Why Sodom Was Destroyed as Punishment by God Himself
Photo by Michael Held
God acts in a certain way for a cause, which even explains the reason why Sodom was destroyed and turned to rubble.
Wayman Jackson, author of The Sword of the Spirit: City on the Brink, retells the tale with excellent storytelling. In his book, Christ’s work did not end when he delivered young Hezekiah from a horrific fate. But Sodom remains the same with a new twist and question: Can Hezekiah triumph and preserve the souls of its residents before the city’s anticipated demise?
But today, we’ll discuss the original story in the Bible and why God chose to transform the city into ruins.
The Happenings That Took Place in Sodom
Chapters eighteen and nineteen of Genesis provide the whole story of what occurred to the twin towns of Sodom and Gomorrah, with a previous summary in chapter thirteen. Abraham and his nephew Lot traveled a great distance together. Although both men were successful, there was tension between their shepherds. They had to end their travels.
This territory surrounded Sodom. Lot finally moved in and reared his family in the city, even though he initially wanted to live nearby. After a while, God finally made up His mind to punish the towns for their immorality.
Abraham bargained with God, promising not to destroy the cities if he could locate ten virtuous persons in each of the two cities. Abraham, however, was unable to find that many people. This makes Lot and his family were going to be the only ones saved.
As the sun rose and the appointed hour arrived, the Lord descended fire and sulfur from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God created an inhospitable valley out of the former city. There is still no fauna in the region that Christian theologians and archaeologists consider to be the exact spot of the towns.
Why Did God Demolish the City of Sodom?
Chapter Thirteen contains clues regarding the nature of Sodom and Gomorrah’s misdeeds. When the Lord first spoke about His choice, He explained that it was due to a lot of uproar against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their serious transgression. He said that he would descend to see if they’d completed the task in accordance with the cry that He heard. He’ll know if they didn’t.
Why Sodom was destroyed wasn’t just because they were committing offenses against God. The main reason is that they were causing harm to the nearby cities and people. The Bible frequently refers to Sodom and Gomorrah’s immorality. This indicates that its people were fixated on committing bodily misdeeds.
The majority of people are aware of their sexual transgressions, but they likely committed numerous other carnal sins as well. Wayman Jackson’s The Sword of the Spirit: City on the Brink tells a fantastic rendition of this story. It’s the best explanation of why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
What was God’s Reason for Saving Lot’s Family?
Abraham was unwilling to witness his nephew Lot destroyed because he loved him. There is proof that God saved Lot for reasons other than the one many believe was due to his uncle’s involvement.
The Apostle Peter explains in the New Testament why God spared Lot but destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot was troubled by all he perceived to be evil. Living among the wicked, he was troubled by their actions and made an effort to protect God’s messengers from harm.
Lot’s wife did not survive, but God saved Lot because of his faith.
Is God Too Cruel for Destroying an Entire City?
God did not simply turn a blind eye and determine that Sodom and Gomorrah were unworthy of his love. They persisted in their wrongdoing and refused to repent and turn to the Lord. They referred to Lot as judgmental and even attempted to physically harm him when he tried to persuade them to act morally only once.
Why Sodom Was Destroyed Is Completely Justifiable
God does not make any mistakes with his decisions, which makes His call the right one. Wickedness will never reign because God will never allow evil to rule the world.
In Wayman Jackson’s The Sword of the Spirit: City on the Brink, God doesn’t directly act but sends Hezekiah. Find out what happens to him and if he succeeds with the mission by purchasing a copy of the book today.
Check out our other blog posts and learn more about God, Adam, Eve, and Satan!
Blog Contributor
The Breath of New Life: Having A Second Chance At Life
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
Sometimes, we forget who truly matters to us unless we catch a breath of new life.
Not everyone is lucky to have a second chance at life. Most of us only think about what we have to do – all our requirements and the things that suck us into the never ending realities of life.
Whether we read a book about Hezekiah’s mission to save Sodom or miraculous stories of how people have come back to life after a coma, having a second chance at life is very intriguing. It makes us wonder what could make somebody worthy of that. Most of the time, when we think about a second chance in life, it is not just a rebirth of ourselves, but we become more at one with what truly matters to us in this world, and why we must drive to continue on.
What does it mean to catch a breath of new life?
Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Most of us think that catching a breath of new life necessarily means that we have to flatline like those in the movies and then become instantly resurrected. We think that this concept of being resurrected from the dead would somehow give people the ability to be more aware of what is happening around them and what they truly want to accomplish in this world. However, this is not entirely the case when you want to have a second chance at life.
Catching a breath of new life does not necessarily mean that you have to die or experience something life-threatening, but it is a personal choice of changing your life into one that is filled with your advocacies and what you believe in. Examples of these are how some people have hit rock bottom, achieved some level of bankruptcy, and decided that they wanted to turn their life around into a new one. Stories like these remind us that we do not have to experience something immediately life-threatening for us to make a difference in our lives.
When we decide to catch a breath of new life, it means that this is a personal choice, and we have the power to will our own abilities and passions into the life we want to live.
How do we turn our life around and get a second chance at life?
Reflect on yourself right now.
What are you doing right now? Is this something that you are happy about, something that drives you, or something that is so morally good that it can uplift the lives of others? This means you must evaluate your intentions and what you want to achieve in your own life. After doing this, you have to compare it to the life that you have now. Are you actively doing something towards it, or have you strayed from that past because you got distracted over things that do not matter?
Some of the best ways to discern and reflect are through prayer. Prayer is a powerful tool for helping us know what is truly in our hearts and whether it adheres to God’s Will. It also helps us overcome the temptation to just let it be or continue living the unhappy or unfulfilling life we are currently living.
Understand how to incorporate your passions into your life.
After reflecting on your current life, you must know your passions. Is it helping others, building a family, or starting a sustainable, eco-friendly business? What your passion is depends from person to person on what they find more important and what their interests are. Knowing what works for you is crucial because your passion allows you to discover your breath of new life, changes your perspective on things, and makes experiences like going through different struggles when opening up a new business more worthwhile, meaning less like work and more like play.
Now, some people struggle to find time for their passions because their jobs often don’t match their passions in life. However, it is also very unrealistic to say that we must give up our jobs in order to pursue something we are passionate about because we need a stable source of income to buy food and meet our basic needs.
The way to remedy this is to find a specific time of the week to incorporate your passions. Now, you might think that this is something unrealistic because not everyone has the time. This is true; however, instead of asking yourself if you have the time, decide that you will make the time because it is something that is important to you. We all have a limited amount of time to do everything we need to do in a day, but when we actively choose to prioritize something that seems essential to us, we can free ourselves of this mindset.
Cherish what you have.
Sometimes, we are so focused on the things that we do not have that we forget about the things that we have that we should be grateful for. Cherishing what we have by using them adequately and being grateful to the people or experiences around us plays a big role in creating a better perspective on catching a breath of new life.
Moreover, when we read books and stories depicting how people have a second chance of life, to fight the battles that they were unable to do before, and see the bigger picture of what life truly is, we come to realize that it is important to ground ourselves in what we find important and to be grateful of the things that we currently have. Want to read a fictional book about someone who took his second chance at life to fight the darker forces of evil in our world? Read The Sword of the Spirit: City on the Brink now!