Destruction of Sodom
141
while Heaven declares that swift destruction is about to come upon
the transgressor. On the night prior to their destruction, the cities of
the plain rioted in pleasure and derided the fears and warnings of the
messenger of God; but those scoffers perished in the flames; that very
night the door of mercy was forever closed to the wicked, careless
inhabitants of Sodom. God will not always be mocked; He will not
long be trifled with. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both
with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”
Isaiah 13:9
. The great mass of
the world will reject God’s mercy, and will be overwhelmed in swift
and irretrievable ruin. But those who heed the warning shall dwell “in
the secret place of the Most High,” and “abide under the shadow of
the Almighty.” His truth shall be their shield and buckler. For them
is the promise, “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My
salvation.”
Psalm 91:1, 4, 16
.
Lot dwelt but a short time in Zoar. Iniquity prevailed there as in
Sodom, and he feared to remain, lest the city should be destroyed. Not
long after, Zoar was consumed, as God had purposed. Lot made his
way to the mountains, and abode in a cave, stripped of all for which
he had dared to subject his family to the influences of a wicked city.
But the curse of Sodom followed him even here. The sinful conduct of
his daughters was the result of the evil associations of that vile place.
Its moral corruption had become so interwoven with their character
[168]
that they could not distinguish between good and evil. Lot’s only
posterity, the Moabites and Ammonites, were vile, idolatrous tribes,
rebels against God and bitter enemies of His people.
In how wide contrast to the life of Abraham was that of Lot! Once
they had been companions, worshiping at one altar, dwelling side by
side in their pilgrim tents; but how widely separated now! Lot had
chosen Sodom for its pleasure and profit. Leaving Abraham’s altar and
its daily sacrifice to the living God, he had permitted his children to
mingle with a corrupt and idolatrous people; yet he had retained in his
heart the fear of God, for he is declared in the Scriptures to have been
a “just” man; his righteous soul was vexed with the vile conversation
that greeted his ears daily and the violence and crime he was powerless
to prevent. He was saved at last as “a brand plucked out of the fire”
(
Zechariah 3:2
), yet stripped of his possessions, bereaved of his wife
and children, dwelling in caves, like the wild beasts, covered with