The whole world will be exposed to the wonderful truth and perfect way of God"for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." In other words, just like the flood was an example or a pointer towards the judgment that will happen when the Lord comes, so the judgment that befell Tyre, Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah is an example and a warning of the eternal judgment that will take place at the great white throne. Judah, Kingdom of. Places: Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by God because of wickedness Yet because they ignored and rejected the Son of God, their fate on the day of judgment will be worse than that of Sodom. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram. At last he reached the island, breached the city wall and slew or put into slavery the defiant Tyrians. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. In these striking and sobering contrasts, Jesus makes plain that people who are the most blessed by God will receive the worst punishment if they reject Him. Hiram also offered to bring cedars down from the mountains and float them down the Mediterranean coast to Joppa for Solomon's royal construction projects (1 Kgs 5:8-11; 2 Chr 2:16), which included both his palace and the Temple. Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five? And He said, I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there., He spoke to Him yet again and said, Suppose forty are found there? And He said, I will not do it on account of the forty., Then he said, Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there? And He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there., And he said, Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there? And He said, I will not destroy it on account of the twenty., Then he said, Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there? And He said, I will not destroy it on account of the ten., for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the. Both Jeremiah (27:3-11) and Ezekiel (26:7-14) spoke of this event. In dealing with our Lord's remarks about Tyre and Sidon in Matthew 11:21and similarly about Sodom in Matthew 11:23we should observe that the judgments that came on Tyre and Sidon, and upon Sodom in the ancient world, were temporal judgments; that is to say, the judgment was the physical destruction of the cities and of their inhabitants. that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? So the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account. And Abraham replied, Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. Its people would have repented of their sin, turned to God, and been spared destruction. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org, Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywherethis was before the. Abraham came near and said, Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? The expression of their faces bears witness against them,And they display their sin like Sodom;They do not even conceal it.Woe to them!For they have brought evil on themselves. And be it known, that in speaking of the city or country, the Lord does not chide with the buildings and walls, but with the men that inhabit there, by the figure metonymy, putting the thing containing for the thing contained. . Just as during the "Church Age," people will be judged by their obedience to Gods word. In this general mass of perdition are the Jews also left, who could not believe so great and manifest wonders wrought before their eyes. I say unto yon, It shall be more tolerable for Tyro and Sidon at the day of judgment. Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Josephus. he calls to him those who are weary and burdened. Who has delivered your enemies into your hand., The king of Sodom said to Abram, Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself., Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have sworn to the, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, I have made Abram rich., I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share., Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the, I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.. Located at the foot of some of the Lebanese mountain's southwestern ridges and near the gorge of the ancient Leontes River (the modern Litani), the rich and well-watered plain became the fortified island's primary source or food, water, wood and other living essentials. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Jesus pronounced judgment on Chorazin and Bethsaida suggesting that if the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon had experienced what Chorazin and Bethsaida did, they would have long ago repented in sackcloth and ashes (Mt 11:21-24). Log In Or otherwise, The Lord surely foreknew His mercies with which He deigns to deliver us. Answer: God destroyed those cities, making them an example and a warning to "those who afterward would live ungodly" (2 Peter 2:6). Why will Sodom and Gomorrah be present on the day of God's - P.OSTOST Princeton: Princeton University Press. The Location of Sodom: What Does the Bible Say? For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre . In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim. Many scholars follow Josephus (Against Apion 1.121-24; Antiquities 8), who was quoting Menander, and identify Ethbaal with Ithbaal (Hebrew 'Man of Baal'), priest of Astarte who killed the king of Tyre and seized the throne (Jidejian 1996:73, 306). Works (66) Titles . It was such a costly process that purple clothing was considered a symbol of wealth and royalty. Does the Merneptah Stela Allow for a 12th Century Exodus? The Lord therefore preached to the dwellers in Corozaim and Bethsaida, that they who were to believe, might be able; and preached not in Tyre and Sidon, lest perhaps they who were not to believe, being made worse by contempt of the Gospel, should be punished more heavily. B., ed. And the answer is, most certainly yes, they did have enough evidence; for with the meagre evidence of Jonah's preaching and the mere rumour of Solomon's wisdom, the Ninevites repented and the Queen of Sheba came all the way to find the wisdom of Solomon. Genesis 18 records the Lord and two angels coming to speak with Abraham. Historical and archaeological evidence indicate both cities were settled by the early second millennium BC and were important seaports long before the Israelites settled in Canaan. "Heathen" cities would have received him better than the cities of the Jews, his native land. From pleion; moreover, i.e. 'Phoenicia' was the name given to the region by the Greeks, from their word for purple. Registered User It is believed the Castle sits over the site of the Phoenician temple to Melkart. It was often besieged. The port of ancient Sidon is believed to have been . There is little industry and the port services only a minimal number of local fishing vessels. The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. As I live, declares the Lord God, Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Because of volume we may not be able to promptly reply to submissions using the form below. For a description of Tyre as it was formerly and as it is now, see the notes at Isaiah 23. are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire' (ASV). Whereas, with the vastly greater witness of the Saviour's miracles, the men of Capernaum did not repent, and very often they did not bother to cross the road to listen to our Lord's preaching. But most people today do not realize how this fits into Gods plan for mankind. I think your answer is partially correct - namely that Chorazin and Bethsaida were Jewish towns, whereas Tyre and Sidon were within Phoenicia (Lebanon today). (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command. Nevertheless, I will restore their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them your own captivity. But it will . Sidon is believed to have existed prior to 2000 BC, with Tyre being . We sent you an email. It was not the Final Judgment. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Yet the failure to mention either Tyre or Tyrians may not be significant. And if they had enough evidence, and yet refused to repent, or if they refused to seek the truth that was available to them, if only they made an effort to find it, they will be rightly condemned on that ground. Messrs. Fisk and King, American missionaries, passed through Sidon in the summer of 1823, and estimated the population, as others have estimated it, at 8,000 or 10,000; but Mr. Goodell, another American missionary, took up his residence there in June, 1824, for the purpose of studying the Armenian language with a bishop of the Armenian Church who lives there, and of course had far better opportunities to know the statistics of the place.