The two men [angels] said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” (Genesis 19: 12)
For thousands of years Sodom and Gomorrah have been held out as a pinnacle of human depravity – so low that they were considered worthy of total annihilation. Genesis tells us that they “were wicked and sinning greatly against the LORD.” The LORD said through Ezekiel as recorded in Ezekiel 16, “they did detestable things before me” – sexual immorality, social corruption, and Godlessness.
When reading the story in Genesis many years ago, it was hard for me to imagine living in that kind of world. As a new believer, the story evoked thoughts of desolation. How depressing, life in Sodom… How could they go on? I asked myself, exactly how bad could it have been in Sodom?
But nowadays, it appears to me, I don’t have to look far when imagining life in that archetype of human degradation. We all wake up each day in the New Sodom.
I imagine that total sexual immorality was embraced a few thousand years back when one crossed the gates of Sodom. A man could be entertained by naked, dancing girls while drinking himself into a stupor at the bar hall. Then he could pass a few coins to the owner of the establishment to retreat into the back room for “companionship.” This man could choose either a man or a woman for a newfound “friend,” or perhaps a friend of no discernable gender.
The holy union of man and woman, and family had no meaning to those living in Sodom and their children were probably exposed to all their soul-decimating vice.
Sound familiar? Bingo! In today’s world the social acceptability of every depraved act imaginable is promoted and spread on a device we all carry in our pockets. Men may marry men, women may marry women. To object to this evil, brands one a hater.
Far worse, through scientific “advancements,” we can do things that the Sodomites could not even dream of. In the New Sodom, we can “cut and paste” humans into new beings. More depraved than Dr. Frankenstein, so-called doctors remove and redo genitalia and rewire the body’s chemistry through hormones and other drugs. Their medical “bodywork” can fool the most practiced seducer of either gender.
And children are exposed to the “lost“ parading naked through the streets of major cities in Gay Pride events, at Mardi Gras in New Orleans or at the local library for Drag Queen Story Hour – for real!
Political corruption in Sodom was practiced on a grand scale, I’m sure. Leaders could take bribes and turn a blind eye to misdeeds done by favored friends or business associates. I imagine those in power could do virtually anything and get a free pass for any horror perpetrated – even murder.
Now think of our modern world. Yep! Just turn on your device for the latest news. Though political corruption is nothing new, the new twist of social acceptability brings us to a new low in New Sodom. There is no real outrage… Just a momentary appearance of the latest legal perversion on the TV scroll and popular indignation quickly dissipates.
Violence, murder and any atrocity at hand can be condoned by society – as long as it serves as a tool for powerful authorities. Any killing, any riot, and any war may be deemed acceptable, as long as enough of the masses can be convinced it’s for their “good” and they receive their piece of the pie. All’s fine with them.
God was rejected in Lot’s day in Sodom. There was no faith in the true God of Abraham, who Lot called his father-in-law. Rather, they served false gods. So these people had no truth, but lies.
But what may be possibly worse in the New Sodom is that people of our modern world have absolutely no god. Many call themselves atheists.
In reality, however, they do have other gods, but they don’t recognize them as such. These gods include themselves and subsets of themselves such as money and power, social and political identity, and, of course, the latest in the pantheon of gods – their gender identity.
The saddest thing is that it seems that many who call themselves believers can or will not face what should be apparent to all with the Spirit. The Sodom of old has gone global! Perhaps they have been lulled by their comfortable existences into acceptance of life in New Sodom.
And perhaps their church leaders seeking to grow the numbers in their congregations give them what their “itching ears” want to hear.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3)
Numbed by a culture on a gradual downward slide for half a century, believers should not allow themselves to be oblivious to the now rapid moral descent into cultural degradation.
Our only hope lies in the peace we make with our Creator, through the work of our Redeemer. God’s Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. As He gave Abraham, He gives us strength to “come out and be holy,” as we wait patiently for the return of our Redeemer.
As Abraham, we intercede with God and ask that our prayers are answered as we reach out to the lost in New Sodom.
Maranatha!