What's two cities in the stream of human history?
-Sab
Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?
by sabastious 32 Replies latest watchtower bible
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EndofMysteries
Lately I'm being led to believe that it was a civilization, let alone just 2 cities. Perhaps even people he led, or just who resided on his land. After that, it was Egypt. Then after that it was Ammorites. Then it was Israelites. (Babylon somewhere in the mix of things) And who's next? You don't wanna know.
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loosie
Because he was against alternative lifestyles.
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bohm
Well, the best people in the cities was two girls who drug raped their own father because he was the only guy around; the father who tried to hand his own daughters over to a group of people who would gang-bang them because he thought he had two angels in his living room.
In a way, it sort of make sence to me.
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xelder
Bohm-- You should say it just that way on the Ministry school. bet you don't get a "G"
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Black Sheep
He hadn't had a killin' spree for a while and he was starting to get the shakes
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ziddina
It's a trick question!!!
"god" didn't destroy "Sodom" & "Gomorrah"; they were destroyed - if they ever existed - by a volcanic eruption - I suspect that it was a "Plinian"-style eruption, at that, if one reads the description...
Genesis 19: 15 [Christian Standard Bible] "At the crack of dawn the angels urged Lot on: "Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city."...
Notice that...
From two cities - Sodom AND Gomorrah - it's suddenly ONE city... Perhaps the 'angels' were referring only to the city in which Lot resided, at that point; for later on, in verse 23, it's "Sodom & Gomorrah" again...
Anyway, verses 18-20 describe Lot's fear that he won't reach the mountains before the destruction begins... "But Lot said to them, "No, Lord! - please... But I can't run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there..."
Verse 21: "And he [God, I guess?? not capitalized in this bible...] said to him, "All right, I'll grant your request...[I] will not overthrow the town you mentioned. Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there."...
And now we get into the 'meat' of the destruction... Verse 23 - 28: "The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. Then the LORD rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of the sky. He overthrew these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and whatever grew on the ground. But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. "
"Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. ..."
Notice the similarities in visual imagery between this scripture, and the one in Exodus 19: 16-19 wherein "Moses" receives the 'ten commandments' after going upon "Mt. Sinai" ...
"On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound... Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the LORD came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. ..."
The description in Exodus is one of the clearest descriptions of a volcanic eruption - albeit given by an ignorant, superstitious observer or observers - that I've ever read. The "thunder and lightning" is VERY COMMON in volcanic ash clouds, as the friction of the ash particles colliding in the turbulent, super-heated air generates large amounts of static electricity which releases itself in lightning strikes. The mountain was "completely enveloped in smoke", which is an excellent description of the ash cloud surrounding the mountain. Then there's the "whole mountain shook violently"; which are the 'harmonic tremors' so typical of volcanic eruptions...
Now, look again at the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. "rained burning sulphur"... Hot lava bombs and that typical smell of 'rotten eggs' due to the high sulphuric content of the volcanic gases. "Overthrew the cities... ENTIRE PLAIN... AND WHATEVER GREW ON THE GROUND..."
Anyone who's ever seen photos of the aftermath of a pyroclastic flow will have noted the almost total destruction of EVERYTHING in its path, especially the vegetation!!!
And the most telling point - the similarity to the "Moses" account?? "smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace "... Used in BOTH accounts, almost word-for-word... (Assuming the original translation was translating similar or identical phrases...)
Yuppers... DEFINIETLY a description of a volcanic eruption... That whole "pillar of salt" thing - ever look at the "body casts" left over when the citizens of Pompeii were killed? THOSE could definitely be described as "pillars of salt"; in other words, pillars of ash composed of volcanic materials...
Oooooo!! I LOVE finding volcanic eruptions in the bible!!!
Zid
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bohm
dinah: CLASSIC!
Its a pity we dont get to fill out a 1 hour symposium on the next assembly on the subject on sodom and gomorrah.
I bet the dubs attending would remember something BESIDES the play for that year!
heck, we could easily make it into the play
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ziddina
Dinah!! GREAT video!!