Is the devastating fire still raging in some counties in the State of California, USA a modern version of Sodom and Gomorrah?
We are asking because somehow there are very peculiar similarities prior to the recent California incident and the biblical narratives of the old cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The two cataclysmic fires were both preceded by the people’s apparent mockery of God.
Days before the destructive California conflagration some enterprising businessmen were selling to the public shirts with inscriptions, “Keep God Out of California.” The day prior to the fire an awarding ceremony of outstanding films and artist performers and directors was held in Los Angeles, a leading California city.
One of the hosts came in wearing a hat designed exactly the same as the one worn by the Pope. She also carried with her a cane similarly designed to that of the Pope representing his authority as God’s highest servant in the world.
Another woman anchor mockingly made a comparison between the number of times that a movie was mentioned for a number of times in the speeches of some guests during the awards rites, but laughingly said “God, the creator of the universe, was zero mentioned.” Later she said that the very city where the ceremony of the Golden Globes Award was held “Is a Godless place.”
The next day, a fire storm broke out and devastated acres of space including houses and establishments. The houses destroyed include the multi-million dollar mansions of celebrities. As of yesterday morning some 18 persons were reported to have died due to the massive fire, and hundreds still unaccounted for, according to US President Joe Biden himself.
Now the once proud and vibrant cities affected by the fire have become the replica of Second World War-like devastation in Europe and Japan.
Meanwhile, Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities near the Jordan River whose people including their leaders, were wicked and non-believers of God. In Genesis 18 – 19, it told how God destroyed the two cities with fire and brimstones.
Despite the plea of Abraham that God spare Sodom because he hopes to find some few righteous people there, yet there was none. In other words, the people of both the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were “Godless.” Not even the daughter-in-law of Abraham, the wife of his son Lot, was spared when she disobeyed God’s order not to turn around to see the burning cities. She immediately turned into solid rock salt.
In other words, God himself refused to be merciful to those who disobeyed Him and spared only the son of Abraham Lot, and two daughters who followed to the letter God’s command.
And look at what happened to some three houses whose owners are engaged in activities related to God’s desire. That is, charity work – helping the homeless, feeding street children, creating care, and working for the poor in Africa.
While all the houses and neighboring buildings were gutted down, their houses and belongings like cars, remained unscathed.
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As of the writing of this piece, we still do not have any idea of the outcome of the so-called “Peace Rally” of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) held in key cities nationwide yesterday. In Luzon the rally was held at the Quirino Grandstand grounds in Manila, while in Southern Mindanao and the Cotabato Provinces the convergence was in Davao City.
By the time we were working on our piece the rally was yet to start although there were already hundreds of people at the San Pedro Square fronting the Davao City Hall. We assumed that the INC members were advised to wear white shirt for the rally, possibly to identify and differentiate them from participants coming from other religious denominations and groups.
Well-meaning government leaders and private individuals were hoping that the members of the INC were true to the commitment of their leaders that they were not allowing the rally to become vehicle of some politicians to realize their agenda.
While the INC leaders admit that they are supporting the move initiated by no less than the President of the Republic which is to stop the House from pursuing the impeachment of VP Sara Duterte, many were hoping the rally was indeed only to manifest in real terms their support for the non-continuation of the impeach move and that they were to do it in the most peaceful manner.
However, it cannot be denied that some saboteurs may be out there to create chaos and lay the blame on the administration. And the likelihood is that, if indeed the administration has nothing to do with any sabotage done on the INC rally, it surely put the blame on the other political group. After all, the latter group stands to benefit if chaos occurred during the Peace Rally.
We only hope that such an objective was realized without any hitch.
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