Recently someone asked me who was responsible for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by “fire from heaven.” We need to rightly divide the bible to determine whether Father God or Devil god was responsible for an event. This is accomplished very easily by addressing a few simple questions…
- Is the deed good from God, or evil from the Devil? John 10:10 will typically answer this question.
- Who was in authority over the people & earth at that time? God had no authority in the earth until Jesus was resurrected, thus Father wasn’t ruling & reigning in the Old Testament times, and was not the author of the evil deeds and ‘punishments.’
- Does the deed align with the character of God that Jesus revealed? If it doesn’t align with Jesus then it is of the Devil.
Let’s start by reading an excerpt of Sodom & Gomorrah and then we’ll examine various topics: power of God vs. Satan, character of Jesus, fire from heaven, and who was ruling the earth.
Genesis 18:20-19:26 NKJV And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, (21) I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” … (19:12) Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! (13) For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” (14) So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. … (24) Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. (25) So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (26) But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Power of God vs. power of devil
The first thing we need to do is remember what powers God has vs. what powers the Devil has. Father / Son / Holy Spirit have the powers of life, healing, devil casting, dead raising, curse-freeing, oppression-freeing, needs-fulfilling, etc. The devil has the powers of sickness, curse, death, oppression, trial-bringing, demon possession / oppression, etc. We need to rightly divide the word of God on the basis of clear New Testament scriptures and the life example of Jesus in the gospels.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
John 10:10 NKJV The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
1 Corinthians 15:26 NKJV The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Hebrews 2:14 NKJV Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself (Jesus) likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil
What we see in the passages above is that Satan actively goes about seeking people to devour (attack, make sick, kill, curse). Jesus very specifically drew a line between God and Devil stating that it is the devil who steals, kills, and destroys. In fact, death is an enemy of God and Jesus came to destroy the devil who has the power of death. God does not have the power to kill! Jesus came to destroy the devil who is the owner of the power of death! God doesn’t want to kill anyone and it is impossible for Him to do so because He doesn’t possess the power of death. The power of death belongs to His enemy the Devil and therefore God has never, and will never, kill anyone! All killing is of the devil and that includes Sodom & Gomorrah, Noah’s flood, and every other killing.
Side note… I want to make a distinction between killing and ‘going home.’ Anyone who believes in God and the full salvation that Jesus provides is entitled to live a long life in perfect health. The expectation is that such a believer will not ‘die’ by having their body destroyed. Instead, a true believer should just ‘go home’ at a time they agree with their Father. In other words, a believer’s spirit should leave from their healthy body at a ripe old age. The body without the spirit will die. The key thing is that such a believer doesn’t experience the suffering of death as others do. Moses is a perfect example of this because he lived to be 120 years old, he was strong, he had sound mind, and he had clear eyesight. God told him to come up the mountain at 120 years old, and then his spirit left his healthy body. Moses didn’t suffer sickness, withering, pain, or any agony of dying – his spirit simply ‘went home’ from his healthy body. The other way to leave this earth is by your body ceasing to function due to sickness, injury, violence, withering, etc. In this case, the person suffers, the body is destroyed, the body dies, and then the spirit leaves the dead body. This means of leaving earth is by way of Satan’s power of death – he makes sick, destroys, and kills bodies by a variety of means.
Given that the power of death belongs to the devil, from this angle alone we can resolutely say that Father God was in no way responsible for the ‘fire from heaven’ that killed all the people of Sodom & Gomorrah!
Character of Jesus
Another way to rightly divide the bible is by assessing scripture relative to Jesus of the gospels. Does a passage of scripture agree, or disagree, with what Jesus revealed to us through His actions and plain speech? We need to realize that the bible is not the ‘perfect inerrant word of God’ that most preachers will tell you. If the bible was inerrant, then Jesus wouldn’t have rejected and corrected many Old Testament scriptures (see Matthew 5 for several examples). If it was inerrant, then the prophet would have proclaimed that John the Baptist was coming, but instead he said Elijah was coming. If the bible was inerrant, then all the gospels would agree whether Jesus either did, or didn’t carry His own cross, yet the gospels disagree with one another. The reality is that there are 100’s of contradictions in the bible and that is why we have confusion – especially there is contradiction between the character of God in the Old Testament and Revelations relative to Jesus of the gospels. These contradictions create doubts in us about the character of our Father. Most people think He is the violent killer and harsh-punisher of the Old Testament – that is absolutely far from the truth! Let’s focus on Jesus because He perfectly revealed to us the true nature of God – if our image of Father looks like Jesus then we will do well!
John 14:7-9 NKJV “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” (8) Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” (9) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Hebrews 1:3 NKJV Who (Jesus) being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His (Father’s) person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high
Colossians 1:15 NKJV He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Given that Jesus perfectly revealed the character and nature of our Father, what can we conclude about Sodom & Gomorrah? First of all, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Jesus never changes and therefore neither does Father God ever change. Jesus said that He did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. Jesus is always a savior and never a destroyer. Likewise, Father is always a savior and never a destroyer. How many people did Jesus punish for their sins? Jesus never punished anyone! In fact, they brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and she should have been put to death according to the law of Moses. Jesus convinced her accusers not to condemn her to death, and He Himself did not condemn her either – instead He forgave her sins. How did Jesus react to the people who came to wrongfully arrest Him and lead Him away to be tortured and killed? Peter swung his sword and cutoff the ear of Malchus who was one of those who came to arrest Jesus. Jesus told Peter to put up his sword and then He healed Malchus. Likewise, Jesus did good to His murderers by praying to Father and asking for their sins to be forgiven. Jesus never punished anyone and therefore neither does/did Father punish anyone! Jesus taught us in Matthew 5 that the perfection of Father is that He does good even to His enemies. Burning people alive with a torturous fire is not loving your enemies – rather, it is killing & destroying by the devil who has the power of death! We can confidently say based upon the actions and words of Jesus that Father was in no way responsible for the death & destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. It is utterly against His will to repay evil with evil. We need to realize that punishment is typically a repayment of evil with evil for the ‘satisfaction’ of the one who was wronged. Correction, however, has the heart intention of changing the ways of the evil-doer so that they don’t continue to do evil. Jesus corrects people with His word. Jesus ‘fights against us’ with the sword of His mouth which is His word – in other words He corrects people verbally rather than repaying with evil.
John 8:3-11 NKJV Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, (4) they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. (5) Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” (6) This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. (7) So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (8) And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. (9) Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. (10) When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” (11) She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Luke 22:47-51 NKJV And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. (48) But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (49) When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” (50) And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. (51) But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.
Luke 23:33-34 NKJV And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. (34) Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Fire from heaven
What do we know about ‘fire from heaven’? First of all, let’s look to Jesus. When He and His disciples went to a village of Samaritans, they rejected Him, and His disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven and burn alive the people just like Elijah did. Jesus rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.” There are only two manner of spirit: good Spirit of God and evil spirit of the Devil. Jesus’ disciples were of the manner of spirit of Satan because they were desiring to do an evil deed of killing & destroying. In fact, when we read the book of Revelations we discover that ‘fire from heaven’ is actually a working of the beast. This is a miraculous sign & wonder the beast does to deceive people into thinking he is God, and thus draws their worship. People tend to think that a supernatural deed like ‘fire from heaven’ could only be ‘of God,’ and thus they are deceived into bowing down to the beast / devil. This is a great deception that fooled millions of people in the Old Testament and will deceive even more when the next beast comes in the same (evil) authority doing the same works.
Luke 9:51-56 NKJV Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, (52) and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. (53) But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. (54) And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” (55) But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. (56) For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
Revelation 13:11-14 NKJV Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. (12) And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (13) He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. (14) And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
When we read the Old Testament, we see that several people caused fire to come down from heaven in the name Yahweh (aka LORD, Jehovah, YHWH). Moses brought down fire in the Exodus. Elijah brought down fire against the prophets of Baal which caused people to worship the beast (Yahweh). Elijah brought down fire another time and burned alive 102 men. King David was tempted by LORD/Satan to commit the sin of ‘numbering Israel’ which caused the LORD to send a plague to kill 70,000 people. David tried to appease the LORD/Devil by making a sacrifice, upon doing so fire came down from heaven. Solomon also brought down fire from heaven in Yahweh’s name. This is the same Yahweh that Solomon said dwells in thick darkness, in contrast to our Father who dwells in unapproachable light. The bottom line is that fire from heaven is a working of the beast and it is evil 100% of the time! It is of the wrong manner of spirit – the spirit of the Devil!
1 Chronicles 21:1-26 NKJV Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. … (7) And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. … (14) So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. … (22) Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the LORD.” … (26) And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
2 Chronicles 6:1-2 ESV Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. (2) But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” … (42) “O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.” (7:1) As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. (2) And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. (3) When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (4) Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. (5) King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
1 Timothy 6:16 ESV Who (God) alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
Think about what you just read. What did Revelations say about the beast? The sign of ‘fire from heaven’ deceives people into thinking he is god so that they worship him. What just happened in the passage with Solomon? They bowed down and worshiped the beast (LORD/Yahweh) after they saw the fire! The same thing happened if you look up the passage of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Now consider the sacrifice that Solomon made… What would be the immediate conclusion that you, the news, and the police would draw if 142,000 animal carcasses were found sacrificed in a remote location? Everyone would be proclaiming that an unthinkable evil deed has been committed by lunatic homicidal demon possessed devil worshipers! There would be no question in anyone’s mind! Yet people read the Old Testament and think that Father God wanted 142,000 of His creatures killed to ‘dedicate a house to Him’? How stupid is that! How can we think it was godly to sacrifice in the Old Testament times, yet in modern times we would point the finger at the devil? Of course it is the devil! Now rethink the Old Testament the same way you would think of a modern day similar event. Also remember that there are two voices of God in the bible, even in the Old Testament, and one of those voices wanted sacrifice and the other said that it was an abomination – likewise we should recognize sacrifices as evil and abomonible and done for the pleasure of Devil god and not Father God.
Isaiah 66:3 NKJV He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations
Let’s not forget what the adversary (śâṭân) did to Job. He came into the presence of the LORD (Devil god) and convinced the LORD to allow him to test Job and see if Job would curse the LORD when things started to go bad for him. The śâṭân brought forth five different afflictions of evil against Job: 1) robbery and murder, 2) fire from heaven which burned alive workers and animals, 3) more robbery and murder, 4) a tornado that killed his 10 sons and daughters, and 5) a painful affliction of boils. All of these things happened by the power of the Devil! Fire from heaven which burned alive the workers and animals was caused by the devil! In the exact same way, the fire from heaven that killed and destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah was of the devil! Fire from heaven is a working of the beast / devil regardless of what name the event happens under, whether God, LORD, Satan, or beast. Father is in no way responsible for murderous, torturous, destructive ‘fire from heaven’! [Another time I will elaborate on Job. For now let me just say that śâṭân in Job is just a junior devil to do the evil biddings of the evil LORD in the book of Job – this same LORD bragged about his evil creature Leviathan in chapter 41.]
Job 1:12-2:7 NKJV And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (13) Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; (14) and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, (15) when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” (16) While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” (17) While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” (18) While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, (19) and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” … (6) And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” (7) So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Who was ruling the world?
Another important angle and proof point about who was responsible for the death & destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah is to recognize who was ruling & reigning over mankind & earth at the time. In the beginning, Father God created the earth with His Word, then He made man, then He gave man dominion / authority / rulership over all the earth and all the creatures in the earth. He literally gave the earth to mankind and we owned it – we were the rulers of the earth – we were the ‘gods’ of this world. I’m using the term ‘gods’ because we often think that term only applies to Father God, however, the term also refers to angels, rulers, and magistrates both in the OT and the NT. Just because you see the word ‘god’ in the bible doesn’t mean it is referring to Father God. For instance, in 2Corinthians 4:4 the Devil is referred to as the ‘god of this age/world,’ and of course we know that he is not Father God.
Genesis 1:26-28 NKJV Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Psalms 115:16 NKJV The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.
God, Old Testament, H430, אלהים, ‘ĕlôhı̂ym, BDB Definition: 1) (plural), 1a) rulers, judges, 1b) divine ones, 1c) angels, 1d) gods; 2) (plural intensive – singular meaning), 2a) god, goddess, 2b) godlike one, 2c) works or special possessions of God, 2d) the (true) God, 2e) God
God, New Testament, G2316, θεός, theos, theh’-os, Strong’s Definition: a deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively a magistrate; by Hebraism very: – X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].
Satan’s #1 objective is to be worshiped as god. (Click to watch ‘The Portrait of Satan – god of this world’ to learn more about the character of Satan.) With that objective in mind, the Devil came up with a game plan to become ‘god.’ Thus plots the devil: “If I can simply get mankind to bow the knee to me, then I will become their god, and then I will have authority over everything they own, such as the earth. Hmm…”
Romans 6:16 NKJV Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
So what did he do? He laid a trap for Adam & Eve and deceived them into bowing the knee to him through sin. Whomever you subject yourself to, you become that one’s slave. As a result of Adam & Eve’s sin, Satan became their god / ruler / authority. Through their sin, the devil also became the authority over every thing that they owned, namely the earth. Therefore upon sin, Satan literally became the god of this world having authority over mankind & earth – a terrible tragedy! Did you ever think it was odd, that when the Devil was tempting Jesus, he offered to give Jesus authority in the earth? If you pay attention to the conversation, you will see that authority over the earth was ‘delivered to the Devil’ and ‘he gives it to whomever he wishes.’ When Adam & Eve sinned, they ‘delivered authority’ over themselves and the earth to the devil! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were not in authority over the earth – they were not ruling & reigning over mankind & earth! This is profound! This is the same reason why Jesus referred to the devil as the ‘ruler of this world’ on three occasions, and Paul referred to him as the ‘god of this age/world,’ and also referred to him as a ‘prince’ (archōn = a ruler, commander, chief, leader).
Luke 4:5-7 NKJV Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. (7) Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
John 12:31 NKJV Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
John 14:30 NKJV I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
John 16:11 NKJV of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
2 Corinthians 4:4 NKJV whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Ephesians 2:2 NKJV in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience
Sin was the ‘bowing of the knee’ that gave the Devil authority over mankind. That is why it was so important for Jesus to come to earth and wash away our sins with His blood. Once your sins are washed away, then the devil loses his primary source of authority over you. He secondarily had authority (over a subset of people) by way of law & curse, and this is why Jesus also redeemed (ransomed) the people out from under the law and nailed it to the cross. Those two major works of Jesus – washing away our sins and nailing the law to the cross – are what stripped the devil of his legal authority over mankind. Therefore, before Jesus did His redemptive / ransoming deeds, the devil was the legal authority who was ruling & reigning over mankind and who brought forth evil judgments, such as curses, slaughters, warfare, fire-from-heaven, etc. He is still (illegally) ruling & reigning over people who haven’t turned to Jesus and accepted their deliverance from the kingdom of darkness.
Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV He has delivered us from the power (authority) of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13-15 NKJV And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, (14) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements (dogma = law) that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (15) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Let us also remember that Jesus was bringing in the ‘kingdom of God.’ The word for ‘kingdom’ is the Greek word basileia which is defined as follows in Thayer’s dictionary: “royal power, kingship, dominion, rule, not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom…” The ‘kingdom’ that Jesus was bringing into the earth was literally the authority of God. By way of the authority of God, Jesus was able to heal the sick and cast out demons which were acts of ‘undoing the curses’ of Yahweh the devil the god of this world. Remember that in Deuteronomy 28, Yahweh claimed responsibility for every sickness & every disease, and the NT reveals that Jesus was healing those who were oppressed by the devil, therefore Yahweh-the-god-of-law-and-curse was the Devil himself! If Jesus was ‘bringing in the rule & reign of God,’ then this is yet another proof point that the evil god of the Old Testament who reigned down fire from heaven to burn people alive was in fact the devil and not Father / Son / Holy Spirit! When the rule & reign of Father God came into the earth by way of Jesus, what ‘works of God’ and ‘judgments’ did we see? The sick were healed, devils were cast, dead were raised, freedom from oppression, freedom from curse, forgiveness of sin, lack of punishment! Can’t you see that the works of the god of this world – Yahweh the devil – were opposite of Jesus (and the Father whom Jesus revealed)?
Conclusion
We have seen conclusively from multiple different angles that Father / Son / Holy Spirit were by no means responsible for the death & destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, nor any other act of death & destruction that there ever has been, or will be. We saw that Satan is the one who has the power of death, death is an enemy of God, and Jesus came to (figuratively) destroy the devil who has the power of death. Let us remember that Jesus ‘destroyed the devil who had the power of death’ by way of giving us resurrection life. Jesus didn’t literally destroy the devil in a violent sort of way, rather, He destroyed the devil’s work of death by giving us eternal life. Secondly, we saw that the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah doesn’t align with the character of God that Jesus revealed to us. Jesus refused to punish and put to death, instead He forgave the woman caught in adultery. He also healed and prayed for his enemies who came to arrest, torture, and murder Him. Thirdly, we saw that fire from heaven is actually a working of the beast, and the beast is one with Satan. We also saw that a śâṭân was responsible for the fire from heaven that destroyed Job’s workers and animals. Therefore it is clear that the fire from heaven on Sodom & Gomorrah was also of the devil. Finally, we see that Father / Son / Holy Spirit were not ruling & reigning over the earth. The god of this world – Yahweh the devil – is the one who was responsible for the evil judgment of death & destruction upon Sodom & Gomorrah.
A struggle that many people have, is that they have a warped since of ‘just judgment’ when they read the Old Testament. Many people think that God was justified in doing great slaughters, murders, genocides, stealing / killing / destroying, stealing of the promised land, floods, fires, war, killing of babies, etc. Somehow their recognition of evil is veiled when reading the bible, yet if they were to see similar behavior in a movie, for example, they would easily identify it as evil. If I just described you, then I have a homework assignment for you. Watch the movie ‘Batman Begins’ and you will see that the ‘League of Shadows’ has the exact mindset of Yahweh. They proclaim to be against sin and atrocities, yet they punish sin with great atrocities and think they are justified in doing so. If you watch this movie and keep in mind Sodom & Gomorrah, you will see that it is exactly the same story line! The League of Shadows wants to destroy Gotham (aka Sodom & Gomorrah) because of their sins, yet it is obviously an evil deed and thus Batman seeks to deliver the (sinful) city from this destruction. How can you watch a movie with the exact same mindset as Yahweh and recognize it as evil, yet read your bible and not recognize Yahweh’s judgments of death & destruction as evil?
The goodness or evilness of the recipient of a deed doesn’t determine whether a deed done against them is good or evil. A deed is to be defined as good or evil by the nature of the deed alone. Even Jesus said that we are to judge according to the fruit that we see, and He said that if people didn’t believe the words He spoke to them, they should believe Him due to the good works that He was doing (the works of the Father such as healing, devil casting, and dead raising). It is evil to burn alive good people. It is evil to burn alive bad people. It is evil to burn people alive! It is evil to rape a good woman. It is evil to rape an evil woman. Raping of women is evil! (Yes, Yahweh commanded women to be raped.) It is evil to rip open and kill a pregnant woman who is good. It is evil to rip open and kill a pregnant woman who is bad. It is evil to rip open any pregnant woman, to have her baby spill to the ground, and to have them both die. (Yes, Yahweh commanded the ripping open of pregnant women.) So you see, we must judge the deed of burning alive people as evil and then properly assign the blame to the Devil who has the power of death and destruction, and we must avoid accusing our Father of such heinous evil deeds because we blaspheme Him if we do that.
Consider this also… The bible says that the ‘great sin’ of Sodom & Gomorrah included multiple aspects: sexual perversion (commonly this is all people consider), pride, inactivity to help, and apathy towards the poor & needy. Let us realize that ‘all the inhabitants of the cities’ were burned alive. If all the inhabitants were burned alive, then that means even the poor & needy were killed along with the ‘grave sinners’ who didn’t help them! If it was sin for mankind to neglect the needs of the poor & needy, then how can it be ‘just justice’ for the poor & needy to be burned alive along with those who sinned against them by not helping them? If it was sin for mankind to neglect the needs of the poor & needy, would it not be greater sin for Yahweh to burn them alive rather than save them?
Genesis 18:20 NKJV And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave
Genesis 19:4-5 NKJV Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. (5) And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”
Ezekiel 16:49 NKJV Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Genesis 19:24-25 NKJV Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. (25) So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Let me leave you with this final thought. When we think about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which killed 3000 people, we very easily recognize that as grievous evil. Three thousand people died, some died instantly, yet many died slowly & torturously with unthinkable pain & suffering. Let’s pretend that all 3000 who died were sinners who were either sexually perverse, or neglected the needs of poor & needy people. Would you still classify the terrorist attacks as evil, if the only people who died were sinners such as these? Yes you would consider it evil! The deed itself of torturously burning alive & killing 3000 people was evil – just as the burning alive of Sodom & Gomorrah was evil. Judge the deed to determine whether it is good of God, or evil of the Devil – Jesus told us to do so! Tip: In addition to the ‘rightly dividing’ approach to reading scripture, if you will modernize the killing & destroying scenes of the Old Testament, or liken them to recent historical events, you will more easily recognize them as evil and will find peace knowing that your Father in heaven did not do them, rather ‘He is light and in Him is no darkness at all!’
God bless you!
Bobby