[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during November 2025]
And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it.
Joshua 6 v17, 24 [ESVUK]
The verses above were taken from the Biblical account of the conquest of Jericho in around 1406BC. The account tells us how the Israelite army surrounded the city and most of the city wall collapsed, allowing the army to systematically destroy the city.
Earlier, in the days of Abraham, we see another account of cities being destroyed.
Then the Lord rained down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah … destroying all those living in the cities.
Genesis 19 v24-25 [NIVUK]
During the past week we have been reminded about the damage in London during the Blitz. Sadly, this type of event is not confined to history – we see news reports of such things happening almost every day in Kiev and Kharkiv but it is not until we see pictures of Gaza that we can start to imagine what total destruction looks like.
It is not popular to talk about a God of justice and judgement. How can we reconcile the claims about a God of love with what we see in history, both ancient and modern? The following observation by Job seems to be not only inappropriate but also totally inadequate:
Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
Job 5 v17 [ESVUK]
Are there times when we are tempted to think that maybe God has overdone the justice bit? Is he justified in taking out a whole family for one man’s disobedience[1] or destroying an entire city because of the reputation of its inhabitants?
The New Testament epistle from Jude describes the reason for the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah:
Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.
Jude 1 v7 [NIVUK]
The book of Genesis describes the fairness of the judgement:
Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’
Genesis 18 v20-21 [NIVUK]
The omniscient God took the time to investigate and determine the circumstances fully. Do we allow prejudices to form our opinions?
The same chapter recalls Abraham’s ‘countdown’ experience with God.[2] He attempted to plead in mitigation on behalf of the city. How diligent are our prayers for those who are perishing?
For us, reconciliation with God comes through the death of Jesus at Calvary but freedom from the consequences of sin does not give us a licence to behave as we see fit. We do well to recall the words of Jesus addressed to the early church in Laodicea:
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be earnest and repent.
Revelation 3 v19 [NIVUK]
Perhaps Job’s words are not so inappropriate after all.
References:
[1] Numbers 16:32
[2] Genesis 18:23-33
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys