Sharing the Savior’s Story

Heed the Warnings I

In May of 1984, The National Geographic Magazine featured an article that described the tragic and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the year A.D. 79. The magazine could give an accurate description of the events because those communities had been perfectly preserved. When Vesuvius exploded, it sent a stream of debris over a mile high. That debris, mixed with the lava which poured down the southeast slope of the mountain, buried those cities—buried them 19 to 65 feet deep.

That soft lava cooled and preserved everything in place. Archeologists found those ancient cities superbly sealed. They found men and women who had died in the marketplace—the rich in their luxurious baths, the slaves at their toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. There was the lady from the house of Faubus—a very rich lady, carrying her box of gold, silver, and jewelry—seeking to escape. There were 60 gladiators still chained together, waiting to perform in the amphitheater. Hundreds of slaves; people in their villas drinking white wine in the afternoon. Watchdogs died at their posts; bakeries with their bread on the cooling racks.

The saddest bit of news is that the people of these towns didn’t have to die. Contemporary scientists have confirmed what ancient Roman witnesses wrote: the eruption of Vesuvius was preceded by weeks of rumblings and shakings. Days before the eruption, the mountain sent up a plume of smoke as a warning. But the people didn’t listen. And they died.

Excerpt from The Lutheran Hour broadcast of: November 9, 2003