Fire and Brimstone, Yet Swimming in Mercy

When Abraham graciously told Lot to take his choice of the land before him (Genesis 13:5-9), Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley (Plain of Siddim) was well watered.  Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was all like the garden of the Lord (Garden of Eden), like the land of Egypt, as you go toward Zoar.  Then Lot chose for himself the Jordan Valley and traveled east.  So they separated.  Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there (Genesis 13:10-12, Amplified Bible).  

Five cities nestled in a row, north to south, in this extremely lush area that Lot coveted - Sodom was the most northerly, then Gomorrah, followed by Zoar, Admah, and Zeboiim.  But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord (Genesis 13:13, Amp.). 

Because of his love for Lot, Abraham later rescued these 5 cities when they were sacked by Mesopotamian kings, bringing Lot and all the other captives back, along with all of the stolen goods (Genesis 14:1-24).   Twenty to twenty-six years later, when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord (the Son of God) and two angels (all in the form of men) appeared before Abraham.  The Lord told Abraham that he was going to destroy the Plain of Siddim "because the shriek [of the sins] of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is exceedingly grievous.....the cry of it which has come to Me" (Genesis 18:20-21, Amp.). 

Jude 7 (Amp.) says:  "...Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent towns... gave themselves over to impurity and indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity."  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah, in addition to Jewish texts and Rabbinic writings, expand the picture of the cry that reached heaven from these cities: lies, adultery, arrogance, blasphemy, and extreme torture of foreigners looking for refuge and those who would help them.  In spite of all this depravity, Abraham pled for mercy for all the inhabitants, if only ten righteous could be found.  But there were not even ten!

Truly, Lot made a TERRIBLE decision in choosing to allow earthly benefits to take precedence over the fact that his children would be brought up in such spiritual depravity!  Nevertheless, GOD WAS MERCIFUL to Lot!  The two angels warned Lot, "Whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place, for we will spoil and destroy, for the outcry and shriek against its people has grown great before the Lord, and He has sent us to destroy it!" (Genesis 19:12-13).  In the morning, the angels urged Lot to hurry out of the city with his wife and daughters.  BUT HE LINGERED.  So... "the men seized him and his wife and two daughters by the hand, for THE LORD WAS MERCIFUL TO HIM, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city...and said, Escape for your life!  Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in the whole valley; escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed (Genesis 19:16-17, Amp.).  Lot, however, begged to be allowed to escape to the "little" city of Zoar, which plea was granted.

"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of the heavens.  He overthrew, destroyed, and ended those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground" (Genesis 19:24-25).  Deuteronomy 29:23 and Hosea 11:8 make it clear that the cities of Admah and Zeboiim were included in the destruction.  Zoar, however, was spared, as Lot asked.

But, sadly, Lot's wife "looked back, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:26).  The Hebrew word here for "looked" means "to intentionally look with desire".  Her heart and allegiance were still back in the city, so she stopped running, and the destruction overtook her.  Abraham also "looked" at the burning city, but this Hebrew word indicates just the action of gazing.  Assuredly gazed with extreme horror, as "the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace" (Genesis 19:28), laying waste the valley that Lot had so much coveted (See Jesus words in Luke 17:32).

Archaeological surveys and excavations have identified five cities situated in a line (running north to south), southeast of the Dead Sea.  The Sodom cemetery was first discovered in the 1960's and then 4 other cities were uncovered in 1973-1979.   Zoar (formerly Bela), Admah (Feifa in Arabic), and Zeboiim (Khanazir in Arabic) have not yet been excavated.  Zoar is the only one of the five cities that did not undergo violent destruction.  It continued on for many years as a flourishing city.  

SODOM (Bab edh-Dhra) and GOMORRAH (Numeira) EXCAVATION.... (aish.com,Biblearchaeology)

·         A thick, spongy ash, ranging from 4 to 20 inches in depth and containing fragments of wooden roof beams, covers the entire area.

·         Numeira is the more well preserved of the two cities.  There, every room was covered in ash and burned debris.  Mud and brick detritus (from the collapse of the city's mud/brick structures) sometimes covered the ash.

·         There is evidence that both cities met their end at the same time.

·         There is also evidence of 2 obstructions about 20+ years apart.

·        Found in the excavations are clay figures of many goddesses, wooden staffs, sandals, reed baskets,   
        pottery, and jewelry, many with Mesopotamian influence.

·         Paleoethnobotany discoveries show wheat, barley, dates, plums, peaches, grapes, figs, almonds, olives, nuts, lentils, watermelon, chick peas, pumpkin, and flax seed in the excavations (verifying the original extensive fertility of the area).

Brimstone (gafrit in Hebrew), or sulfur, was likely a hydrocarbon called bitumen - a highly flammable substance naturally occurring in the Dead Sea area in pits.  All five cities were established parallel to a major plate boundary (or fault line) called the Dead Sea Rift.  The pressure caused by two large tectonic plates in this fault has created a number of past earthquakes in the area.  This same pressure also has the capability of forcing subterranean matter (such as bitumen) to the surface and up into the air.  Some geologists are suggesting that an earthquake along this fault line caused flammable bitumen to be spewed high into the air, ignite by lightening or some other source, and fall back on the four cities.   

25% of the water of the Dead Sea is salt or potash deposits, which is a concentration higher than any other lake in the world, and the Dead Sea has no fish or marine life.  However....scientists are now finding life in springs at the bottom of the Dead Sea!  (Job 38:16 talks about the springs of the sea, but scientists did not know springs existed under the sea until 1977 when hot springs were discovered in the Galapagos Rift.)

This historical account in Genesis of the five cities holds a number of thoughts for us to consider...

 1.  How and on what basis are we making our choices, our decisions - through prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit - or by what looks good in the world's eyes?  What voice are we listening to - the Holy Spirit - or our own flesh and pride desires?

2.  What are we "looking back on with desire" that God has clearly defined as "off limits" for us?

3.  Are there instances in our own life where God has pulled us by the hand and drug us away from temptation, possibly by allowing difficult circumstances in our lives?

Lord, thank You for Your continual redemptive works in our lives, drawing us into closer fellowship with You.  Thank You for Your ongoing mercy when the shriek of our own sins reaches Your ears!  Thank You for showing us, little by little, the absolute truth of Your Word.  Most of all, thank You that Your own blood has saved us from eternal fire and brimstone and instead guaranties us fellowship with You forever in a land where streets will be paved with gold, where every tear shall be wiped away, where death, pain, and suffering shall be no more, and where we shall see You - face to face!  Halleluiah!