Everyone is aware of the expression of “sodomy,” a term from Scripture that depicts the sin of homosexuality. The term has been used for hundreds of years in the law books of Western civilization to reflect the heinousness of the act of sexual relations between people of the same sex. But does the Bible forecast a dominate return of sodomy in the final days of world history as we know it? To answer the question we must first review the various passages that relate the historic events that took place in Genesis 10-19 that speak of Sodom and its neighboring city, Gomorrah. Then it is important to go forward to prophecy passages that tell us what can be expected in world civilization as we come down to the final days.
Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis
Sodom and Gomorrah were ancient twin cities located at the southern tip of the Salt Sea (or Dead Sea). The Dead Sea is one of the lowest spots on earth, some 1200 feet below sea level. These cities were important for their mining and shipping of salt throughout the Middle East. Human beings cannot survive without salt. Protected caravans carried this life-sustaining mineral in all directions from this region.
Though not directly on a caravan route into Egypt, the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were relatively close to the main road that led to that country and on into North Africa. The area around these two cities was a pagan Canaanite territory that was relatively close to the region and the city of Gaza (Gen. 10:19).
When Abram and his nephew Lot were moving through the southern part of the land promised to the patriarch, Lot saw that the entire area known as “the valley of the Jordan” was well watered (13:10) and chose to settle here because it was a lush area “like the garden of the Lord” (Eden). Lot was so impressed he left the protection of his uncle; “they separated from each other” (v. 11). But this was not enough, Lot was attracted to the bright lights of Sodom and “moved his tents” there (v. 12), never mind that “the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (v. 13). This verse is interesting because the sexual sins later described are ultimately “against the Lord.”
Genesis 14 is a side-bar to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. From Mesopotamia, a king by the name of Chedorlaomer, with an alliance of other rulers, invaded the Valley of the Jordan and controlled the cities of the area. The speculation is that this gave the invaders a surety of the supply of salt so needed by the population of the Mesopotamian region.
Lot is kidnapped in a war that breaks out between the various forces in the Valley but Abram puts together a small army and rescues his nephew Lot who is caught in the violent skirmish (14:12-14). In time, Lot returns to the sinful region of Sodom and Gomorrah and is found endangering not only himself but his entire family (18:16-19:28). The Lord’s verdict: “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave” (18:20). However when God destroys the region, righteous Lot will be spared, even though his judgment was skewed and he somehow was attracted to stay there.
There has never been a doubt that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality (19:1-29). The men of the city were satiated with the evil intent of having sexual relations with the two angels who came to speak with Lot. The description of this encounter is graphic!
The Overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
With little explanation, the biblical text tells us it rained down upon the area “brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (19:24). Sodom and Gomorrah along with other cities of the Valley were destroyed, this included all the inhabitants and all that grew upon the ground (v. 25). The heat was terribly intense and “the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace” (v. 28). There seems to be little doubt that under the ground there were mountains of bitumen and sulphur that the Lord used to ignite and explode into a gigantic column of fire that then descended down upon the entire land.
The Names Sodom and Gomorrah
It is not impossible that such an event had happened before in some limited fashion. But of course the coordination of the event in Genesis was orchestrated by the Lord for a permanent and lasting spiritual lesson that would remain as an example to many future generations! The name Sodom itself may give us some important hints of what took place previously.
Sodom means “conflagration, burning.” Gesenius, the great Hebrew scholar, says the city was built on an area of bituminous soil that accounted for its many fires. Sodomites, homosexuals who came along later, would be described as those who act out their sins as if they are the “vines” of ancient Sodom. The Jewish people had God as their Rock (Deut. 32:31), but Israel’s enemies were the vines of Sodom and were like the bad harvest fields of Gomorrah. “Their grapes are [moral and spiritual] grapes of poison, their clusters, bitter” (v. 32). Gesenius says this passage “furnishes an image of a degenerate condition,” in contrast to the righteous Jews who were God’s “choice vine, a completely faithful seed” (Jer. 2:21).
Gomorrah comes from an Arabic word meaning “to overwhelm with water” (Gesenius). When the area blew up, the southern tip of the Dead Sea broke open and extended the sea about one-fourth further down the Valley. The waters flooded and probably buried the two main cities along with other smaller villages. According to Josephus the extended area was called Lake Asphaltitis (Ant. I. ix.), or Lake Asphalt! Peter writes about this destruction: “If [God] condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter” (2 Pet. 2:6). The homosexuals there Peter calls “unprincipled men” who oppressed Lot by their “sensual conduct” (v. 7).
The Spiritual Lessons
As already shown by Peter, this story stands as a permanent example “thereafter” for those who would try to live as the people of Sodom. They practiced “lawless deeds” (v. 8) and indulged “the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise[d] authority. They were “self-willed” (v. 10) and were like “unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct” who will be destroyed (vv. 9-12).
God is clearly making an example of the story of homosexuality presented so graphic in Genesis. The biblical text says He destroyed both cities (Gen. 13:10), and overthrew them (Deut. 29:23; Isa. 13:19; Jer. 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11). Christ said the destruction was a series of “miracles” that brought down the area (Matt. 11:23).
In the tribulation the practice of sodomy will be prevalent in the holy city of Jerusalem. Many wayward Jews will be sinning in the same way as described in Genesis. The apostle John writes about that future day. He speaks about that prophetic day “of the great city [Jerusalem] which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8). This passage, and 2 Peter 2:1-14, tells us that homosexuality may have a great comeback in the world as the seven year tribulation nears. Current events seem to point this way.
Even the world understands the meaning of the term sodomy. Webster’s says sodomy, and its related words, refers to “anal or oral copulation with a member of the same sex.” It even refers to bestiality. The evilness of sodomy cannot be pushed under the rug!
-- Dr. Mal Couch
