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Sex and the City? SODOM and GOMORRAH


unworthyservant

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This is my take on God's vengeance or retribution on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and how it relates to sexual sin but there's another point to this and I want to begin with a story I may have already posted but that illustrates kinda cleverly the second point that will hopefully be clear by the time I'm done. 

The story is of a preacher from up north who had the opportunity to serve a one month trial period for a job with a church in KY. The deal was that he'd preach 4 sermons (one per week for a month) and then the deacons would decide if he got the job as full time pastor. Being an old fashioned prohibitionist teetotaler kind of fellow, he preached his first sermon on the evils of strong drink. After the service he was approached by the deacons who advised him that it was unwise to preach abstinence there as many of the congregation worked at the local distillery and some were farmers who sold their corn there. So, the next week he came back with renewed determination and preached on being good stewards of your money and mentioned the evils of gambling it. Again the deacons approached him and advised him to stay away from denouncing gambling because many of the congregation worked at the local racetrack and some were breeders whose horses raced there. SO, discouraged but still determined he came back the third time and this time he preached about how our body is the temple of the Lord and we shouldn't defile it with such nasty habits as tobacco. Guess what? Again the deacons protested because many of the congregation were tobacco farmers. The preacher was at a loss and asked "since you have objected to all three of my sermons, have you any suggestions? After a little thought they replied, "Why don't you preach on heathen witch doctors? We don't have any of those for miles around."

Now, I'll not elaborate on the story at this juncture but promise I'll bring it back around at the end. Now back to Sodom and Gomorrah. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with homosexuality to the point that Sodom is the origin of the word Sodomy. The only thing the Bible account of the incident tells us definitively about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Genesis 18:20-21 where we read in the KJV:

20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

So, no particular sin is mentioned here and after the pleading of Abraham, although God doesn't turn His wrath from the cities, He agrees to save Lot and his family because of their faith. Then in Chapter 19, the story unfolds. To conserve space in what's becoming a lengthy discussion, I'll quote the only the parts relevant to this discussion. The story begins with Lot convincing the angels sent of God to come to his house and dine. Then in verses 4-11 we find the portion of the story that has for centuries linked the incident and thus the cities with homosexuality. The KJV reads

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

The key verse that links the story to homosexuality is found in verse 5. It starts with the fact that the question is "Where are the MEN which came in to thee this night" Much of the emphasis of those who use the story as a condemnation of homosexuality starts with the use of the masculine word "MEN" that's used by the town folk to refer to the Angels. Now, regardless of whether you ascribe to the idea that Angels have sexual identity or believe that it may simply be the inclination of the patriarchal society of the day to simply use masculine descriptions for them is really neither here nor there, as since the men outside identified them as male and wished to engage in non consensual sexual acts with them, their intent was indeed homosexual in nature. But the fact that it was non consensual constituted a sin in itself, and then the fact that it was fornication regardless of whether it was consensual or homosexual. So, there's three sins in one verse.I've heard others go on about how the sexual abuse of a stranger was a act of exercising power and not sexual but it's clear to me that even if the underlying end was a power trip it was through sexual sin that this was to be accomplished. So, what was really their sin (or sins, as related above) and why all the focus on the homosexuality when we can see three different sins in the same verse? The first question I can't answer beyond the three sexual sins that are found in this single act but as to how the homosexuality became the focus is related to the story that began this discussion. It's the idea of preaching on HEATHEN WITCH DOCTORS or in other words preaching a message that alienates as few as possible instead of the complete truth in God's word. It's a more convenient Gospel when you can lambast and curse the evil homosexuals and at the same time wriggle around the sexual sins that may hit closer to home. In Matthew Chapter 5 Christ tells us

"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

Maybe that could be interpreted, get the sin out of your own life and your own church and only then can you go after the "Heathen Witch Doctors" or "Evil Homosexuals" I believe that sin is sin and if God ranks sin, I doubt that Homosexuality is any worse that Adultery or Fornication. I hear folks who rave that Homosexuality is worse because it's an "ABOMINATION" unto the Lord, but what really is the difference between an abomination and any other sin. It's something I'll not expand on but there are several Hebrew words in the Old Testament that were translated as abomination. The put it in perspective, the Blue Letter Bible search resource found 76 references to the word in 69 verses in the Old testament alone. Just in the Proverbs alone we read the following:

Unchecked Copy Box Pro 11:1 A false balance is ABOMINATION to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.

Unchecked Copy Box Pro 11:20 They that are of a perverse heart are ABOMINATION to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

Unchecked Copy Box Pro 12:22 Lying lips are ABOMINATION to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.

So, cheaters and liars are just as much an abomination to God as the Homosexual by that metric. So, why don't the same preachers scream quite as loud or put the same emphasis on cheating and lying? Again, I believe it's Heathen Witch Doctor syndrome. They're preaching a convenient Gospel instead of the full Word of God. It's a pretty deep dive I know, but it's just another example of how men monkey with God's word to make it suit their circumstances.  "Straight is the gate and narrow the way."

''"

Edited by unworthyservant
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Homosexuality is not my side of the street, but as a married man I have many days where I have lust in my heart.How about you?My sin is not considered an “ abomination” but it’s enough to send me to Hell If I don't find an answer.I may have found that answer .The Gospel in 1cor15:1-4. Jesus has promised to save all that Believe it.I trust in that Promise and that alone has saved me. It will work for anybody- homosexuals included.

 

 

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When liars start throwing it in everyones face, demanding everyone accept them, have pride parades, sue Christian businesses, then they would be addressed more sternly. 

When adulterers start throwing it in everyones face, demanding everyone accept them, have pride parades, sue Christian businesses, then they would be addressed more sternly. 

You get the idea. 

The gay community is forcing it on Christians and in some areas Christians are accepting homosexuality as being ok. So the rest of us are resisting it. 

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6 minutes ago, ayin jade said:

When liars start throwing it in everyones face, demanding everyone accept them, have pride parades, sue Christian businesses, then they would be addressed more sternly. 

When adulterers start throwing it in everyones face, demanding everyone accept them, have pride parades, sue Christian businesses, then they would be addressed more sternly. 

You get the idea. 

The gay community is forcing it on Christians and in some areas Christians are accepting homosexuality as being ok. So the rest of us are resisting it. 

The gay community has come out into the open. It was not that way years ago. No one wanted to admit they were gay. 

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1 hour ago, ayin jade said:

When liars start throwing it in everyones face, demanding everyone accept them, have pride parades, sue Christian businesses, then they would be addressed more sternly. 

God surely won't judge you and he surely won't judge me.

But He'll rain fire and brimstone, on that guy behind that tree.

Now, BTW that's an old repurposed cliche, but it that's how it sometimes sounds to me when people come up with their own reason why someone else's sin is worse than their own and why someone else "would be addressed more sternly". That's my point but more to the point is what Christ said

 "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye."

 

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Have a nice day. 

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2 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

My sin is not considered an “ abomination” but it’s enough to send me to Hell

That's another part of the point. The word abomination DOESN"T mean a sin any worse than any other. I didn't go into the translation of all the words that were translated abomination in the Old Testament, because that would have triples the words to an already wordy post. It was simply a way for the writers of the KJV Bible to translate a myriad of words to one English word, possibly for simplicity purposes. And the three instances that I quoted from the Proverbs are just a small sampling of the 76 Old Testament references to the word. It's not about a word, it's about what's in your heart.

Edited by unworthyservant
correct spelling
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12 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

Unworthyservant,

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah due to their one sin as noted above. The bible verses you posted further explain what that sin was. 

12 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

o, cheaters and liars are just as much an abomination to God as the Homosexual by that metric. So, why don't the same preachers scream quite as loud or put the same emphasis on cheating and lying? Again, I believe it's Heathen Witch Doctor syndrome. They're preaching a convenient Gospel instead of the full Word of God. It's a pretty deep dive I know, but it's just another example of how men monkey with God's word to make it suit their circumstances.  "Straight is the gate and narrow the way."

Yes, God hates all sin, but Sodom's sin was exceedingly great. I feel fortunate that our pastor preaches directly from the Word of God. He does not stress that Homosexuality is any greater than cheating, lying or adultery etc... It's all sin.  I do like the story you shared about the preacher in KY.  I believe it was a perfect example of pastors, preachers, leaders who compromise and preach messages that don't offend anyone. They are out to please men and not God.

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22 minutes ago, lovethelord said:

Unworthyservant,

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah due to their one sin as noted above. The bible verses you posted further explain what that sin was. 

Yes, God hates all sin, but Sodom's sin was exceedingly great. I feel fortunate that our pastor preaches directly from the Word of God. He does not stress that Homosexuality is any greater than cheating, lying or adultery etc... It's all sin.  I do like the story you shared about the preacher in KY.  I believe it was a perfect example of pastors, preachers, leaders who compromise and preach messages that don't offend anyone. They are out to please men and not God.

Thank you lovethelord. You encapsulated a long drawn out point very well. Sodom's sin was great enough to incur the wrath of God but it's not necessarily the case that is was so great because of homosexuality. Truth is we may never know why it was so grievous until that day when God reveals all. Meanwhile, all I'm saying is if we want to be there on that day, we need to follow Christ in our own lives and stop raving about others sins until we have dealt with the sin in our own backyard. You said in a previous post that

 

29 minutes ago, lovethelord said:

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah due to their one sin as noted above

I can only guess that you use the term "due to their ONE sin as noted above" to denote that because the text to which you refer is using the phrase "because their SIN is very grievous", that it refers to a singular sin. That's not at all necessarily the case. I pointed out three sins that were part of the one incident in the following chapter. And the use of the word sin isn't always used as singular, the term sin is also used as a umbrella type word to refer to sin in general and the translators could have chosen to use sins or sin and either could mean more that a singular sin. The Bible doesn't say "one sin" as your statement seems to imply. All I'm really saying is to your first point, that we should beware the pitfalls of attaching too much significance to someone else's sin (whether singular or myriad) that we miss the real point, our own sin and that of those with whom we come into contact everyday. It's easy to preach against the sins of those with whom we rarely have contact, so we need to take the harder look at the sin close to home and once it's eliminated, then go and share the good news of the Gospel with others.

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13 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

All I'm really saying is to your first point, that we should beware the pitfalls of attaching too much significance to someone else's sin (whether singular or myriad) that we miss the real point, our own sin and that of those with whom we come into contact everyday. It's easy to preach against the sins of those with whom we rarely have contact, so we need to take the harder look at the sin close to home and once it's eliminated, then go and share the good news of the Gospel with others.

Hi Unworthyservant,

I completely agree with you. It's always easier to look at another's sin and focus and judge them.  That's me.  Because I'm aware of this, I've gotten so much better and with God's direction and accountability in my life I now am much more careful in the attitude I have towards others and especially what I say.  

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