Long after the music and dancing had ended, people tossed on their beds, wrestling with the powerful convictions of conscience, but one by one those tender impressions were suppressed and denied. Before the angel of mercy folded its wings, the Holy Spirit pleaded at the door of each heart. It is not hard to imagine how the final call of God was extended to every man, woman, and child on that last night. Slowly the cup of iniquity fills to the very brim, and on a night of unusual revelry and drunkenness, the angel of death flies low over the streets of Pompeii. Perhaps it was one of the citizens of Pompeii who threw the flaming torch which burned the magnificent temple to its foundations.īut now those veterans of foreign wars have returned to their home place to live out their years of retirement in unrestrained indulgence. It was from Pompeii that General Titus had drawn many of his soldiers for his infamous assault on Jerusalem in A.D. Perhaps they expelled him out of hand, and Paul had to shake the dust from his feet as he departed. But it is highly unlikely that the apostle received any favorable hearing from the dwellers in that seaport sin-city. Surely in his ranging over the chief cities of the Roman Empire he would have visited that center of vice and evil repute. I wonder what Paul must have felt when he preached his gospel of grace to the inhabitants of Pompeii. We know nothing about their thoughts, but the graphic physical positions of their bodies reveal that sin had become a science, and few, if any, were thinking of death or the hereafter. What will it be like when you and I face that same experience? Will it find us clinging to the same old sins that many of them were obviously committing as they were swept away by the sudden deluge of death?ĭoubtless, many in Pompeii heard that initial explosion and had time to look up to see the terrifying wall of lava just before it engulfed them.
The experience of an entire city full of people, overtaken without warning and thrust into eternity, whether they were ready or not. I've often thought, "If the stones of the street could speak, what a story they would have to tell about that last night on earth for Pompeii." The whole thing seems to come up before me as I think about it right now. He described the contorted postures of the victims whose forms have been perfectly preserved by molding the space occupied by their decayed bodies.
A friend of mine has walked over the hardened ash and pumice which still covers the excavated ruins of that ancient city. 79 that mountain simply exploded with volcanic fury and millions of tons of molten lava came pouring down upon Pompeii to completely inundate it, wiping out all its inhabitants. Perhaps you've heard about the city of Pompeii which nestled in the shadow of Mt. What will it be like to begin living that final 24 hours of time?
It is a warning to each person alive on this planet today, because every individual must pass through their last night on earth. Your doom has come." Ezekiel 7:5-7.īased on this startling text, our attention is drawn to the most solemn message ever heard by human ears. it is coming, the hour is striking, and striking at you, the hour and the end. Moffett in these words: "Evil on evil says the Lord, the Eternal. IntroductionOne of the most dramatic verses in the Bible has been translated by Dr.