Page 18 - Our God of Love, Mercy, and Justice

which I do?" said the Lord. "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."
God knew well the measure of Sodom's guilt; but He expressed Himself after the
manner of men, that the justice of His dealings might be understood. Before bringing

judgment upon the transgressors He would go Himself, to institute an examination of
their course; if they had not passed the limits of divine mercy, He would still grant
them space for repentance. PP 139.
Though God is strict to mark iniquity and to punish transgression, He takes no
delight in vengeance. The work of destruction is a “strange work” to Him who is
infinite in love. PP 139.

That last night was marked by no greater sins than many others before it; but
mercy, so long slighted, had at last ceased its pleading. The inhabitants of Sodom
had passed the limits of divine forbearance--"the hidden boundary between
God's patience and His wrath." The fires of His vengeance were about to be
kindled in the vale of Siddim.
The angels revealed to Lot the object of their mission: "We will destroy this
place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the

Lord hath sent us to destroy it." The strangers whom Lot had endeavored to
protect, now promised to protect him, and to save also all the members of his family
who would flee with him from the wicked city. PP 159, 160.
On the night prior to their destruction the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure. Lot
was derided for his fears and warnings. But it was these scoffers that perished in

the flames. That very night the door of mercy was forever closed to the wicked,
careless inhabitants of Sodom. 5T 233, 234.
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. Genesis 19:23-26.
Instead of thankfully accepting deliverance, she presumptuously looked back to

desire the life of those who had rejected the divine warning. . . . She became a
monument of God’s judgment. PP 161.
The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down
even to our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn lesson that while God's mercy
bears long with the transgressor, there is a limit beyond which men may not go on in

sin. When that limit is reached, then the offers of mercy are withdrawn, and the
ministration of judgment begins.
The Redeemer of the world declares that there are greater sins than that for which
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Those who hear the gospel invitation calling

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