This evening as I was heading home. I took a totally different route than I usually do because I had to stop and pick up some items from the store. As I was approaching a traffic light I saw bright red and orange out of the left side of my eye. As the light turned red, I stopped in pure amazement at how bright the sky was AGAIN. I thought wow, 2 days in a row. What is God trying to tell me or show me?!
He was telling me to go and read today’s verses from Set a Fire Bible scripture challenge.
So I came home and started digging into the word.
Today’s verse, Day 3, was Genesis 19:23-25
The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
You probably wanted to go read commentary or Google to gain a better understanding, but we’re just going to do a short word study and use the word of God by way of cross-references.
Brimstone: sulfur, inflammable mineral substance. Symbolizes destruction and punishment.
Let’s get some background information and dig into some cross-references and learn a little bit about Sodom and Gomorrah. Hint: they are cities, not 2 people 🙂
The wholeland was brimstone (sulfur), salt, and burning. It was like a wasteland. Nothing was planted there and nothing grew. Not even grass. The cities were destroyed with the Lord’s intense anger (Deuteronomy 29:23).
God rains down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked (Psalm 11:6).
Babylon was the most glorious of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean’s pride, and will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed the (Isaiah 13:19)
Glorious. Prideful. It sounds much like today’s time if you ask me.
Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness. The people were prideful, greedy, consumed an abundance of food, idle, and showed no concern for those who were poor and needy. Sodom committed detestable, abominable sins and God wiped the whole city out (Ezekiel 16:49-50).
Again, this sounds much like today’s world.
People went about their daily activities until Lot left Sodom. When he left then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all (Luke 17:29).
Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked.
Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.” (Luke 17:30-37)
The wicked are sentenced to suffer. They were impure, indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity resulting in the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7)
God turned what used to be a fruitful land into a barren, salt waste because of the wickedness of those who dwelled in it. (Psalm 107:34)
Sodom was utterly struck in just a moment of time. Completely overthrow. It didn’t take long for disaster to take place. As it was struck no hand was offered to help. (Lamentations 4:6)
Imagine a disaster taking place and there is no to help you. No one to save you. You’re just left helpless.
The context of 2 Peter 2 is the dangers of false teaching. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah turning them into heap ashes. He made an example out of them, showing what would happen to ungodly people. (2 Peter 2: 6)
When Lot, his wife, and two daughters made it safely out the city of Sodom, one of the angels ordered them to run for their lives and don’t turn back or stop anywhere or they would be swept away. (Genesis 19:17)
But what did Lot’s wife do? She looked back and became a pillar of salt.
In short, I was reminded of the consequences of wickedness and the importance of living for Christ. Imagine living life on your own terms. How you choose to live. Filled with wickedness. No relationship with God. No acceptance of Christ. Imagine being in the thick of this photo having sulfur and fire rain down on you from heaven. My prayer is for all to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, live a Christ-like life, and not become pillars of salt. Chose holiness over flesh.
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