阅读经文 

每一个关心儿女成长的父母一定都曾经警告过他们的孩子，在车水马龙的街道或其他容易发生意外的地方玩耍是多么危险。小孩子往往意识不到危险，所以他们需要有人时常提醒他们。当神的儿女有时心不在焉时，我们的天父也会有同样的反应。一想到他们会因无知灭亡便令祂无比痛心，所以祂要向我们发出警告；所多玛和蛾摩拉的灭亡就是其中一个警告讯号。

《创世记》十九章记载的事件，给我们一个机会领略到这两个罪恶城市堕落的景况。两个使者被差遣去警告罗得所多玛城的罪恶时对他说：“城内罪恶的声音在耶和华面前甚大，耶和华差我们来，要毁灭这地方。”（参创 19:13）这些城市很久以前已经背弃了神，他们已经丧失一切社会道德和良知了。

当人们变得越来越邪恶，便对罪恶的警觉性越来越低，人性就是如此可悲。我们可能会变成一头发出臭味、但自己却浑然不觉的臭鼬；陷入罪恶的人往往毫不在意他们自己道德上的恶臭。惟愿这两个古城的命运成为一个严厉的警告，警戒我们，试图偏行己路，不理会神或祂的指引，会给生活带来怎样的恶果。

Every caring parent has warned their child about the dangers of playing near a busy street or in some other hazardous place. Young children are often unaware of danger, so they need to be warned. Our heavenly Father responds similarly when his children are sometimes careless. Thoughts of them perishing so stirs his heart that he sends warning signals our way. The dreadful destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as one of those warning signs.

The events described in Genesis 19 give us a small window into the godless depravity of these cities. Two heavenly messengers, sent to warn Lot about Sodom, said, "The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." Having rejected God long ago, these cities no longer had any moral or social conscience.

The tragic truth about human nature is that the worse we get, the less we realize it. We can become like a skunk that gives off a putrid smell but is not offended by it at all. People entrapped in sin are often oblivious to their own moral stench. May the fate of these ancient cities serve as a solemn warning of the consequences of trying to live our own way without regard for God or his way.