Gomorrah was a biblical place always associated with Sodom. They are found on the Biblical Timeline between 2000 BC and 1900 BC. The term Gomorrah came from the Greek name for the land that could mean “a heap of manure”. It was a very old city believed by many to be a located on a plain submerged beneath the south portion of the Dead Sea. The term “ugly manure” given to this city was not because of its physical attributes rather because of its inhabitants and how they behaved themselves. Some archaeologists believe Numeira is the location of the biblical Gomorrah. Some house foundations were found in the area along with a winery.
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Sodom
The exact location of Sodom just like Gomorrah is still debated today. But for sure, it was around the eastern or south-eastern portion of Jerusalem more particularly in the Dead Sea area. Also, one could see it from Mamre, a land close to Hebron. Hebron is situated almost in the middle part of the north and south at the west of the Dead Sea. One of the most popular speculated sites of ancient Sodom is the modern day Bab edh-Dhra. During the 1960s, a huge cemetery with 500,000 bodies, more or less, was excavated.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were politically allied with three other cities, namely; Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela or Zoar. These five cities were known as the “cities of the plain”. They were situated along the coastline of the Jordan River to the south of Canaan. The coastline of the Jordan River is now believed to be the Dead Sea. This place was well-watered and green enough to raise animals. Cities of the plain had their own kings and these kings, namely; King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela worked together to revolt against the Elamite Kingdom who ruled over them for 13 years. The battle was won by the Elamite Kingdom until Abram the uncle of Lot killed the armies of Elam’s king thus freeing the five cities from Elam.
Topping the many speculations, Sodom was believed to be the modern city of Bab edh-Dhra while Numeira could be the ancient location of Gomorrah. Both cities were annihilated at the same time by a great catastrophe. Cemetery found in Bab edh-Dhra suggested that people inside the buildings were burnt by a fire that started from the roof. The area south of the Dead Sea has deposits of the substance bitumen, a substance that has a high sulphur component. A popular theory by Frederick Clapp is the possibility of an earthquake pushing these bitumen deposits out from a fault line. Once out on earth and sparked, these bitumen deposits would create a huge fire thus making the entire land into a giant oven.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah along with the two other cities of the plain was a picture of God’s rage over sin, particularly vices and indecent sexual behaviors and practices. The cities were inhabited by people so wicked and evil that God could do nothing except to destroy them. The cities were totally destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstones. Only the city of Zoar was spared from God’s wrath that day.
The Good People of Sodom
When Abraham learned about God’s plan of destroying Sodom, Abraham became concerned about the good individuals living inside the city. And so, God sent two angels to Sodom, who met Lot, who gave them food and a place to stay for the night. But moments later, the men of the city demanded that Lot surrender to them the two men he kept inside his house. And when Lot refused, they forcefully barged into his house where they were stopped and blinded by the angels. The angles then told Lot about God’s plan of destroying the city and asked him to leave the city with his family. They left the city the next morning with the caution not to look behind. But Lot’s wife failed and looked back to the city being destroyed and was turned into a pillar of salt. God’s sparing the lives of Lot and his family is an example of how God cares for the righteous people.
Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible
- Genesis 10:19. Sodom and Gomorrah as the borders of Canaan.
- Genesis 13:10. Sodom and Gomorrah were well-watered places before they were destroyed by the Lord.
- Genesis 14:2. The king of Sodom was named Bera while the king of Gomorrah was Birsha.
- Genesis 19:24. Lot met the two angels sent by the Lord at the entrance of the gate and greeted them politely.
- Genesis 19:24. Sodom and Gomorrah were rained upon with fire and brimstones.
- Jeremiah 49:18. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the Lord along with the two other cities nearby so completely that nobody would live there again.
- 2 Peter 2:6. Razing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to the ground is God’s example of how he will treat ungodly and immoral behaviors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah
http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48931527.html
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/04/The-Discovery-of-the-Sin-Cities-of-Sodom-and-Gomorrah.aspx#Article
http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/sodomfound.htm
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a007.html
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BECAME MORE CLEAR ABOUT THE TWO MAN AT LOT HOUSE AND THE OTHER PART OF THE STORY. THANK YOU.
They were 2 angels of God who sent them to rescue Lot and his wife[who looked back and died]and his 2 daughters .. there were also 2 betrothed men to these girls who didn’t believe the Angels, as they saw as mere men, they also perished.. they also prevented Lots door from being knocked down by vile men outside who wanted sexual relations with the 2 men,[Angels] which is against Gods design for man kind He created..the same applies today.. Gods Laws do not change ..for any one..hope this helps.. Lot offered his 2 virgin daughters as a substitute, rather than commit a lured act on the 2 angels..but it wasn,t what they wanted..the poor girls were spared that horrible event as well..Thank you God for that..
Thats the power of God.
God always allows a way of escape for righteous people.
so very true
he sure does.. always
God’s Word is true let us learn the lesson for today.
THERE IS MORE UNGODLYNESS IN THE US IN ONE DAY THAN IN SODOM WOULD BE SAFE TO SAY. TELL ME HES NOT LONG SUFFERING
I would like to learn more about the word of God. Expanded knowledge about God is necessary because I do believe as the Bible says God will get even with sin at His appointed time.
You can learn sound Biblical Truth at Bible Baptist Church Theological Seminary in Cromwell, CT
“because I do believe as the Bible says God will get even with sin at His appointed time”
His appointed time is way over time… His omniscience should tell Him that.
If God knows everything, especially what’s in men’s hearts, why did he have to send angels to find good men in Sodom? And, do you know that within 24 hours of the city’s destruction, the prevailing winds carried the debris cloud over Sumeria, and all of it’s inhabitants died?
http://www.historywiz.com/exhibits/destructionofsumer.html
Abraham and his followers, were from Ur, a Sumerian city that was wiped out by the cloud. Was it a coincidence that God made them His Chosen People after those events?
He sent Angels not to find good people, but to warn Lot.
Well, first , in this journey I’ve accepted that any questioning is evil because it causes distractions and doubt . Always pray and in the very evil , good can be made.
He didn’t send angels to “find” , lot was the only righteous documented. Where are the others , only god knows.
If the religion is true and accurate, then any obvious question(s) that arise, will not be distracting or leave doubt, unless such religions are obviously flawed. Take for instance planes, trains, automobiles, vaccines and all the conveniences of modern life, how much of those do _*you*_ take advantage of that were not afforded to us when Adam and Eve were created? I know you at least take advantage of the Internet, which requires electricity, which in those days was an act of God. How long would your faith take you if you were to live as Adam & Eve after kicked out of the garden of Eden? No house, bathroom or electricity. Only running water is from the local stream or river. Only thing you have to eat is what you grow yourself. Only thing to wear, is what you make yourself. Modern life is not much of a test at all.
Also, take the book of Job, why punish the truest and most devoted man God had, just to test his devotion? Blind faith/devotion, can only be pushed just so far before a person cracks. In that instance of the book of Job, what was the difference between God and Satan? God knowing full well, and letting Satan test Job, saw no difference between God knowing and Satan doing, both were 1 and the same. What good can ever come from all that suffering after all those unanswered prayers to God from Job?
The temptation in the garden of Eden as well, why create a person, then hold something like that over their head, unless we’re just a game to God….no doubt in my mind if there is a God that we are.
I completely understand how this would all seem like nonsense to you. It is impossible to understand God without his spirit living in you to give you that understanding. Until and unless you receive his spirit, it is pointless to try to understand his word or his ways. In God’s foreknowledge of this he said 1 Cor. 2:12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
When I was a boy, I asked my grandfather if it made him mad to walk 3 miles to school. He said no. Actually he used that time to impress the girls. (Sparking he called it). Later when he found out there were school buses, he was madder than hell.
No.. Abraham was given the covenant by God Himself for his descendants as well. Lot was Abrahams nephew and righteous in Gods sight. he made a huge mistake by choosing Sodom to live near.. the city looked good so he chose it ..we do today as well ..choose ways of life that aren’t good for us.. goodness cant mix with evil.
To humor Abraham, Abraham was sure God was mistaken, and Abraham had to learn that God does not make mistakes, hence send angels, tell him to find 2 good people, and at last have Abraham recognize that God was right and that the cities had to be destryed.
Sorry Lot.
Bab edh-Dhra was destroyed in 2350 BC (Early Bronze Age) and most scholars place the Patriarchs in the Middle Bronze Age. Tall el-Hammam in the north end of the Dead Sea is a much better location for Sodom destroyed in the Middle Bronze Age. Graves, David E. The Location of Sodom: Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain. Toronto: Electronic Christian Media, 2018.
I have been told that the siege, or destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and the other plains cities of Siddim lasted 5 months. Can this be substantiated biblically?
Thank You,
James Letts
Optic Deities
Searing lasers they oft aim
At the cornea and retina,
To torch cells by the millions
As at Sodom and Gomorrah,
Yet the intention, it is not,
Of optic deities
As they restore sights divine,
To smite, with wrath, the laities.
The cities were destroyed by an asteroid explosion whitch went on and crushed making the Dead Sea.
The explosion was so strong as 500 times a nuclear bomb, and the heat was about 1000°C destroying and melting everything on a rage of more than 500 km2. Even the Edomite city which we call Petra in Jordan got melted. The city is not build in the rock as this was before they had iron tools. The Egyptians and all the ancient civilization even prediluvian knew how to make concrete and geopolymers in order to make cast stones. Petra is build in limestone cast stones not in rocks. The red and pink colors come from the baking of the buildings that were transformed either in high rocks or in hobbit holes.
Sodom and Gomorrah are incinerated in brimstone.
You can see it even today. All is burned down to white ashes and the huge brimestomes are reduced to small golfbal size stones incapsulated in the ashes which you can still ignate.
Good to know that the story of Abraham and Lot as witnesses of the destruction of Sodom from the city Zoar is a fabrication as no one could ever survive an asteroid collision at only less than 50 km from its epicenter.
Genesis 14 talks about field Siddim which became sea, proving that the Dead Sea came only after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
It is very usual to have a salty lake or salty sea in the crater formed due to an asteroid or meteorite collision.
https://youtu.be/GhTjEbNgTQM
Jesus Himself said, “And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”