Happy Riches, answers question from anonymous
When asking how does one such as myself justify what is written in Genesis 19:24, since I did not write it, I have no need to justify it; the same as I have no need to justify anything that is written in the Bible.
Now if I were asked to justify my reasons as to why I might accept the account to be true, this is another matter.
From what is written in the Bible, we learn that the text in question states:
- Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.(Genesis 19:24)
God Himself is the one who has to justify this. This is what the Bible informs us about the land where Sodom and Gomorrah were located:
- Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) (Genesis 13:10)
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities that had all the material wealth of the day and they appear to have had beautiful landscaped surrounds, lush and green. However, this is what the Bible states is the reason that the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah:
- Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
The sin of the people was grievous to the righteous Creator of the Universe. As the Judge of the inhabitants of His Creation, the righteous Creator could only make judgment according to His own principles of righteousness. These principles were in accordance to the integrity of His character. Those who do evil will reap the consequences and those who do right will be rewarded.
- The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. (Proverbs 10:11)
- They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. (Proverbs 4:17)
- The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. (Proverbs 11:5)
- The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. (Proverbs 3:33)
- The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of thewicked come to nothing. (Proverbs 10:28)
- And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. (Deuteronomy 31:18)
- Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you (Exodus 23:33)
- The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” (Exodus 32:33-34)
The same as happened in the days before Sodom was destroyed is actually happening today. Those who delight in the sins of Sodom are called progressives. Consideration of how they use violence, because people reject their perverted thinking, their desire for totalitarianism and their rejection of civil rights, is very instructive of what happened in the days of Sodom. History repeats itself. When people desire righteous living, these progressives insist the righteous must bow down to their perverted ways, and exert violence if their demands are not met. This is anathema to the Lord God, the righteous Judge of humankind, who has given every person freewill.
Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 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.”Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 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.”“Get out of our way,” they replied.“This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” (Genesis 19:4-9)
Interestingly, Jesus said that as it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be when He returns (Luke 17:28-30).
Can anyone justify violent oppression and suppression of rights? Maybe in the court of evildoers, but not in the court of the Righteous Judge, who judges all the inhabitants of Earth. For in the court of the only Righteous Judge, the wicked are held to account and the innocent are avenged. Each one is called to account in accordance to an absolute standard, and either punished or rewarded according to deeds done—even if salvation only comes by grace through faith in the Son of God.
- What the wicked dread will overtake them. (Proverbs 10:24)
- In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7)
Evidently, Sodom and Gomorrah were judged and the inhabitants received what they desired to do to others.
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