Tag: Zeboiim

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF SODOM

Neal Pollard

Sodom is mentioned 48 times in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. What took place there when Lot was a resident was so reprehensible that God punished it by destroying that city as well as three other cities in the entire plain, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:23). While there seems to have been multiple sin problems there, chief among them was sexual immorality. Lot shelters two angels in his house (Genesis 19:1-3), angels that appeared to the “the men of the city” to be “men” (Genesis 19:4-5). Moses chronicles the incident, recording the demand of the men of Sodom, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” (Genesis 19:4, NIV). The word “sodomy” gets its name from this city and this incident. Lot labels their intent “wicked” (vs. 6) and it triggers the angels’ call for Lot and his family to leave the city before God destroyed it (vs. 12-13). So it happens (vs. 24-25). 

But that is not the end of the Bible’s remarks about this wicked city. It would become a byword for sin in subsequent generations. Consider what we read elsewhere, as Sodom either symbolizes or illustrates unrighteousness.

  • Likened to poison and bitterness (Deuteronomy 32:32).
  • Likened to total desolation (Isaiah 1:7,9; Romans 9:29).
  • Illustrates shameless sin and evil (Isaiah 3:9). 
  • Serves as illustration of the total overthrow of Babylon (Isaiah 13:19).
  • Symbolizes unrepentant sexual sin (Jeremiah 23:14).
  • Illustrates total destruction (Jeremiah 40:18; 50:40).
  • Judah’s sudden conquering by Babylon is likened to how Sodom “was overthrown in a moment” (Lamentations 4:6).
  • Serves as a repeated metaphor for rebellious Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 16:46-49).
  • Used to illustration the sins of arrogance, careless ease, and lack of compassion (Ezekiel 16:49-56).
  • Used to illustrate total apostasy (Amos 4:11).
  • Illustrates perpetual desolation (Zephaniah 2:9).
  • Implies their peril on Judgment Day (Matthew 10:15; cf. 11:23-24; Luke 10:12).
  • Alludes to their destruction as an illustration of ultimate judgment (Luke 17:29).
  • Used to illustrate condemnation due to ungodliness (2 Peter 2:9).
  • Identified as those who “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh” and received eternal fire as a warning to the disobedient in Jude’s audience (Jude 7).
  • Symbolize those who engage in egregious sin (Revelation 11:8).

Was what the men of Sodom guilty of more horrific and appalling than those who engaged in other spiritual rebellion or even other sexual sins? Not at all. However, one has to do an extraordinary amount of spiritual gymnastics to avoid the conclusion that what happened in Sodom displeased God. God’s response harmonizes with all His Word has to say on the subject of homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). 

God’s message for anyone and everyone struggling with sin is that grace is available (Titus 2:11). God desires to forgive and save (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). At the same time, grace is not a cover for unrepentant sin (Romans 6:1-2; Jude 4). Reconciliation comes when one turns away from sin and turns to God (Colossians 1:19-23). It’s what God hoped for Sodom (Genesis 18:20-33), but Sodom did not want this for themselves. The inhabitants of this ancient city serve as a warning to us that rebellion against God’s will not end well those who chose to engage in it. It is a timeless, if ancient, principle.