Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken! (Isaiah 1:10, 16-20)
Isaiah pulled no punches. He spoke loudly and clearly. Are we princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah? Sodom and Gomorrah should be very familiar to us Bible-readers. I’ve read: (begin)
In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28). They are mentioned frequently in the prophets and the New Testament as symbols of human wickedness and divine retribution, and the Quran also contains a version of the story about the two cities…
…God sends two angels to destroy Sodom. Lot welcomes them into his home, but all the men of the town surround the house and demand that he surrender the visitors that they may "know" them. Lot offers the mob his virgin daughters to "do to them as you please", but they refuse and threaten to do worse to Lot. The angels strike the crowd blind.
The angels tell Lot "...the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:13). The next morning, because Lot had lingered, the angels take Lot, Lot's wife, and his two daughters by the hand and out of the city, and tell him to flee to the hills and not look back. Lot says that the hills are too far away and asks to go to Zoar instead. Then God rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground (Genesis 19:24–25). Lot and his two daughters are saved, but his wife disregards the angels' warning, looks back, and is turned into a pillar of salt…(end)
Quite the story with lots of fire and brimstone (sulfur). I guess this Lent we had better wash ourselves clean; put away our misdeeds from before God’s eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good; make justice our aim; redress the wronged; hear the orphan's plea; and defend the widow. Otherwise, our sins will remain scarlet; the sword shall consume us; and we will be struck blind, so to speak.
When we do as God tells us, we move forward and refuse to look back on and repeat our sins. But, if we ignore God’s angels’ warning and we do look back, we become pillars of salt. Good for seasoning and preserving meat and fish, but not much else.
Deacon David Pierce
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