Sodom & Gomorrah

Genesis 18:20-21 & 32, “Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me… Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
Genesis 19. “The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city… Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door… With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."… Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace… Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father." That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. “

After reading this story, you could easily come to the conclusion that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of homosexuality. This is what most Churches teach and use against a homosexual.
They gay community on the other hand uses this passage to deny Sodom & Gomorrah was destroyed because of homosexuality.
Ezekiel 16:48-50 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. 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.”
After reading both scriptures, one could easily become confused. Both views seem to be the truth. What I have learned is that if the Bible contradicts itself, we have not found the complete answer, and more research needs to be done. We cannot interpret the Bible by using a few verses.
For me, there were a lot of questions that just did not make sense about this story. If Lot knew all the men surrounding the house were homosexual, why would he offer his daughters?
The story says that “all the men”, both young and old gathered around the house. But the word “men” in this story refers to mankind, (men, women and children.) Sodom and Gomorrah was not a city filled with only homosexual men, but of mankind, consisting of men, woman and children.
They, the men, women and children, said, “bring them”, (the angels) out here so we can have sex with them. This raises another question. Why would Lot offer his virgin daughters to be raped? To claim it was homosexuality that Lot referred to as wicked, we would have to assume that giving his daughters to be raped was not considered wicked.
After Lot and his family were spared from God’s wrath, Lot got drunk. His daughters had intercourse with him (their father) and became pregnant. I am sure all of us would agree that drunkenness, incest, and a fathering your daughters’ children would not be acceptable to God. Under the Levitical Laws, theses acts that Lot and his daughters committed were referred to as abominations.
Something still didn’t sound right, so I continued to study to find a missing link to this story.
Most people never heard of this, but as you read it, the missing pieces start to come together.
Genesis 6:1-4 & 6 says, “Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God (angels) saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh...In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.”
Angels were having intercourse with humans, and the women were getting pregnant by them. Was the issue homosexual acts as we are told, or was it sexual acts between angels and humans that Lot called wicked?
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh (angels), are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 1:7
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were going after “strange flesh”, angels, it was not about homosexuality.
Jeremiah also speaks of the sins of Sodom & Gomorrah.
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Jeremiah 23:14
Lamentations refers to the sin’s of Sodom & Gomorrah:
How the gold has lost its luster! Even the finest gold has become dull. The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets! See how the precious children of Jerusalem, worth their weight in fine gold, are now treated like pots of clay made by a common potter. Even the jackals feed their young, but not my people Israel. They ignore their children’s cries, like ostriches in the desert. The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them. The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food. The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment and no hand offered help. Lamentations 4: 1-6
In Matthew 10:6-15 Jesus comments about Sodom & Gomorrah:
Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! “Don’t take any money in your money belts—no gold, silver, or even copper coins. Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed. “Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person and stay in his home until you leave town. When you enter the home, give it your blessing. If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing. If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day.
Again in Luke 17:28-33 Jesus addresses the issues of Sodom & Gomorrah:
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
We now have a much clearer picture of what was going on in Sodom & Gomorrah.
• They were arrogant (thinking they were better than others)
• Overfed (gluttony)
• Unconcerned (they didn’t care about others)
• They did not help the poor
• They were haughty (proud)
• They did detestable things (unpleasant things, causing hatred)
• They were fornicators (having sex before marriage)
• They went after strange flesh (having sex with angels)
• They were adulterers
• They were liars
• They did not care for the sick
• They were wicked (causing harm, distress and trouble)
• They did not feed the hungry
• They were immoral (sexually unrestrained, disregarding rules, lustful)
Sodom & Gomorrah was not destroyed “because of” homosexuality, but it was one of their many sins.
As you can see, both the Church and the homosexual are correct. The problem is, neither side wants to see the whole truth.
Christians use Sodom & Gomorrah to condemn the homosexual. But what they are missing is, the sins of Sodom & Gomorrah are present in their own lives and their Churches. God didn’t only destroy those who committed homosexual acts, he destroyed them all.
We are all capable of any kind of sin, and we are all sinners. There is no sin greater than another. James 2:10 says, “If you obey all the Laws but one, you are as guilty as the one who has broken them all.”
What homosexuals are missing is the truth. There are many wrong teachings out there. If we as a Church keep rejecting them, and not offering them an open door, how are they ever supposed to find the truth? Who is at fault here? If we truly want to be like Jesus, we would react to sinners as He did. He did not condemn those caught in sin, He showed them respect, love and compassion. And what happened? They followed Him willingly, they wanted to hear more, and they wanted to please Him. The world isn’t going to change until they see the real Jesus in you!
Galations 6:1-3 says, “brothers and sisters, if anyone is overcome by some sin, you who are Godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.