Sodom and Dots

I need to know it’s true.  Uncertainty is bad business and can even be deadly.  In uncertainty:

📌 Business cannot progress in a healthy and predictable fashion;
📌 Finance and the stock market become flummoxed;
📌 Crops don’t grow and produce in an orderly fashion;
📌 College students spend more time than necessary getting their education—including the average student changing majors several times;
📌 Uncertainty and the heartbeat do not mix well;
📌 And, uncertainty is very bad for the eternal soul. 

A certain and glorious beauty of God is the absence of uncertainty.  Job 23:13 speaks of the mind of God:

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Consider James 1:17:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Because God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, spoke the absolute truth and spoke it with authority, He was viewed as an anomaly by the community at large.  Mark 1:21-22:

21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

God’s Word is the absolute truth—not even a shadow of turning. 

Acts 4:10-12:

10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Have you been saved?  Have you been born again—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  Are you ready for absolute certainty?  Today can be your day.  Today, all your sin and shame will be washed away and all Satan’s bondages broken.  Today will be your new beginning.  What are you going to do about it?  Make your move.  Forget about  what everyone thinks.  They won’t stand with you in the day of judgment.  Follow this prompt now: Click onto “Further with Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the glorious Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Genesis 18:20-21:

20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

GOD SAID, Genesis 19:1-29:

1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant''s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 29:23:

And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

MAN SAID: It doesn’t matter who you love.  The Sodom and Gomorrah story is a fairytale handed down from old folklore.  The Bible has no historic credibility, so ENJOY! 

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Why are they never able to connect the dots?  Instead, they will embrace the most bizarre and untenable—even ridiculous—positions without even a hint of a blush.  Such is the state of the carnal academics and carnaldom as a whole.  This psychosis of embracing foolishness over God’s truth is a result of holding the Word of God in unbelief—what II Thessalonians, Chapter 2 calls “the deceivableness of unrighteousness.” Romans 1:18-28:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

A reprobate mind is a worthless one. 

They just can’t connect the obvious dots.  Example:

📣 Over 20 years ago, when Dr. Mary Schweitzer discovered soft tissue in purported 65-million-plus-year-old dinosaur bones, the evolutionists pushed back vehemently.  The underlying, obvious, conclusion from such a discovery would not be helpful.  Their understanding of fossilization made such a discovery impossible, but this discovery began to be duplicated in specimen after specimen, from dinosaur to frog.  Evolutionists then concluded that their understanding of fossilization needed to be changed.  It never dawned on them that the earth is young, even just over 6,000 years young.  They just can’t connect the obvious dots. 

📣 When microbiologists overturned evolution’s long-embraced timeline and method of human origin, a serious head-scratching moment occurred.  Their long-held position was that man didn’t come from a single place, but was evolving from various locations all over earth.  But, microbiologists discovered that the entirety of today’s population came from the same common mother.  Tongue-in-cheek, they named her mtDNA Eve.  The next discovery that rocked the evolutionary boat was that all of today’s population came from one common father—he was dubbed Y-Chromosome Adam.  It is postulated that the coupling of this Adam and Eve took place around 200,000 years ago with another guesstimation of “maybe 60,000 years ago.” Imagine, one science writer had the brass to suggest that even 6,000 years ago was possible.  They can’t—or, I should say, most can’t—connect the dots. 

📣 Noah’s flood? Impossible, they claim!  If the flood is actually true, then there is a God who involves Himself in the affairs of men and that would mean that all will have to stand before this God of the Bible at the Great White Throne Judgment.  “Can’t be!  Can’t be!” They shout, but fish fossils are found on every mountain peak, a sea monster was unearthed in Nebraska, shark fossils in Cleveland, whale fossils in the desert, and flood strata covers ¾ of the earth’s surface.  Did we mention that 500 ancient, societal accounts also speak of a similar event?  They can’t connect the dots. 

📣 The development of language, the development of agriculture, the domestication of many animals—all are predicted to have occurred just thousands of years ago, with much of these predictions hitting around 5,000 years ago.  Famed chronologer Archbishop Ussher, who lived in the 1600s, dated the birth of the earth to September 21, 4004 BC.  To much of today’s newly-educated, BC stands for “Before Christ.”  They just can’t connect the dots.  The September 21, 4004 BC date is according to the Gregorian calendar, which is the one we use today. 

📣 When the volcano at Mt. Saint Helens erupted in 1980, the area’s topography changed dramatically.  When newly-formed rock was sent for radiometric dating, the rock—actually only ten years old—was dated using the potassium-argon “clock.”  The 10-year-old rock dated to 350,000-years-old, and minerals within in dated at up to 2.4 million years old.  The catastrophe occurred in 1980; samples were collected from a lava flow that occurred in 1986; those same samples were tested in 1996. 

Why is it so hard for them to connect the dots?  It’s a matter of heredity:  Grandma Eve believed and followed the lie and Grandpa Adam followed her pernicious ways.  Ever since, it’s been like mother, like daughter; like father, like son.  The only way to escape the dot-dilemma is to be born-again.  It is clearly laid out in II Corinthians 4:3-7:

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus'' sake.

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.        

GodSaidManSaid has published numerous features regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and, as you should expect, even in light of the latest discoveries, they continue to fail to connect the dots.  The following foundational paragraphs are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Archaeology Says, ‘I Found Sodom:’”

Unquestionably, one of the world’s greatest historians and Biblical chronologists was Bishop Ussher, who lived in the 1600s and penned a huge tome titled The Annals of the World.  The following excerpt is from that book, and it contains Sodom and Gomorrah:

Abraham invited angels, who looked like travelling men, into his house, and gave them a feast.  These angels reiterated the promise of the birth of Isaac for Sarah’s sake.  They foretold the judgment of utter destruction which God intended to bring upon the five cities of the plain.  Abraham, fearing what would become of Lot and his family in Sodom, made intercession to God for the sparing of that place.  Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah and Zeboiim, for their horrible sins, perished by fire and brimstone that rained down upon them from heaven.  These cities were to be an example to all wicked men in times to come of the pains of that everlasting fire to be inflicted on them in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death.  The monument of this remains to this day, even the Dead Sea.  The valley of Siddim, where these five cities stood in former times, was full of brimstone and salt pits.  This has since grown into a vast lake which, because of the brimstone still floating in it, is called Laces Asphaltitis or Lake of Brimstone and because of the salt, Mare Salsum or the Salt Sea.  [End of quote]

The latest discovery made by archaeologist Steven Collins warranted front-page representation on the March/April 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review and inside, a ten-plus page feature. Collins presents his case for Tall el-Hammam as the actual city of Sodom.  Excerpts from his feature follow:

A number of scholars in the past have placed Sodom at various places at or near the southern end of the Dead Sea.  William F. Albright proposed that Sodom and Gomorrah might be underwater south of the Dead Sea’s Lisan peninsula.  Bryant G. Wood suggests that Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira might be Sodom and Gomorrah, while R. Thomas Schaub and Walter E. Rast, the excavators of those sites, believe that they may be the visible ruins from which the etiological legend arose.  Still others, like Burton MacDonald, suggest that there were two separate etiological traditions—one favoring the north end of the Dead Sea (Admah/Zeboiim) and one favoring the southern location (Sodom/Gomorrah)—that arose in Israel and Judah, respectively.

While the dispute will no doubt continue, I believe that Tall el-Hammam is by far the best candidate for Biblical Sodom.

The main reason for rejecting the southern sites is, of course, the Bible.  Nothing in the Bible leads to these southern sites, and everything leads to the area north of the Dead Sea opposite Bethel and Ai.  There is a remarkable correspondence here between text and ground.

One other Biblical point: Genesis 19:1 says that the angels first came to Lot while he was sitting in the “gate of Sodom.”  We have been excavating the major gate complex that led into the city of Tall el-Hammam.  Nothing remotely similar has been found in the south. 

It is interesting that not a single advocate of the southern sites has ever provided a detailed analysis of Genesis 13:1-12 in support of that position. 

It is true that there is some evidence of a fiery destruction in the southern area, but this is also true of Tall el-Hammam and the area north of the Dead Sea.  Bitumen chucks have been mined all around the Dead Sea, including at Tall el-Hammam. [End of quote]

Under the heading “Wrathful Destruction,” Steven Collins writes:

Across Tall el-Hammam, archaeologists found widespread evidence of an intense, fiery conflagration that left the Middle Bronze Age city in charred ruins.  Well below the later Iron Age levels of this evacuation trench are the scorched walls and floors of a Middle Bronze Age structure that was buried beneath nearly 3 feet of dark grey ash.  Several broken storage jars and a circular clay-lined storage bin were found on the floor of the building. 

Amid the destruction debris was this 4.5-inch-long pottery sherd from a Middle Bronze Age storage jar.  The glassy appearance of the sherd''s surface indicates that it was briefly exposed to temperatures well in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the approximate heat of volcanic magma.  Similar “melted” sherds were found across the site, suggesting the city and its environs were catastrophically destroyed in a sudden, extreme conflagration. [End of quote]

Collins continues:

The terminal destruction layer at Tall el-Hammam lies across both the upper and lower tall and consists of a matrix of heavy, dark ash mixed with fragments of pottery, mudbricks, a wide range of object fragments and human bone scatter.  Numerous pottery fragments of this matrix lie across the site and have outside surfaces melted into glass, with some bubbled up like “frothy” magma, indicating they were burned in a flash heat event far exceeding 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  The conflagration must have yielded extremely high heat and effected catastrophic damage.

The memory of the destruction of ha-kikkar, with its large population and extensive agricultural lands, was preserved in the Book of Genesis and ultimately incorporated into a traditional tale (or better said, traditional account) that, drawing on the layer of ash that covered the destruction of one of its major cities, remembered a place consumed by a fiery catastrophe from “out of the heavens” (Genesis 19:24).  The Bible gives the city’s name: Sodom. [End of quote]

The city of Sodom, from whence comes the word sodomy, which defines homosexual activity, and all the companion cities of the plain were destroyed by fire and brimstone out of Heaven.  God’s Word is true and righteous altogether, a place to build a life that will last forever. [End of quotes]

The following paragraphs are from the December 22, 2018 and January 5, 2019 issue of Science News. The headline reads, “Meteor May Have Wiped Out Ancient Dead Sea Sites.” 

A super-heated blast from the skies obliterated cities and farming settlements north of the Dead Sea about 3,700 years ago, preliminary findings suggest. 

Radiocarbon dating and minerals that instantly crystalized at high temperatures indicate that an airburst caused by an exploding meteor instantaneously destroyed civilization on a 25-kilometer-wide (15.5 miles) plain called Middle Ghor, said archaeologist Philip Silvia.  The event may have pushed a brine of Dead Sea salts over farmland.  People did not repopulate the area for 600 to 700 years, Silvia, of Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, reported November 17 at a meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 

Excavations at five sites in Jordan indicate that all were occupied for at least 2,500 years until a sudden collapse toward the end of the Bronze Age.  Up to about 65,000 people lived in the area when the cosmic calamity hit, Silvia said. 

The clearest evidence of destruction caused by a meteor explosion comes from the city of Tall el-Hammam.  Mud-brick walls of nearly all structures suddenly disappeared about 3,700 years ago, leaving only stone foundations. 

What’s more, the outer layers of many pottery pieces from the time show signs of having melted into glass.  Zircon crystals in those glassy coats formed within one second at very high temperatures, Silvia said.  High-force winds created spherical mineral grains that rained down on Tall el-Hammam and have been found on pottery there, he said.  End of quote]

Archaeologists date this event to approximately 3,700 years ago.  Biblical dating puts the events of Sodom and Gomorrah at just over 3,900 years ago. 

Finally, allow me to enumerate the names of great Biblical people that not only believed God’s record of Sodom and Gomorrah, but also wrote and spoke about the matter:  Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Zephaniah, Jude, and the Apostles Peter, John, and Paul-- and the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Were the great prophets and apostles of the Bible duped by faith?  Did Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, have it wrong?  Of course the answer is NO!  The historians in the time of and preceding Christ, as well as the discoveries of today, concur over and over again with the Genesis record. But somehow, today’s “experts” cannot connect the dots. 

GOD SAID, Genesis 18:20-21:

20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

GOD SAID, Genesis 19:15-25:

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 29:23:

And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

MAN SAID: It doesn’t matter who you love.  The Sodom and Gomorrah story is a fairytale handed down from old folklore.  The Bible has no historic credibility, so ENJOY!

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

Bower, B., “Meteor May Have Wiped Out Ancient Dead Sea Site,” Science News, December 22, 2018 & January 5, 2019 

GodSaidManSaid, “Archaeology Says, ‘I Found Sodom!’”

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