{"id":71983,"date":"2025-01-17T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=71983"},"modified":"2025-01-21T10:47:44","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T15:47:44","slug":"judgment-on-sodom-and-gomorra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/judgment-on-sodom-and-gomorra\/","title":{"rendered":"Judgment on Sodom and Gomorra"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As I read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, I couldn\u2019t help but think of Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King<\/em>. Toward the conclusion of the film adaptation, we see the Pelennor Fields lying in smoky ruins after battle. It\u2019s a scene of utter and complete destruction. I remember watching this scene for the first time, wondering as the camera panned out if there\u2019d be a familiar character still alive among the wreckage. I wanted to see a remnant of the good guys, to know that mercy had been shown to at least one person. Or hobbit. Or elf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us hear words like grace<\/em> and mercy<\/em> and immediately jump to Jesus and the New Testament. But since we know that Christ is \u201cthe exact expression\u201d of God\u2019s nature (Hebrews 1:3), it won\u2019t do to assume that in the Old Testament God is any less gracious or merciful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s mercy is not hard to find in the Old Testament. It\u2019s woven throughout the book of Genesis like a flowering vine, connecting the stories and events to God\u2019s promise to redeem. Even when people continued to make bad decisions that brought about their own demise or widespread catastrophe, God still desired for people to be saved (2Peter 3:9). We see the ultimate display of God\u2019s mercy in His Son, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:5); through the power of His resurrection, there is healing for the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During His exchange with Abraham, God listened to Abraham\u2019s plea and gave the people a chance. \u201cThe LORD said, \u2018If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake\u2019\u201d (Genesis 18:26). They continued to talk, and that number of fifty was reduced to only ten (v.32). But sadly not even ten could be found. God still saved Lot\u2014Abraham\u2019s nephew, the familiar face Abraham knew and loved. God\u2019s mercy is always there and greater than we expect, even when most people reject it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without Christ, it\u2019s our own hearts that resemble that plain of smoking ruins. Even after receiving the Holy Spirit, we still wrestle with sin. We routinely choose to submit to our own will instead of the Spirit. Our sins may not seem as flagrant as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, but we are all sinners in need of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallelujah! Christ has broken the curse of sin and death. Even now, Christ\u2014the exact expression of the Old Testament God with whom Abraham pleaded with\u2014invites us to accept the gift of eternal life. He is for us, and His mercy is greater than we think. Remembering this, may we echo Abraham\u2019s plea for the redemption of our own hearts, our city, and our world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, I couldn\u2019t help but think of Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Toward the conclusion of the film adaptation, we see the Pelennor Fields lying in smoky ruins after battle. It\u2019s a scene of utter and complete destruction. I remember watching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":71766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71878],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"JUDGMENT ON SODOM AND GOMORRAH<\/b>

\r\nby Bailey Gillespie<\/i>

\r\n

As I read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, I couldn\u2019t help but think of Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King<\/i>. Toward the conclusion of the film adaptation, we see the Pelennor Fields lying in smoky ruins after battle. It\u2019s a scene of utter and complete destruction. I remember watching this scene for the first time, wondering as the camera panned out if there\u2019d be a familiar character still alive among the wreckage. I wanted to see a remnant of the good guys, to know that mercy had been shown to at least one person. Or hobbit. Or elf.<\/p>
\r\n

Many of us hear words like grace<\/i> and mercy<\/i> and immediately jump to Jesus and the New Testament. But since we know that Christ is \u201cthe exact expression\u201d of God\u2019s nature (Hebrews 1:3), it won\u2019t do to assume that in the Old Testament God is any less gracious or merciful.<\/p>
\r\n

God\u2019s mercy is not hard to find in the Old Testament. It\u2019s woven throughout the book of Genesis like a flowering vine, connecting the stories and events to God\u2019s promise to redeem. Even when people continued to make bad decisions that brought about their own demise or widespread catastrophe, God still desired for people to be saved (2Peter 3:9). We see the ultimate display of God\u2019s mercy in His Son, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:5); through the power of His resurrection, there is healing for the world.<\/p>
\r\n

During His exchange with Abraham, God listened to Abraham\u2019s plea and gave the people a chance. \u201cThe LORD said, \u2018If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake\u2019\u201d (Genesis 18:26). They continued to talk, and that number of fifty was reduced to only ten (v.32). But sadly not even ten could be found. God still saved Lot\u2014Abraham\u2019s nephew, the familiar face Abraham knew and loved. God\u2019s mercy is always there and greater than we expect, even when most people reject it.<\/p>
\r\n

Without Christ, it\u2019s our own hearts that resemble that plain of smoking ruins. Even after receiving the Holy Spirit, we still wrestle with sin. We routinely choose to submit to our own will instead of the Spirit. Our sins may not seem as flagrant as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, but we are all sinners in need of grace.<\/p>
\r\n

Hallelujah! Christ has broken the curse of sin and death. Even now, Christ\u2014the exact expression of the Old Testament God with whom Abraham pleaded with\u2014invites us to accept the gift of eternal life. He is for us, and His mercy is greater than we think. Remembering this, may we echo Abraham\u2019s plea for the redemption of our own hearts, our city, and our world.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"12","scripture":"Genesis 18:22-33, Genesis 19:1-38, Ezekiel 16:49-50, Romans 1:18-25","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}