Two LORDs at the Destruction of Sodom
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Most of us are very familiar with the story on Genesis 19 of the destruction of Sodom. But while studying this chapter again, I discovered something I hadn't seen before.
The story line goes like this: 3 men come to visit Abraham: two are angels, and the other is Jesus Christ Himself. They reveal to Abraham that they are going to destroy Sodom and Abraham starts pleading with "the LORD" to save Sodom. The other two angels leave and go directly to Sodom. They stay with Lot and eventiually bring Lot, his wife and two daughter out of the Sodom. Then something happens which is not easy to spot from reading the Bible, but which Ellen White makes clear. The Bible says:
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. - Genesis 19:17
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"They" and the angels. "He" is the LORD. What has happened is that the angels have gone back into the Sodom and the LORD has come from Abraham and joined Lot. Ellen White makes this clear:
Here the angels left them, and turned back to Sodom to accomplish their work of destruction. Another—He with whom Abraham had pleaded—drew near to Lot. In all the cities of the plain, even ten righteous persons had not been found; but in answer to the patriarch's prayer, the one man who feared God was snatched from destruction. - Patriarchs and Prophets p. 160
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So now Lot is speaking with Christ: "the LORD", or Jehovah as the original Hebrew says. Now notice verse 24:
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Genesis 19:24,25
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Here we see quite clearly two LORD's mentioned. Jesus Christ, the LORD, who is outside Sodom, rains fire and brimstone "from the LORD" who is in heaven. This story shows us that:
- Jesus Christ is clearly LORD, Jehovah.
- The Father is also LORD, Jehovah,
Here we see no difference between Christ and the Father, Both are called LORD, Jehovah. Just another evidence to show that Christ is fully God, like the Father.
