October 21, 2011 – A Modern Day Sodom?
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, overabundance of food, prosperous ease, and idleness were hers and her daughters’; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it and saw fit. – Ezekiel 16:49-50 AMP
We are all familiar with the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. From Genesis we learn that the city Sodom ran rampant in homosexuality, but from this passage in Ezekiel we discover so much more about who these people really were. Reading this passage reminds me a lot of life here in the United States today.
You see, God in this address used Ezekiel to speak to the supposedly godly nation of Israel and tell them how they had turned their backs to Him over the generations. He was not speaking to some Joe on the street: He was speaking to His chosen people. Through a relationship with Christ we are also His chosen people. So now my question is since we are God’s people, why would we allow the same sins that destroyed Sodom to infiltrate our own lives and the world around us?
Now I am by no means saying that we have homosexuals living in our home or am I saying that homosexuality alone will destroy our nation. But do you attend a church that does not condemn this behavior? If that’s the case, then you are endorsing the behavior as well. By not standing against sin in your life or in your church life, you are endorsing it. Now if you have continually read my blogs you will know that I am not a homosexual basher. We should love them as people, created by God, but hate their sin, created by their choices.
What about pride? Pride is something that can get in to your life very easily, especially when times are prosperous like they were in Sodom. Our country has been and continues to be very prosperous. Maybe you check yourself daily to make sure you don’t operate in pride. It’s good to do that. But does your church operate in pride? Does your church keep itself humble as a congregation? Pride in your church can be a real problem. It can come in a variety of ways: good worship, new buildings, etc. If your church boasts of such things and not about God’s presence and true Biblical teaching, pride could raise its ugly head.
We are also blessed here in the United States with an overabundance of food. We have miles and miles of restaurants and fast food joints to satisfy our palate. Our grocery store shelves are lined with everything we need to cook the perfect meal for our family with a recipe we got from, you guessed it, The Food Network. Food is literally shipped here from all over the world, and is excessively wasted.
Along the food line, I think it is important to point out that Sodom, like the United States, failed to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. I am well aware that we presently have government programs to provide food as well as financial assistance to the poor and needy. The government became involved in these activities because we failed as Christians to help those in need. Many times these government programs are successful and get people off their feet so they can live a better life. But these programs are also widely abused and merely enable people rather than empower them. In those cases the abusers are not strengthened, but stay idle and continue to find ways to stay on the government assistance payroll.
Idleness is the opposite of work. Now I am by no means saying that we should all just work and sleep. It’s nice to be able to relax and enjoy yourself. Our family has a Friday night game night, and Marlo and I relax on occasion by watching movies or even by sitting on the swing on the front porch. But when I hear about people doing things like spending several hours a day on Facebook I cringe. Don’t these people have anything better to do?
Are we living in a modern day Sodom? I don’t think so. God couldn’t find ten righteous people in Sodom so He destroyed it. I’m pretty sure that there are more than ten people in our country who live out the Word of God uncompromised every day. To those who do not, I simply ask you to reconsider your way of life. To those who do, I salute you but also leave you with a word of advice. If a couple of angels happen to drop by your house to and tell you to pack up and leave immediately, then you better get out as fast as you can. God may not decide to destroy our entire nation at once, but he could decide to do it one city at a time.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, overabundance of food, prosperous ease, and idleness were hers and her daughters’; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it and saw fit. – Ezekiel 16:49-50 AMP
We are all familiar with the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. From Genesis we learn that the city Sodom ran rampant in homosexuality, but from this passage in Ezekiel we discover so much more about who these people really were. Reading this passage reminds me a lot of life here in the United States today.
You see, God in this address used Ezekiel to speak to the supposedly godly nation of Israel and tell them how they had turned their backs to Him over the generations. He was not speaking to some Joe on the street: He was speaking to His chosen people. Through a relationship with Christ we are also His chosen people. So now my question is since we are God’s people, why would we allow the same sins that destroyed Sodom to infiltrate our own lives and the world around us?
Now I am by no means saying that we have homosexuals living in our home or am I saying that homosexuality alone will destroy our nation. But do you attend a church that does not condemn this behavior? If that’s the case, then you are endorsing the behavior as well. By not standing against sin in your life or in your church life, you are endorsing it. Now if you have continually read my blogs you will know that I am not a homosexual basher. We should love them as people, created by God, but hate their sin, created by their choices.
What about pride? Pride is something that can get in to your life very easily, especially when times are prosperous like they were in Sodom. Our country has been and continues to be very prosperous. Maybe you check yourself daily to make sure you don’t operate in pride. It’s good to do that. But does your church operate in pride? Does your church keep itself humble as a congregation? Pride in your church can be a real problem. It can come in a variety of ways: good worship, new buildings, etc. If your church boasts of such things and not about God’s presence and true Biblical teaching, pride could raise its ugly head.
We are also blessed here in the United States with an overabundance of food. We have miles and miles of restaurants and fast food joints to satisfy our palate. Our grocery store shelves are lined with everything we need to cook the perfect meal for our family with a recipe we got from, you guessed it, The Food Network. Food is literally shipped here from all over the world, and is excessively wasted.
Along the food line, I think it is important to point out that Sodom, like the United States, failed to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. I am well aware that we presently have government programs to provide food as well as financial assistance to the poor and needy. The government became involved in these activities because we failed as Christians to help those in need. Many times these government programs are successful and get people off their feet so they can live a better life. But these programs are also widely abused and merely enable people rather than empower them. In those cases the abusers are not strengthened, but stay idle and continue to find ways to stay on the government assistance payroll.
Idleness is the opposite of work. Now I am by no means saying that we should all just work and sleep. It’s nice to be able to relax and enjoy yourself. Our family has a Friday night game night, and Marlo and I relax on occasion by watching movies or even by sitting on the swing on the front porch. But when I hear about people doing things like spending several hours a day on Facebook I cringe. Don’t these people have anything better to do?
Are we living in a modern day Sodom? I don’t think so. God couldn’t find ten righteous people in Sodom so He destroyed it. I’m pretty sure that there are more than ten people in our country who live out the Word of God uncompromised every day. To those who do not, I simply ask you to reconsider your way of life. To those who do, I salute you but also leave you with a word of advice. If a couple of angels happen to drop by your house to and tell you to pack up and leave immediately, then you better get out as fast as you can. God may not decide to destroy our entire nation at once, but he could decide to do it one city at a time.
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