[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
This week we conclude our study of Luke chapter 17 and commence Chapter 18. Please read verses 17:25-37 and 18:1-8 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
[/column]
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
[/column]
[divider type=”1″]
[/divider]
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]
Luke 17:28-37 (New International Version)
‘”It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no-one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no-one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”’
There are some place names that have become synonymous with particular events and just the mention of the name vividly brings to mind the event. For example, for anyone over a certain age, if I were to mention ‘The Grassy Knoll, Dealey Plaza’, I expect many of you will instantly recall the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Dunblane and Hungerford bring to mind the senseless shootings of innocent lives. Coming closer to home, the town of Aberfan will always be remembered for the tragic loss of life in 1966.
Sodom is one of those places. While there is some controversy as to the nature of the sin, with many people doing all they can to minimise the extent of their wickedness, there is little doubt if we read Jude. This says: “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
There is no reason for me to go into detail but it is sufficient to say that it was a wicked place and God chose to destroy the city because of its sin. In a similar way to yesterday, in today’s verses, Jesus chooses not to highlight the sin of Sodom. For those people who refuse to accept the sin of Sodom, they use Jesus’ words to vindicate their position and say that it couldn’t have been that bad otherwise Jesus would have mentioned it. If I say to you that Aberfan is a lovely village full of great people, you would agree with me but there is no reason to mention the awful loss of life because that is well known. In the same way, there was no reason for Jesus to mention the depravity of Sodom. That was a well-known fact. He chooses to stress something much more ‘mainstream’ and therefore challenges us all.
He said that people were ‘eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building’. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those things. I believe that Jesus is asking us to look a little deeper and examine the minds and hearts of those people. We have mentioned this several times before, but Jesus is looking for ‘self-less’ people and not someone who is self-absorbed and completely fixated on life and all of its activities. The people of Sodom were utterly self-centred and did whatever pleased them, regardless of how immoral or depraved. 2 Peter 2:7-8 says “God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him.” Lot was a good man and yet the people of Sodom paid no attention to him, they just carried on ‘as normal’.
Neither Noah nor Lot were perfect people. They failed quite badly at times and yet Jesus chooses to use these men as examples. Why? I believe it was because they were obedient. They listened to God’s warning and did something about it. Those who didn’t listen, perished. My prayer is that we are people of obedience and follow the voice of the Lord wherever it may take us.
[/column]