LESSONs FROM THE PAST destructions
Most
times when preachers preach to their congregation about the coming wrath of
God, they scare them with the examples of the destruction of the earth by flood
in Noah’s days and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire in Abraham’s
time. This is done most times to make their members fear and quake and know
that God is a consuming fire. They go as far as saying things like “if He
didn’t spare the people then, He will not spare you now”
Well
I agree that God is a consuming fire and He is also the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. I know without the shadow of a doubt that He rained fire and brimstone
upon Sodom and Gomorrah and that He also destroyed the earth with flood in the
time of Noah. What I am not too sure of is whether a lion kills its own
children and eats them out of anger or whether a dragon spits fire on its own
children. I know that some animals eat their children out of extreme hunger but
not out of anger. One thing I know about our heavenly father God is this
statement which He made in the book of Isaiah
So the Lord answers, “Can a woman forget her own
baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child,
I will never forget you. {Isaiah 49:15 GNT}
God said He will not forget His Children. He
cannot destroy His children alongside the wicked. He has not forgotten that He
gave birth to us when we accepted Jesus Christ. He will have compassion on His
own children. Let’s see if in the destructions of the past, God destroyed the
righteous with the wicked.
That evening the
two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there,
and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed
with his face to the ground. 2 “My
lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the
night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just
spend the night out here in the city square.”
3 But Lot insisted,
so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete
with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. 4 But before they
retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over
the city and surrounded the house. 5 They shouted to
Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to
us so we can have sex with them!”
6 So Lot stepped
outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him.7 “Please,
my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two
virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you
wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under
my protection.”
9 “Stand back!”
they shouted. “This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting
like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they
lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
10 But the two
angels[a] reached out, pulled Lot into the house,
and bolted the door. 11 Then
they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so
they gave up trying to get inside.{Genesis 19:1-10 NLT}
Before God destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, He sent two angels to go and survey the land and see their
wickedness. These angels were also to rescue the righteous out of the city.
This is because God had said earlier to Abraham that if He could find ten
righteous people in the city then He would not destroy the land. He would be an
unjust God if He destroyed the righteous with the wicked. God however was
determine to destroy the land because their wickedness was great. It was
therefore necessary to remove the righteous from the land else they would be
destroyed alongside the wicked and God would have lied to Abraham. What most
preachers don’t mention when they preach their fire and brimstone message to
their congregation is this: God did not destroy the righteous with the wicked.
The righteous were taken out of the land first before God’s anger was poured
out on it. The righteous escaped God’s wrath.
12 Meanwhile, the
angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they
asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone
else. 13 For
we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is
so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent
us to destroy it.”
14 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.
15 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!”
16 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. 17 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!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!”
Lot begged. 19 “You
have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great
kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me
there, and I would soon die. 20 See,
there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see
how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”
21 “All right,” the
angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22 But hurry! Escape
to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that
village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
23 Lot reached the
village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. 24 Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from
the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25 He
utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain,
wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation.{Genesis 19:12-23 NLT}
Did you notice that the righteous were rescued
before the destruction? Even in Lot’s sluggishness and hesitation, the angels
held his hand and that of his wife and two daughters and rushed them out of the
city for safety. Verse sixteen says “for the Lord was merciful”
You will also notice that the angels said unto
lot “I will not destroy the little village. But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive
there.” You see people of God, God will not destroy the earth out of anger
until His children have escaped out of it. He will do no such thing to His own
children. We shall escape His wrath.
I believe that Lot was saved just
because of the relationship he had with Abraham. If there were other relatives
of Lot there in Sodom, they also would have been saved. I also think that if
Lot’s daughters were married, those men would also have escaped God’s wrath but
they died because of their lack of relationship with Lot and for their lack of
faith. God was ready to spare anyone’s life who was related to Abraham and had
faith. Lot’s wife on the other hand was rescued from God’s wrath by her faith
but later decided to look back to the land from which she was delivered. That
is how most Christians today look away from Christ who is able to save them
from God’s wrath and begin to look at how many laws they have been able to
obey. They get entangled again to what they’ve been rescued from. They look
back to the law instead of looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of their
faith.
So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that
you stay free, and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to
Jewish laws and ceremonies. 2 Listen to me, for this is serious: if you are counting on circumcision and keeping
the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you. 3 I’ll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor
with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish. 4 Christ is useless to you if you are counting on
clearing your debt to God by keeping those laws; you are lost from God’s
grace.{Galatians 5:1-5 TLB}
Lot’s wife refused to stay free, she was
delivered, but she turned back to be tied up again in the chains of slavery and
she became a pillar of salt. The bible says none of us should draw back and
return to depending on the law, else God will have no pleasure in us.
Thankfully, we are not of them that draw back to start depending on the law but
we are those who have faith and believe in Christ to save us. We do not shrink
backward like lot’s wife.
38 And
those whose faith has made them good in God’s sight must live by faith,
trusting him in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, God will have no
pleasure in them.
39 But we have never
turned our backs on God and sealed our fate. No, our faith in him assures our
souls’ salvation. {Hebrews 10:38-39 TLB}
Another lesson I want us to
learn from the past destructions is seen in the story of the flood in the days
of Noah. God did not just destroy the earth with flood without providing escape
for His people. He provided an ARK for His people. As many people who entered
that ark were rescued from God’s wrath.
Finally the day came when the Lord said to Noah,
“Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth,
I consider you alone to be righteous. {Genesis 7:1 TLB}
5 So
Noah did everything the Lord commanded him. 6 He
was 600 years old when the flood came. 7 He
boarded the boat with his wife and sons and their wives, to escape the flood. {Genesis 7:5 TLB}
10-12 One week later,
when Noah was 600 years, two months, and seventeen days old, the rain came down
in mighty torrents from the sky, and the subterranean waters burst forth upon
the earth for forty days and nights. 13 But Noah had gone
into the boat that very day with his wife and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth,
and their wives. 14-15 With
them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild—and
reptiles and birds of every sort.16 Two by two they
came, male and female, just as God had commanded. Then the Lord God[b] closed the door and shut them in.
17 For forty days
the roaring floods prevailed, covering the ground and lifting the boat high
above the earth. 18 As
the water rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely upon
it; 19 until finally the
water covered all the high mountains under the whole heaven, 20 standing
twenty-two feet and more above the highest peaks. 21 And all living
things upon the earth perished—birds, domestic and wild animals, and reptiles
and all mankind— 22 everything
that breathed and lived upon dry land. 23 All existence on
the earth was blotted out—man and animals alike, and reptiles and birds. God
destroyed them all, leaving only Noah alive, and those with him in the
boat.{Genesis 7:10-23 TLB}
You
will notice from the verses above that before God’s wrath was poured forth,
Noah and His family had entered the ark. God said to Him I have seen you alone
as righteous in all the earth. But He didn’t enter the ark alone, all that were
related to him entered the ark. One righteous man, eight people saved. His
wife, three children, and their wives were saved alongside with him. His
righteousness covered their unrighteousness as long as they have a relationship
with him. God saved them because of the righteousness of Noah. His life saved
all that were related to him. I want you to know people of God that no matter
how angry God gets with the wickedness of our present world, He will never
destroy the righteous with the wicked. For the sake of Christ we shall escape
God’s wrath. His righteousness is our righteousness and that covers us.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. {2Corinthians 5:21}
Once again you see an example of faith
displayed by Noah. The other people of Noah’s generation died because of their
lack of faith. They mocked Him and never believed that God would destroy the
earth.
As
the waters of the flood rose higher and higher above the ground, the ark
floated SAFELY upon it. No matter how turbulent the storms of life may be Jesus
walked upon the waters and can calm our storms. He is that ARK of safety. As
many that entered the ark were saved no matter the turbulence outside. They
floated safely in the ark. The whole earth was destroyed both man and beast and
every creeping thing but those who entered the ark were not moved. They escaped
God’s anger. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it
and they are saved. Jesus is that name, He is our ark of refuge.
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe. {Proverbs 18:10}
9 Much more then,
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. {Romans 5:9-10}
All who believe that the blood of Christ on the cross justified them, shall be saved from God's wrath.
All self-righteous people who seek to justify themselves by the law shall be left to face the judgement by themselves because they have looked back like Lot's wife.
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