What exactly caused Sodom and Gomorrah to be judged and destroyed? Was it due to men committing gay acts, as many often teach? Or is there another reason it was destroyed?
Looking at the story at face value, it is easy to see why so many people assume Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for gay activity. However, we are told within scripture to:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God...rightly dividing the word of truth" 2 Timothy 2:15
Instead of beating around the bush, I will just tell you plainly what their sin was. Their sin was not homosexuality only. Their sin was not inhospitality only either. Their sin was a combination of the two. Meaning, they were using homosexual rape on strangers as a form of abuse.
This article here compares the two main viewpoints on Sodom and Gomorrah. Comparing the "Homosexuality Sin Argument" and the "Inhospitality Sin Argument". It is definitely not a bad article, however, the author seems to miss the overall picture.. If you take a step back, wipe your mind clean of preconceived notions, you will notice, that it is a lesson in "Loving your neighbor as yourself" Matthew 22:39.
Raping your neighbor or doing any form of abuse towards your neighbor is not loving your neighbor as yourself. If you read Luke 10 you discover that the cities which reject the gospel will have a worse judgement than Sodom and Gomorrah. You can logically deduce that Jesus is implying that not loving God is worse than not loving your neighbor, as rejecting the gospel is a form of not loving God.
People, lets just think a little bit here and use common sense. When you think of men abusing and raping other men, do you think "standard gay activity", or do you think "prison rape"? Obviously, prison rape is the activity we see here in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. And often, with prison rape, it has nothing to do with being gay, but rather defaming another person, abusing and dominating other another human being. But, no, actually, prison rape does not even fully relate to the activities of these men in Sodom and Gomorrah. For it was the WHOLE CITY that came out to rape them. Even in prison, the worst men are more righteous as you do not see gangs of men raping other men. So, to say that people in Sodom were just gay is really just ignoring what the text really says. For we are talking about gang raping strangers. Can you think of anything much worse? About the only thing I can think of is what Hitler did to Jews in Nazi Germany.
I am only interested in the truth from scripture and common sense. Most people simply do not want to delve deep into scripture. They would rather the pastor do it for them. Do not be like this. Because, you should entrust your doctrine to God and scripture, not your pastor. And, who knows how well your pastor studies scripture.
It should be readily obvious from the above, I am not pro-gay. The point of this article was to inject some common sense into the understanding of why Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. As it is very common for Christians to assume that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed for being gay and then from there, they conclude that cities like San Francisco are just as bad or worse. However, it is possible they are just as bad, but it is not merely because they have gay people. If I goto San Francisco, there are not gangs of men wanting to rape me.
However, gay marriage maybe considered just as evil in God's sight as what was occuring in Sodom and Gomorrah. As gay marriage is taking an institution God created (marriage) and changing it. So, it could be considered as defiling of a holy sacrament, which could be worse than what Sodom and Gomorrah was doing. Considering the fact that no other nation at any time in history attempted to legalize gay marriage, it could be a sign of the times. I am not saying I know this for a fact, but I am guessing, gay marriage is considered very evil in God's sight. I am not God, so I can not say which is worse or speak perfectly for his viewpoint on this.
If you want to spark and motivate yourself to seek out the truth on various topics in scripture, I would recommend listening to Chuck Missler and then doing some of your own studies based on things he covers.. As he is a man who truly seeks out the deep things of God. And it may spark your interest to truly seek the truth on various topics in scripture.
