What was the actual SIN of Sodom & Gamorrah?

Question

Most theist, especially those claiming to be "christian," claim that is was homosexuality when in fact "homosexuality" is not even mentioned anywhere in the Genesis 13 account As a matter of fact, you can read the sin of Sodom in Ezekiel:

" `Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were ARROGANT, OVEFED and UNCONCERNED; they DID NOT HELP the POOR and NEEDY. EZE 16:49

It appears that the people became self indulgent and did not care for the needs of others. Sounds a lot like most of us in this modern era. Thank God that Jesus was sent for our redemption.

Answer 1

I think first off you have a wrong idea of what sin is, and so your question becomes difficult to answer.

Sin is often thought of by modern day people as an act that one does that God does not approve of. This is a fine definition in some respects, however when one begins to speak of God, this definition is hardly adequate, because it leaves open the possibility of one being able not to sin, which scripture clearly teaches against. Sin could better be defined, (as it was in the ancient church) as separation from God, or even as a loss of the "image of God" which was bestowed upon Adam and Eve at their creation. When one thinks of sin in those terms there is not a specific sin that caused God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, instead there is a lack of faith, or realtionship with God. This faith, or Relationship comes from the promise of God given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15-16, that One will come from Eve's womb whom Satan will pierce but who will crush Satan's head. Only when God works through that means can one have faith, which none had in Sodom and Gomorrah. Further more, when one looks at the book of Matthew (25:40ff) one understands what Ezekiel was saying. With out faith, one cannot do good works to serve their neighbor. However at the time when God puts Himself into relationship with man, everything that they do is a good work, and consequently, in their faith relationship they are not arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and they help the poor and needy.

In the end you are right with your last statement in the question: "It appears that the people became self indulgent and did not care for the needs of others. Sounds a lot like most of us in this modern era. Thank God that Jesus was sent for our redemption."

Answer 2

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah comes into focus after the destruction of the first world and became a generation with Noah after the flood. They were the families of Noah and at that time the whole earth was only one language whereas God confounded their language when they attempt the bulild the Babel. Gensis Chp.6 v1-22. There is also another story in the bible whereas angels wanted to go to bed with the men and not the women and this is indeed part of homosexuality. One will need to do an indepth study to find out in details what all the actual sins of Sodom and Gormorrah was.

Answer 3

I had always been taught that it was homosexuality. I've also heard that it was "sexual immorality". But that does not compute. The Lord said to Abram that he was going to Sodom to see if the outcry against it was as bad as he had heard. Thus, there is an outcry against the city. Was this outcry internal to the city (Sodomites crying out that there is wrongdoing) or is it external (other cities/settlements crying out against the wrong brought about by Sodom)? I tend to believe it was external, as the Lord said he would spare the city if there were 5 righteous people in it. The poor and downtrodden have always been a soft spot in God's eyes, thus I don't see that it would bee poverty within Sodom (with God wiping out the evil and the poor). Therefore I see the cities of Sodom and Gomorah being destroyed because of an external outcry against them. If these cities were just performing gay sex, what would another city care about their private practices? I imagine (and based upon the verse in Ezekiel that you mention) that Sodom was well-off and there was poverty in the cities or towns (or countryside) around them. They came to Sodom for help and Sodom shunned them, instead reveling in their excess.

That's my speculation.

Answer 4

The Christians love spouting about how Sodom and Gomorrah were punished for homosexuality because they loathe it so much. You're right. NOWHERE does it mention that in fact the cities were destroyed because the citizens were practicing ANY particular sex act. This is a classic case of people projecting their own issues into the bible to fulfill their own agenda.

Answer 5

Lut (Arabic: لوط ) was a prophet mentioned in the Qur'an and known as Lot in the Bible.

According to Islamic tradition, Lut lived in Ur and was a nephew of Ibrahim or Abraham. His story is often used as a reference by traditional Islamic scholars to show that homosexuality to be against God's law or Haraam. He was commanded by God to go to the land of Sodom and Gomorra to preach against homosexuality. In the Qur'an as in the Bible, Lut's message is ignored, Sodom and Gommorra is destroyed and his wife is left behind to be destroyed.

And Lut, when he said to his tribe: "Do you commit an obscenity not perpetrated before you by anyone in all the worlds? You come with lust to men instead of women. You are indeed a depraved tribe." The only answer of his tribe was to say: "Expel them from your city! They are people who keep themselves pure!" So We rescued him and his family-except for his wife. She was one of those who stayed behind. We rained down a rain upon them. See the final fate of the evildoers!
— Qur'an, 7:80-84

The major difference between the story of Lut in the Qur'an and the story of Lot in the Bible is that the Biblical version includes stories of Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughters, which do not appear in Qur'an.

Skeptical View
Some modern biblical scholars argue that a sin was attached to the story of Sodom to justify the destruction of the cities, which may be based on an authentic account of a natural cataclysm, possibly an earthquake in the region. It is known that the towns are described as lying along a major fault, the Jordan Rift Valley, the northernmost extension of the Great Rift Valley of the Red Sea and East Africa. It is also possible that the sin of the inhabitants appearing in the original text was edited out and lost.

The historical existence of Sodom and Gomorrah is still in dispute by archaeologists, with most believing they never existed, some believing they are now under the Dead Sea, and others claiming that they have been found (under other names) in the region to the southeast of the Dead Sea.

One candidate for Sodom is a site known as Bab edh-Dhra. Bab edh-Dhra was an Early Bronze Age city located near the Dead Sea, and bitumen and petroleum deposits have been found in the area, which contain sulfur and natural gas (as such deposits normally do). The theory is that an earthquake opened a nearby pocket of natural gas. Natural gas, being lighter than air, drifted up. However, instead of dissipating harmlessly the gas reacted with the fires burning in the city (the smallest flame could have set off the natural gas). As a result, the city was devastated.

Those who believe that the city never existed assert that the name "Sodom" is a derivative of the word "scorched", implying that such a name could have been given only after the city's alleged destruction, not before. However, this name may have been descriptive of the arid unproductive plains near the Dead Sea.

In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla contained the names of all five of the Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela), listed in just the same order that they are named in Genesis; but this claim has been strongly disputed.

Some films have attempted to portray the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, although many of them take liberties with the historical text.

Lot in Sodom (1933) - a film that passed the censors because it depicted the wickedness of the sin.
Sodom and Gomorrah (1963) - a film directed by Robert Aldrich which depicts the destruction of the two cities for their decadence and human cruelty.
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) - an Italian film by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Answer 6

SODOM AND GOMORRAH DESPISE GOVERNMENT
[ UNLAWFUL TO THE LAW OF THE LAND GOD AND MAN ].

If ten [ 10 ] righteous persons found nothing would be destroyed. Even angels did not have the right of self morals. Jude 7,8; Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. SODOM AND GOMORRAH MAJORITY HAD NO RESPECT FOR THE LAWS OF THE LAND. The way they treated the visiting angels is evident the had no respect for anyone. 2Pet.2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 2Pet.2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 2Pet.2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 2Pet. 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 2Pet.2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. THERE WILL BE A JUDGEMENT DAY: Heb.9:27; 2Cor.5:10; Rom.14:9-12; 1Cor.6:3,4 [ Judges ]; Jude 6;
Matt.10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Matt.10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. JUDGEMENT DAY: Matt.12:36; Philip.2:5.9-12; Acts 24:15; John 5:26-29; Dan.12:2; Psm.49:14; 104:29,30; 115:15-17; 146:3,4;

Source(s):

KJV Bible 1611.

Answer 7

Gen 13:13 And the men of Sodom were evil and sinners before Jehovah, exceedingly so.

Gen 13:13 - But the men of Sodom were wicked,.... Which either he knew not, and so ignorantly made this bad choice, to take up his abode among such very wicked men, which occasioned a great deal of grief, trouble, and vexation to him; or if he knew it, the pleasing prospect of convenience for his cattle, and of enriching himself, was a temptation to him, and prevailed upon him to take such a step; and so Jarchi interprets it, "although" they were so, Lot was not restrained from dwelling among them:

and sinners before the Lord exceedingly; exceeding great sinners, guilty of the most notorious crimes, and addicted to the most scandalous and unnatural lusts that can be thought of; and these they committed openly and publicly in the sight of God, in the most daring and impudent manner, and in defiance of him, without any fear or shame. The Targum of Jonathan reckons up many of their sins, as defrauding of one another in their substance, sinning in their bodies, incest, unclean copulation, shedding of innocent blood, worshipping of idols, and rebelling against the name of the Lord; see Isa_3:9.

The next verse in the Ezekiel passage is:
Eze 16:50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

The term "abomination" in Hebrew is:
tô‛êbah tô‛êbah
to-ay-baw', to-ay-baw'
Feminine active participle of H8581; properly something disgusting (morally), that is, (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol: - abominable (custom, thing), abomination.

Answer 8

You are correct in that homosexuality is not mentioned. In the story of Lot and the townspeople trying to get a hold of his guests, I believe God was probably more concerned with the prospect of gang rape than the sex of the participants.

It is a typical attempt to rewrite the Bible to support what we want it to support.

Answer 9

Actually, if you read the Scripture while keeping in mind the Middle East's idea of the Misafir (Guest), the biggest sin they committed was their attempt to violate guest-right, therefore not doing their duty. This is why Lot saved his guests from the angry mob and offered his daughters to them instead. One who is a guest in your home comes before all others. This punishment for neglect of duty is also seen in the example of Onan. Many religions held that he was punished for masturbation when, instead of impregnating his dead brother's wife in order to provide an heir, he spilled his seed upon the ground. Rather, he was punished for not doing his Duty to his brother and their collective family.

Answer 10

'giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh' - Strange flesh does not equal same-sex relationships.
They could equally be going after animals.

Also - the part of the Bible when they DO make references to homosexuality, it is also in reference to the lack of hospitality. Also, it could be a verse against RAPE, not necessarily just homosexual acts.

Anyway, why would anyone trust a verse where the GOOD man says 'take my virgin daughters instead!' ...Bullshit.