When I think of Sodom I think of how complete God’s judgment is. So complete in fact that there still isn’t anything in the area of the cities that were destroyed by angels as God commanded. Although now people buy the famous minerals in salts and lotions that were the byproduct of the atomic type destruction those cities faced. Somehow though, it has become fashionable for people to deny that God would do something like that today.
I think God does punish individuals as well as nations that are disobedient to him. I was once in a church where a pastor went to Israel with other evangelical leaders to meet with Israeli government officials on the mission of convincing Israel to give up part of their land to the Palestinians. Pryor to his trip he did not publicly tell the congregation as there would have been an outcry but instead he spoke about it after his return. Even to the end that he mentioned someone else who went with him. Now understanding that this pastor received a number of calls from the President of the United States, I recognized this was not a small matter. This was our government using Christians to bully Israel. Within a few months of that trip the pastor had a personal cataclysm that sent shock waves throughout the country. His personal destruction was due to his own personal sin, however going against God’s nation, Israel, cost him big. The individual that accompanied him also suffered a personal cataclysm due to his own personal sin and then going against God. One of the Israeli officials from that meeting had a terrible turn in health shortly after. I think many individuals have personal sin but when an individual goes against the apple of God’s eye, God will put a stop to them. Think of it this way, God doesn’t really need us as much as we need him. Israel brought forth the Messiah, and it has always been a rough road for them. We explored the plan of salvation from Genesis chapter 5 in bible codes, equal distance lettering, in a previous blog. It has been God’s plan from the fall to rescue mankind. Israel is God’s plan and we have to respect God’s opinions on Israel.
As we will see, the cities that God destroyed did not only harm themselves, but Abraham’s faithful servant Eleazar (who saved Abraham from Nimrod after Nimrod’s dream) went to Sodom to check on Lot at Sarah’s request. We remember Abraham extended kindness to Sodom but they continued to behave horribly. Remember last week we saw how the people had quarterly orgies, men women and children all participated. We also saw how cruel they were to travelers. But there is more that they did.
Jasher 18:18 And there was a man from the country of Elam who was leisurely going on the road, seated upon his ass, which carried a fine mantle of divers colors, and the mantle was bound with a cord upon the ass.19 And the man was on his journey passing through the street of Sodom when the sun set in the evening, and he remained there in order to abide during the night, but no one would let him into his house; and at that time there was in Sodom a wicked and mischievous man, one skillful to do evil, and his name was Hedad.20 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the street of the city, and he came to him and said, Whence comest thou and whither dost thou go?21 And the man said to him, I am traveling from Hebron to Elam where I belong, and as I passed the sun set and no one would suffer me to enter his house, though I had bread and water and also straw and provender for my ass, and am short of nothing.22 And Hedad answered and said to him, All that thou shalt want shall be supplied by me, but in the street thou shalt not abide all night.23 And Hedad brought him to his house, and he took off the mantle from the ass with the cord, and brought them to his house, and he gave the ass straw and provender whilst the traveler ate and drank in Hedad's house, and he abode there that night.24 And in the morning the traveler rose up early to continue his journey, when Hedad said to him, Wait, comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and the man did so; and he remained with him, and they both ate and drank together during the day, when the man rose up to go.25 And Hedad said to him, Behold now the day is declining, thou hadst better remain all night that thy heart may be comforted; and he pressed him so that he tarried there all night, and on the second day he rose up early to go away, when Hedad pressed him, saying, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and he remained and ate with him also the second day, and then the man rose up to continue his journey.26 And Hedad said to him, Behold now the day is declining, remain with me to comfort thy heart and in the morning rise up early and go thy way.27 And the man would not remain, but rose and saddled his ass, and whilst he was saddling his ass the wife of Hedad said to her husband, Behold this man has remained with us for two days eating and drinking and he has given us nothing, and now shall he go away from us without giving anything? and Hedad said to her, Be silent.28 And the man saddled his ass to go, and he asked Hedad to give him the cord and mantle to tie it upon the ass.29 And Hedad said to him, What sayest thou? And he said to him, That thou my lord shalt give me the cord and the mantle made with divers colors which thou didst conceal with thee in thy house to take care of it.30 And Hedad answered the man, saying, This is the interpretation of thy dream, the cord which thou didst see, means that thy life will be lengthened out like a cord, and having seen the mantle colored with all sorts of colors, means that thou shalt have a vineyard in which thou wilt plant trees of all fruits.31 And the traveler answered, saying, Not so my lord, for I was awake when I gave thee the cord and also a mantle woven with different colors, which thou didst take off the ass to put them by for me; and Hedad answered and said, Surely I have told thee the interpretation of thy dream and it is a good dream, and this is the interpretation thereof.32 Now the sons of men give me four pieces of silver, which is my charge for interpreting dreams, and of thee only I require three pieces of silver.33 And the man was provoked at the words of Hedad, and he cried bitterly, and he brought Hedad to Serak judge of Sodom.34 And the man laid his cause before Serak the judge, when Hedad replied, saying, It is not so, but thus the matter stands; and the judge said to the traveler, This man Hedad telleth thee truth, for he is famed in the cities for the accurate interpretation of dreams.35 And the man cried at the word of the judge, and he said, Not so my Lord, for it was in the day that I gave him the cord and mantle which was upon the ass, in order to put them by in his house; and they both disputed before the judge, the one saying, Thus the matter was, and the other declaring otherwise.36 And Hedad said to the man, Give me four pieces of silver that I charge for my interpretations of dreams; I will not make any allowance; and give me the expense of the four meals that thou didst eat in my house.37 And the man said to Hedad, Truly I will pay thee for what I ate in thy house, only give me the cord and mantle which thou didst conceal in thy house.38 And Hedad replied before the judge and said to the man, Did I not tell thee the interpretation of thy dream? the cord means that thy days shall be prolonged like a cord, and the mantle, that thou wilt have a vineyard in which thou wilt plant all kinds of fruit trees.39 This is the proper interpretation of thy dream, now give me the four pieces of silver that I require as a compensation, for I will make thee no allowance.40 And the man cried at the words of Hedad and they both quarreled before the judge, and the judge gave orders to his servants, who drove them rashly from the house.41 And they went away quarreling from the judge, when the people of Sodom heard them, and they gathered about them and they exclaimed against the stranger, and they drove him rashly from the city.42 And the man continued his journey upon his ass with bitterness of soul, lamenting and weeping.43 And whilst he was going along he wept at what had happened to him in the corrupt city of Sodom.
And there is more.
Jasher 19:1And the cities of Sodom had four judges to four cities, and these were their names, Serak in the city of Sodom, Sharkad in Gomorrah, Zabnac in Admah, and Menon in Zeboyim.2 And Eliezer Abraham's servant applied to them different names, and he converted Serak to Shakra, Sharkad to Shakrura, Zebnac to Kezobim, and Menon to Matzlodin.3 And by desire of their four judges the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had beds erected in the streets of the cities, and if a man came to these places they laid hold of him and brought him to one of their beds, and by force made him to lie in them.4 And as he lay down, three men would stand at his head and three at his feet, and measure him by the length of the bed, and if the man was less than the bed these six men would stretch him at each end, and when he cried out to them they would not answer him.5 And if he was longer than the bed they would draw together the two sides of the bed at each end, until the man had reached the gates of death.6 And if he continued to cry out to them, they would answer him, saying, Thus shall it be done to a man that cometh into our land.7 And when men heard all these things that the people of the cities of Sodom did, they refrained from coming there.8 And when a poor man came to their land they would give him silver and gold, and cause a proclamation in the whole city not to give him a morsel of bread to eat, and if the stranger should remain there some days, and die from hunger, not having been able to obtain a morsel of bread, then at his death all the people of the city would come and take their silver and gold which they had given to him.9 And those that could recognize the silver or gold which they had given him took it back, and at his death they also stripped him of his garments, and they would fight about them, and he that prevailed over his neighbor took them.10 They would after that carry him and bury him under some of the shrubs in the deserts; so they did all the days to any one that came to them and died in their land.
Abraham’s servant goes to Sodom.
11 And in the course of time Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare.12 And Eliezer went to Sodom, and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes and went away.13 And this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done to him.14 And he said to him, Why dost thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy land?15 And the man of Sodom answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom made thee a judge this day, that thou speakest about this man?16 And Eliezer strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover the poor man's clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead.17 And the blood flowed copiously from Eliezer's forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me my hire for having rid thee of this bad blood that was in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.18 And Eliezer said to him, Thou hast wounded me and requirest me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would not hearken to the words of the man of Sodom.19 And the man laid hold of Eliezer and brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgment.20 And the man spoke to the judge, saying, I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him with a stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to give me my hire.21 And the judge said to Eliezer, This man speaketh truth to thee, give him his hire, for this is the custom in our land; and Eliezer heard the words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone and smote the judge, and the stone struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed copiously from the forehead of the judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the custom in your land give thou unto this man what I should have given him, for this has been thy decision, thou didst decree it.22 And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went away.
Lot’s daughter had a heart for the poor and hungry but was murdered for it.
23 And when the kings of Elam had made war with the kings of Sodom, the kings of Elam captured all the property of Sodom, and they took Lot captive, with his property, and when it was told to Abraham he went and made war with the kings of Elam, and he recovered from their hands all the property of Lot as well as the property of Sodom.24 At that time the wife of Lot bare him a daughter, and he called her name Paltith, saying, Because God had delivered him and his whole household from the kings of Elam; and Paltith daughter of Lot grew up, and one of the men of Sodom took her for a wife.25 And a poor man came into the city to seek a maintenance, and he remained in the city some days, and all the people of Sodom caused a proclamation of their custom not to give this man a morsel of bread to eat, until he dropped dead upon the earth, and they did so.26 And Paltith the daughter of Lot saw this man lying in the streets starved with hunger, and no one would give him any thing to keep him alive, and he was just upon the point of death.27 And her soul was filled with pity on account of the man, and she fed him secretly with bread for many days, and the soul of this man was revived.28 For when she went forth to fetch water she would put the bread in the water pitcher, and when she came to the place where the poor man was, she took the bread from the pitcher and gave it him to eat; so she did many days.29 And all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah wondered how this man could bear starvation for so many days.30 And they said to each other, This can only be that he eats and drinks, for no man can bear starvation for so many days or live as this man has, without even his countenance changing; and three men concealed themselves in a place where the poor man was stationed, to know who it was that brought him bread to eat.31 And Paltith daughter of Lot went forth that day to fetch water, and she put bread into her pitcher of water, and she went to draw water by the poor man's place, and she took out the bread from the pitcher and gave it to the poor man and he ate it.32 And the three men saw what Paltith did to the poor man, and they said to her, It is thou then who hast supported him, and therefore has he not starved, nor changed in appearance nor died like the rest.33 And the three men went out of the place in which they were concealed, and they seized Paltith and the bread which was in the poor man's hand.34 And they took Paltith and brought her before their judges, and they said to them, Thus did she do, and it is she who supplied the poor man with bread, therefore did he not die all this time; now therefore declare to us the punishment due to this woman for having transgressed our law.35 And the people of Sodom and Gomorrah assembled and kindled a fire in the street of the city, and they took the woman and cast her into the fire and she was burned to ashes.
God seems to take the case of the poor and needy seriously.
36 And in the city of Admah there was a woman to whom they did the like.37 For a traveler came into the city of Admah to abide there all night, with the intention of going home in the morning, and he sat opposite the door of the house of the young woman's father, to remain there, as the sun had set when be had reached that place; and the young woman saw him sitting by the door of the house.38 And he asked her for a drink of water and she said to him, Who art thou? and he said to her, I was this day going on the road, and reached here when the sun set, so I will abide here all night, and in the morning I will arise early and continue my journey.39 And the young woman went into the house and fetched the man bread and water to eat and drink.40 And this affair became known to the people of Admah, and they assembled and brought the young woman before the judges, that they should judge her for this act.41 And the judge said, The judgment of death must pass upon this woman because she transgressed our law, and this therefore is the decision concerning her.42 And the people of those cities assembled and brought out the young woman, and anointed her with honey from head to foot, as the judge had decreed, and they placed her before a swarm of bees which were then in their hives, and the bees flew upon her and stung her that her whole body was swelled.43 And the young woman cried out on account of the bees, but no one took notice of her or pitied her, and her cries ascended to heaven.44 And the Lord was provoked at this and at all the works of the cities of Sodom, for they had abundance of food, and had tranquility amongst them, and still would not sustain the poor and the needy, and in those days their evil doings and sins became great before the Lord.
Lot meets the Angels.
45 And the Lord sent for two of the angels that had come to Abraham's house, to destroy Sodom and its cities.46 And the angels rose up from the door of Abraham's tent, after they had eaten and drunk, and they reached Sodom in the evening, and Lot was then sitting in the gate of Sodom, and when he saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground.47 And he pressed them greatly and brought them into his house, and he gave them victuals which they ate, and they abode all night in his house.48 And the angels said to Lot, Arise, go forth from this place, thou and all belonging to thee, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of this city, for the Lord will destroy this place.49 And the angels laid hold upon the hand of Lot and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his children, and all belonging to him, and they brought him forth and set him without the cities.50 And they said to Lot, Escape for thy life, and he fled and all belonging to him.51 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah and upon all these cities brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.52 And he overthrew these cities, all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground; and Ado the wife of Lot looked back to see the destruction of the cities, for her compassion was moved on account of her daughters who remained in Sodom, for they did not go with her.53 And when she looked back she became a pillar of salt, and it is yet in that place unto this day.54 And the oxen which stood in that place daily licked up the salt to the extremities of their feet, and in the morning it would spring forth afresh, and they again licked it up unto this day.55 And Lot and two of his daughters that remained with him fled and escaped to the cave of Adullam, and they remained there for some time.56 And Abraham rose up early in the morning to see what had been done to the cities of Sodom; and he looked and beheld the smoke of the cities going up like the smoke of a furnace.
57 And Lot and his two daughters remained in the cave, and they made their father drink wine, and they lay with him, for they said there was no man upon earth that could raise up seed from them, for they thought that the whole earth was destroyed.58 And they both lay with their father, and they conceived and bare sons, and the first born called the name of her son Moab, saying, From my father did I conceive him; he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.59 And the younger also called her son Benami; he is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.60 And after this Lot and his two daughters went away from there, and he dwelt on the other side of the Jordan with his two daughters and their sons, and the sons of Lot grew up, and they went and took themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they begat children and they were fruitful and multiplied.
Angelic Visitation of Abraham in Hebron; Promise of Isaac's Birth repeated. The Destruction of Sodom and Lot's Deliverance (xvi. 1-9; cf. Gen. xviii.-xix.).
Jubilees 16 1-9 And on the new moon of the fourth month we 1 appeared unto Abraham, at the oak of Mamre, and we talked with him, and we announced to him that a son would be given to him by Sarah his wife. 2. And Sarah laughed, for she heard that we had spoken these words with Abraham, and we admonished her, and she became afraid, and denied that she had laughed on account of the words. 3. And we told her the name of her son, as his name is ordained and written in the heavenly tables (i.e.) Isaac. 4. And (that) when we returned to her at a set time, she would have conceived a son. 5. And in this month the Lord executed his judgments on Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Zeboim, and all the region of the Jordan, and He burned them with fire and brimstone, and destroyed them until this day, even as [lo] I have declared unto thee all their works, that they are wicked and sinners exceedingly, and that they defile themselves and commit fornication in their flesh, and work uncleanness on the earth 6. And, in like manner, God will execute judgment on the places where they have done according to the uncleanness of the Sodomites, like unto the judgment of Sodom. 7. But Lot we saved; for God remembered Abraham, and sent him out from the midst of the overthrow. 8. And he and his daughters committed sin upon the earth, such as had not been on the earth since the days of Adam till his time; for the man lay with his daughters. 9. And, behold, it was commanded and engraven concerning all his seed, on the heavenly tables, to remove them and root them out, and to execute judgment upon them like the judgment of Sodom, and to leave no seed of the man on earth on the day of condemnation.
We have to take into account that if God judged Sodom with utter destruction, couldn’t it happen again? Couldn’t God judge an evil nation? This is why I think it is our time to pray as the Palestinians have determined that regardless of the United Nations vote, they will take the land they want on September 20th, 2011. In a previous blog I have noted how our soldiers are required to serve the United Nations as instituted by President Clinton. Therefore it could turn out that our men and women are sent to enforce a splitting of Israel which God repeatedly proclaims is theirs as shown in previous blogs. But all is not lost; we do have to have these things come to pass before the Lord catches away his people.
I do want to come back to this section from Jubilees. This is in regard to circumcision but it makes a very good point; this is written from the perspective of the angels of God. We know that there are spirits that are over nations; it seems that they are there to intentionally lead people astray. That is why we have to fight for our faith. How easily can we be led astray? What if the President of the United States called you on the phone, could you be led astray? The sins of men are a stumbling block, pride goes before a fall. It could be easy to be led astray. A haughty spirit goes before destruction, sadly that has to be remembered so that we keep perspective.
If spirits are put in place to lead people astray then we need to be extra careful in everything we do. We saw from Noah that he be sought God to get rid of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim otherwise he felt his children would perish. But Satan asked God so leave some under his command so that he could lead people astray and God said he would leave one tenth of the disembodied spirits on the earth. Figuring that we are not the center of the universe, Israel is, we should be concerned with the direction that our nation takes, because it is highly probable that our nation will be deceived into doing something stupid.
Next week we will finish up Sodom, and continue to explore the idea that there could be a future cataclysm as we know there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
