Question: “Doesn’t Ezekiel 16:49 make it clear that the sin of Sodom was inhospitality rather than homosexuality?”
Actually, no, it doesn’t. Here is what Ezekiel 16:49 says:
“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”
Which if that was all that the Bible had to say on the subject, would provide some basis for the assumption behind this question. However, let’s look at the very next verse:
“And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good” (Ezekiel 16:50).
The word “abomination” in Hebrew is “tô‛êbah,” which was discussed in some detail in a previous article (Stump the Priest: Shrimp and Homosexuality). In every other case in the book of Ezekiel in which the singular of tô‛êbah is used, it is in reference to sexual immorality (Ezekiel 22:11; 33:26). Clearly, the abomination that is refereed to here is that of sexual immorality in general, and homosexuality in particular. This is how the famous medieval Jewish commentator Rashi understood that text as well (see Robert Gagnon, Why We Know That the Story of Sodom Indicts Homosexual Practice Per Se). Likewise, the Jewish philosopher Philo, who was a contemporary of Christ, understood the sin of Sodom to be homosexuality (Abraham 133-141). Furthermore, the Epistle of St. Jude makes it clear that the sins of Sodom included sexual immorality chiefly among them: “…as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7).. Commenting on this passage Oecumenius says:
“The unnatural lust in which the Sodomites indulged was homosexuality…” (Commentary on Jude, quoted in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament, Vol. XI, Gerald Bray, ed. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervasity Press, 2000) p. 251). St. John Chrysostom likewise connects the sin of homosexuality with the condemnation of Sodom in his homily on Romans 1:26-27. The sin of Sodom was not that they were rude to strangers. They were sexually perverse, and this led them to the attempted rape of the two angels that visited Lot in Sodom.
@Reesorville: I agree with you. Practiced homosexuality is not the whole of the sin of Sodom, but it would be difficult to argue that practiced homosexuality is not an important part of it.
I think the verse from Ezekiel makes it clear that the sin of Sodom was not only the sexual sins, but also the greed, the inhospitality, etc. Most importantly, a just person could not continue living in the place without being forced to engage in these sins by his neighbours. I say 'most importantly', because if you think back at the exchange between God and Abraham what God said to him that if …More
I think the verse from Ezekiel makes it clear that the sin of Sodom was not only the sexual sins, but also the greed, the inhospitality, etc. Most importantly, a just person could not continue living in the place without being forced to engage in these sins by his neighbours. I say 'most importantly', because if you think back at the exchange between God and Abraham what God said to him that if there were just a few just persons, then God would spare the entire place for their sake. Now, if the place did not allow the just person to exist within it, either by killing them or by forcing them to engage in their sins with them... then that promise from God no longer applies, if you think about it. So, even if homosexuality or other sexual vices spread through the modern society, that alone is not enough to merit destruction like Sodom, according to Genesis. Because as long as people exist within the society who are following the Truth and the society leaves them be, the whole place is spared for their sake. It is similar to what Mary said in various apparitions, that you must suffer for sinners and pray for them, so that the world can avoid destruction. Hence, you then understand that because of the prayers of the few who are abiding within the Truth, so the many who have immersed themselves in these sins are all spared for their sake. I think, and perhaps I am wrong... that the sin of Sodom does not need at all to be homosexuality. It can be idolatry, it can be racial hatred, it can be greed for money, it can be any other kind of sexual vice, etc. and when the society reaches the point where a just person cannot exist within it, because all the people in the society require the just few to be like them or else suffer the consequences... then you have the sin of Sodom, because as God told Abraham the place is spared for the sake of the few. If the two angels went to modern day Amsterdam, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, etc. and went on loudspeakers calling on people to repent of homosexual behaviour, the police may even come to protect them and as long as they kept within the law, they would be left alone. I don't think these places are Sodom. Because as long as they are still there giving witness and being left in peace, the place is spared for their sake. Perhaps in the future, if the society really does not allow people to have anything but a positive opinion of homosexual acts or else be killed or jailed, then one can say it was Sodom, but at the moment we are not there, I think. There are various ways that people can be persecuted now, but none of the restrictions employed in any of these countries actually prevents a person from bearing witness to the Truth, it just restricts the places, circumstances and times they can do so... it is not really the same, because a just person can still live and bear witness in the society without being forced to sin. And as long as they are there, the promise of God to Abraham concerning Sodom holds true. If, however, the two angels came to Nazi Germany and they were told that they must hate Jews and other races, or else suffer the consequence, or they went to the Roman Empire where people were collectively required to worship the Emperor as a god or they lived in a place where the only way to earn your daily bread was by lying, and people who told the Truth could not be allowed to eat... or some other situation like this, then I think that that place is Sodom, because the few who protect the many are no longer allowed to exist in the society, you cannot continue within the society without engaging in the sin with them... this is Sodom.
