Fellow travelers,
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the book of Genesis is well-known even to many who aren’t religious. Genesis 18 and 19 describe the two cities as extremely wicked, specifically mentioning homosexuality and rape. The English term “sodomy” even comes from the name of the city of Sodom. In the Genesis story, Lot and some of his family escape based on Abraham pleading with God for them, “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” (Genesis 19:24-25). This is the most well-known part of the story, and some explanations of why the cities were destroyed found on the internet and elsewhere say Genesis has the “full account” of the story. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their excessive sexual sins.
However, there is more.
Ezekiel, a prophet to Jews captive in Babylon centuries after Sodom was destroyed, said: “Behold, 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. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). Ezekiel was describing the sins of Judah to explain why they had been sent into exile from their Promised Land and said they don’t compare favorably even to Sodom. Surprisingly, Ezekiel doesn’t even mention any sexual sins in this description. Not that these sins were irrelevant, but in Ezekiel’s view, Sodom would have been destroyed even without them. Sodom’s other sins were also abominations.
What’s the point? I can’t say it any better than the Life Application Study Bible, which notes on Ezekiel 16:49: “Sodom was destroyed because of its pride, laziness, gluttony, and unconcern for the poor and needy. It is easy to be selective in what we consider gross sin. If we do not commit such horrible sins as adultery, homosexuality, stealing, and murder, we may think we are living good enough lives.”
We can’t pick and choose which sins are more or less deserving of God’s judgement, because in His holiness and justice, He must and will judge all sin. While “lifestyle” sins without repentance may be more dangerous to a church or congregation, even sins we may not consider extreme are dangerous as well. Ezekiel’s point is that selfishness and a disregard for those in need should be repented of as much as any other sin. Ezekiel wrote, “Behold, 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. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it,” but he also wrote that Judah would be restored by a coming Messiah, the Christ.
That restoration comes through Christ’s sacrifice for all sins, and anyone can have salvation through faith, which drives us to confession and repentance. As John wrote in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
At the end of our journey, all of God’s people will be cleansed of all of their sins, not just the most noticeable ones, because “he is faithful.” Not because any of us are less sinful than others.
