What was the Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Stand to Reason ^ | 05/11/2010 | Greg Koukl

[mlizzy]

Prolly wouldn't let their girls play ball ...

[safeasthebanks]

I have little doubt that S and G were some pretty scary places, but God didn’t destroy them anymore than he destroyed Pompei or New Orleans or any other place that suffered through a terrible natural disaster of some type. One is rewarded or punished for his/her deeds on earth after death, not on earth.

[Captain Rhino]

Although it is rarely quoted, the Epistle of Jude makes it pretty clear Jews and Christians of that era knew exactly what the charge laid against Sodom and Gomorrah was:

Jude 1

1. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:

2. Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

3. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

4. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

6. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

7. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.

9. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

10. Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.

11. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

12. These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

13. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones

15. to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

16. These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

[Tublecane]

I’m thinking there were A LOT of sins in those cities.

[onedoug]

Not fearing God.

[Zionist Conspirator]

I'm as against homosexuality as anyone on this forum, but the sin of Sedom was inhospitality. This isn't the product of liberal German higher critics (my own personal bete noir) but the traditional teaching from time immemorial.

Male homosexuality is forbidden by Leviticus. The Noachide Laws to which all mankind are bound to observe also forbids it and makes it a capital offense. How many times does G-d have to say something to make it so?

Homosexuality is forbidden to all mankind. The fact that the nexus of the episode of Sedom and `Amorah is inhospitality doesn't change that one bit.

[ilovesarah2012]

And you know God didn’t destroy Sodom and Gomorrah how? The Bible clearly states God did destroy them. The Bible also clearly states there was a flood. Don’t believe that either?

[NRA1995]

Why not Gomorhy?

Gomorrhea?

[safeasthebanks]

Sorry, I’m not going to try and prove a negative. The burden of proof is on you to prove that God DID destroy the cities. The account in the Bible works for you, so be it.

[MHGinTN]

Are we haunted by the following, for surely America is now utterly defiled: “... shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.” Even the microwave ‘air’ over America is filled with degenerate sexual content, and the government which we tolerate takes our tax monies and funds the slaughter of tens of millions of alive unborn children.

[Campion]

And notice Lot's response -- he actually valued hospitality to his guess above his own daughters telling these men to rape his daughters instead

Some commentators have said that Lot is essentially taunting the crowd at this point, by offering them his daughters -- whom he knows they don't want.

[MHGinTN]

Barry Lynn, is that you? ... Don’t believe the Bible, eh?

[ilovesarah2012]

I thought as much.

[nomodem]

...but God didn’t destroy them anymore than he destroyed Pompei or New Orleans or any other place that suffered through a terrible natural disaster of some type.

The events that happened to "Pompei or New Orleans" truly were natural disasters - hurricanes and volcanoes have brought destruction quite often throughout history. If you believe the biblical account of what happened with S&G, well, I can't think of another documented case of fire raining down from heaven and destroying an entire city and all of it's inhabitants. This is something quite different from your run of the mill "terrible natural disaster of some type" (hurricane, volcanoe, earthquake, etc.) that happens relatively frequently.

Of course if you don't believe the biblical account then why believe any of it? Just write it off as another Atlantis-type fable; afterall, there's not a lot of solid extra-biblical documentation of the event.

Personally I have a very simple faith - God is sovereign, the bible is true, and S&G (like the flood) occurred because of man's wickedness.

[mlizzy]

I've always been struck that Lot's wife wasn't told in BIG BOLD TYPE (over and over and over again!) not to look back. It seems she was told only once?, which leads me to believe all the things we are instructed to do as Christians from Christ via His Word (and through the words of His saints, blesseds, and popes) needs to be listened to harder. (In other words, we've been warned!)

The history of Lot is taken from Genesis (19. 1-38). When the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed at God's order, angels came and warned Lot to flee with his family. Despite being warned not to, his wife looked back at the burning city of Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters then took refuge in a cave. Afraid of finding themselves alone on earth and without descendants, Lot's daughters decided to get their father drunk and to seduce him. This latter episode forms the theme of the painting. Genesis - Chapter 19

[Quix]

INDEED. AGREED.

Though, IIRC, Jeremiah or some such describes the worst sin of Soddom and Gomorrah as

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . PRIDE.

[safeasthebanks]

Um, you do know what happened to the dinosaurs, right?

[fwdude]

Did God judge Sodom and Gomorrah for inhospitality?

I hear this all the time from the degradation-philes. What morons.

[RMrattlesnake]

We know by reading the scripture that the sin of homosexuality was very present. In fact the word sodomite several times in the scriptures refers to homosexuals. So why would a word used to describe homosexuals come from the name of the city. Genesis 13:13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. They were wicked sinners and the sign that the bible shows was their sin of homosexuality. If they had other sins the bible would have expressed. Gays try to say that it was the sin of inhospitality, but that is not expressed, but homosexuality is. Genesis 19:4. 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: 5. 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. The key word is “know them” so that they may know them. They were referring to the angels that came to see Lot. Genesis 4:1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. See Adam knew his wife and they had a baby. Because this is referring to sex. This was not extreme inhospitality. The wicked men of Sodom wanted to have sex. God is very clear that homosexuality is wrong. Leviticus 18:22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. God says homosexuality is something disgusting. Abomination is the strongest word for something that is disgusting or unclean.

[RMrattlesnake]

So the sin of homosexuality was very present in Sodom, But I personally believe it was not because of homosexuals that GOD destroyed Sodom. Homosexuality was only and outward sign of their wickedness.