Sodom Revisited
Now the LORD had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him.”…Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.”…
The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to greet them and, bowing low with his face to the ground, he said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house to spend the night.”…They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old-all the people to the last man-gathered about the house. And they shouted to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them.”… And the people who were at the entrance of the house, young and old, {the angels} struck with blinding light, so that {the Sodomites} were helpless to find the entrance….
When {the angels} had brought {Lot’s family} outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.”…As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Zoar, the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground…. Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before the LORD, and looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.
(From Genesis 18:17-19:28, JPS)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,… Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is to be blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done….
Thought they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(From Romans 1:18-32, ESV)
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe…. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire….
But you must remember, beloved, the prediction of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, {they are} worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
(From Jude 5-19, ESV)
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.… But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murders, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
(From Revelation 21:5-8, ESV)
When is enough, enough? When will we finally come out from worldly people and be set apart? When will finally take a stand?
Tonight, Olivia and I watched a movie together on TV. We wanted to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the end of her chemotherapy and relax before the harsh realities that awake us next week. Some time together seemed to be just the right prescription. We went out to eat, made a little adventure out of finding our dessert, and played with Gracey during commercials.
Generally, we silence the volume during commercials, because they are annoying, stupid, or offensive. This is not a bad strategy, but sometimes it isn’t enough. Even with the volume off, one commercial got it’s real message through loud and clear.
The scene is a club stage. Some half-naked men are dancing as the camera pans across the group. A girl slides up to one of the guys and tries to kiss him. “I don’t think so!” he says, shoving his hand in her face. Then, he turns to the man next to him and they begin making out!
I know the world is going to Hell (although 40% of Americans say Hell doesn’t exist), but I was still shocked. More than that, I was angered and offended. How did we get here? How has it gotten so bad that we “not only do them but give approval to those who practice them”?
I know the progression of events: decline of virtues, denominational rifts, abandonment of biblical teaching, increased violence, heterosexual promiscuity in the midst of economic growth, removal of Scripture, rampant individualism, sexual revolution, cultural media manipulation, soft-selling sin (humor) on TV, homosexual revolution… I also understand the progression found in Romans, chapter 1. My question is rhetorical. The real question that demands an answer is not, “How did we get here?” Rather, the real question is, “What are we going to do about it?”
And, it isn’t just a battle we’re lost in the secular world. We’ve given it up in the “Christian” world as well. God help us, we sure look a lot like Sodom and Gomorrah! I actually had a professor try to avoid calling homosexuality a sin by teaching us that the real sin of Sodom was inhospitality! As we see above, the New Testament writers believed differently.
“Well,” some may say, “Jesus teaches us that God is a God of grace and love. He even hung out with sinners. He didn’t mind offending the religious, but he wouldn’t want us to offend the lost by calling them names.”
To these people I say, “Have you ever actually read the Bible?”
Tell me, who does Jude say delivered Israel out of Egypt? Who does it credit with destroying those who fell into sin and tarnished the glory of God? (See Exodus 23:20-23 & 32:34, Numbers 20:16, and Judges 5:23) Who is it that is able to “destroy both body and soul in hell”? (See Matthew 10:28, Deuteronomy 6:13, 1 Samuel 12:24, and Philippians 2:12) Tell me, was the promiscuous woman (John 8) offended when Jesus said, “Sin no more”?
Yes, God is a God of love, but He is a HOLY God of love. He will not be mocked by our sin. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
“But,” they complain, “it isn’t very loving to confront someone on their behavior simply because it’s sinful. Jesus wants us to love our neighbor, doesn’t he?”
“Yes!” I say, “Jesus does want us to love our neighbor.”
Tell me, if my neighbor is asleep on his bed, and his house catches fire what is the loving thing to do? Should I say to myself, “My poor neighbor, I hope he survives. Yet, I will not wake him, or try to call him out of his burning house. He might be offended that I have disturbed his slumber. Or, worse yet, he might not believe me when I say that his house is on fire, and then I would be embarrassed.”
Or, should I run to my neighbor’s house, bang on the door, and shout with all my might, “Friend, your house is on fire! You are in terrible danger! Come out! Come out! Listen to me, because I know what it is like to be burned. Wake up and come out!” Which of these responses is the loving response? The second, of course!
Therefore, I will call sin, sin. I will stand for righteousness, even as I struggle against unrighteousness in my own life. When I see garbage on TV as I did tonight, I will do something about it, even if all I can do is turn off the TV or write a blog. If I refuse to speak up, if I pretend I don’t see the fire or act like it isn’t that big a deal, then I am a liar, and the truth is not is me. (See 1 John 2:4)
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
(1 John 4:20)
The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to greet them and, bowing low with his face to the ground, he said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house to spend the night.”…They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old-all the people to the last man-gathered about the house. And they shouted to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them.”… And the people who were at the entrance of the house, young and old, {the angels} struck with blinding light, so that {the Sodomites} were helpless to find the entrance….
When {the angels} had brought {Lot’s family} outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.”…As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Zoar, the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground…. Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before the LORD, and looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.
(From Genesis 18:17-19:28, JPS)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,… Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is to be blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done….
Thought they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(From Romans 1:18-32, ESV)
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe…. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire….
But you must remember, beloved, the prediction of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, {they are} worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
(From Jude 5-19, ESV)
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.… But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murders, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
(From Revelation 21:5-8, ESV)
When is enough, enough? When will we finally come out from worldly people and be set apart? When will finally take a stand?
Tonight, Olivia and I watched a movie together on TV. We wanted to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the end of her chemotherapy and relax before the harsh realities that awake us next week. Some time together seemed to be just the right prescription. We went out to eat, made a little adventure out of finding our dessert, and played with Gracey during commercials.
Generally, we silence the volume during commercials, because they are annoying, stupid, or offensive. This is not a bad strategy, but sometimes it isn’t enough. Even with the volume off, one commercial got it’s real message through loud and clear.
The scene is a club stage. Some half-naked men are dancing as the camera pans across the group. A girl slides up to one of the guys and tries to kiss him. “I don’t think so!” he says, shoving his hand in her face. Then, he turns to the man next to him and they begin making out!
I know the world is going to Hell (although 40% of Americans say Hell doesn’t exist), but I was still shocked. More than that, I was angered and offended. How did we get here? How has it gotten so bad that we “not only do them but give approval to those who practice them”?
I know the progression of events: decline of virtues, denominational rifts, abandonment of biblical teaching, increased violence, heterosexual promiscuity in the midst of economic growth, removal of Scripture, rampant individualism, sexual revolution, cultural media manipulation, soft-selling sin (humor) on TV, homosexual revolution… I also understand the progression found in Romans, chapter 1. My question is rhetorical. The real question that demands an answer is not, “How did we get here?” Rather, the real question is, “What are we going to do about it?”
And, it isn’t just a battle we’re lost in the secular world. We’ve given it up in the “Christian” world as well. God help us, we sure look a lot like Sodom and Gomorrah! I actually had a professor try to avoid calling homosexuality a sin by teaching us that the real sin of Sodom was inhospitality! As we see above, the New Testament writers believed differently.
“Well,” some may say, “Jesus teaches us that God is a God of grace and love. He even hung out with sinners. He didn’t mind offending the religious, but he wouldn’t want us to offend the lost by calling them names.”
To these people I say, “Have you ever actually read the Bible?”
Tell me, who does Jude say delivered Israel out of Egypt? Who does it credit with destroying those who fell into sin and tarnished the glory of God? (See Exodus 23:20-23 & 32:34, Numbers 20:16, and Judges 5:23) Who is it that is able to “destroy both body and soul in hell”? (See Matthew 10:28, Deuteronomy 6:13, 1 Samuel 12:24, and Philippians 2:12) Tell me, was the promiscuous woman (John 8) offended when Jesus said, “Sin no more”?
Yes, God is a God of love, but He is a HOLY God of love. He will not be mocked by our sin. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
“But,” they complain, “it isn’t very loving to confront someone on their behavior simply because it’s sinful. Jesus wants us to love our neighbor, doesn’t he?”
“Yes!” I say, “Jesus does want us to love our neighbor.”
Tell me, if my neighbor is asleep on his bed, and his house catches fire what is the loving thing to do? Should I say to myself, “My poor neighbor, I hope he survives. Yet, I will not wake him, or try to call him out of his burning house. He might be offended that I have disturbed his slumber. Or, worse yet, he might not believe me when I say that his house is on fire, and then I would be embarrassed.”
Or, should I run to my neighbor’s house, bang on the door, and shout with all my might, “Friend, your house is on fire! You are in terrible danger! Come out! Come out! Listen to me, because I know what it is like to be burned. Wake up and come out!” Which of these responses is the loving response? The second, of course!
Therefore, I will call sin, sin. I will stand for righteousness, even as I struggle against unrighteousness in my own life. When I see garbage on TV as I did tonight, I will do something about it, even if all I can do is turn off the TV or write a blog. If I refuse to speak up, if I pretend I don’t see the fire or act like it isn’t that big a deal, then I am a liar, and the truth is not is me. (See 1 John 2:4)
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
(1 John 4:20)
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