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Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? continued…

THE OUTCRY!

In Genesis 19:13 the angels said:
“The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” NIV

In Genesis 18:20 the Lord said:
“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous NIV

The OUTCRY from whom?

Well, first let’s look at what sort of an outcry it is and then maybe we can deduce who. Looking at Genesis 19:13 & Genesis 18:20 there was a GREAT outcry AGAINST the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Who would be GREATLY AGAINST the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Earlier in Genesis chapter 4 there was a similar outcry in a different setting. Cain had just killed his brother Abel and the Lord had heard the outcry. In Genesis 4:10 the LORD said to Cain, What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. NIV Abel’s blood was crying out or OUTCRYING from the ground. In both Genesis 4 and Genesis 18 & 19 there was a righteous OUTCRYING. In Genesis 4 the righteous OUTCRYING was from the blood of Abel.

2 Peter 2:7-8 gives us another clue as to who was OUTCRYING against Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter 2:7-8 the Bible says: 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— NIV. From this, I believe, in Genesis 18 & 19, the GREAT OUTCRYING AGAINST Sodom and Gomorrah was from Lot.

Thought:
How different is the culture of Lot’s day to the culture of our day? Are we ‘tormented in our righteous souls by the lawless deeds of men’ or have we been seduced into embracing parts of this present culture? In other words, can we see through this present culture that we live in, or have we accepted a compromised life and sin and/or complacency and/or apathy has crept in? These questions aren’t pointing the finger. I can see a numbing of my soul and spirit to the sin of this world. I want to explore this further in Part 3.

(to be continued)

Blessings

Steve

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The Lord has had me thinking and praying about Genesis 19 for a number of weeks now. Do you ever spend an extended period of time on just one passage? – I’d highly recommend it! Anyways, here’s some of the passage. I’ve rated this M for Mature audiences…

Genesis 19
19:1 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. 2 “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.”
3 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. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house. 5 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.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “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.

Quick Thoughts:

v5) WHY do these men want to have sex with the angels?

v8 ) So, having sex with his daughters isn’t a wicked thing??? What’s going on here!

v9) I thought this verse was interesting, particularly the words ‘he wants to play the judge’ . Isn’t this the typical response from someone that is confronted with their sin!

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 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.
12 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, 13 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.”

Further Thoughts:

So WHY do these men want to have sex with the angels? It’s fairly obvious, but let’s explore it a little. I believe these men wanted to have sex with the angels because SIN IS CORRUPTING. Sin is not satisfied with corrupting individuals, there is an insatiable need for sin to corrupt others. These men wanted to corrupt and defile the angels. Remember Adam and Eve or Eve and Adam: Genesis 3:6b she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. NIV Sin insatiably defiles! If someone is living in sin they corrupt and defile themselves and their sinful position will want to corrupt and defile others. WATCH OUT! If there is someone living in sin around you they are going to want to drag you into their sin as well!

Here’s a side issue, why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Why didn’t he have a bit more mercy? Well, read Genesis 18. Clearly God was open to be merciful. But here’s the problem, let’s go to Romans 1:24-28:
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. NIV

The key verse here is verse 28 ‘He gave them over to a depraved mind’. This is very serious. A person can get themselves so deliberately entwined with sin that God gives them over to a depraved mind – ie: their hearing God and their hearing their conscience is Spiritually dead!

This post is getting a little long, stick around for part 2.

Blessings

Steve

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In Ezekiel 37:1-10 the Lord brought Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones…
37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army. NIV

Thoughts:

Do you feel your faith is a little dry at the moment? What is the missing ingredient? YES! The breath of God – the Holy Spirit! God can turn those dry bones or that dry faith into a living faith and a living hope through His breath.

Consider v9 ‘breathe into these slain’ – the bones are those who have been slain in a previous battle. Is Satan trying to take you out? Have you allowed yourself to be sidelined or ‘slain’ by a person or situation? The breath of God can bring you back to life!

Here’s a final thought.

What a tremendous transformation! Dry bones to a vast army! God is willing and able to do this! He is the only one who can transform you (His church) into the vast army He calls you to be. Have you been trying to do things in your own strength? Invite God to breathe on you through His Holy Spirit today.

Blessings

Steve

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