Before we proceed on to the next chapter in which the Lord rains down burning sulfur on the city of Sodom and its sister city Gomorrah, we need to stop and talk about why God found it necessary to do this.
We will be taking a look at what the Bible says about the sins of Sodom. The Bible doesn't provide us with a full, detailed account of its citizens' sins, just as He didn't provide us with a list of the sins of the world's citizens prior to the great flood. But there are clues here and there throughout the Scriptures that give us some idea of a few of the things for which the Lord judged the people of that city.
In yesterday's passage we learned that such an outcry had gone up to God's ears regarding the actions of the people of Sodom that He came down in person to observe these things before bringing judgment. In the Bible, whenever the word "outcry" is used, it concerns very serious sins against God or grievous crimes against humanity. Where there is an outcry it means there are people who are oppressed, mistreated, and suffering. Something about the actions of the citizens of Sodom was causing suffering to those around them. It could be that the neighboring areas were subject to the king of Sodom and that he levied extremely heavy and unfair taxes on them. It could be that he allowed his soldiers to do search and seizure operations where they took whatever they wanted from people who owed taxes. They may have forced debtors into harsh slavery or they may have engaged in human trafficking. The Bible does not say, but if their crimes against humanity were so severe that He had to destroy the city and its occupants, then it's probably safe for us to imagine the very worst. Just think about some of the worst stories you've ever heard on the news about cruelty, fraud, murder, theft, sex crimes...you name it and I bet it was going on in Sodom. Our modern society didn't invent any of these things. We might have more sophisticated ways of going about some of these things, but crimes like this have been taking place almost since the beginning of man's sojourn on earth.
The Lord mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah when giving the law to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 29:25-26. While impressing upon the people the importance of not mixing with the pagan tribes of Canaan, He warns them that co-mingling with these people will lead them into idolatry. And if they fall into idolatry He will destroy their land just as He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and then it would be said of Israel: "It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods He had not given them." Since the Lord uses the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in this dire warning, it's likely that the citizens of those towns bowed down to false gods. Since the Lord will be unable to find even ten righteous people when He goes down to Sodom, we know for certain that the people there were not worshiping Him. And since man tends to want to worship something, if he does not worship his Creator he will usually fall into some sort of idolatry or even worship himself, in a sense, by making himself the lord of his own life.
In Deuteronomy 32 the Lord compares those of Israel who have gone astray from Him to the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. He says that prosperity has made them "fat" and that they have "kicked against Him". Imagine you own a farm animal that has become fat and healthy because of the excellent care you've given it. But then imagine this animal decides it doesn't need you and that it doesn't have to listen to you. We can see how ridiculous this is, because the animal wouldn't have food and shelter and safety if not for its owner, yet when its owner tries to care for it or work with it, it kicks him. This is what the Lord is saying about the people from within the nation of Israel who decided they didn't need Him anymore. This is what He is saying about the people of the prosperous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah who decided they didn't have to be faithful to Him. Prosperity can be far more dangerous than persecution, for persecution often makes a person draw closer to the Lord for help, but prosperity can cause a person to begin having less and less communication with the Lord. I think perhaps the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were so comfortable and prosperous that they felt no need of the Lord in their lives. They completely forgot or ignored the fact that they'd have nothing if not for Him.
In the days of the prophet Isaiah, when so many of the people had fallen into idolatry, the Lord warned them repeatedly that the downfall of their nation was coming if they did not turn back to Him. In sharing the Lord's warning with his people, the prophet Isaiah compared them to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah makes some very harsh but true accusations against those who have abandoned the Lord, telling them their offerings and sacrifices make the Lord sick because they are only bringing them for show, and comparing these wayward people to prostitutes and murderers. He says the judges are accepting bribes to pervert justice and he says no compassion is being shown to widows and orphans. You can read this entire passage in Isaiah 1, where the Lord brings His indictments against the nation. Their sins have become so great that He does not even call the nation by its name or by the names of its tribes, but He refers to the nation as Sodom and Gomorrah: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" (Isaiah 1:10) From this we can assume that perversions of justice also went on in Sodom and Gomorrah, and that the people there had no compassion for the needy, and that sexual exploitation was rampant, and that they were violent and murderous.
The Lord tells His people, through the prophet Isaiah, that they should be ashamed of their sins and repent of them. But instead He finds people who enjoy openly flaunting their sins. He compares their attitude to the attitudes of the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah: "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves." (Isaiah 3:9) When a human being becomes aware that he has done something wrong, usually the first instinct is to want to hide the sin. Generally speaking, we don't want to be caught. We don't want to face consequences. The person who is walking in step with the Lord will feel compelled to confess the sin to Him in order to experience the relief of forgiveness. The person who does not love the Lord may feel little to no guilt for their sin, but they still usually want to hide it so that their fellow man doesn't take them to task for it. Then there are those who want to rub their sins in the faces of others. There are those who delight in doing wrong and enjoy stirring up the emotions of others by openly bragging about their sins. This is why the Lord says people of this nature "parade their sin". Whatever the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were doing, they felt no shame about it. Instead they gloried in it. They put it on display for the whole world to see.
When comparing the sins of Israel in Isaiah's day to the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord lists several things in Isaiah 3 that the people were doing. These are: a failure of the nation's leaders to lead, the youth running wild and causing trouble, the religious leaders not setting a godly example, the women being so wealthy and so decked out in jewels that they look down on those who are not as fortunate, and the men not being "men" by standing up to fight for what is right.
In Isaiah 13 the Lord speaks of the eventual overthrow of Babylon and He compares that kingdom to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when He says that the people of Babylon are arrogant and haughty and prideful. So we see that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah thought they were a very big deal and that they were better than others and that they were so great they didn't even have to obey their Maker. The Lord despises an attitude like this, and the Bible warns us that He "opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble". (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:5)
In Jeremiah 23 the Lord compares the wickedness of Israel to that of Sodom, saying that the religious leaders are not leading the flock and that people are forsaking the holy covenant of marriage and are indulging in sexual sins. He points out that there are false prophets in the land leading people into idolatry instead of leading them away from it. By this we can guess that in Sodom there was a great deal of sexual immorality and idolatry.
In Ezekiel 16 the Lord compares Israel to Sodom and calls Israel a prostitute because she has forsaken Him in favor of other gods. He says she "lies down" with other gods. Again we see that one of the sins of Sodom was idolatry. Also the Lord compares the women of Israel to the women of Sodom who were "arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy". (Ezekiel 16:49) We tend to think of females as being soft-hearted and compassionate, but the women of Sodom felt nothing for those around them who were in need. Instead they rejoiced in their own prosperity and couldn't have cared less if someone was hungry or cold.
Jude, the brother of the Lord Jesus, said that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah "gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion". (Jude 1:7a) We are going to see that for ourselves when we get into Chapter 19, and the passage concerning this may seem shocking and crude to us, but I won't apologize for it because I think the Lord intends for us to be shocked. I think what almost happens at Lot's house, and the complete breakdown of morals and the lawlessness that it represents, is included in the Bible so we can understand that there is literally nothing the people of Sodom wouldn't do.
From the passages we've studied today, we still don't have a complete picture of all the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could be that they were so terrible that we'd find a detailed list of them very offensive to read or imagine. But we know this: they had rejected the living God in favor of bowing down to idols, they were lawless and violent, there was no sexual act they found repulsive, they oppressed their fellow man, and they had no compassion or concern for anyone but themselves. I think such an outcry went up against them because they were creating a living hell for the people around them. The Lord had to take action. He could not allow these things to continue.
No comments:
Post a Comment