Is being gay a sin according to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament?The book of Genesis tells the story of how God destroys two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, because the residents of the cities were wicked and defiant toward the Lord. In Gen. 18:20 ESV, the Lord states that "the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and that their sin is very grave," and He tells Abraham that He intends to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness in the cities (Gen. 18:20-33). Next, the Lord sends two angels to Sodom to inventory the residents' wickedness. In Gen. 19:1"The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth . . ." Gen. 19:1 ESV., two angels visit the city of Sodom, and Lot meets them at the city's gate. Lot offers his house to the angels so that they may have a place to stay for the night (Gen. 19:3"But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate" Gen. 19:3 ESV.). Before they all go to sleep, all of the men of Sodom, both young and old, come to Lot's house and ask Lot to bring the angels to them so that they may "know" them (what the term "know" in this passage means has been debated, but the most common understanding of "know" is that the word has a sexual connotation, and, thus, we will use this definition) (Gen. 19:5"And they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them'" Gen. 19:5 ESV.). Lot offers his two daughters to the men in exchange for the guests, but the wicked men are persistent in their demands for the angels (Gen. 19:8-9"'Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.' But they said, 'Stand back!' And they said, 'This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.' Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down" Gen. 19:8-9 ESV.). As the men threaten to break down the door, the angels strike the men with blindness and the men tire themselves out while groping for the door (Gen. 19:9, 11"But they said, 'Stand back!' And they said, 'This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.' Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. . . . And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door" Gen. 19:9, 11 ESV.). Due to the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah's residents, the Lord ultimately destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24"Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven" Gen. 19:24 ESV.). Over the centuries, scholars have studied the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they have determined that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for one or more of the following four reasons:
Generally, Reason #1 is not disputed. This reason is upheld in numerous places throughout the Bible, as stated in Gen. 13:13"Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD" Gen. 13:13 ESV., 18:20"Then the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave . . ." Gen. 18:20 ESV., 19:13"For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it" Gen. 19:13 ESV.; Jer. 23:14"But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah" Jer. 23:14 ESV., Ezek. 16:49-50Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it" Ezek. 16:49-50 ESV.; 2 Pet. 2:6-8"(I)f by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)" 2 Pet. 2:6-8 ESV.; and Jud. 1:7"(J)ust as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire . . ." Jud. 1:7 ESV.. It is possible that God destroyed the city for this reason alone or for this reason along with another reason. We will investigate the validity of each of the other three reasons individually. |
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Concerning the meaning of "know" - yâda‛: Some people wonder what Gen. 19:5"And they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them'" Gen. 19:5 ESV. means when the verse states that the men wanted to "know" the angels. The ancient Hebrew word yâda‛, which is translated as "know" in the passage, literally means "to know (properly ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially . . ." ("yâda‛." Strong, 1995/1996, Hebrew section p. 53, entry 3045). This word can have several different meanings based upon the context of the sentence. For example, the word can be used in a sentence to mean that a person comes to an understanding or knowledge of an idea or concept, as in Gen. 3:22 ESV, "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil. . . ." This is the most common translation of term yâda‛ within the Bible. However, yâda‛ can also mean that a person "knows" someone else sexually. The Old Testament uses the sexual meaning of yâda‛ in several different passages, such as in Gen. 4:1 KJV, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain . . . ;" in Gen. 4:17 KJV, "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived and bare Enoch . . . ;" in Gen. 4:25 KJV, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth . . . ;" and in Gen. 19:8 KJV, "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known a man. . . ." Based on these contextual clues and the overall meaning of the passage, it is clear that the men of Sodom wanted to "know" the angels in a sexual manner in Gen. 19:5"And they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them'" Gen. 19:5 ESV., and Lot tried to dissuade them from doing so by offering up his two daughters, both of which had not "known" (yâda‛) a man (Gen. 19:8"'Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof'" Gen. 19:8 ESV.). |
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