There was a strife between the herdmen of Lot and the herdmen of Abraham. Abraham gave his nephew Lot the choice of the land (Gen. 13:10-11). The land around Sodom and Gomorrah was beautiful, attractive, and alluring. "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (Gen. 13:13). Like some of our sites today, they looked better from the outside than from the inside. Lot "pitched his tent toward Sodom," and was later dwelling within the wicked city. He may have moved into the city in order to be close to his daughters and sons-in-law. Regardless of the reason, Lot, a righteous man, found himself living in a wicked city. The Lord sent two angels down to Sodom. After smiting some of the wicked Sodomites with blindness, they warned Lot to bring his family out of Sodom. They said, "For 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" (Gen. 19:13).

Yes, Sodom was a wild and wicked city. But Sodom had its last night. No one expected that it would be overthrown in a moment. No one expected that the Lord would send brimstone and fire (Gen. 19:24). Up to the very day that they were destroyed, "they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:28-29). In like manner, the Lord will return and the wicked will not be ready. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:10).

Brethren, let us not be deceived with sin and the way of sinners. As Sodom had its last night, so this world will some day have its final night. When the Lord returns, let us be separate from the world and let us be ready to meet our Lord in peace.