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So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

Genesi 19:14

They probably laughed at him. Hearing from Lot, his suggestion appears to be in the odds of one in a million, that could happen to their town. The town has been standing for decades, and to the naked eye, it will remain standing for many more years to come. Destruction? Not possible. How will it happen? Who is going to rain brimstone and fire on them? Or in our modern context, earthquakes and floods can’t be happening, at least not in this part of their world.

But Lot told them to leave before destruction arrives. The angels said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” (Genesis 19:15)

The Elegant City

They pride themselves with their township. They said, this is our city square, our thriving spot to compete, and to match other surrounding townships. The city is their splendor, their elegance. It is the place where they gather almost daily, to run their errant, to conduct their businesses, a place where good food and wine is served and a place where commerce activity is hive.

It is a place similar to the ancient city of Bakkah. Where merchants would gather to hawk their goods and merchandise. It was also a place that was the passing point of many of God’s messengers. As it was written, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.” (Psalms 84:5-7) The elegant city was thriving because of the presence of these passing men.

But Bakkah is also the city of sin. Where abominations were rampant and sin is touted as trivial to their elders. And so their central square also became the focal point, where men and merchants would bring their gods, displaying them at the Kabbah, for all public to view and see. They say, here’s our gods, here is what matters to us.

Like Bakkah, the men in the elegant city does the same things as the ancient old. They gather. They trade. And they promoted all kinds of their own ways of the world. However, they have no originality. Everything they do in the city, is a mere copy of what people in other towns have done before. Like the devil, they have no new ideas. So they do the same things that other wicked men have done before. Nothing new under the sun. Like old dogs returning to their own vomit, over and over again. And so the prophecy came true, and it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:22).

The grand restaurants, standing in their midst, are not exactly eateries, but legal fronts for money laundering, to whitewash illicit incomes, and to turn dirty money into that which is then treated as acceptable store of value. The owners are hired hands, gang leaders and people from the under world. Triad chiefs disguised as chefs and cooks. And after sundown, their premises turned into squatting zones for the drunkards and dipsomaniac boozers, looking to salve their serious thrill issues.

While the rest of the businesses were either legit outlets with owners plying their merchandise, or rookie traders trying out their luck in this town that appeared extravagant and progressive. The shrewd preachers would operate tuition centers, whereas the lesser ones, who pursue without their thinking caps, would probably set up food trucks along pavements, hoping that their gamble would pay off someday.

Sandwiched between the elegant city and surrounding properties, are posh housing estates with streets popularly known to the locals as ‘yee lai kai’ (in English – lanes of the mistresses). This is the location where men from this city keep their second or third wives, the secretive hideouts for their adulterous adventures.

Their wives and children once quietly scorned and laughed at those, flipping patties at a fast food chain. They said and speak rumors, that if you have to flip patties, then things must have been terrible for you. Now it is their turn, but under even more intense conditions. Their wives and children have to endure scorching heat during the day and unforgiving rain showers in the evenings, begging people to buy their puddings from their makeshift ramshackle, that they had to set up by the roadside.

To see the gods they worship, go to this town, the elegant city. You won’t find their gods in their churches or houses of prayer. While on Sundays they claim allegiance to Yahweh, but the real gods they truly worship day and night, is found in that city square. There, they have their own Kaabas, and what they are, is clearly visible under broad day light that shines over them daily. Sip coffee, and fine dine among the establishment in the city. Mingle and observe. And the gods they keep in their hearts, will show up in no time, to entice you.

In the elegant city, justice and righteousness have no room to stand. Doing what is right is unheard of. And to act justly, is a rarity. If you visit the city, you are expected to treat it like Rome; and when in Rome, you are required to do as the Romans do. Spend your money and take what you want. Then move on. That’ll be as much right that is given you, when passing by this city of sin.

Destruction Imminent

So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17)

In spite of this, they still sin, And did not believe in His works. Therefore, their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. They flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue. They ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. Furthermore, they were not deprived of their craving, but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them.

Likewise, they live in their own make-belief society, thinking that God made the world solely for them, and the Almighty is only for them, and no one else. Other men are secondary beings, created by God to serve them. So if they spill their own cup or their own drinks, they will find ways to spill the cups of others as well. While they claim they are kind, and they forgive easily, but in actual fact, they are equally wicked as the most evil ones, desiring the calamities that had befallen them, to be imposed on others as well. If they can’t have life, no one else should be entitled to life. That is their philosophy, their religion. If they scribble garbage on their walls to implicate others, it shall be legit reasoning. But if you counter them, then you are gossiping, not legit and not acting in good faith.

And what happened to “their gods will fight their enemies for them?” Have they not been chanting hard enough to get any decent response from their gods? Rather than getting tired, they should instead be trying even more harder before others mock them. (1 Kings 18:27)

Despite claiming to be Christians and believers of Christ, they know not His ways. Their preachers never told them the hard truth about salvation, and the conditions God has set for mankind to acquire it, through life-changing and the life-time processes of repentance. In fact, not only they know nothing about repentance, they have no comprehension as to what it means to repent. Because their preachers have hidden the truth away from them from the very beginning, and in exchange for the truth, they have been peddled the false belief – that if you join them, you will be saved by God, with no questions asked.

The time is soon. The time when they will be eating, drinking and merrying. And they will have plenty of food in their mouths, while they party hard into the nights. The city of sin will become their gathering point, where they will be swept away in the blink of an eye.

I won’t be staying for their bash or their banquets. For the time is near, my family and I to leave the elegant city. They have been told, and they have been warned; that the Lord never changed, and still hates sin. And the rest is up to the angels, as commanded by Him. Our escape to the mountains of Trallas, have became urgent. For we’re merely passing by this elegant city, and our job is already done and accomplished, albeit unexpectedly.