Moment in the Word

Genesis 19:14-15 (Septuagint) And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law who had married his daughters, and said, Rise up, and depart out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city; but he seemed to be speaking absurdly before his sons-in-law. 15 But when it was morning, the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise and take thy wife, and thy two daughters whom thou hast, and go forth; lest thou also be destroyed with the iniquities of the city.

How many times during the history of human civilization has the warning to escape been broadcast, only to be received as an absurdity... Noah's Flood, the residents of Sodom, Ancient Israel prior to captivity, the Jews of Germany before the Holocaust? Why do people deny the inevitability of their own demise in the face of certain calamity, "No, it will never happen to me?"

Aware of God's fiery judgment against the horrendous sin of the Sodomites, how are we different from them today? According to Ezekiel, the residents of Sodom were proud and self-assured in the face of pending disaster. Previously, they always had plenty to eat and lacked nothing. Thus, the people were unconcerned about the plight of others as long as adversity did not affect them. They defiantly boasted of their brazen abominations until the very moment God wiped them out, "Moreover this was the sin of thy sister Sodom, pride: she and her daughters lived in pleasure, in fulness of bread and in abundance: this belonged to her and her daughters, and they helped not the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they boasted, and wrought iniquities before me: so, I cut them off as I saw fit." Ezekiel 16:49-50 Septuagint

Predicting the End, Christ warned, "The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place." (Reader, pay attention!) 16"Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat." Matthew 24:15-18 In other words, Jesus said, "Run, disaster is coming!"

Likewise, in the Revelation we hear the same warning spoken to the Church, "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.'" Revelation 18:4 Again, the admonition was, "Run, disaster is coming!"

Sadly, too many individuals now enjoy the perks of being citizens of end-time Sodom. God's people are comfortable living in this modern Babylonian world system, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Revelation 18:7 A large number smugly believe that when life gets difficult, they will secretly vanish, leaving everyone else to suffer but not them. Consequently, they are personally unconcerned about the gathering storm, "Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! what is this day of the Lord to you? whereas it is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he should spring into his house, and lean his hands upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? and is not this day gloom without brightness?" Amos 5:18-20 Septuagint

Do NOT dismiss God's final warning as merely an absurdity! Time is short, and we must all repent!