But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (Genesis 13:13, KJV)

There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. (Deuteronomy 23:17, KJV)

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7, KJV)

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. (Romans 1:26-27, KJV)

And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; (Genesis 18:20, KJV)

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. (Genesis 19:1-13, KJV)

The most disturbing thing about this story is the fact Lot was willing to give his daughters to the wicked as trade for the traveling wayfarers.

I will not attempt to say this will "prove" anything, for proof is a thing of the mind more than any other, and as the adage says, "A man convinced against his will will be of the same opinion still." Much of this is how a person chooses to look at it. However, to me, the argument is sufficiently convincing.

To begin with, let me point out that it is to be expected that such a sin as this, being of a sexual nature, would be couched in less than plain language. There is no virtue in beholding sin, though there is virtue in recognizing it enough to avoid it. The Bible makes it clear enough, without any more detail than necessary for us to identify the sin. Even when it is not sin, sexual intimacy is usually cloaked in terms like "know" or "lie with."

Now, notice the subject of this text:

The Bible might have simply said "Sodom was a wicked city," or, "the people of Sodom were wicked;" but here it draws our attention to the men specifically: "the men of Sodom were wicked."

Here, once again, the use of "sodom" is focused on the menfolk:



And here, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha are specifically referenced in terms of sexual sin.

Notice especially the mention of "going after strange flesh." Paul, while not specifically mentioning Sodom, speaks of the sin of homosexuality, and how strange it is:




Here it defines their sin as being a very serious one:


However, I think the most convincing part is the story of the angels' visit to Sodom. God would not want us to think that He had arbitrarily destroyed Sodom for some small reason. It is proper that we should know the reason, that we might also take warning and turn away from the same sin ourselves.

Here is the story:


In summary, I would point out three things: 1) Sodom is referred to by its "sin" in the singular [see Genesis 18:20, Lamentations 4:6]; 2) there is not one text in all of scripture referring to Sodom's sin in the plural form "sins"; and 3) the only sin clearly portrayed in the above story is that of homosexuality. These points, taken together, give us a clear picture of exactly which sin it was that provoked God to such an action against Sodom.

I hope that helps.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

that certainly was some reasoning to come to that conclusion. what if we did away with most of the human reasoning and logic and looked at the bible alone?

Wasn't looking at the Bible alone done here in Green Cochoa's post?

I hope that helps.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Deu 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

H6945 qâdêsh kaw-dashe'
From H6942; a (quasi) sacred person, that is, (technically) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry: - sodomite, unclean.

The dwellers in Sodom were corrupt; vile conversation greeted his ears daily, and his righteous soul was vexed by the violence and crime which he was powerless to prevent. His children were becoming like these wicked people; for association with them had perverted their morals. Taking all these things into consideration, the worldly riches he had gained seemed small, not worth the price he had paid for them. His family connections were extensive, his children having married among the Sodomites. {RH, November 14, 1882 par. 5}

Men have lifted themselves up in pride and self-sufficiency, casting down the needy and oppressing the hireling in his wages. Against them have been registered covetousness, pride, and self-indulgence. They show contempt for the laws which govern God's kingdom. God has borne long with them; but in response to His amazing forbearance, men are approaching that degree of iniquity which the antediluvians reached, to perish in the waters of the flood, and which the Sodomites reached, to be destroyed by fire from heaven. {RH, September 17, 1901 par. 5}

As long as Satan lives, his efforts will be constant and untiring to make the world as wicked as before the Flood and as licentious as were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. {TMK 267.3}

The gratification of unnatural appetite led to the sins that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God ascribes the fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins. {CD 147.3}

This is a crime [men masturbating young women] in the sight of God and I cannot cover it over as a light matter. It is a Sodomitish sin. It is tainting and polluting in all its tendencies, and an abomination in the sight of a holy God. It is practicing iniquity. {TSB 125.1}

Sin has prevailed since the fall. While a few have remained faithful to God, the great majority have corrupted their ways before him. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was on account of their great wickedness. They gave loose rein to their intemperate appetites, then to their corrupt passions, until they were so debased, and their sins were so abominable, that their cup of iniquity was full, and they were consumed with fire from heaven. {4aSG 121.3}

The inhabitants of the Noachian world were destroyed because they were corrupted through the indulgence of perverted appetite. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed through the gratification of unnatural appetite, which so benumbed the intellect that they could not discern the difference between the sacred claims of God and the clamor of appetite. The latter enslaved them, and they became so ferocious and bold in their detestable abominations that God would not tolerate them upon the earth. God ascribes the wickedness of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. {3T 162.2}


The pursuit of pleasure and amusement centers in the cities. Many parents who choose a city home for their children, thinking to give them greater advantages, meet with disappointment, and too late repent their terrible mistake. The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. The many holidays encourage idleness. The exciting sports--theatergoing, horse racing, gambling, liquor-drinking, and reveling--stimulate every passion to intense activity. The youth are swept away by the popular current. Those who learn to love amusement for its own sake open the door to a flood of temptations. They give themselves up to social gaiety and thoughtless mirth, and their intercourse with pleasure lovers has an intoxicating effect upon the mind. They are led on from one form of dissipation to another, until they lose both the desire and the capacity for a life of usefulness. Their religious aspirations are chilled; their spiritual life is darkened. All the nobler faculties of the soul, all that link man with the spiritual world, are debased. {COL 54.3}

I cannot see a reference to the thought in Ezekiel, but to me it is a relevant Scripture too.

Eze 16:48-49
"As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as thou [Jerusalem] hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

In this verse God use the name of Ephraim to denote the entire Israel. He say that He will "hand over" and "give up" the Israel to destruction as He GAVE UP or HAND OVER Admah and Zeboim. Who are Admah and Zeboim?
So, according to Hosea, these four cities were handed over and given up to destruction by God.

Deuteronomy 29:23 and Genesis 14:2,8 give the names of all four cities destroyed when God poured fire upon the Cities of the Plain: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim. According to Hosea, then, these last two cities, and by implication, Sodom and Gomorrah with them, were handed over and given up to destruction.

And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; ...And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ...And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. ...(Genesis 18:17, 21-23, 26)

Yet it is clear that Abraham and God have a conversation about whether or not God would destroy Sodom. We also have the record that:

"...the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah..." Genesis 13:10

Instead of the crowded city seek some retired situation where your children will be, so far as possible, shielded from temptation, and there train and educate them for usefulness. The prophet Ezekiel thus enumerates the causes that led to Sodom's sin and destruction: "Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." All who would escape the doom of Sodom must shun the course that brought God's judgments upon that wicked city. {AH 138.3}

We read [in Genesis 18] of visitors coming to Abraham as he was sitting in the door of his tent. . . . These were angels of God, and one of them was no less than the Son of God. When these guests came up to his tent, they were strangers, but he observed the rules of true courtesy toward them. The Word of God tells us to “be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Abraham did this. And when the heavenly guests made themselves known to Abraham, they told him what their purpose was in regard to Sodom. . . . And while Abraham was not in Sodom, was not connected with Sodom, yet we see that he had an intense interest that Sodom should not be destroyed if God could spare it.—Manuscript 19, 1886. {CTr 73.5}

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. (Luke 17:28-30)

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah symbolizes to us how this world will be destroyed by fire.

It is a fearful thing for the unrepenting sinner to fall into the hands of the living God. This is proved by the history of the destruction of the old world by a flood, by the record of the fire which fell from heaven and destroyed the inhabitants of Sodom. But never was this proved to so great an extent as in the agony of Christ, the Son of the infinite God, when he bore the wrath of God for a sinful world. It was in consequence of sin, the transgression of God's law, that the Garden of Gethsemane has become pre-eminently the place of suffering to a sinful world. No sorrow, no agony, can measure with that which was endured by the Son of God. {AG 168.3}

In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked inhabitants in Noah's time. In mercy he destroyed the corrupt dwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan, the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and are thus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so in Cain's and in Noah's day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God will finally destroy the rejecters of his grace. {GC88 543.3}

I cannot see a reference to the thought in Ezekiel, but to me it is a relevant Scripture too.

Eze 16:48-49 "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as thou [Jerusalem] hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

Interesting that it doesn't list homosexuality along with the other sins. Like Elle said, the sins listed above are very prevalent nowadays. Pretty sad, eh!

Instead of the crowded city seek some retired situation where your children will be, so far as possible, shielded from temptation, and there train and educate them for usefulness. The prophet Ezekiel thus enumerates the causes that led to Sodom's sin and destruction: "Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." All who would escape the doom of Sodom must shun the course that brought God's judgments upon that wicked city. {AH 138.3}

These sins, in other words, are not the ones for which they were destroyed, but rather the ones which goaded them into more heinous sins, sins so perverse they are not mentioned.

PS - Is there no further depths sinners can go when God gives up on them? Or, is homosexuality a deeper depth of darkness sinners go into when God gives up on them? I doubt it. But what do you think?

PS - Is there no further depths sinners can go when God gives up on them? Or, is homosexuality a deeper depth of darkness sinners go into when God gives up on them? I doubt it. But what do you think?