The Sin of Sodom

Before moving further in the story of Lot in Sodom, it’s important to look at Sodom itself. Today we’re going to ask a question that could possible trip quite a few people. What was the sin of Sodom?
To that question many would answer, homosexuality. It has been so closely tied to Sodom that the name of the Sodom has literally been taken on in reference to sexual perversion in the word, ‘sodomy’.

Sodomy as definied in Merriam-Webster dictionary,
1: anal or oral copulation with another person
especially : anal or oral copulation with a member of the same sex
2: copulation with an animal

But what if that was not actually the case? What does the Bible have to say about the sin of Sodom?

Firstly, in Genesis, the only reference to Sodom’s sin is that it is very grievous/heavy (Gen 18:20). It never speaks of a specific sin.

Obviously the associations of Sodom and homosexuality have been drawn from the story itself in chapter 19, but it’s of interesting note that there is no specific mention to the homosexuality elsewhere in Scripture save in Jude 7, where it speaks of them giving themselves over to fornication, that is, utterly unchaste, and going after strange flesh.

Sure, homosexuality was one of the sins the inhabitants of those cities committed, but nowhere is it highlighted as their chief sin. I say all this because there is a place in the Bible that actually points to the sin of Sodom.

Enter Ezekiel 16:49-50 where it makes this statement: This was the sin of Sodom: PRIDE.

I think this is particularly important in light of understanding what lessons we can learn from the story in Genesis 19. Too often we look in horror at ‘visual’ sins and forget about the underlying root – pride.

When one reads the stories and commentaries on Sodom, you could be inclined to believe it was some post-apocalyptic nightmare where visual evil was around every corner. I say visual in reference to the idea that it’s something that would repulse a ‘normal’ person.

When you read about Sodom though, that is NOT what is described. Jesus states in Luke 17:28,  “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;”
Everything was ‘normal’ in Sodom. Life was going on as normal. They were well-off. The plains were abundant with resources. They had no needs. I believe Sodom looked heavenly, however, that was the look. Underneath was sin so great that judgement was swiftly approaching.

It’s important to grasp the core sin of Sodom, for the story of Lot and Sodom is an example to us of when Jesus comes again. If we are not careful, we’ll find ourselves lulled to sleep, oblivious to the impending judgement. I guarantee you there were lots of ‘nice’ folks in Sodom who didn’t participate in the debauchery, but they were sinners all the same. Don’t let yourself fall by the wayside.

Let’s look into this passage of Ezekiel 16:49-50.
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. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good

This could be simplified/paraphrased as such:
This was the sin of Sodom: Pride. They had excess of life’s necessities and lots of spare time, yet they did not help the poor and needy. They were proud and committed abomination before me.

The focus of Ezekiel is on the PRIDE of Sodom. The perversion of Sodom was a fruit of their pride, not the main sin. I repeat, the main sin of Sodom was pride. Pride can infect anyone. It can be found in Christian homes and pagan homes. It doesn’t need you to be committing ‘grave’ sins to infect you.

Note something Ezekiel says: They were haughty (proud) and committed abomination before me. That is to say, what displayed itself in Genesis 19 was NOT the main sin of Sodom. It was a product/fruit of the sin of Sodom, pride.

If you let pride seep into your life, it will destroy you. Pride was the sin of Lucifer. It was the sin of Sodom. It’s the root of all intentional sin. If you can deal with pride, you will find yourself safe on the other side. If you let pride run amok in your life, it will bring you down.

In closing, for a second witness, consider the words of Isaiah in 3:9 , “they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not.”

It’s interesting that in this passage it is specifically mentioned that the inhabitants declared their sin. That is to say, they were proud of it. They didn’t hide it. And specifically, they did so as Sodom. There again is the sin of Sodom: pride.

We began today with a question: What is the sin of Sodom? Many would answer with ‘homosexuality’ or ‘sodomy’. The answer according the Scripture is pride. There is a link, however, and if you live in the Western world, it was become more blatant every year – Pride Month.

Is there a bigger red flag for Christians that Christ’s second coming and judgement is coming soon than the fact that the Western world by far and large now spends a whole month celebrating their sin – celebrating pride?

If there ever was a time we need to pay close attention to the story and life of Lot, it is now, for we are rapidly approaching days that will and are paralleling Lot’s days – may we be vigilant so that we may be found righteous as Lot was.