Lighting the Fires of Our Own Destruction

Pixabay

Those closest to me know that I am a "fan" of the murder, mayhem, and mass destruction genre of books and films. Perhaps that's what makes me more likely to look at stories like that which we find in Genesis 19 with the here-and-now in mind.

Lot offered his two virgin daughters to placate a gang of Sodomites pounding on his door. That was not enough for them—the name “Sodomy” comes from the medieval Latin “sodomia: and is implied in the story from Genesis 19. The men of Sodom wanted to “know” Lot’s visitors, and it wasn’t a cup of coffee and a doughnut they were after. 

Homosexual rape was what the Sodomites had in mind for Lot’s angelic messengers.

Small wonder that Lot’s daughters, already understanding how little value they had because of their father’s actions, and having grown up in such an immoral society, did not think twice about committing incest with their father.

Do you wonder why God would allow such a chapter to be preserved for us to read?

Perhaps because Sodom looks remarkably like _______________. The history books will tell you that the corruption of morals brought down more civilizations than we might be accurately able to count—and will bring ours down as well.

We know what happened to Sodom.

There was yet another alarming article in the newspaper this morning about global warming. The thought occurred (and I make no claims to know for sure if global warming is a portent of judgment to come) that one day the heavens will rain down fire, as they once poured down water in the days of Noah. One day fire will erupt from the earth in proportions never before known, just as springs of water burst forth from the earth in the days of Noah.

Sodom was destroyed by fire. And the Scriptures say that one day the earth will be destroyed in the same way (Luke 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; 2 Peter 3:7, 10-13; Revelation:8:5-8, 9:18).

Judgment.

I walked away from this meditation this morning, assigning it to my private journal. But rightly or wrongly, I couldn’t stay away.

If God is grieved (and He is, according to Genesis 6:6), by what He sees and knows of the society that we live in—one that looks and behaves more and more like the Sodom of old, then how can I, or anyone who knows Him, not grieve with Him?

And pray.

And warn.