The sins of Sodom were not homosexual

Question:

The sins of Sodom were not homosexual. The Bible itself tells us of her sins at least fourteen different places. This is false teaching at its worse. So why aren't the fourteen verses stating her sins posted?

Answer:

Isn't it interesting that you give a very specific number of passages regarding the sins of Sodom, but you didn't manage to list them? Yet you then accuse me of falsifying information by not doing what you did not do yourself. [By the way, a list of verses on homosexuality, which includes some of the ones below, are found under "Homosexuality" in the Notes section.]

"But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD" (Genesis 13:13).

"And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave" (Genesis 18:20).

"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 doorway, shut the door behind him, and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof." And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door" (Genesis 19:4-11). [Notice that even though they were struck blind, they continued trying to break in.]

"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" (Isaiah 3:9).

"Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah" (Jeremiah 23:14). [Note that this doesn't say that the prophets were committing the same sins as Sodom, but that God found them as repulsive in their sins as He found Sodom.]

"Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters. You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live," says the Lord GOD, "neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idlenessneither 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." (Ezekiel 16:46-47).

"and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)" (II Peter 2:6-8).

"as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7).

These passages speak about the sins committed by Sodom and the surrounding cities. There are other passages that mention Sodom, but they draw parallels to the suddenness, severity, and completeness of its destruction and not necessarily a similarity to the sins committed.

Most of the terms express the depth of the evil committed and God's disgust over the wickedness. Only a few passages actually state the nature of their sins:

  • Pride
  • Idleness
  • Ignoring the poor and needy
  • Haughty
  • Boldness in sinning (not hiding their sins)
  • Men demanding to have sex with men
  • Stubbornly persisting pursuing their sins, despite punishment
  • Sexual immorality
  • Going after strange flesh (a type of sexual immorality)

The latter probably needs explaining as you seem to desire to ignore facts. Albert Barnes said in his commentary on Jude 7 regarding the phrase "strange flesh", "The reference seems to be to the peculiar sin which, from the name Sodom, has been called sodomy. Compare to Romans 1:27. The meaning of the phrase going after is, that they were greatly addicted to this vice. The word strange, or other, refers to that which is contrary to nature." Romans 1:26-27 says, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. 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."

Jamieson, Faucett, and Brown stated, "Going after strange flesh--departing from the course of nature and going after that which is unnatural. In later times the most enlightened heathen nations indulged in the sin of Sodom without compunction or shame."

From Matthew Poole's Commentary we find, "Strange flesh; margin, other flesh; he means male flesh, which is other than what God appointed for that use they made of it; or, as we render it, strange flesh, i.e. that which is strange, improper, and unfit for such an end. It is the description of the unnatural filthiness of the Sodomites, Genesis 19:5: see Romans 1:26,27."

From A. T. Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament, "Strange flesh (sarkos heteras). Horrible licentiousness, not simply with women not their wives or in other nations, but even unnatural uses (Romans 1:27) for which the very word "sodomy" is used (Genesis 19:4-11)."

Question:

In Ezekiel 16:48-50 we are told exactly why Sodom was destroyed.

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, 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 good.

Sodom was destroyed because of pride, arrogance, neglect of the needy, and neglect of God.

Also “strange flesh” being discussed in Jude 7 relates to spiritual beings having sexual relations with physical beings. In other words angels (as in Genesis 6:4), not homosexuals.

Answer:

In Ezekiel 16 you left out "committed abomination" from your list of sins. And purposely I might add. Numerous sins are called abominations, including the sin of homosexuality. "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:23). Therefore, you did not prove that homosexuality was ruled out in Ezekiel 16.

Lot called the men's request to "know" the visitors wickedness. While "know" can be used in a variety of ways, Lot's words narrow down the choices to those which were sinful. One meaning of "know" is sexual relations. "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain" (Genesis 4:1). Sexual relations between men and men would be sinful and matches the words of Lot. In addition, Lot's offering of his two daughters shows us that Lot understood the men had a sexual interest and had hoped to divert that interest from his guests. The fact that the daughters were rejected tells us that these men were committed homosexuals and not interested in heterosexual sex.

Since Jesus clearly states that angels, being spiritual beings, do not have male and female divisions, the suggestion that Sodom's sin was having sex with angels must be false. "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30). Nor does Genesis 6:4 state that angels were having babies with women. See Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6:4? for details. Nor could the phrase "strange flesh" be applied to angels since you admit that angels are spiritual beings and "flesh" refers to physical beings. As shown before "strange flesh" means unnatural flesh. The grammar of the verse is that going after strange flesh refers to immoral sexual relations of an unnatural type. This matches Romans 1:26-27, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. 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." Therefore Jude states that Sodom and the surrounding cities were destroyed because of sexual immorality, in particular, homosexual sex.