UNDERSTAND the ‘REAL SINS’ of SODOM!
August 31
Bible Reading: Ezekiel Chapters 16-18
UNDERSTAND the ‘REAL SINS’ of SODOM!
"Look, this was
the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of
food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the
poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me;
therefore I took them away as I saw fit." (Ezek. 16:49-50)
Sodom
figures prominently in Genesis as the place that Lot, the nephew of Abraham,
chose to live in after he separated from his uncle. This city was in the “plains”, a premium piece of land
property, well watered even like Eden the garden of God (see Gen. 13:10-12).
However, "the men of Sodom were
exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord" (Gen 13:13). Since the
sins of Sodom were “very grave” (Gen.
18:20), God decides to destroy this city by raining fire and brimstone. Abraham
pleads with God not to destroy the city if at
least ten righteous people were found there (Gen. 18:23-33). Sadly, only
Lot, his wife and two daughters could escape the wrath of God, and even Lot’s
wife turned into a pillar of salt due to disobedience (Gen. 19:17, 26). In this
story, the wickedness of the people of Sodom is revealed predominantly as
homosexuality, and it is a common knowledge that this was ‘the sin’ of Sodom.
While we
often think of the sins of Sodom as mainly sexual (Gen. 19:5–9), the prophet
Ezekiel indicts this city for materialism
and neglect of the poor and needy.
Sexual perversion was only one of
Sodom’s sins! The sins of Sodom also included fullness of food and abundance
of idleness. This looks exactly what is happening in this day and age! The
Bible scholar Feinberg in his classic book "Ezekiel" had given the
following comments in this matter:
“Notice how pride was singled out as
the root of Sodom’s sin when her abominations were traced to their source. God
had blessed her abundantly with fullness of bread (Gen. 13:10), but she
monopolized these blessings for her own pleasures and basked in prosperous
ease. Provision for her own needs made her insensible to the needs of others;
she had no social conscience. Then she committed the abominations and
enormities which are linked inseparably with her name. God took her away with a
final blow when He saw it (Gen. 18:21).”
Sodom’s sin
did not end with its sensuality and unnatural acts, but reached to the “pride” which had come with material
prosperity. This “pride” had lifted
them above moral law in their own eyes. Like Sodom, Israel in her wealth and
pride forgot and neglected the poor that God had specifically commanded (see Deut.
15:7, 11). This concern for the poor and needy is echoed in the New Testament
as well (see Matt. 26:11; 1 John 3:17).
What we can
understand here is that Sodom was consumed by brimstone and fire for numerous sins that included injustice to the poor in the midst of
incredible wealth (Ezek. 16:49) and sexual
immorality (Gen. 19:5). It was Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of Billy Graham
who once said: "If God doesn't judge
America for her immorality, He will have to apologize to Sodom and
Gomorrah."
Today, let
us take a moment to understand the ‘real’
sins of Sodom, and what had caused God to destroy that city and the people
completely. It was predominantly the sin of
sexual immorality (homosexuality) closely followed by pride, materialism, idleness (leading to wicked thoughts and
actions), and having no social concern
for the poor and needy. Let us ask God to forgive us so that we also do not
get the same punishment that God had inflicted Sodom so many years ago!
