Sodom and Gomorrah are two well known
places in the Bible. Sodom was the place where Lot, Abraham's brother,
initially choose to dwell. Regarding the area, Genesis 13:10 tells us that it
was "well watered everywhere ......... like the garden of the Lord".
Evidently, it was a very rich and fertile land. Its people were probably
wealthy and their welfare level was high relative to other areas. They did not
have food or water shortages as their land was fertile and well watered. It was
these characteristics that attracted Lot and made him to choose this place to
dwell. As Genesis 13:10 tells us: Lot "lifted his eyes and saw",
making his choice according to what he saw. However, what we may see by
"lifting our eyes", though may look excellent, it may not be what the
Lord sees with His own eyes (I Samuel 16:7). And really, what Lot saw, was
greatly different of what the Lord saw by looking into the hearts. Really, in
Genesis 13:13 we read:
Genesis 13:13
"But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the
Lord"
Though what the Lot saw was an excessively fertile
land, what the Lord saw was an excessively dirty heart. As He says in Genesis
18:20:
Genesis 18:20
"Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their
sin is very grave"
At the end, after the Lord saved Lot, He destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah. When Lot was leaving Sodom, the advice of the Lord was the
exact opposite of what he had done in the beginning:
Genesis 19:17
"so it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he [the
angel of the Lord] said, "Escape for your life! DO NOT LOOK
BEHIND..."
When Lot choose Sodom as his dwelling place, he made
his choice after he "lifted his eyes and saw". Now he was to flee and
"never look behind". After Lot left, the Lord destroyed the area.
However, what was the sin of Sodom? Ezekiel 16:49-50
tells us what the Lord saw:
Ezekiel 16:49-50
"Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughter
HAD PRIDE, FULNESS OF FOOD, AND ABUNDANCE OF IDLENESS; neither did she
strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed
abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit"
It impressed me greatly when I saw that "fullness
of food and abundance of idleness [rest]" were, together with pride, among
the things that composed "the iniquity of Sodom"1. And though pride
is generally rejected, at least outwardly, this does not happen with the other
two: the fullness of food and the abundance of rest. In contrast, these are
many times considered, even by Christians, as aims. Of course we do not say that
we should be weary and hungry. What we say though is that fullness of food and
abundance of rest, in contrast to what the world says: ARE NOT things we should
pursue after. In contrast, what we should pursue is the Lord, His Word and His
purposes. The center and the purpose of our life is not idleness and riches but
to do the will of God. To know and make known the Father and His wonderful Son
the Lord Jesus Christ. As Sodom ceased to exist, this world will also one day
cease to exist. And as the Lord took Lot out of that place and then He
destroyed it, so also He will take us out of this world, before He does the
same to it.
Let's us therefore be ready and watchful. The Lord is
coming. And "as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they
bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out
of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even
so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed..... ....Remember
Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his
life will preserve it." (Luke 17:28-33).