Genesis Chapters 18 and 19 Sodom and Gomorrah

1. Genesis Chapters 18 and 19 Sodom and Gomorrah

2. “The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. Suddenly the LORD rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land. But Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:23-26 – GN)

3. “Where was God? He was in the winds of Katrina. Just as He came against Sodom and Gomorrah, it was God who came against this American Sodom and Gomorrah, New Orleans.” – Ken Kemble

4. Jesus, God of the Old Testament • “I want you to remember, my friends, what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the protection of the cloud, and all passed safely through the Red Sea. In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as followers of Moses. All ate the same spiritual bread and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4 – GN)

6. “The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Keep the loot, but give me back all my people.’ Abram answered, ‘I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth, that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, I am the one who made Abram rich. I will take nothing for myself.” (Genesis 14:21-24 – GN)

7. “And the LORD said to himself, ‘I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do….’ Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true.’ Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham.” (Genesis 18:17-22 – GN)

8. “Abraham approached the LORD and asked, ‘Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won’t you spare it in order to save the fifty? Surely you won’t kill the innocent with the guilty. That’s impossible! You can’t do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly.’ The LORD answered, ‘If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake….I will not destroy it if there are ten’” (Genesis 18:23-26,32 – GN)

9. What was the “best” that came out of Sodom and Gomorrah? • Lot and his two daughters • Moabites and Ammonites • Molech

10. “Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were there. They called out to Lot and asked, ‘Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us!’ The men of Sodom wanted to have sex with them. Lot went outside and closed the door behind him. He said to them, ‘Friends, I beg you, don't do such a wicked thing! Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don't do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them.’ But they said, ‘Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will treat you worse than them.’

11. They pushed Lot back and moved up to break down the door. But the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house, and shut the door. Then they struck all the men outside with blindness, so that they couldn't find the door. The two men said to Lot, ‘If you have anyone else here---sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the city---get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The LORD has heard the terrible accusations against these people and has sent us to destroy Sodom.’” (Genesis 19:4-13 – GN)

12. So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking. At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!” When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” (Genesis 19:14-17)

13. “The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. Suddenly the LORD rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land. But Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:23-26 – GN)

14. “This is what your sister Sodom has done wrong. • She and her daughters were proud that they had plenty of food and had peace and security. They didn’t help the poor and the needy. They were arrogant and did disgusting things in front of me. So I did away with them when I saw this….

15. Samaria didn't commit half the sins you did. You have done many more disgusting things than they ever did. Because of all the disgusting things that you have done, you make your sisters look innocent. You will have to suffer disgrace because you accused your sisters. Yet, your sins are more disgusting than theirs. They look like they are innocent compared to you. Be ashamed of yourself and suffer disgrace, because you have made your sisters look like they are innocent. I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and Samaria and her daughters. I will also restore your fortune along with theirs.” (Ezekiel 16:48-53) 

16. Richmond High School

17. “Will gawkers go free?” • “For two hours they watched the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance. They pointed. They laughed. They took pictures, say investigators. But no one among the approximately two dozen gawkers called the police. Now it is looking like they might not face any criminal responsibility, even after four teens, so far, face up to life in prison for the rape. It is a crime in California to fail to report a crime against a child…But the bill only applies to victims who are 14 or younger. The victim in the Richmond gang rape case is 15.”

18. “She and her daughters were proud that they had plenty of food and had peace and security. They didn’t help the poor and the needy.”

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20. Punishment based on the severity? • Uzzah? • Annanias and Sapphira? • “But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14)

21. “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? No, you will go down to hell! If the miracles that had been worked in you had been worked in Sodom, it would still be there today. I can guarantee that judgment day will be better for Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:23-24) 

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23. A protective action on God’s part under a very unusual and desperate circumstance. There simply was no other way to keep the world from falling back into complete rebellion (pre-flood).

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25. “God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them.” (2 Peter 2:6 GW)

26. “And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.” (Jude 1:7-8) 

27. “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 – NIV)

28. Sulfur (“brimstone”) • Greek: “thion,” the neutered form of "thios," which means: • Divine, divinity, godhead • Theology (to study the divine) • Can more accurately be translated “divine incense” or “holy fire.”

29. “Because the LORD your God is like a flaming fire.” (Daniel 4:24 – GN) • “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29 – GN)

31. “The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai…And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.” (Exodus 24:16-17 – GN)

32. “But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live.” (Exodus 33:20 – NLT)

33. “Whenever Moses went into the Tent of the LORD’s presence to speak to the LORD, he would take the veil off. When he came out, he would tell the people of Israel everything that he had been commanded to say, and they would see that his face was shining. Then he would put the veil back on until the next time he went to speak with the LORD.” (Exodus 34:34-35 – GN)

34. “Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu…disobeyed the LORD by burning before Him the wrong kind of fire…So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD…Then Moses called for…Aaron’s cousins…He said to them, ‘Come forward and carry away the bodies of your relatives from in front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.’”

35. “So they came forward and picked them up by their garments and carried them out of the camp, just as Moses had commanded.” (Leviticus 10:1-5 – NLT)

36. “I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.” (Ezekiel 28:14 – NLT) • “You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching” (Ezekiel 28:18, NLT).

37. “…I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple. Around him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. They were calling out to each other: ‘Holy, holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world.’ The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself became filled with smoke. I said, ‘There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’ Then one of the creatures flew down to me, carrying a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.” (Isaiah 6:4-6 – GN)

38. “He touched my lips with the burning coal and said, ‘This has touched your lips, and now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven.’ Then I heard the Lord say, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘I will go! Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:7-8 – GN)

39. “As wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in his presence. But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence; they are happy and shout for joy.” (Psalms 68:2 – GN)

40. “The LORD Almighty says, ‘The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them. But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun’s rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.” (Malachi 4:1-2 – GN)

41. “But the LORD says, ‘Now I will do something and be greatly praised. Your deeds are straw that will be set on fire by your very own breath. You will be burned to ashes like thorns in a fire. Everyone, both far and near, come look at what I have done. See my mighty power!’ The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: ‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’ He who walks righteously and speaks what is right…” (Isaiah 33:11-15 – CEV)

42. “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11 – NIV)

43. “…the sea of glass mixed with fire” (Revelation 22:4).

44. “This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is ‘alienated from the life of God.’ Christ says, ‘All they that hate Me love death.’ Ephesians 4:18; Proverbs 8:36. God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.” (DA 764)

45. “In future generations your descendants and foreigners from distant lands will see the disasters and sufferings that the LORD has brought on your land. The fields will be a barren waste, covered with sulfur and salt; nothing will be planted, and not even weeds will grow there. Your land will be like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim...' There are some things that the LORD our God has kept secret; but he has revealed his Law, and we and our descendants are to obey it forever.” (Deuteronomy 29:22-29)

46. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15 – KJV)

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48. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.” (Hosea 11:8-9)

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50. “The LORD was angry at Israel again, and he made David think it would be a good idea to count the people in Israel and Judah.” (2 Samuel 24:1 - CEV). • “Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census” (1 Chronicles 21:1 - GN).