Sodom

SODOM AND GOMORRAH:

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1. “And there came two angels to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, My lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; then rise up early in the morning and go on your way. And they said, No, we will spend the night in the street. But Lot urged them greatly; and they turned in to him and entered into his house; and he made them a feast and baked unleavened cakes and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, that is, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people of the town; 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. And Lot went out at the door to them; and he shut the door after him. And Lot said to them, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you please; only to these men do nothing; for they have come under the protection of my roof. And they said, Get away. And they said again, This fellow came to sojourn among us, and now he tries to judge us; and they said to Lot, Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then Lot fought desperately with them, and they drew near to break the door.” (Genesis 19:1-9 Lamsa). In the first part of the verse: “…and Lot saw them and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, My lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; then rise up early in the morning and go on your way" Lot was fulfilling the custom of hospitality. Especially in the desert, it was imperative for a sojourner of a particular area to provide lodging and food to a traveling stranger; this meant life or death to the traveler if these needs were not met. Abraham did this custom of hospitality to the three men that met him in the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18:1-5), and the Book of Judges (19:13-25) talks about a man needing only lodging for himself, his men, and his cattle because he was traveling to the house of the LORD. The custom of hospitality was that the traveler asked the inhabitant of a particular area for lodging, food, or drink; but the inhabitant could also ask the traveler if he needed these things. Guests were thought of as being sent from God. Providing food and lodging wasn’t a money burden, because it was seen as tithing to God. Instead of giving the whole ten percent to the priests, the person could use part of the ten percent in feeding poor strangers. Jesus obviously thought Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their inhospitality to strangers. When Jesus sent His disciples preaching the gospel house to house and into different cities, of which they received the hospitality of lodging, food, and drink; Jesus said this: “Whatever city or town you enter, ask who is trustworthy in it, and remain there until you leave. And when you enter into the house, salute the family. And if the family is trustworthy, your salutation of peace shall come upon it; but if it is not trustworthy, your salutation shall return to you. Whoever will not welcome you and will not listen to your words, when you leave the house or the village, shake off the sand from your feet. Truly I say to you that it will be easier for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.” (Matthew 10:11-15 Lamsa). Jesus also confirms the belief in the hospitable acts of providing food and drink as tithing to God. “Then the King will say to those at his right, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in;” (Matthew 25:34-35 Lamsa).

Going back to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in chapter 19:4-8 of Genesis,when it says: “…the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people of the town; 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. And Lot went out at the door to them; and he shut the door after him. And Lot said to them, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you please; only to these men do nothing; for they have come under the protection of my roof." First of all, Sodom and the cities round about it had fallen into fornication; which meant anything from prostitution to lewd sexual acts such as rape. The cities back then didn’t like foreigners that much, so foreigners were often vexed. Male and female foreigners were raped. Also, kings would take a male foreigners wife, then kill the husband. The traveler also had the fear of robbery when traveling in foreign lands. When Abram entered Egypt, Pharaoh took his wife, and because God plagued Pharaoh and all his household, Pharaoh gave Abram back his wife. Another inhospitable act similar to Sodom’s occurs in (Judges 20:4-5 Lamsa) where it says: “And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was killed, answered and said to them, I came into Gibeah, that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset me in the house during the night, and they sought to kill me; and they raped my concubine, and she died.” Because this man was a foreigner, they wanted to kill him by burning the house down on him. Since strangers were vexed, God made a prohibition against it: - “You shall neither harm a stranger nor oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21 Lamsa). Because of the mistreatment and hatred that Laban showed toward Jacob and his two daughters, (Genesis 31:14-15 Lamsa) says this: “And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, We have no portion or inheritance in our father’s house. Behold, we are counted by him as strangers, for he has sold us, and has squandered also our money.” The reason foreigners were hated is because the travelers could be spies. These spies could overthrow the city or nation. Also, eating with one another was a part of worship for believers of the same God. It was an abomination for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews (Gen. 43:32).

Generally, when a mob of men took counsel and surrounded a house in those days, it was because of two reasons. One reason was to see if the visitors were spies (see Joshua 2:3). The second reason was to harass a resident who received foreigners of a different religion into his home (see Acts 17:5-9).

When it says the men of Sodom wanted to know (ya-da) the foreigners, they wanted to see and understand who these men were, plus have sex with them. The men of Sodom then surround his house and ask for his guests to take hostage. If the visitors were taken hostage, they could undergo castration, rape and even death. Plus the host could also suffer punishment for allowing foreign guests into his home. In accordance with the hospitality of the East, Lot offers his two daughters to protect his guests. The guest, once the host has accepted him, is sacred, and must be protected from any danger even at the cost of the life of members of the family. The guest in return has to not cause any trouble in the city that would shame the hospitable person.

Lot said that his two daughters had not known man, which would mean that they were virgins. Instead of the men of Sodom raping and killing Lot’s guests, Lot offers his daughters to the mob. If the mob accepted Lot’s offer, then they would have the assurance of not being killed for adultery.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not a good example that the Bible condemns homosexuals, meaning people that are born gay, because the men didn’t want to have sex with the men out of lust, but wanted to harm them. The men of Sodom said, “This fellow came to sojourn among us, and now he tries to judge us; and they said to Lot, Now we will deal worse with you than with them. (Gen. 19:9 Lamsa).”

Now the Bible itself gives us the reason why Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, it says this: “…like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath; And all the nations shall say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land? And why has His anger kindled so much? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; And they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they had not known, nor had they divided spoils among them; Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:” (Deuteronomy 29:23-27 Lamsa). If Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of homosexuality, why don’t any of the many verses in the Bible that speak of Sodom and Gomorrah and why it was destroyed say it was because of homosexuality. These are the other verses: Deut. 29:23, 32:32; Wis. 19:14-17; Isa. 3:9, 13:19; Jer. 23:14, 49:18, 50:40; Lam. 4:6; Ezek. 16:46-48; Amos 4:11; Zeph. 2:9; Matt. 10:15; Luke 17:29; Rom. 9:29; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7.

2. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities which in like manner gave themselves over to fornication (za-ni prostitution), and followed after other carnal lusts (bis-ra flesh)..." (Jude 1:7 Lamsa). This verse is talking about how the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities committed fornication, which included anything from prostitution to lewd sexual acts such as rape. These people followed after "other flesh," which is referring to the foreigners/strangers. The Aramaic word bis-ra, translated as carnal lusts here, really means flesh or people. We see this here: "It shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour My spirit upon all flesh (people); and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams;" (Acts 2: 17 Lamsa). A translation of this verse would be: Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities which in like manner gave themselves over to fornication, and followed after other people. The statement “followed after other people” sounds like the inhabitants were going after foreigners/strangers. That statement is actually the exact opposite of what Paul said, when he said that Israel was the “sons of my flesh (or people)” (Rom. 11:14). Dr. Lamsa translates the words “sons of” as “those who are” in this verse. (See also Gen. 37:27).