| July 25, 1999 |
Vol. II, No. 13
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God rebuked the nation of Judah: "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fulness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit" (Ezek. 16:49-50). Let us look at Sodom's (and Judah's) sins more closely.
PRIDE. God had extended many blessings to Sodom. It compared with Eden, Gen. 13:10-11. In the well-water plain of the Jordan River, it was an ideal area for cattle ranching. Nearby asphalt pits made it an excellent cite for industry, Gen. 14:10. But the residents were not responsible for any of these blessings. They had much to be thankful for, but nothing to be haughty about.
MATERIALISM. The people of Sodom grew fat and lazy, and God was not pleased. When Israel later behaved in similar fashion, God strongly rebuked them as well, Amos 6:1, 4-6.
SELFISHNESS. The folks of Sodom were not concerned with the problems of those less fortunate. With all their abundance, and all their spare time, they did not strengthen the hands of the needy.
ABOMINATION. By this term, the prophet is referring to the sin recorded in Gen. 19:4-7. Two angels visited Lot and spent the night in his home. "Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.' So Lot went out to them through the door way, shut the door behind him, and said, 'Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly.'" Because of its association with the city of Sodom, homosexual activity is called sodomy. The events in Gen. 19 show God's attitude toward sexual perversion even before the giving of the Law of Moses. That law spelled out clearly, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" (Lev. 18:22). New Testament passages show that God's attitude toward sexual perversion has not changed. Paul writes of their "uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves... For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due" (Rom. 1:24-27). 1 Cor. 6:9-11 tells us that those who persist in such will have no part in God's kingdom. But it also tells us that one can be washed and sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus if he will repent and cease to practice such abominations.
NO SENSE OF SHAME. Isaiah, rebuking the house of Judah, tells of another of Sodom's sins: "The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. ...Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him" (Isa. 3:9, 11). The people of Sodom were not only sexually perverts, but they paraded their sin openly. They expressed no sense of shame or guilt.
Sodom and the cities around her were destroyed by fire from heaven, Gen. 19:24. Israel imitated Sodom's sins and was taken into Assyrian exile. Judah followed suit, and was exiled in Babylon. Undoubtedly, there are at least three lessons here for America.
(1) We have a greater opportunity than those in Sodom, thus we stand to be judged more severely than they, Matt. 11:23-24. We have opportunity to know God's ultimate revelation of Himself in Christ, and of His will in the New Testament Scriptures.
(2) God is still able to destroy the wicked and deliver the just, 2 Peter 2:7-9.
(3) The influence of ten righteous people could have spared Sodom, Gen. 19:15-17. Enough righteous people, setting proper examples and using their influence to the glory of God may yet avert the judgment that otherwise must surely come upon our nation. Let us devote ourselves to godliness and moral uprightness and do what we can to persuade others to do likewise. God help us in our effort.
--CRJ
In Matt. 11:7-10, we read that Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John the Baptist, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’”
Note that Jesus identified John as a prophet -- and more than a prophet. In fact, as Jesus shows in Mark 1:2-3, at least two of the Old Testament prophets had foretold the ministry of John.
The passage in Matt. 11:10 and Mark 1:2 is found in Malachi 3:1. “’Behold I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Then in Mark 1:3, Jesus shows that Isaiah 40:3 was also a prophecy foretelling the ministry of John the immerser: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” In still another passage, Jesus shows that Malachi once again foretold of the coming and work of John.
In Matt. 17:11-13, Jesus explains that when Malachi had prophesied that Elijah the prophet would come in advance of the Messiah, Mal. 4:5-6, he did not mean a LITERAL reincarnation of the prophet Elijah, but that one would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” namely John the Baptist. See Luke 1:17, where Gabriel the angel told Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth was soon to bear a son in her old age, a son named John, and that he would go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The angel was quoting from Mal. 4:6. Thus we see that two different Old Testament prophets, in three different passages, had foretold the life and work of John, and we see why Jesus said John was a prophet and more than a prophet.
The importance of John’s work is also seen in Luke 7:30, where we read that “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” It is a serious matter to reject the counsel of God.
--CRJ
Someone is ready to say: “I’m willing to follow the thought of the majority in religious matters. What most of the people believe must be right.”
May we ask for a moment, the majority of the people WHERE? The majority in many nations is Roman Catholic. The majority in Hawaii is Buddhist. If you find yourself in Utah, you would need to become a Mormon.
We must remember that the majority is not always right. In fact, in religious matters, the majority is frequently wrong. The majority crucified Christ. The majority allowed the reign of terror in France. The majority established slavery.
God warns, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” Ex. 23:2). Note what Jesus said about the majority in Matt. 7:13.
--CRJ