The Consequences of Evil 

   “Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long.  Yahweh regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved.  ‘I will rid the earth’s face of man, my own creation.’ Yahweh said,”. (Gen 6: 5 – 7). 

   “Then Yahweh said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah!  How grievous is their sin!  I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me.  I am determined to know.’”  “As the sun rose over the land and Lot entered Zoar, Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh.  He overthrew these towns and the whole plain, with all the inhabitants of the towns, and everything that grew there.” (Gen 18: 20 – 21 & Gen 19: 23 - 25). 

   God will tolerate wickedness and evil in society only for a time; then His anger will flare.  Over and over in scripture we see humanity being punished for their sins.  He will call for repentance for only so long before He abandons those who do evil to their sins, bringing His punishment upon them.

   The scripture quoted above should make us stop and consider; are we so different today from those in the time of Noah and the flood, or those of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Do we, like them, refuse to turn from our evil, rejecting God in His desire to love us and bring us to Himself?

   These are the questions we must ask if we are to avoid the punishment due because of the evil so powerful in our society today.  Will there be only a few such as Noah and his family and Lot and His family who will survive God’s punishment?