When most
people think of the sins of Sodom, they remember the story about the men of
Sodom wanting to rape Lot’s guests, who were actually angels. It’s an unthinkable tale about distasteful
actions by the town’s people and even Lot himself, who offered to send his
virgin daughter to appease the out-of-control mob. It’s an X-rated story you don’t expect to
find in Genesis 19, the middle of the first book of the Bible. Lot could not protect his guests, and
ironically they were sent to protect him and anyone in his family who would
listen to him. This story is so famous
it is known by even those who never read the Bible because the name of the town
Sodom is associated with a form of homosexual rape.
Ezekiel
seems to indicate that there is much more that we must learn from the sins of
Sodom. These other sins are extremely
convicting. According to Ezekiel 16:49-50
the sins were not limited to sexual sins,-although the rape and sexual
perversion are not omitted when Ezekiel mentions the detestable things the men
accepted and committed. The cries of
Sodom’s victims had the complete attention of God, and Lot would have been
burned down with the rest of the town were it not for the prayers of Abraham on
his behalf. Ezekiel expands on the sins
of this city. ‘Now this was the
sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were
arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and
needy. They were haughty and did detestable things
before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Sins
like being arrogant, overfed and unconcerned, not helping the poor and needy
were first on Ezekiel’s list.
Living in
America, a country that spent $62.75 billion on pets in 2016 (http://fortune.com/2016/08/26/pet-industry/)
while the highest estimate of American Christians spending on missions is $24
billion (https://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/how-much-is-spent-on-christian-missions-each-year/)
I’m not sure how far we are from being arrogant, overfed and unconcerned, and
not helping the poor and needy. The poor
are not a political concern to exploit.
I wonder how many of the people who get upset about our country’s
immigration policies have ever helped an immigrant. They are often the poorest in their country
of origin; and although they are offered governmental help, it is not enough to
sustain life in American culture. They
need a lot of help from their fellow Americans to learn the language, get jobs
and transition into our culture. Jesus
commissions us to care for the poor. We
certainly are a country filled with the overfed. Those who do not look overfed on the outside
because of their rigid diet and exercise may have higher budgets for their
food. The point I take from Ezekiel’s
words convict me that even if I don’t practice sexual sin, I am not immune from
Sodom’s sins of omission like not being concerned and not helping the
poor. I also commit the sins of
arrogance and haughtiness.
These
other sins committed by the people of Sodom are my sins too. God sees these as abominable. No wonder Ezekiel chose to call Sodom “Israel’s
sister.” Perhaps they didn’t think they
had abominations going on in their lives.
So, though we would rather not think of the sins of Sodom as our
personal abominations, perhaps we should take a second look. Even Jesus mentioned the sins of Sodom in
Matthew 11:23-24 for example. “And you,
Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to
Hades. For if the miracles
that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained
to this day.But I tell you that it will be more
bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
I’m not as
worried about what man calls abominable as I am about what God and Jesus call
abominable. Arrogance, haughtiness,
unconcern and not helping the poor and needy are truly abominable to God.
Copyright © 2018. Deborah
R. Newman. teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
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