The New Sodoms and Gomorrahs

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University

"And Babylon shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Isaiah 13:19

Sodom and Gomorrah are usually referred to because of their gross immorality, but it is interesting to me that the rest of the Bible does not say that this was the specific reason that they were destroyed. In Ezekiel 16:49-50, we are told "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."

Ezekiel did not list immorality (though undoubtedly it was a big problem). He said Sodom's sin was that is was arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and did not help the poor. And in their arrogance, they did detestable things (not specified, and I'd rather not think about it!).

Amos 4 reinforces this. Amos starts out his message to Israel with, "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, 'Bring us some drinks!..."

But these were depraved religious people! Verse 4: "Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offering--boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do," declares the Sovereign Lord.

Unwanted Sacrifices and Evil Worship And finally, in Isaiah 1 God says Israel is Sodom and Gomorrah, and that he does not need their sacrifices ("I have more than enough burnt offerings...I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls..."). As for this "worship," in verse 13, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings...I cannot bear your evil assemblies." Verse 15: "When you spread your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you...Take your evil deeds out of my sight..."

And what are the evil deeds of this new Sodom and Gomorrah? Verses 17 and 18: "Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop during wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, pelase the case of the widow.

In Luke 17, Jesus talks about Sodom in the days before it was destroyed. He did not mention specific sins, only that they were "eating and drinking, buying and selling," planting and building." There is nothing wrong with any of those--unless, as Amos and Ezekiel claimed, Sodom was doing those things with the fruits gained from oppressing the poor.

Israel's Fate?
1st, economic disaster. Amos 4:6: "I gave you empty stomachs in every city, and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me," declares the Lord.

2nd. Destructive weather, plagues, and war. God -withheld rain, or sent it at the wrong time (and no global warming at the time)

3rd. Plagues God allowed plagues like those of Egypt, and finally allowed war--yet still Israel did not return.

4th War. Israel was finally told in Amos 4:11, "I will overthrow some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah...Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel."

Sodom was of course very immoral and depraved. But lest we simply highlight those sins that we ourselves are less likely to commit, let us note that the rest of the Bible says that the reason God finally overthrew Sodom was because of its arrogance, oppression, injustice. This does not mean we can ignore immorality--but it is a warning that we must also search ourselves, and our nations, let we suffer Israel's fate.

God punished Israel with economic disaster, destructive weather, plagues and war. This is sobering for us today. For centuries, some nations have exploited poorer peoples. And today we face economic disaster, destructive weather, new diseases (HIV, the recurrence of antiobiotic-resistant pneumonia, leprosy, etc.), and war. So far the war is on a small scale; let us hope we learn our lesson now, and that we do not engage in another global war.

Let us reason together Verses 18-20: "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." Let us hope that we do not suffer the fate of Britain 20 years after H.B. Meyer, in 1894, warned in his "Our Daily Homily", when Britain was engaged in her nationalized opium-trafficking, among other things:

In H.B. Meyer's "Our Daily Homily", written in 1894, for Isaiah 13:19 he talked about the oppression and injustice by which Britain and other Western nations came to power, such as the opium trade, and noted "But let our country [Britain] beware!" But his other others' warnings were ignored, and 20 years later the planet plunged into war.

Meyer's passage:
"And Babylon shall be as when God overthew Sodom and Gomorrah..."
These prophecies have been fulfilled with marvelous accuracy. It si a pity that so few of our young people in these days study the evidence of prophecy. "Keith's Evidences" [see below] would be a wholesome introduction to this marvellous field of investigation; but every year is adding to the store of proof. Unlike the evidence of miracles, that of prophecy increases with every year of increasing distance from the hour that the prediction was given.

There is a God that judgeth in the earth. Nations, as well as individuals, must stand before his judgment bar. Indeed, the judgment of the nations is now in progress. Already before the Son of Man all nations are being gathered, and He is dividing the sheep from among the goats. Men do not see the sentence of the divine Judge put into execution, since the operation of his Providence is so deliberate. But in the landscape of history, as we view it from the eminence of the years, we can detect the condign vengeance of the Almighty on the cruel, rapacious, bloodthirsty kingdom of Babylon. She had served God's purpose, but she had committed such enormous crimes in the process of serving it, that she must be condemned.

The wrongs of the West Indians have, in this generation, been requited upon Spain. It is not possible that modern Turkey should escape. The blood of 100,000 Armenians cries against her from under the altar. [See note] But let our beloved country beware! Her opium traffic, her connivance at the sale of firewater to native raced, her permission of gross impurity in her streets, her drunkenness, must be telling very heavily against her in the scale of divine justice. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!"

Turkey's Genocide of Christians: From 1900 to 1923, Turkey killed as many as 4 million Christians. Today, Turkey generally denies that such wide-scale genocide occurred, though in fact it was national policy from the highest level.

Note: "Evidences of Prophecy" Dr. Alexander Keith, Minister of St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire, Harper and Brothers, NY, 1836 Full title: "evidence of the truth of the christian religeon, derived from the literal fulfillment of prophecy, particularly as illustrated by the history of the jews, and by the discoveries of recent travelers".

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