Has God ever pored out His wrath over a people while protecting His people from His wrath? How could that be accomplished? Let us study some passages to determine if this is indeed true. We will start with the account of Lot, Abraham, and Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. 18:23 Abraham came near and said, "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Abraham asked the Lord this very same question we are trying to understand ourselves. Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed for their horrendous, abominable sexual practices. But, Abraham is very concerned as his nephew Lot and his family who have chosen to live in Sodom.
18:32 Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it on account of the ten."
Abraham asked the Lord 5 times about whether the Lord would destroy this city if 50,45,30,20, or 10 righteous people could be found in Sodom. The Lord knew that there were not 10 to be found, but demonstrated His divine mercy by clearly declaring that for 10 He would not destroy Sodom.
19:1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 9:2 And he said, "Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." They said however, "No, but we shall spend the night in the square." 9:3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Lot had two concerns, one was the nature of hospitality in that time and place, but the overriding concern was the safety of these two, as he knew the evil that the men of Sodom practiced.
19:4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 19:5 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 have relations with them."
What does having relations with them mean? What did God condemn them for? Why would God destroy two whole towns? The answer is that they practiced what God condemned as abominable. The penalty for these practices was death.
Leviticus 20:13 'If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them.
Sexual sin is viewed by God as deserving of the death penalty.
19:10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 19:11 They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
Even when blinded by the angels, these man did not stop trying to find them. Their evil passions blinded them more than their physical blindness.
19:12 Then the two men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
19:13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it." Gen 19:14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, "Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city." But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
19:15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." 19:16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, one said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.
What have we read and learned?
First, God will send warnings.
Secondly, the world will not understand, believe, or care for God’s warnings.
Thirdly, God will make sure His people escape, even if He has to send angels (messengers) to drag them away from experiencing His divine, holy, righteous wrath.
We will study another example next time.