Would the Discovery of Sodom and Gomorrah Cause People to Repent?

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;” – 2 Peter 2:6

The verse above likely meant that at the time of Peter, you could still witness the destructive ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example to the ungodly. Is that still possible today? Yes, according to those who have visited Tall el-Hamman – the little-known site actually discovered and first written about in 2017.

My wife and I had planned to lead a tour the next year, but I suffered the first of several strokes a day before we were to leave. I have never seen Tatt el-Hamman in Jordan; I still hope I can.

Why? Because I want to see if it’s still proof for the ungodly – so that fewer people will need to see it with their own eyes.

The description of the biblical destruction of Sodom is supported by recent archaeological discoveries.

Dr. Steven Collins, a Christian biblical scholar and the dean at the College of Archaeology at Trinity Southwest University, Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been excavating an archaeological site for the past 15 years. Collins collaborated with a wide range of scientific experts from diverse fields and employed the most advanced techniques to develop a comprehensive picture of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. His results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

The 64-page paper makes a highly credible and most astounding claim. The site is located in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea and dates back to the Middle Bronze Age. This is precisely the time and place where one would expect to find the ruins of biblical Sodom. Incredibly, the city unearthed there was destroyed in a unique event that seems to match the biblical account Sodom’s ruination.

The way the world seems headed today, this seems to be the most likely time for the infamous city to be rediscovered.

The biblical account describes Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding area as being overturned at the same time by an act of God – a catastrophic rainstorm of fire and brimstone. Only Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and his two daughters escaped with their lives. Not so, Lot’s wife, who disobeyed an angel’s warning not to glance back at the destruction and perished.

In Genesis, Chapter 13 we learn that Abraham and his nephew Lot had pitched their tents between Beit El and Ai, which is north of Jerusalem. Their shepherds were not getting along with each other, so Abraham suggested to Lot that they part ways, and Lot should find somewhere else to live. At that point the Bible says: “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.”

This is how Dr. Collins describes, in his paper, the plain north of the Dead Sea that the Jordon River flows through:

“Located in a generally arid region, the Jordan Valley is one of the best-watered areas in all the southern Levant (Jordan, Israel, and Palestine). In addition to numerous springs created by a disgorging Transjordanian aquifer, the area had hydrological conditions for human habitation somewhat analogous to the Nile Delta region, which is also bordered by arid terrain,” he wrote. He added that Tall el-Hamman was the largest of the five cities destroyed and was 10 times larger than Jerusalem.

Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?

Genesis 18:20 says, “And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;”

Jeremiah 23:14 says, “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.”

And why should we care today about the fate of these ancient cities?

Mark 6:11 quotes Jesus as he sends out his disciples, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.”

I think the message is to repent – before it’s too late.

“The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament” by Joseph Farah is available in both hardcover and e-book versions.

ALSO: Get Joseph Farah’s book “The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians, and the End of the Age,” and learn about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith and your future in God’s Kingdom. Also available as an e-book.

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