In the previous posting we learned that the people of Noah’s day were going about life as was customary during that time. Then God drowned them all. Then Jesus noted that just prior to His return life would also be like it was in the days of Lot: “… they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built.” But God rained down fire and brimstone on them, killing everyone living in the area where Sodom was located. Also, all vegetation was destroyed and the land made barren as it remains to this day. I have been to the place where Sodom and Gomorrah once flourished. I do not recall seeing even a blade of grass growing in the entire area. In Luke 17 we find Jesus giving His apostles two examples of what life would be like just prior to the end of the age. People would be conducting themselves in the manner that would be acceptable to the world society at that time. However, God does not kill people for eating, drinking, marrying, working, building, sowing, etc. So why did God burn the inhabitants of Sodom and its environs to death and render the land untillable? For the answer we turn to Genesis 13:13 where we find Moses describing the people of the area: “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceeding.” Then in Genesis 18:20,21 we find the Lord telling Abraham why He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah: “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is very grievous I will go down now and see whether they have done according to the cry which has come unto Me ….” What was the grievous sin of those cities? We learn in Genesis 19:4-9 that the cities were filled with homosexuals. Satan had such control over them that they preferred sex with men over sex with women. When they came to get the two angels in Lot’s home they stated that they wanted to “know” them. Lot offered them his virgin daughters. They were not interested. The men of Sodom lusted after other men. In both cases (Noah and Lot) a central theme is found. Both godly men were surrounded by people who “cared not for the ways of the Lord.” In summary, Jesus told the apostles that when He returned to earth it would be “… as in the days of Noah” and “… as in the days of Lot.”

Look around and you will see that we are living as in the days of both Noah and Lot. We find ourselves in a world filled with violence and sexual deviancy, both of which are becoming more and more “normal.” Police are forced to stand by and watch as people destroy other people’s property. Mass killings are becoming routine. Sexual depravity, especially homosexuality, is being accepted as merely an “alternate lifestyle,” one that is as morally acceptable as traditional life. Sadly, the world’s churches will eventually welcome sex deviants with open arms. Many have already done so. Satan has convinced them that, as one pastor gushed, “God is doing a beautiful thing here.” Religious Correctness will force all who what to be accepted by the religious crowd to go with the perverted flow.

Anyone who believes the Word of God will readily see that we are living as in the days of both Noah and Lot. If the Lord is to be believed, His time of arrival is rapidly approaching. L.J.