Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

THE CRIES OF THE CITIES

This entry was posted on 02-16-2010 and is filed under STUDIES IN GENESIS.

In my travels, both domestic and international, I have flown into many cities. As the plane begins its descent to the airport I often close my book and look down on the thousands of rooftops below. I wonder what is going on in those houses below me. How many wives are being beaten, how many children are being abused, how many children are being told they are no good? Morbid thoughts? I guess so. But God knows the answers to all those questions. He sees all and knows all. Nothing escapes His attention. He hears the cries of the abused.

Case in point? The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Then the LORD said, 'The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out'" (Gen. 18:21 CSB). It must have been awful in those wicked cities. It is a sin so serious and grievous that we have a word in our dictionary today to describe it ~ "sodomy." While some engaged in it for perverted pleasure, others (innocent travelers seeking lodging?) may have been victims of this grievous sin. Their cries reached all the way to heaven. In essence God said to Himself, "This is unbelievable! This is so rotten I am going to have to go down and investigate for Myself." What He saw sickened Him, so much so that He declared He would destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. At this point Abraham intercedes for the cities (probably because his nephew Lot and his family was now living in Sodom). But Sodom was so wicked that not even ten righteous people could be found. Genesis 19 records the divine destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground" (Gen. 19:24, 25 ESV). The devastation was so great that nothing grows there today. The utter destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah reminds us that God takes sin seriously. He sees all , He hears all, He knows all, and He will deal with all. Only those who are righteous in His sight will be delivered from Destruction II, coming soon, sooner than we may think.

Prayer: Holy Father, hear our prayers today. Find in us the righteousness of Christ that will prepare us for that great day of judgment. May we be found in Him, faultless to stand before Your throne.