No, really Sodom and Gomorrah are going to be brought back to life, resurrected and settled once again in the same territory they inhabited before being judged by God and destroyed. To avoid massive culture shock, in all probability when brought back to life the territory in which they lived before will probably look exactly the same as it did when the fire of God fell from heaven thousands of years ago and destroyed them all. The same creeks and rivers will flow through the same channels they flowed through before. The same ancient palm trees will grow again on the same spot. And the town square will be easily recognizable to every one of them who saw it so long ago.
“Well, he’s gone off the deep end this time.” Is that what you are thinking? Speaking to the inhabitants of Jerusalem through His prophet Ezekiel, God said, “As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters (Gomorrah and other surrounding cities) as you have done, you and your daughters (Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah)….they were haughty, and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away as I saw good (or, as I saw fit)…You have multiplied your abominations more than they….They are more righteous than you.” (See Ezekiel 16:48-52).
Now before considering the next words Ezekiel writes, one needs to consider the fact that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed around 1900 to 2000 B.C. Ezekiel lived and prophesied between about 550 and 600 B.C. Sodom and Gomorrah had been obliterated approximately 1500 years before God inspired Ezekiel to write what follows. “When I shall bring again their captivity (that is return them from captivity – the captivity of death), the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of your (Jerusalem’s) captives in the midst of them that you may bear your shame, and may be confounded in all that you have done, in that you are a comfort unto them. When your sisters, SODOM and her daughters SHALL RETURN TO THEIR FORMER ESTATE, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then you and your daughters shall return to your former estate” (See Ezekiel 16:53-55).
Don’t you recall what Jesus said about Sodom? “Then began he to upbraid (rail at) the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not….And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven (by Jesus’ having lived there with Mary and His brethren) shalt be brought down to hell, for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom IT WOULD HAVE REMAINED UNTIL THIS DAY. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.” (See Matthew 11:20,23,24). Notice, Jesus freely admits that if Sodom had been given the same opportunity to repent and believe as was given Capernaum, not only would it not have been destroyed, it would have still been a thriving city in Christ’s own day! He then goes on to add that this “day of judgment” He speaks of will be a time of tolerance for Sodom – not a time of condemnation!
Many falsely assume that when the Bible speaks of the judgment of the nations reference is being made to a tribunal, a time of condemnatory judgment and punishment. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Psalmist wrote of God, “Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment TO SAVE ALL THE MEEK OF THE EARTH” (Psalm 76:78-9). Whenever a prophecy is put in the past tense it is meant to show how certain is that prophecy of fulfillment. God will yet show saving judgment to all those billions who have lived and died without having had a whisper of a chance to be forgiven their sins and granted eternal life. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord, AND MANY NATIONS SHALL BE JOINED TO THE LORD in that day (including Sodom and Gomorrah), and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee” (See Zechariah 3:11).
God cannot lie when making a promise. It is impossible for Him to do so. Through His anointed prophet Ezekiel God promises to resurrect Sodom and Gomorrah and return them to their former estate, to their former territory, as living, breathing fleshly beings once more. Then – and THEN only – will they have their minds and understanding opened by God and will be offered eternal life with all the rest of the descendants of Adam and Eve, for “God is not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Only if any of those billions so resurrected to mortal life choose the way of the flesh over the way og the Spirit shall they die the second death. Their fate and doom will be thus sealed.
Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley