God is not a new age god, who is created in people’s minds and speaks positive words that please the people. A God, who does what people want. God is not created by man and for man. But man is created by God and for God. God is the Creator of heaven and earth and all there is within. His Word is settled in heaven forever. God is holy and righteous. He speaks the truth and acts according to His righteousness and His Word. Throughout the Bible God has spoken by His prophets, His Son and sons (це стосується як чоловіків, так і жінок) about the end of the last days and the judgments of God that will come over the earth, when the measure of sin is full.
The righteous hate iniquity and the unrighteous hate righteousness
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Господи, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail (Євреїв 1:8-12, (Псалом 45:6-7))
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate (Прислів'я 8:13)
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death (Прислів'я 8:34-36)
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked (Прислів'я 29:27)
God hates the sin and iniquity of people. Because it is rebellion and disobedience to God and His Word and government.
Всі, who walks in righteousness hates sin, just like everyone, who walks in sin hates righteousness (Читайте також: What is sin?).
We see this, Серед інших, in the lives of Noah and Lot.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness and walked with God amid the ungodly (wicked people).
Lot sat in the gates of Sodom and also lived among the ungodly and was daily vexed in his righteous soul by the evil walk of the ungodly, who lived in rebellion and disobedience to God and His Word (Ой. 2 Петро 2:5-8).
Both Noah and Lot lived in a time, wherein the wickedness of man on earth (and in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah) was so great that the measure of sin was full, and because of that the judgments of God came over the earth (and over Sodom and Gomorra).
The judgment of God over the earth (the flood)
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, і, Ось, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; і, Ось, I will destroy them with the earth (Буття 6:5:13)
In the days of Noah, the earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence, all because of the sinful walk of man on earth. The sin was so great that the measure of sin was full, whereby the judgment of God came over the earth, and the world of the ungodly was destroyed by water.
Humanity had almost completely perished by the flood, had it not been for Noah and his righteous walk.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation and walked with God and found grace in the sight of God.
God shared with Noah His plan and commanded Noah to build an ark. Noah believed God and obeyed His words and built an ark, whereby Noah and his house were saved from the flood that came over the earth and destroyed all the wickedness of man on earth (Читайте також: What are the seven characteristics of the days of Noah?).
The judgment of God on Sodom and Gomorrah (rain of brimstone and fire)
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly (Буття 13:10-13)
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, і сказав, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (Буття 18:20-23)
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, кажучи, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city (Буття 19:15-16)
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, і, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt (Буття 19:23-29)
In the days of Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around were filled with wickedness, because of the evil walk of man.
The man of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked and sinners before the Lord. Because of their way of life, their sin was very grievous and the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was so great that it reached the heaven and came unto the Lord, whereby He came down to see whether they had done according to the cry.
On arrival and during the stay in Sodom, it became clear that the works of the inhabitants corresponded with the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah.
What was the iniquity of Sodom?
Ось, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away as I saw good (Ezekiel 16:49-50)
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (Джуд 1:7)
The inhabitants were prideful, and selfish and lived in excess and abundance of idleness, while they didn’t look after the poor and needy and didn’t strengthen their hands.
They were haughty and lived for themselves, acting according to the lust and desires of the flesh, whereby they lived in greed, uncleanness, блуд, and did things that were an abomination to God (Ой. Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Повторення Закону 7:25-26; 12:29-32; 13:12-18; 18:9-14; 22:5; 23:17-18; 24:1-4; 25:16; 27:15, 1 Королі 11:5-8, Прислів'я 6:16-19; 11:1, 20;12:22;15:8-9, 26; 16:5; 17:15; 20:10,23, Одкровення 21:27 (Читайте також: The vine of Sodom і What does the Bible say about homosexuality?),
Because of their sinful walk (evil walk), the measure of sin was full, whereby the judgment of God came over Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around and were destroyed by raining brimstone and fire.
The measure of the iniquity of the Amorites
God acts according to the spiritual laws of the universe. Everything that God has instituted is good and everything that God does is righteous. Although this is not always seen that way by people, who are carnal and belong to the generation of fallen man
God acts according to His Word and does everything legally.
Наприклад, in Genesis 15:12-16, we read that God prophesied to Abraham about his end and his seed.
God said, that they would be a stranger in a land that wasn’t theirs and would serve them, and they would afflict them 400 років. But the Lord would judge that nation, whom they would serve, and afterward, they would come out with great substance.
But Abraham would go to his fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation, they would come hither again. Why in the fourth generation? Because the iniquity of the Amorites was not full yet.
God could act legally and give the promised land as an inheritance to His people, when the measure of iniquity of the Amorites was full and not sooner.
The judgments of God over the earth, because the measure of sin is full
Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest (Одкровення 15:3-4)
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments (Одкровення 16:7)
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, кажучи, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, і потужність, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand (Одкровення 19:1-2)
We live in a time, wherein the world has turned away from the Lord and the people live as in the days of Noah and walk as the man of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people are rebellious, prideful, and selfish. They’re focused on selfish gain and wealth and don’t look out for the poor and the needy.
The people don’t want to listen to the words of God, which are spoken by His sons (це стосується як чоловіків, так і жінок) and call the sinners to repentance. But they have elevated themselves as god and even put themselves above God and His Word and His Truth. And they take pleasure in their uncleanness and sinful lifestyle.
They listen to the words of man, who belongs to the world and the ruler of this world (диявол).
They commit idolatry, Чаклунство, sorcery, Ворожіння (fortune-telling), alternative healing, and worship the works that are made by man. They walk in sexual uncleanness and perversity without being ashamed and they bear the fruit of the flesh. (Читайте також: Земля сумує і чекає явлення синів Божих).
They live in debauchery (licentiousness) and do those things, which God has forbidden (out of love for humanity). They enjoy what the world has to offer and many Christians participate with them.
Instead of staying awake to righteousness and remaining watchful and having renewed their minds with the Word of God and taking their position in Christ and walking after the Spirit in obedience to the Word and intervened and entered the spiritual battle with the powers of darkness and praying, preaching the gospel of Christ and calling the sinners to repentance and making them disciples of Christ, many Christians have slumbered and fallen asleep and listened to the world and have been conformed to the world and have built with the world and adjusted the words and ordinances of God and bowed to the devil and have allowed the spirits of darkness to enter their lives, whereby they walk, just like the world, after the flesh in darkness in the bondage of sin and death
Because of the fact they didn’t take the warnings of the Word seriously and did not set the above (the judgments of God) as an example to those, who live ungodly, the darkness has increased and the earth is defiled, due to the corrupt evil walk of its inhabitants(Читайте також: Темрява гасить світло).
The wickedness of man and the corruptness on earth is so great, that the cry of the earth against sin has reached heaven. The measure of sin is full, whereby the judgments of God will come over the earth and the ungodly shall drink from the cup of the wrath of the Lord, which they have chosen for themselves.
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