Sodom's Sins

"As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 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." (Ezekiel 16: 48-50)

Today, when most people think of the "sin" of Sodom, they think of the sin of "Sodomy," the sexual immorality for which the city became "infamous." Yes, that was indeed a grievous sin, called an "abomination" in the above commentary by the prophet Ezekiel, but it is not the only sin for which she ought to be held in ignoble remembrance.

Lord God denounces the pride and haughtiness of the citizens of ancient Sodom. This sin gets overlooked today. It is not seen as any major sin or defect in a person. Pride, as a word, is today given a more polished or high sounding classical word substitute, a more "politically correct" word, like "hubris." It is Greek in origin and the Greeks, like the Sodomites, were a people who promoted wicked pride, glorying in their "hubris," expressing it in their daily lives.

Hubris is defined as "overbearing pride," or "presumption," and "arrogance" is an integral part of it. Hubris "referred to actions taken in order to shame the victim, thereby making oneself seem superior." "In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance."

God hates this sin. It is a form of idolatry, for when men walk in pride, they are giving glory to themselves, glory that belongs to God; thus they rob him of what belongs to him. A man of pride is both a thief, sacreligious, and an idolator. It is no mean sin.

Besides the sin of pride and haughtiness of spirit, evil Sodom was also denounced for having "fulness of bread" and for not helping the "poor and needy."

The sin here denounced would seem naturally to exist with those who are vain and "stuck on themselves." Selfishness will attend pride. Pride puts self first, God and others coming in second. Pride deals only in merit and in perceived desert, not in mercy, kindness, or generosity of spirit. It deals only in competition, not at all in cooperation.

Sodom was a wealthy city; Not that they didn't have their poor, for they did. In fact, you will not find a city where there are only rich, without the poor. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty." (Proverbs 10: 15) "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all." (22: 2)

Their sin was their lack of charity and neighborliness for each other, especially for the poor. Their sin was that they despised the poor. The apostle James also denounced this sin (James 5). The Sodomites practiced "looking down on others," walking about with "uplifted noses," in an air of arrogant pride, despising all inferiors, much like the Nazis of WWII, refusing to show kindness to the undeserving.

Finally, the sin of Sodom included their having "abundance of idleness." This is a by-product of wealth. The rich have "free time," the poor do not. The rich have greater options about how to "spend" their "free time." The poor do not generally have that luxury. Did they make good choices on how they spent their time? No, they did not; and the lesson for us is obvious - we too will be judged for how we have chosen to spend our extra money, our extra time, etc. Do we choose to spend it helping the poor and needy? Do we choose to spend it in prayer and study of God's word? Are we guilty of the sins of Sodom as a country?