The Sins of Sodom and Coming Judgment (Ezekiel 16: 48-50)
As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom:
Pride
Overabundance of food
Prosperous ease and idleness were hers and her daughters
Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy
They were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me.
What can we learn from Sodom in the Bible?
We are approaching a time of greater judgments of God on the Earth. Sodom is widely alluded to throughout the Word of God, and I would like to try to draw some threads together so we can understand more clearly God’s judgments, designed to teach righteousness. The whole of Ezekiel 16 is rich in identifying the sins and abominations of cities and nations. Ezekiel 16 is addressed to Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 16:1 below):
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her [idolatrous] abominations [that they] are disgusting, detestable, and shamefully vile.
Where is our society at? My sad look in a bookshop
It would take a long time to detail the sins of our nations, so I will just make a few brief comments. Just three examples of how far our moral standards have fallen are as follows. First, n 1965 Christopher Plummer starred in the inspiring movie Sound of Music; in 2012 he won an Oscar (and the applause of the Academy!) for his role as a father who comes out as a homosexual very late in life. Secondly, the movie Brokeback Mountain tainted the innocence of other westerns with homosexuality. And, thirdly, my spiritual blood pressure rises when I see previews for the television series GCB (based on the book Good Christian - the third word is one I never have, and never will, use). GCB not only mocks sin, it mocks salvation!
There is a constant barrage of movies and television shows that portray and glorify sin. Most of our children (and many adults) know more about Harry Potter or the Twilight books and movies than the Bible. We are no better here - Canberra where I live is an outwardly beautiful city, but it is legal not only to see, but to produce, x rated (actual sex) videos in this city.
So to my bookshop experience. I was at a shopping centre and went to look in the bookshop. I asked for the religious section - it was just part of the other non-fiction area: some children’s Bible stories, but hardly a Bible in the entire bookshop. I left sad, not just because it reflects the state of our society, but that it also reflects the interests of Christians. We do have some (albeit not many) good Christian bookshops in Canberra, but we still are left wondering at how our society became so secular. The same is true of most newsagencies in Australia - hardly any Christian magazines on the shelves. Now back to Sodom.
The Imminent Coming of Isaac (God’s end time purposes) and Judgment on Sodom
When Lot and Abraham split in Genesis 13, we read in verse 10 that Lot chose the well watered Jordan Valley (it was like the garden of the Lord!). Lot dwelt in the cities of the Valley, moved his tent as far as Sodom and lived there - even though the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord! (verse 13). In Genesis 14: 11-18 we read how Abraham rescued Lot, and the stolen wealth of Sodom. Abraham also met mysterious Melchizedek while returning from this victory.
The visit of the three men (One being the Lord) to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18 is the core truth about Sodom for us today. There were two pronouncements: firstly, that Isaac would be born when the season came around and. Secondly, that God was about to pour out his judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. What is very important is that the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah was sudden and came before Isaac was to be born. For where we are at now, this could indicate that there will be judgments on cities/regions before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (and the Rapture) - when the Day of the Lord is about to commence?
Genesis 18:20 speaks of the great shriek of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their exceedingly great sins. So how loud is the shriek of our world’s sins (abortion and homosexuality to name just two, as well as the treatment of Israel!). In verse 21 God says that the cry of the sins “has come to Me”. While we are right to focus on homosexuality in respect of Sodom and Gomorrah, we need to recognise the pride, prosperous ease and other abominations listed as the sins of Sodom in Ezekiel 16:48-50.
What Jesus said about Sodom!
There are many, many references to Sodom throughout the Bible and Jesus clearly spoke of it as an historical and literal truth. I would like to jump ahead to some things that Jesus said about Sodom and God’s judgment on towns/cities where Jesus ministered. It is also worth noting the words about Sodom in Isaiah 13: 19-20:
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. (Babylon) shall never be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.
Matthew 11:23-24: And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades [the region of the dead]! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today. It shall be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.
Jesus said words like this a number of times. There are some important truths. Mighty works are intended to bring people to repentance - Jesus said quite clearly that Sodom with all its sins would still be a city in His day if Jesus’ miracles had been performed there. Mighty works cannot be ignored! Jesus also said that Sodom would have continued to His time - to continue further would require Sodom to recognise the sign of Jonah (the only or preeminent sign given to a generation!), the Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 17:28-30 is a warning to our world - we need to be ready for His Coming, for the Rapture that could take place at any time!
As it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
Three final Sodom references: Romans, 2 Peter and Jude
We are rapidly approaching the Day of the Lord, and God’s judgments on the Church and on the world, as we read in Romans 9:28, 29 28 For the Lord will execute His sentence upon the earth, rigorously cutting it short in His justice. 29 It is as Isaiah predicted, If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, we [Israel] would have fared like Sodom and have been made like Gomorrah.
2 Peter 2:5 And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people].
The Noah truth and warning, I believe, speaks of the judgments throughout the Day of the Lord, and especially the second half of the final seven years, when His judgments will be across the whole world.
2 Peter 2:6,7 He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless.
This Sodom and Gomorrah truth speaks of God’s continuing judgments on towns, cities and regions for their sins and their treatment of God’s people (Israel). There is also a warning from Ezekiel for those who are living in prosperous ease in Zion (including in parts of the Church). God’s judgments are increasing and, as Jesus has warned (Mark 13, Luke 21 and Matthew 24) these judgments will increase as His Coming draws ever closer. How much of a shriek is reaching Heaven from our cities and nations? Should the Lord tarry, I believe that we will see mighty works that will turn many from their sins, but the key sin is the rejection of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus – this will always be the foremost sign of the Lord’s love and power!
Finally, in Jude 1:7 we read: [The wicked are sentenced to suffer] just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent towns, which likewise gave themselves over to impurity and indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity: are laid out [in plain sight] as an exhibit of perpetual punishment [to warn] of everlasting fire.
But His grace is still flowing like a mighty river, available to all who will look at the crucified One!
Denis Maranatha!