4:11 overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Similar or identical phrases are used in prophecies against Babylon (Is. 13:19; Jer. 50:40) and Edom (Jer. 49:18). The devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah provided a symbol of God’s judgment against sin (Gen. 19:24, 25; Deut. 29:23 note); here God promises to overthrow Israel with equal thoroughness.

a brand plucked out of the burning. Despite God’s repeated mercy to His people (e.g., 2 Kin. 13:3–5; cf. Zech. 3:2), they remained ungrateful and unrepentant.