The original book, “The Tale of Two Cities,” was published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens; it was set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. In this Editorial, I want to look at the people of the ancient cities of Nineveh and Sodom. Both these cities had issues with sin.
In Jonah 1:2, we read God’s words to Jonah: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” Nineveh had issues with wickedness which is not really defined by God as to the exact problem it had.
This is what is said about Sodom, in Genesis 18:20-21: “And the LORD said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 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.” God states that their sin is great, without going into any detail.
It’s interesting to notice that He, together with two angels, wanted to go in person to see how bad it was. You have probably heard that it is sometimes hard to describe a situation and, “You had to be there to see how bad it was”—to be there in person to get the full impact or feel how bad a situation was. God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, would stay with Abraham but would send His two angels to Sodom to evaluate the people there.
Sodom was really bad, as described in 19:4-5: “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. And they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men [the two angels] who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.’”
They wanted to abuse the two guests sexually, thinking they were ordinary men, and both young and old were in the mix. It is evident that the whole town was perverted and twisted sexually.
Both these cities had major issues but the outcome of them was totally different.
After trying to avoid his commission, Jonah finally went as instructed by God and warned Nineveh of destruction. In Jonah 3:2-4, we read that God told Jonah again: ‘‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’”
So Jonah sounded the alarm or trumpet as it were of coming destruction; and what was the response from the city?
Jonah 3:6-10 tells us: “Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”
The result was repentance of the city and thus God changed His mind about destroying it. Please note however that the city of Nineveh was destroyed later by falling back to their old ways.
What about Sodom? Genesis 19:15-17 reads: “When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ‘Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.’ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.’”
Continuing in Genesis 19:24-25: “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”
So Sodom was totally destroyed. Lot had apparently been a judge in Sodom, “sitting in the gate” (Genesis 19:1); he had warned the people of Sodom repeatedly (compare Genesis 19:7-9; 2 Peter 2:7), but they did not listen. When the city was evaluated by the two angels, being there in person, it was determined that redemption at that point was far from attainable, leading to its destruction. This is not to say that the people of Sodom, as well as of Nineveh, won’t have a future opportunity to repent after their resurrection to physical life, and then be given an opportunity for salvation.
We all sin from time to time. When we realize our error, we repent and ask for forgiveness, knowing God will forgive us our sins with the understanding that we are to make efforts to overcome sin, not to succumb to it.
On the other hand, if we harden our hearts by sinning and do not repent, we could find ourselves in the situation of Sodom, beyond repair and redemption. But while the unconverted people of Sodom will have a chance in the future, for us, as converted Christians who fall away for good, there is only one final fate, which is the lake of fire from which there is no comeback (compare Hebrews 10:26-27).
As we go forward in our Christian walk, we will sin on occasion, but the final outcome of sin is really up to us; so, let’s make the right choices.
