SODOM and GOMORRAH
A Warning to our Immoral and Perverted World!
The Lost Cities Destroyed by Fire and Brimstone
NOTHING LEFT BUT ASHES AND BRIMSTONE!
Unlike the historical sites found in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, you can easily visit the ruins of the “five Cities of the plain.” The ashen ruins of Gomorrah is the best preserved site and is located right next to Masada, the well known mountain top fortress of King Herod where nearly 1,000 Jewish patriots took their own lives rather than submit to the tyranny of Rome.
I visited Masada in 2005 with a large tour group and wondered what the strange looking white area was that we had driven through on the way to the mountain fortress. I even asked our guide – “Where is Sodom and Gomorrah?” The response was – “We don’t really know. Some think it is under the Dead Sea.”
Later, I learned that archaeological researcher Ron Wyatt had spent considerable time in the area and documented all five of the cities destroyed by fire and brimstone in the days of Abraham and Lot. That prompted my desire to return to the notorious cities and see if there was reason to be they were the remnants of the cities destroyed by fire. I became convinced really soon after my arrival!
As you drive into Masada from the main road that goes along the Dead Sea, you will notice a large parking lot on the right hand side. The sign says it is for overnight parking and camping. Not that anyone would want to camp there. There is no water, nothing grows there, and there is a noticeable absence of all wild life. Even bugs can’t be found crawling on the ground. The entire place is nothing but ashes.
Ashen sphinx at the entrance to Gomorrah.
It is an easy walk going to the north to the most striking ruin that stands high above the rest of the city. A large man-made sphinx was apparently set up near the city gates for protection from their enemies. Now it stands there, its ashen remains giving testimony that the pagan idol was powerless against the destructive fires that descended upon the huge community.
I was quite surprised, when I visited the site, that a pocket knife could easily penetrate the layers of white ash. The material is easily broken off and crumbles in your fingers. As it is rubbed between your fingers, it turns into a fine talc-like powder. One cannot help but wonder what kind of fire it would take to turn solid rock into crumbling ash?
WHY DIDN'T THE ROMAN ARMY DESTROY THE SPHINX AT GOMORRAH?
One might wonder why the Roman army left the ashen remains of the sphinx and what would appears to be a Babylonia ziggurat when they used the rest of the ashen ruins of the city to build a ramp to the top of Herod's mountain fortress (Masada). I may have discovered the answer to that riddle when I was traveling on the Golan Heights a couple of days after visiting the Gomorrah site.
After the six day war in 1967, the victorious Israelites left the demolished remains of a Muslim mosque as a memorial and reminder to the world as their way of saying "Our God is bigger than your god." Perhaps the Romans had the same thing in mind when they left the two religious images in place at what had been the entry to the city of Gomorrah!
SULPHUR PELLETS: In some areas of the ancient city of Gomorrah there are numerous golf ball sized sulfur pellets. Some of them are encased in a thin, crust-like shell which was the result of burning. The sulfur pellets were tested by Wyatt and consist of 98% pure sulfur and a trace of Magnesium. These brimstone balls would have burned extremely hot!
It is interesting that sulfur found in its natural form is only between 40% and 45% pure. This sulfur is extremely high grade.
Brimstone (burning sulfur) rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Some of the pellets I found were inside rock-like slag that apparently formed when there was nothing remaining to burn, and the inferno was beginning to cool off. The sulphur pellets that I broke open had yellowish sulfur still inside and would burst into an immediate toxic flame when touched with a match.
If you visit the site just after a rainstorm you will find the brimstone pellets on the flat tops of the ruins. It was obvious to me that a literal hailstorm of burning sulfur fell upon these ancient cities.
I am amazed that tour groups do not visit the sites although I must admit, it was a sobering experience to visit a place where thousands of people perished in the storm of God’s wrath as described in the Book of Genesis.
WHAT APPEAR TO BE MAN-MADE STRUCTURES CAN STILL BE SEEN AT THE FOOT OF MASADA BY THE DEAD SEA!
At the edge of each of the five cities the white ash suddenly stops, bearing witness that this was no random act of nature. In contrast to the white ruins, the surrounding mountains and desert floor are brown limestone.
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are much larger than the other three cities also located along the western shores of the Dead Sea. All but Sodom are easily accessible.
We should remember, according to the Biblical account, that the area was once a very beautiful and prosperous valley. The Book of Genesis records that Lot, the nephew of the ancient patriarch Abraham, chose to live there because the area was “well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD.” (Genesis 13:10-12) It is obvious that the entire area came under the severe judgment of God. The Dead Sea, though rich in minerals, is virtually dead. The water is the consistency of #10 motor oil.
Both Sodom and Gomorrah were once thriving cities with thousands of residents . . . a few of their ancient homes are still visible. Some people may argue that the images below are "natural phenomena" . . . I hardly think so!
ARE THE ASHES OF SODOM & GOMORRAH A SOLEMN WARNING FOR TODAY?
Does the discovery of the cities destroyed by a literal hailstorm of burning sulfur pellets have any implications for modern, end-time nations that flaunt their immorality and perversion? Is this a warning for any nation that legalizes perversion and calls it an alternative and normal lifestyle?
The answer to these questions appears to be, tragically, yes:
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude vs.7
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REST OF THE CITY?
The photo below is an ariel picture of the ramp the Romans made when they laid siege on the mountain fortress known as Masada. Notice the color of the ramp . . . . it is white and obviously consisted of the loose materials taken from the ruins of Gomorrah. The soldiers would have used any material available that would be easy to move instead of the solid rock cliffs found thought the area.
SODOM AND GOMORRAH SITES CONFIRMED BY THE ANCIENT HISTORIAN JOSEPHUS:
Archaeological explorer Ron Wyatt seems to be one of the first modern day persons to identify the ruins of the five “cities of the plain,” but he was certainly not the first to visit the sites.
During the first century, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded their visible existence in his day – “Now this country is then so sadly burnt up, that nobody cares to come at it . . . It was of old a most happy land, both for the fruits it bore and the riches of its cities, although it be now all burnt up. It is related how for the impiety of its inhabitants, it was burned by lightning; in consequence of which there are still the remainders of the divine fire; and the traces of the five cities are still to be seen.” (Josephus in his “Wars Of The Jews”, Book IV, Chapter VIII)