Nope; I’m agreeing that God literally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and killed the inhabitants.
Gen 19:
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The sun was just rising over the earth as Lot arrived in Zoar;
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at the same time the LORD rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah (from the LORD out of heaven).
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6 He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce of the soil.
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But Lot’s wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
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Early the next morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood in the LORD’S presence.
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7 As he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole region of the Plain, he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace.
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Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living.
Physical destruction. It says nothing about their everlasting reward or punishment. It may seem likely that they were rewarded with everlasting hellfire, but it does not specifically say that.
OK, good. I'm glad we agree.
Physical destruction. It says nothing about their everlasting reward or punishment. It may seem likely that they were rewarded with everlasting hellfire, but it does not specifically say that.
While I agree with you that it would not be our place to judge (reasonably) specific individuals, in this case I would say we are given VERY strong clues, as you suggest:
Gen 13:13 : Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
Gen 18:26 : 26 The Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom , I will spare the whole place for their sake."
We know the rest of the sequence here. There were less than 10 righteous people in the whole city at the time it was destroyed.
2 Peter 2:4-10 : 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Jude 7 : 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
I can't top this one! :)