The Sin of Sodom

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Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:49).

Whenever we talk about the sin of Sodom we go back to the book of Genesis, when the Lord appeared unto Abraham and told him that He, with the angels, was going to the city of Sodom to bring the judgment of God. When the angels arrived at the city of Sodom, they were met by Lot, who was sitting at the gate; and Lot invited them to his home for the evening. (Genesis 18:1,2,16,20-22; 19:1-3).

But after supper the men of Sodom began to beat on the door of Lot's house, demanding that Lot send out the two young men in order that they might engage in homosexual relations with them. Lot protested against this evil, and the men then turned against Lot as a stranger among them who was now seeking to be their judge. When they threatened physical violence against Lot, the angels drew Lot back into the house and shut the door, smiting the men of Sodom with blindness so that they groped all night trying to find the door of Lot's house. (Genesis 19:4-11).

The angels of the Lord then said unto Lot, "Get out of here! We're going to destroy this city. Flee with your family and all who will go with you. The judgment of God is going to fall against this wickedness!"

The angels of the Lord then led Lot forth from the city, and the fire of God's judgment came and destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their exceeding wickedness and sinfulness before God. And so we have the term "sodomy," by which is expressed the obvious sin of Sodom. But as God looks back and analyzes the sin of Sodom, He sees it in its more subtle form, in its roots, before it bore fruit.

There are certain roots when tolerated that will germinate into vile fruit. Homosexuality and sodomy were actually the final manifestations of the people's sin. Their sin had been germinating under the soil for a long time before being manifested in its final form.

In Ezekiel 16:49 as God declares "the iniquity of thy sister Sodom," God emphasized that the sin of Sodom was actually pride. Pride is thinking of yourself more highly than you should; it is an exalted opinion of yourself. So many times we look at the blessings that God has granted to us, and we act as though our genius, abilities, or wit have brought God's favor and blessings upon our lives not realizing that if we have anything worthwhile and good within us, it has come from God.

The Bible says, "For I say to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" (Romans 12:3). Again the Bible says, "Let each esteem others better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3). Esteeming yourself above others is pride, and it is a deadly sin

When God speaks of the pride of Sodom, we must recognize that He's talking of a nationalistic pride, because Sodom was a city-state. But you say, "Just a minute, Chuck. Shouldn't we be proud that we are Americans?" I believe that we should take pride in our country, but the danger is that so often we do not give credit where credit is due. In looking at our nation and the greatness it has achieved, we need to recognize that our greatness came to us from God - that it was God who made our nation strong. Our early forefathers recognized this. Katharine Lee Bates wrote, "America, America, God shed His grace on thee" and that is the secret of the greatness of our nation. God's grace has been shed upon us.

And yet there are those today who say that our system has made us great. They would attribute the strength of our nation to free enterprise. Of course, free enterprise is almost becoming a historic term at this point, as we see more and more government regulations placed on the businesses. They are making it almost impossible to conduct business profitably or efficiently. It is as though they seek to make business as inept as government.

There are others who in looking at the nation take pride in our Constitution. They say it is because of our Constitution that we have such a strong and powerful nation. Certainly our Constitution was formed by prayer; men sought the guidance of God in the framing of the Constitution - but unfortunately today our Constitution is being perverted and misinterpreted by our courts.

Now according to the courts you can teach the Bible in school as a book of literature, as mythology, or the superstitious writings of ancient people - but you cannot teach it as the Word of God. You can use the name of Jesus Christ in your classroom as long as it is an oath or in blasphemy, but you cannot speak in terms of reverence or worship or as the Savior. You can talk about Jesus as the son of man, but you cannot speak of Him as the Son of God. You can post the Communist Manifesto on the walls of the classroom, but not the Ten Commandments.

"America, America, God shed His grace on thee." Unfortunately, through some of the rulings of the courts, the honoring of God and recognition of the secret of strength has been twisted and changed, so that rather than knowing the grace of God, America is being ripened for the judgment of God.

"America, America, God shed His grace on thee," but America, what are you doing? You're destroying the very foundations that have made you great, and you're ripening for the judgment of God.

Many people take pride in our military superiority. They believe that our military prowess has made our country strong and great. These people unfortunately are ignoring the facts of history, for every major empire that toppled, fell at the peak of its military might. Military strength alone was never an insurance to any nation or guarantee of safety. Concerning the destruction that was to come against Israel, God said, "And I shall bring the Assyrians against the hypocritical people." (Isaiah 10:5,6). If there was ever a nation of hypocrisy, it is America, which once knew the grace of God. They wrote on their coins, "In God we trust," and now they use them for every devilish and damnable purpose.

As God saw it, the sin of Sodom was pride - the failure to recognize God as the source of strength, power, and might.

Prosperity

The second sin of Sodom was the fullness of bread. They had become fat. They were a prosperous people and, becoming fat, they became weak.

One of the thrilling aspects of visiting Israel is to see a nation that is young, so filled with national spirit that when the people talk about their nation a quiver comes into their voices and an intensity in their spirit; for they realize that their survival depends upon God and being unified together under God - and that is their only hope of survival. To see the intensity of these people is a beautiful and rewarding experience.

But we have become independent of God. We feel that we can now rule Him out of our national life. We can set Him aside. After all, are we not strong? Have we not developed to such a high degree that we no longer need God? Oh, our Founding Fathers were superstitious, and they thought it was necessary to establish a nation upon God and trust in God. Now we've become enlightened, and we realize that it wasn't necessary at all and we are destroying the very pillars that have held up our nation.

Idleness

Another sin that God saw in Sodom was their idleness, "and abundance of idleness". The abundance of idleness led to a misuse of Sodom's idle time.

When I was a small boy, my mother used to constantly tell me, "Charles, an idle mind is the devil's workshop" Keep your mind active, study, keep learning. Don't let your mind be idle. It used to be that a 60-hour work week was very common. No one thought anything about it. But as the labor unions began to form and the movement began to grow, their cry was for a 48-hour work week. After that goal was achieved, they began to cry for a 40-hour work week. Now they are crying for a four-day work week. The purpose is to give men more time on the weekend for leisure and for their pursuit of pleasure.

You ask, "Chuck, are you opposed to labor?" No. I believe that the labor movement has brought a lot of good to our society. What I am opposed to is the way people spend their leisure time. We're living in a nation that has gone pleasure-mad. Everything is designed and geared to fill the abundance of idleness with pleasure. Men are using that idle time to indulge themselves, and they're forgetting God and leaving Him out of their lives. How glorious if we could have a four-day work week, so that we would have three days to devote to serving the Lord completely and fully! But the way men are proposing to use their abundance of idleness has become a national disgrace. The mistake and folly is that they think that through pleasure they can find the answers for their thirsty souls. However, the desire for pleasure is like a monster - the more you feed it, the more it demands. Experiences that used to bring a thrill and pleasure to you no longer bring the same thrill and pleasure, so you start looking for new experiences.

Uncaring

The final sin of Sodom was that they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. They became callous, uncaring, and indifferent to the needs of people around them, because they were so absorbed in themselves. They were no longer concerned with the needs of others.

These roots of sin in Sodom led to open and aggressive homosexuality. When the angels of the Lord came to the city of Sodom, the men began to beat at the door of the house of Lot. They were demanding that these men be sent out to them. The homosexuals had become so strong and this society had become so morally weak that the homosexuals felt a bravado, a freedom to express and manifest openly their impure and perverted desires.

Whenever a society is so weak that those who are perverted in their nature feel a bravery to expose themselves publicly, to make public demands, and become aggressive, then you have a society that is ready for the judgment of God.

As I look at our society in the United States today, and I see on the magazine racks and in the papers the aggressiveness of this segment of our society - the blatant openness with which they parade their sin - I realize how far down the road we have gone, and how near we are to the end.

"America, America, God shed His grace on thee," but we have sinned against the grace of God. We see within America today those very things that finally provoked the judgment of God and His destruction of the city of Sodom. The bad seeds have produced the rotten fruit, and it is all around us: open, aggressive homosexuals. No more a sense of shame, but a demand for recognition and acceptance of their godless lifestyle. The men of Sodom began to publicly flaunt their sin, and they gave God no choice but judgment.

We begin to understand what Peter meant when he said, "Judgment must begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17). When we read of churches ordaining homosexuals and lesbians, the time is come for judgment. It must begin at the house of God, but if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

When I read the story about Lot, the city of Sodom, and its judgment, I'm encouraged by this fact: before God destroyed Sodom He first "delivered just Lot that righteous man" (II Peter 2:7,8a). The angels said to Lot, "Get out of here! Flee this place! The wrath of God is coming!" Lot and his daughters fled the city of Sodom and were spared (Genesis 19:12-27). For God had promised Abraham that He would destroy the righteous with the wicked, but would not destroy it for ten's sake (Genesis 18:32). If there had been just ten righteous, God would have spared the city. I believe that the influence of the Church, as weak as it is, is the saving grace of America today; and if this influence, weak as it is, wasn't here, the judgment of God would have already fallen.

I'm convinced that one of these days very soon the Lord is going to remove His Church. He is getting ready to say, "Come out of her, my people" (Revelation 18:4). "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thessalonians 4:17). And God's judgment is going to fall again upon a godless, Christ-rejecting, blasphemous society.

What a paradox! People hate and curse the Church, and yet if it wasn't for the influence of the Church within their society, they would already have been destroyed. Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). Your influence as a child of God is keeping back the wrath and judgment of God from being poured out even now upon our nation.

Again, it is interesting to follow Paul's comments on this subject in Romans 1;

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness,... [for] when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God (Romans 1:18,21).

You see, men became proud. They didn't give God the glory and the credit for what He had done, but "their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools," and they began to glorify and serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever (Romans 1:21,22,25).

For this reason God gave them over to a mind that was void of God, and ultimately God gave them up to all kinds of vile practices including homosexuality and lesbianism.

Even as Paul recounts this, he speaks of the wrath of God which must come against this ungodliness and unrighteousness. We're living in the last days, and the judgment of God will soon fall. If it doesn't, God owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah - because we see the same sin here and its ultimate and final manifested form: open, aggressive homosexuality.

What a challenge and commission God has laid upon the Church! "Ye are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). In those days one of the chief uses of salt was as a preservative to prevent putrefaction of meat. They would salt the meat to kill the bacteria after they butchered it. Jesus said, "You're here to prevent the putrefaction." But this putrid world only tells us that we're not doing our job as we should.

God help us.