PART 4 - GENESIS 19:1-38 - JUST CAUSE! GAME OVER!
Genesis 19 reads like a VIDEO GAME. It opens with a powerful weapon in the arsenal - Abraham's prayer (Genesis 18:23-32) which provides firecover throughout the story. The two angels that come into town are the heroes on a RESCUE MISSION from HIGH COMMAND called "JUST CAUSE".
Here's how it plays out for SODOM AND GOMORRAH. The two angels are not hired by THE AGENCY but they are on a MISSION FROM GOD. And they are here to RESCUE Lot and his family and DESTROY the city. Along the way they will BLIND a marauding mob, and then they will DESTROY Sodom with firepower that can only be described as volcanic. In the EXPLOSIVE BEDLAM that takes place, the question is "WILL LOT AND HIS FAMILY ESCAPE?"
The angels are doing their thing and the whole town is IGNITING like an errupting fuel dump, DETONATING everything around them as the city is TORCHED and panic is the order of the day.
If this was a video game of "JUST CAUSE" these angels would be racking up the POINTS as an enormous amount of devastation obliterates everything in sight. The official orders are "civilian casualties are regrettable but sanctioned. In fact neuk the whole town!" (my translation) as hot lead (fire and brimstone) rains down on Sodom. This is not DIGITAL CHAOS but the real deal. And the judgment of God is NO VIDEO GAME!
9/11 for Sodom and Gomorrah! A Terrorist attack? No! A terrifying example of the judgment of God. Jude 1:7 (NLT) says "Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God's judgment."
EARTHQUAKE, VOLCANIC ERUPTION, SULPHURIC GASES, ASHES, UPHEAVAL, DESTRUCTION, CATASTROPHE!
2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."
Why would a loving God rain down fire and burning sulphur from the sky on SODOM? Perhaps a better question is "Why does He NOT rain down fire and burning sulphur on SYDNEY?" Or any city for that matter? I would. Turn a few politicians and anyone else who I feel deserves it into PILLARS OF SALT! If God was FAIR according to our standards we wouldn't be here. Lot's wife pits herself against God's ABSOLUTE JUSTICE and loses. PILLAR OF SALT! GAME OVER!
Why did the angels go to all the trouble of bringing them out of Sodom if Lot's wife was going to become a pillar of salt? Lot's wife runs out of chances! ONLY ONE LIFE in this game. Hebrews 9:27 (NLT) says "...each person is destined to DIE ONCE and after that comes JUDGMENT"
Jesus said in Luke 17:32-33 (NLT) "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." It seems Lot's wife was trying to cling onto her old way of life in Sodom, lagging behind. IT ONLY TOOK A SPLIT SECOND! MINERALISED! GAME OVER! NO MORE CHANCES!
When Jesus speaks of His return He says in Luke 17:28-30 (NLT) that "the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business-eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building-until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual' right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
God bless you Church as you trust in Christ who like angels of old also came on a mission from God to rescue us from Judgment.
John 3:16-18 (NLT) "For God loved the world so much that He gave His One and only Son, so that everyone who BELIEVES IN HIM will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to SAVE THE WORLD through Him. "There is NO JUDGMENT against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has ALREADY BEEN JUDGED for not believing in God's One and only Son."
Pastor Ross
