Faith.In.Life
Sodom and Gomorra
In Genesis 19 we see Sodom and Gomorra sin and sin boldly. Lot welcomes angels into his household for the night, and then men appear asking to have sexual relations with the Angels! This clearly has gotten out of hand, and entire cities are not worth saving. As God’s verdict comes down, the Angels give Lot a chance to get out of town where we read in verse 12-13
12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”
Ultimately we are told that:
24 Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation.
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Thus says the word of the Lord, and God is the just in his judgement in his dealings with sin. This narrative has been seen by many a biblical scholar as more of a parable of sorts, or as a story, something that didn’t actually happen. And yet, so much of the Bible has been verified to have really taken place, and in this case God often is the active agent in destroying entire regions due to their sin. God was just in the flood, just as God is just here. We cannot accept some of the Bible as dictated by God, as Paul told Timothy - all Scripture is God breathed - while denying that something like Sodom and Gomorrah is an old wives tale to teach us a lesson. When we see these events to be historical and to actually happened, with even Angels being a part of God’s judgment, it gives us pause.
Certainly, our Savior and Messiah, God’s very own Son saw these events to be both historical and as a lesson to learn from. In Matthew 1o Jesus commissions the twelve to go and share his saving grace locally. They are sent out as sheep amongst wolves to bring the Good News, the very Gospel that Jesus saves, to anyone who would welcome them. While Jesus is commissioning the twelve, we read him say:
11 “Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. 12 When you enter the home, give it your blessing. 13 If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing. 14 If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. 15 I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.
Contrary to what we see and experience, humans are not actually finite creatures. Yes, our bodies will decay and we are all ash and to ash we will eventually all return. But, when Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19 and following the two men die, and they find their eternal destination. Contrary to what we see and experience, humans are eternal creatures. The rich man, though, experiences something similar Sodom and Gomorroa where he faces fire, this notion of God reigning down fire and and sulfur as a form of eternal judgment and separation from God. How we each deal with the person of Jesus in whether we accept the message that originated with the 12 that now continues through the Great Commission that is Jesus taking on our punishment for himself, so that when we too say goodbye to this introduction we would not endure the flame of God’s eternal judgment - or even something worse as Jesus himself said those who do not accept the 12s message “I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better of than such a [entire] town on the judgment day. Our individualistic understanding of sin and salvation does not even try to comprehend the Jewish understanding of communal judgment - that is if any one person is guilty or sins, the entire community suffers. Our emphasis on the one repenting overlooks the incredibly call of the community to repent, for entire nations to fall to their knees, repent, and return to the Lord so that we might experience his grace and mercy together so we might become a city shining brightly on a hill.
Such a message should really shift our understanding of Lot’s own perspective, that he knew the judgment that was coming and he tried to save his loved ones by literally grabbing them up and dragging them out of the city. If an entire community might face God’s right and good judgment, we may think off the top of our heads that we would like to save this loved one, a particular friend, or family member - but if the actions of your enemy were to somehow affect the judgment of an entire region, well, then you would want to save them as well - because in their own acceptance lies communal outcomes. Now, Jesus equally says that if someone does not accept your message, wipe your feet off, and head down the road so we do not need to put so much pressure on ourselves that we might be so troubled of our own individual salvation. But, our individualistic notion of our own salvation has focused so much on the people we care most, that maybe we would grab their hands and get out of the town that is about to burn as quickly as humanly possible - but whether we mighta admit it or not, we do not have a heart for the any household that has simply rejected the Gospel. We do not concern ourselves for teh one that is perishing let alone have the increasing pressure to grab by the hand and “get out of town.” We have failed to remember that two men might be working in a field, and one goes to be with Jesus and the other is left behind in just a blink of an eye. No one knew the time and place that it would happen, but in that case when it does it is too late for the one left behind just as the rich man found it was too late when he stood in burning coals.
In other words, do not allow it to become too late. Live with the urgency that Lot had to leave Sodom and Gomorra, being willing to preach the Gospel at all times and actually use words, because our actions will not convey God’s eternal plan amongst finite creatures. We must reclaim the urgency, while also relying on grace and mercy throughout, to know that God is God and we are not, for if we fail to share with our neighbors - or even if we do share and they reject it - do we sense the condemnation that the Bible teaches? Or do we write it off as just another individual who is selfish, and cannot imagine what eternity would look like if they were to face God’s judgment upon our sin without Jesus standing in our place?