, “The ruins could still be clearly seen in his day.” Archeologists have discovered around 1.5 million bodies in graves in these areas around Sodom and Gomorrah. Archeologists also say, “There are a lot of brimstone (old name for sulfur) balls in these cities. This sulfur is unique and different from all other sulfur found in the world. It is around 90-95% pure. It is white, unlike any other place in the world. It is so pure you can light it on fire, and it burns a hot blue flame. These sulfur balls are not found between the cities.”
The Scripture uses this imagery of fire and brimstone in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as for what hell will be like for those who reject or ignore the gospel message. “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Rev 20:15
This is the warning Jesus is giving His disciples as He sends them out to the cities. The gospel is our only hope of escaping such a horrendous event that will not consume the sinner, but leave them in everlasting torment.
What do we learn from
Sodom and Gomorrah?
These cities are a foreshadow of Hell and its pending judgements. This world mocks and laughs at this, as if God will never do such a thing. But Jesus said it will be far worse for those who hear the gospel and do nothing with the gospel. (v14-v15). Sodom and Gomorrah were notorious for corruption and God judged them swiftly, but the cities that reject His Christ would not be guilty of the same sins.
They would be held at a
higher account
before a holy God.
Future generations of people will, face eternal destruction and torment in the Lake of Fire to a higher degree than those of Sodom & Gomorrah. The judgement is greater for those who heard and did nothing with the gospel truth. (v12-v14) Sodom and Gomorrah teach us that…… It’s a terrible thing to neglect the offers of the gospel and a fearful thing to fall into the hands of this angry God.
The gospel is so much more than your……
Attendance
and you’re serving work in the church.
Reading
through the bible in a year.
Offering
and partaking of the Lord’s ordinances. (Baptism & Lord’s Table)
The warning is for us to examine our confession, to know that our forgiveness comes only from Christ alone and nothing else. Everything I said above is the fruits that are displayed in a converted life through the gospel confession. The gospel is full of grace to save, keep a sinner for all eternity because there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom 8:1. See! Lot was told to leave the city and flee, because God was extending grace to him. Why? “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);” 2 Peter 2:6-8
Here is the problem in today’s church. J C Ryle said in his commentary, “Men are apt to forget that it does not require great open sins to be sinned in order to ruin a soul forever. They have only to go on hearing without going to Christ, and by and by they will find themselves in hell! We shall all be judged according to our light; we shall have to give account of our use of religious privileges: to hear of the ‘great salvation,’ and yet neglect it, is one of the worst sins man can commit.”
Jesus said the Spirit will convict this world of sin because, “…they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:9-11
The Hebrew writer said, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
What are we doing ourselves with the gospel?
Is Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith?
If not, we are in fearful danger because we are far more guilty that the men of Sodom. A people who never heard the gospel and that may be more so for this generation. J C Ryle said, “We may awake to find in spite of our regularity, and morality; and correctness, we have lost our souls to all eternity. It will not save us to have lived in the full sunshine of Christian privileges, and to have heard the gospel faithfully preached every week; there must be experimental acquaintance with Christ; there must be personal reception of His truth, there must be vital union with Him; we become His servants and disciples. Without this, the preaching of the gospel only adds to our responsibility, increases our guilt, and will at length sink us more deeply into hell.”
Sodom and Gomorrah is example of what is to come, so we are to examine our own lives as Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Phil 2:12-13
In 2 Corinthians we read, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” There is hope in what took place in these two cities. God saved Lot and his family. Sodom and Gomorrah is a monument of grace for repentant sinners. Jesus came to this earth so that you and I could taste this same grace, fallen sinners who at times make wrong choices. But God….full of grace and mercy to save those who call upon His name through repentance and faith in Him alone. Unbelief that rejects the gospel is a serious matter and God is going to deal with them one day.
Why do we know that true? Sodom and Gomorrah is a monument of greater and glorious day where we will all stand before Him…..
As His child, or as His enemy!
What does this historical monument say about your life, today tomorrow and forever? I hope it saying with the Apostle Paul, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." Rom 10:9-11.
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