Genesis 19:

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

The three mysterious visitors to Abraham indicate what theologians refer to as theophany. The appearance of the three personalities has been a subject of debate among the learned. One of the three who seems to be the spokesperson, says a school of thought, is the Word of God yet to be incarnated as Son. Not much is said about the other two. Perhaps, they’re the two angels of the next story here in chapter 19. Whichever, that needs not delay us here.

Abraham sees off his visitors. On the way, the Lord, in the trio, ruminates as in soliloquizing to Himself about the value of His friendship with Abraham and the possible realizing His plan for the redemption of man through him, spoke of His own soon judgement to be carried out on Sodom and Gomorrah. Then God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him (Genesis 18:17-18).  The Lord, on the strength of His faithfulness, covenant and valued friendship with Abraham, reveals to him that He is on the way to Sodom for judgement because the outcry against the cities of the plain has been bombarding heaven. Now, that’s where lives Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Abraham decides to intercede for these that they should be spared. But, in his prayers, he’s not absolute; he is not saying that the cities should not be outrightly destroyed for unrighteousness, but he brings in statistical conditionalities. Would the righteous God destroy them if He found fifty righteous people in Sodom? No,, the Lord replied. What of forty-five, forty…. even ten? The Lord deferred to Abraham in all his requests.

The matter is settled then. The Lord has answered Abraham’s prayer. The man has been using his nephew as the judgement standard. Only that he doesn’t know that the maths will never add up. Lot, and all those that live under his roof, by divine imputation of righteousness, should be righteous: he and his wife; his two daughters with their husbands; and possibly four others. But, the agreed-upon number proves inadequate. The two husbands of the two daughters are not interested in salvation appeal story of their wives and their father-in-law. They refuse to cooperate.

We must need return to the beginning of the story of man in the garden of Eden to put this story in proper perspective. At the temptation of man, Satan, the serpent, had the mind to completely alienate the .mind of man from God and to substitute it with himself. The purpose was to institute another life in man, controlled by him. This life was defined in God’s mind as death. This was what God meant when God warned Adam that he would die if he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. To be cut off or be alienated from God is to be cut off from the true source of life. This is death, no matter the great civilisation that comes along with it

Satan did his job so perfectly well that it’s impossible for man to be reconciled or be re-united with God. However, he wasn’t interested only to make man fall for his reign of death-nature. He wanted to rule him absolutely. This would be possible if he could reach out and touch and destroy the essence of the mind loaded in him, in his spirit. And how would this be accomplished? By making the spirit man unrighteous, contrary to God’s life in him, by excellently adhering  to Satan’s life. By the time of our stories in chapters 18 and 19 of Genesis, the serpent’s manipulations on the mind of man in Sodom and Gomorrah had advanced; conscience of mind in the spirit of man had been overcome and the other life was pre-eminent.

When the conscience of man is defeated, all is gone. Here, man has completely thrown away off all restraints. He’s become the son of Satan! Just as God wants sons in His image and after His likeness, so also the devil is making sons. The matured man in the characters of who gave birth to him is son!  When a man has successfully ignored and despise the modulating voice of his spirit, calling for restraints and pointing to God, he has become a reprobate. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not what you want. In this atmosphere, the Dawn of Darkness has become absolute. There’s no recall; the dog bent on getting lost will refuse to hear the hunter’s whistle.

Satan had obtained his ancient plan in the  people of Sodom and Gomorrah, making them odious to God. The Creator had to save man from himself. Judgement was it! It’s a state where man has lost or has completely thrown overboard the knowledge of God, despising Him. .. but their thinking became futile and their foolish heart were darkened (Romans 1:21).

The judgment on the cities of the plain is not different from what is promised the present generation.. The Lord was concerned for Sodom and the other cities in physically destroying them, but for this generation which do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He, God has given them to depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:28). Under the prison of their iron-seared conscience, “God gave them to reprobate mind to do things that are inconvenient.” This horrendous defeat of the conscience of man was first recorded in the bible about  Sodom and Gomorrah.

There’s still hope of reconciliation to God as long as as conscience umpires, however darkly, in the heart of man. However, when Satan has had a complete capture of conscience and retainment of the knowledge of God, then it’s all over. Sodom and Gomorrah crossed the threshold and threw off the voice of conscience which is a veritable instrument in the hand of the Spirit of the Lord for reconciliation of man to God.

The troubled world had a taste of its own pudding during the second world war. Each time I read this passage of the scripture, the thought of the extensive devastation that came over the world of the time comes to mind. The Dawn of Darkness is here again and can be seen in the world on its way to self-destruct. Man has greatly improved on the instrument used in the last world war. And the devastation will be more extensive. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The heaven will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, the earth and everything in it will be laid bare(2 Peter 3:11). But right now, the voice of the Spirit is calling back to the Lord, saying, “Accept His provision of salvation by believing the gospel.” It’s just a matter of exercising faith in what the Lord Jesus has accomplished for man in the course of bringing us to reconciliation or at-one-ment with Him. This way, there’s assurance that conscience, the mind of the spirit can still recall us to the path to God’s sonship.

The sin of Sodom survives till today in its ancient form and in its name. Man has advanced so much in this way that he has put it into his book of law that excellent, acceptable and to be delighted for mankind are the practices for which God destroyed those cities. Oh, how has man taken delights in trying to look down on God! Yet, the Lord’s keeps saying to us that it doesn’t have to be this way.

How does a man know that he’s gone pass the redemption of God? How does one know that the Dawn of Darkness is not yet total? As long as there’s longing for the Lord in me, I know that it is not yet the dawn of darkness, but the dawn of the morning of glory will over take. At least, there’s hope for a tree. If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoot will not fail…(Job 24:7). I will rise and live again in the glorious dawn. This is the hope. I repent me of all  sins, brought about by my throwing off all restraints, by my loss of conscience. …the Lord knows how to rescue righteous men from trials…(2 Peter 2:9).

Lest we cast a burden on any one, we quickly add that complete defeat of conscience doesn’t apply to anyone who has attacks in our psyche. We once had a brother, such devoted man of God, who, having failed to take his drugs, under the influence of the power, murdered his child and became conscious immediately after the evil thing he’d done. This is not within the purview of our discussion here. This is an imposition from without. The Dawn of Darkness is from within.

Father, thank You for bringing us to this season. It’s great to be completely delivered by the Lord Jesus Your Son. We’re indwelt by the godhead. Because You reign supreme in our hearts, we increase in the knowledge of You and, emboldened by this,we are confident that we overcome any dawn of darkness.

We’re in the light of God; we are in Your life.

Thank You Lord for this