Sodom and the Last Day
O Lord Jesus, here [in the judgment of Sodom] I see an image of Your final judgment to which You Yourself point in Luke 17[:29-30]. As You came to Abraham with two of Your angels when Sodom was to be burned down, so You will return with all Your holy angels when the world is to be burned down.
You told Abraham that You would see how things stood with Sodom; on the Last Day You will sit on high in the clouds of heaven and see how everything in the whole world has gone.
When You came, Sodom and the whole region was full of unbelief, sin, and shame. When You come back, will You find faith? I recall Your words in Luke 18:8. Oh, the world is already drunk in every sin, so Your return must not be far off. Grant that we may watch and pray [Luke 21:36] and await Your return with gladness, for our redemption draws nigh [Luke 21: 28].
The sun rose upon Sodom. O Lord Jesus, great Sun of righteousness [Mal. 4:2], You will rise upon us in the glorious heavens, and shine forever and ever [Is. 60:1]. You will bring into bright sunlight all that was hidden in this world [1 Cor. 4:5].
Lot was brought out so that not a hair of his head was singed. We too will be brought out and set at Your right side so that not a hair of our head is disturbed.
Sodom was struck by brimstone and fire. The ungodly too will be struck by suchy a tempest (Ps. 11:6; Matt. 25:41). “Their fire shall not be quenched” [Is. 66:24]. As Sodom continues to boil and bubble even to this day, so will that fire consume every ungodly, condemned heart, and its torment never ceases.1
Lot was kept safe and sound in his town of Zoar. We too shall be kept safe and sound forever in the great heavenly Jerusalem, to which we shall be caught up.
Oh Lord Jesus, help me after the example of the five wise virgins [Matt. 25:1-13] to be ready, to be prepared and equipped at all times, and to see my desire with Your enemies and mine burn [confer Psalm 118:7; 59:10]—yea, to see my desire when You redeem me and take me to Yourself; for we will always be with You (1 Thess. 4:17).
1 Herberger is referring to descriptions of Sodom, and outlying areas, found in Wisdom 10:7 and Josephus 4.8. Herberger wrote: “… nobody can live there even to this day. Where Sodom and her neighbors once stood the Dead Sea now lies … Its vapor is so toxic that even the birds that try to fly over drop dead. Anything heavy will float on it, contrary to the laws of nature. The water changes color three times a day, continually bubbling and spitting up great lumps of brimstone and asphalt. Near the shore grow beautiful trees with beautiful apples; when touched, they crumble and blow away like ashes” (48).
Herberger, Valerius The Great Works of God: Parts Three and Four: The Mysteries of Christ in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 16-50 49-50