Genesis 19 … The real sin of Sodomy (08/16/16)
It is in Genesis 19 that we find the infamous tale of Sodom & Gomorrah — a story beloved by many a conservative Christian, and often used thereby to “prove” without a doubt that homosexuality itself is “sinful in the eyes of the Lord” … And to be fair, it is easy to see why those over-eager evangelicals could make such a mistake, for the verses in question state: “But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, and said ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them’ … Then the Lord rained on Sodom & Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (Genesis 19:4-5 + 24) …
AND YET, when we have the humility and the wherewithal to look more closely at the texts in question, a very different picture emerges …
First of all, it is important to note that it was “all the people to the last man” who committed the sin that led to the destruction of those cities – men who were almost exclusively heterosexuals.
Secondly, the sin in question was NOT homosexual love or homosexual relationships or homosexual marriage or even homosexual sex, but rather the intended RAPE of two fallen angels by a horde of heterosexual men. As such, the crime here was not a crime of passion at all, but rather the moral perversion of sexual assault – a crime of rage & power.
Finally, and for Christians most importantly, the Bible itself (in Ezekiel 16:49 & Luke 17:28-29) makes it quite clear that homosexuality had nothing at all to do with the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. Indeed, the book of Ezekiel notes that the cities were destroyed for not assisting the poor and the needy in their midst, while Jesus openly states that Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed not due to the presence of homosexual lasciviousness, but rather because the inhabitants thereof were soaked in the sins of selfish gluttony and rampant materialism.
But don’t take my word for it – just listen to the Bible itself:
“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” ~ Ezekiel 16:49
“Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them.” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 17:28-29)
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