One of the most profound stories told in the Bible is the story of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Because it shows us God's indignation in relation to sin and the result of a people who terribly subverted God's precepts.

God does not admit sin and the result of sin is destruction and death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In several passages of the Bible we see the same indignation of God in relation to sin, such as:

When Cain killed his brother Abel:

Genesis 4:10 The Lord said, What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

In the flood at the time of Noah:

Genesis 6:
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
7 So the Lord said, I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created — and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground — for I regret that I have made them.

In the destruction of the city of Jericho:

Joshua 6:21 They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it — men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

In the cases of Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent his angels to destroy the cities and they said to Lot:

Genesis 19:13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.

But God knew Lot's heart and because he was a righteous man, God could not destroy the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah, along with those who were faithful to Him, as God told Abraham.

Genesis 18:
23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Therefore, as long as Lot was in that city, God could not destroy it:

Genesis 19:22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it. (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

God's angels were clear in his orders to Lot and his family, to leave the city, without stopping and not to look back.

Genesis 19:17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!

Lot's wife disobeyed the orders of God's angels and looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

DISOBEDIENCE OF THE WORD OF GOD STILL GENERATES THE SAME CONSEQUENCES: DESTRUCTION AND DEATH.

Has God freed you from evil?

So, DON'T LOOK BACK, where sin, destruction and death were part of his life and Jesus was not.

LOOK AHEAD, where are God's promises and abundant life alongside Him.

Philippians 3:
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Pastor Val Martins