Luke 17:28-30

Luke 17:28-30

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

a. In Luke 17:28-30 Jesus said that the day would come when it would be just as it was in Sodom. To get an accurate picture of what it was like in Sodom we have to look at the instances where Sodom is mentioned in Scripture. Each passage gives a different piece of the picture. The inspiration to study these other instances where Sodom is mentioned in Scripture is somewhat an irony. It came from reading pro-homosexual books and articles, some from the library, some I purchased and others from articles and magazines off the internet.

b. One of the arguments used by homosexual sympathizers is the false teaching that homosexuality was not a factor in God’s decision to destroy Sodom; that it was other sins that caused such a reaction from heaven. Daniel A. Helminiak, in his book What The Bible Really Says About Homosexuality, pages 39, 40, writes what is typical among those advocating homosexuality. “So what was the sin of Sodom? Abuse and offense against strangers. Insult to the traveler. Inhospitality to the needy. That is the point of the story understood in its own historical context…The prophet Ezekiel (16:48-49 states the case badly: “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” The sin of the Sodomites was that they refused to take in the needy travelers…There are other less direct biblical references to Sodom: Isaiah 1:10-17 and 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14 and Zephaniah 2:8-11. The sins listed in those places are injustice, oppression, partiality, adultery, lies and encouraging evildoers.”

c. To bolster this false theory, advocates for homosexuality say that of all the references to Sodom in the Bible, only the passage in Genesis 19 specifically mentions any form of homosexuality. All the other passages they say, point to other sins. As I began to study these other Scriptures, I have found that although these Scriptures do mention ‘other’ sins that Sodom was guilty of; these ‘other’ sins are also characteristics of the contemporary homosexual movement. In their effort to do away with the Scriptures that condemn homosexuality, these devils advocates have inadvertently strengthened the indictment that God condemns homosexual behavior in every time period. When we study these ‘other’ sins of Sodom we see that the homosexuality of 21^st century America is no different than that of 20^th century B.C. Sodom or of 7^th century B.C. Israel or of 1^st century A.D. Corinth. In the Bible whenever there is a resurgence of homosexuality within a culture, no matter what century, no matter what continent, there are certain characteristics within the homosexual culture that manifest. No doubt the most bizarre is the religious characteristic. In their effort to shift the sins of Sodom away from homosexuality, these devil’s advocates have recklessly pointed us toward a previously hidden but now revealed glimpse of the homosexual movement in ancient cultures mentioned in the Bible. Their effort has also provided us with a glimpse of what the homosexual movement will do in the future. So what are the pieces to the puzzle? What are the glimpses of the fuller picture of life in Sodom?

1). Sodom had homosexual pride parades. Just as the modern homosexual movement.

a). Ezekiel 16:49, 50 “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.”

b). The first sin listed in this scripture is “pride”. Now pride itself is sin, but Sodom’s pride was IN their sin. Sodom was proud of their sin. In Isaiah there is a very revealing verse that shows us how Sodom was proud of their sin. In Isaiah 3:9 (KJV) the prophet is speaking about Jerusalem and Judah but he compares them to Sodom in the following manner. “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not…”  The New International Version translates verse 9 this way: “The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.” The use of the word “declare/parade” is not only accurate but also very interesting. The Hebrew meaning of the word “declare” is nagad. It means “to stand boldly out against, to manifest, to announce (by word of mouth), to proclaim, to celebrate with praise”.[i] Remember that the context is sin so the various definitions fit right in with the NIV use of the word “parade”. “To boldly stand out (in their sin), to announce (their sin) by word of mouth, to proclaim (their sin), to celebrate (their sin) with praise”, are all very revealing.

c). Anyone who has witnessed a Gay Pride Parade has seen these definitions literally come alive before their eyes. In these parades the homosexual is celebrating the pride he or she has in their homosexuality. In their ignorance, the homosexual movement’s use of the word “pride” indicts them as a prophetic link to ancient Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49. “This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride,…”  Their behavior at these parades, according to Isaiah 3:9, also is a prophetic link to ancient Sodom, “…they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not…” The first homosexual “pride” parade was held in 1970 in New York City celebrating the 1969 Stonewall riot, which occurred the previously year, when homosexuals rioted for three days in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a homosexual hangout. Twenty nine years later in 1999, Interpride: The International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered Pride Coordinators listed 108 homosexual celebrations in 108 U.S. cities and 15 others in Canada. A group across the Atlantic, The European Pride Organizers Association listed 53 homosexual celebrations in 19 different European countries, for a total of 176 homosexual “pride” celebrations worldwide.  In 2004, I found at least 310 homosexual “pride” celebrations. This increase is  not only amazing but obviously a fulfillment of the prophetic word spoken by Jesus in Luke 17:28, 30: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot…even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

2). Sodom and Gomorrah exercised a false and lying philosophy within their communities that strengthened the hands of evildoers. Their lying philosophy taught evildoers not to abandon their wickedness. Just as the modern homosexual movement.

a). Jeremiah 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

b). In this passage we see the Lord comparing the prophets of Jerusalem with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are like them in that, “they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness…”

c). The evildoers do not repent because they are strengthened in their evil by lies. In Ezekiel 13:22 there is a comparative passage that expands on this thought: “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life”. In this passage, the lies they are telling are making “the heart of the righteous sad”. These lies have “strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” This of course can be applied to any sin, but there is no doubt that a contemporary application of this passage is the invention of the term ‘sexual orientation’ and the mythology that supports it. The so called science surrounding this lying vanity has blinded hundreds of thousands of homosexuals from the truth that there is hope for them in Jesus Christ; they can be forgiven and changed.

3). Sodom and Gomorrah as well as Moab and Ammon slandered God’s people. Just as the modern homosexual movement.

a). Zephaniah 2:8-10 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.

b). This passage becomes applicable to the contemporary debate when the Hebrew definitions are studied. The Hebrew word for “reproach” in verse 8 is (cherpah * 2781) and it means a scornful insult. The Hebrew word for “revilings” in verse 8 is (guddupah * 1421) and it means “to use abusive, slanderous language about someone, to scornfully insult.” The Hebrew word for “reproached” in verse 8 is (cherupah * 2778) and it means “to find fault particularly with out reason.”  Within the context of this verse, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah the nations of Moab and Ammon were guilty of the following sins. They scornfully insulted the people of God, using abusive and slanderous language against them, finding fault with them without reason. They boasted and magnified themselves in pride. For these sins they were to receive the similar judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. And true to the prophetic element of the scripture, they are also characteristics of the modern homosexual movement, secularly and within the church world.

c). Perfect examples of slandering God’s people can be found in the accusations against Dan Kathy of Chick-Fil-a, Kirk Cameron and just recently Phil Robertson, all accused of hate speech or bigoted behavior for their comments about homosexuality or marriage which mirrored Biblical Christianity. The modern homosexual movement is just like the homosexual movements in Sodom and Gomorrah and Moab and Ammon because they slandered God people, scornfully insulted them and attempted to find fault particularly without reason.

(1). The mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco all stood in agreement to not allow Chick-Fil-a into their cities. The mayor of Boston even declared, “We are indeed full of pride for our support of same sex marriage and our work to expand freedom for all people.” Wow! It’s all the same spirit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A_same-sex_marriage_controversy

(2). Actor Kirk Cameron was accused of “hate speech” because of his remarks concerning homosexuality. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/03/20/Ann-Curry-Ambush-Kirk-Cameron

(3). Phil Robertson the patriarch of Duck Dynasty was recently fired from A & E for his recent remarks about homosexuality. A few sponsors followed their lead and within a few days all backtracked. Phil Robertson will return to the show and the sponsors have reversed their decisions as well.

d). In the last few decades, homosexual advocates have sharpened their efforts learned over the last five decades to come up with strategic plans to change America’s view of homosexuality.  From their book After The Ball, published in 1989,Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen put forth their strategies. The first five are: One, Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible. Two, Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers, Three: Give protectors a just cause. Four, Make gays look good. Five, Make the victimizers look bad. Marshal Kirk and Hunter Madsen detail the fifth strategy, which is to make those opposed to homosexuality look bad.  “At a later stage of the media campaign for gay rights-long after other gay ads have become commonplace-it will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, they must be vilified. (This will be all the more necessary because, by that time, the entrenched enemy will have quadrupled its output of vitriol and disinformation.) Our goal is here is twofold. First, we seek to replace the mainstream's self-righteous pride about its homophobia with shame and guilt. Second, we intend to make the antigays look so nasty that average Americans will want to dissociate themselves from such types.”

e). In the last 45 years or so, hell has belched out the devilish wisdom, that if a Christian reaction (or any unacceptable reaction to homosexuality), is packaged as an emotional and mental weakness or sickness people will be intimidated from saying what they really feel because they don’t want to be seen as mentally and emotionally weak or sick. Hence we get the word ‘homophobia’, the fear of homosexuals or homosexuality. This “slanderous language” and “fault finding” is being marketed to intimidate modern culture to accept sexual perversion and used as a sledgehammer to intimidate the Church from calling homosexuality a sin.

f). What homophobia really looks like is being demonstrated by cities such as New York, whose leaders ordered police officers not to enforce public nudity laws on June 26, 1994, for the Stonewall 25 parade. As a result, along with 120,000 plus marchers, were marchers from the group ‘Radical Faeries”, who marched down Fifth Avenue totally naked in full view of police officers (World Magazine, 7/2/94). The real reason for the orders was fear that the homosexual community would react violently to enforcement of the law. After all, the parade was a celebration of a riot 25 years previous, by homosexuals against police enforcing the law.  Another example of genuine homophobia was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle in a letter to the Editor in its 9/30/93 edition. The letter was from a San Francisco police officer who was assigned to patrol the city’s ‘Folsom Street Fair. In the letter, the officer wrote, “Being in full uniform and walking the streets of the Fair, I observed couples in bondage attire, men and women displaying their body parts, i.e., bare breasts, bare genitals and buttocks. There was also a flogging demonstration. Worst of all, I observed male couples, totally naked, engaging in acts of mutual masturbation and oral sex.” When repeatedly asked why he wasn’t arresting these people, he writes, “At least a dozen times I had to painstakingly explain that we were to take a position of “high tolerance” and not create an incident.”

4). Sodom and Gomorrah’s homosexuality had a religious element to it just as the modern homosexual movement.

a). Isaiah 1:10-20 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beast; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make your clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relive the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

b). This link is one of the most fascinating of all, it is the religious one. In the passage from Isaiah we see that Sodom and Gomorrah had “a multitude” of sacrifices. They had their “solemn meeting”, their “calling of assemblies”, and they said “many prayers”. But all their religious ceremonies were in God’s eyes and in his words, “abomination” and “iniquity”. Yet with all the condemnation from the Lord for their behavior, the only sins listed are in verse 17, “Learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow”, and verse 15, with the phrase, “your hands are full of blood”. Except for the mention of blood on their hands, in verse 15, which is not explained, it appears these sins do not justify the reaction of wiping these cities off the map; but when we look at the whole indictment against Sodom shown in all the passages that mention Sodom, we see the justification of God’s judgment. This passage in Isaiah is only one piece of the picture that shows its vain religious ceremony. Another piece is given in Jude 7 in the New Testament. “ Even as Sodom and Gomorrah 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.” The Greek word for “going”, according to Zodiates Word Study Dictionary, is aperchomai and it means “to go after someone, to follow as companions or disciples.” The Greek word for “after”, from the same source is opiso and it means “following as a disciple or otherwise.” We can see that Jude was using the same terminology. The “cities of the plain” were religious disciples of perversion.

c). Just as there was a religious element to Sodom’s homosexuality and a religious element to the contemporary movement, there was a religious element to ancient Israel’s homosexual movement. In Deuteronomy 23:17, 18 God warned Israel. “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” Unger’s Bible Dictionary says of the term “sodomite” “They were not inhabitants of Sodom or their descendants; but men consecrated to the unnatural vice of Sodom as a religious rite.” But this is not the only scriptural evidence of a religious element to homosexuality in ancient Israel. In fact the same Hebrew word for sodomite used in Deuteronomy 23 is used in at least two more occasions. One is 1 Kings 14:24: “And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.” The time this was occurring was about 930 B.C., during the beginning of Rehoboam’s reign as King of Judah. This verse gives us a couple facts, these homosexuals were not only in the land of Israel but they also engaged in every behavior the Canaanites engaged in previous to the LORD kicking them out, which implies a religious element to Canaanite homosexuality.  About 300 years later Josiah became King of Judah. Josiah was no doubt the greatest King of Judah. During his reign he implemented godly reforms, one of which was he destroyed the places where homosexuals engaged in their behavior. 2 Kings 23:7 says, “And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.” 300 years previous they were just “in the land”, now they “were by the house of the LORD”. In fact the New American Standard Version says of this verse, they “were IN the house of the LORD”. These “houses” according to Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon were nothing more than “a moveable house, a tent”. If they were in the temple or next to the temple is open to debate, but a couple facts remain, there was a religious element to ancient Israel’s homosexuality, and in the 300 years between Rehoboam and Josiah, Judah’s spiritual culture had degenerated to the degree they allowed homosexuality to infiltrate the temple worship. Just as it was a gradual change in Judah’s spiritual culture, and ours, I believe it was a gradual change in Sodom’s culture as well.

d). Looking forward into our contemporary circumstance, it seems incredible that anyone would accept that Christianity and homosexuality are compatible, but many do. They are grossly deceived, but they still believe it. In this incredible scenario I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 1:9. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and the thing which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.”In our modern religious culture and I use that term loosely, there is a religious element to homosexuality. One only has the look at the ecclesiastical territory given up in the last 40 years within the mainline denominations, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), The Episcopal Church to name a few to know.

e). Within the evangelical churches you also have the same cancer eating away at the churches with groups espousing themselves to be Progressive Christianity. Groups such as Sojourners and Red Letter Christians are a couple of the many that preach a variety of false doctrines that undermine Biblical Christianity. All preach in one form or another against the inspiration of Scripture, and all embrace a fornication friendly gospel, accepting sexual orientation in its different varieties, homosexual, bisexual and transgendered. This fornication friendly gospel, because it denies the inspiration of the Scriptures, allows them to deny the power and authority of the verses which command believers to crucify ungodly lusts. Instead they preach these same sex lusts are to be embraced and celebrated as God given natural human components. We must realize, they say, that the Scriptures were written by ignorant and provincial men who did not know what we know now about modern sexual science. Besides aligning themselves with the false prophets of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 23:14 and Ezekiel 13:22, these deceived individuals are joined with the latter day ministers spoken of by Paul 2 Timothy 3 & 4. Their errors are clearly warned about in the Scriptures, which they, because of demonic influence (1 Timothy 4:1) fall into.

5). Contemporary America is falling into the same deception that engulfed 15^th century B.C. Canaan. 15^th Century B.C. Canaan codified their immorality into their legal systems.

a). Leviticus 18:1-4 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.

After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.

b). An interesting fact about this passage is that the use of the Hebrew word for “ordinance” used in describing the “ordinances” of God and the “ordinances” of Canaan are the same Hebrew word. Ordinances [2708 * [huqqah][Gesenius: that which is established or defined, law, ordinance, practice, custom, right, privilege.]

c). The rest of chapter 18 in Leviticus, particularly verses 6-23 then lists a whole range of immoral sexual practices that the cultures of Egypt and Canaan not only practiced but made ordinances concerning them. It looks as if there were laws on the books in Egypt and in the Canaanite nations regarding their incest, their child sacrifice, their homosexuality, their bestiality. They codified their immorality into their legal systems, they legislated their immorality. America is more and more becoming a Canaanite nation. We are codifying our immorality into our legal system, we are legislating our immorality in the same way the Canaanite nations did. When Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, we codified child sacrifice into our legal system, just as Canaan did in Leviticus 18:21. When Lawrence v. Texas was decided, all the remaining state laws criminalizing homosexual behavior were throw out and we codified homosexual behavior into our legal system just as Canaan did in Leviticus 18:22. In our efforts to not legislate morality, we are legislating immorality.

d). Summary: As the spirit of homosexuality continues to attempt to capture American culture there are a number of things we will witness.

(1). Families and local and communities and churches not grounded in the Scripture will splinter. While some family and local community members and church members continue to draw near to Christ pursuing to be in lock step with Biblical Christianity, other family, community and church members will be in lock step with popular culture embracing its toleration of everything except Biblical Christianity.

(2). The persecution from the homosexual culture and the sympathetic popular culture is here and will increase. It is taking the form of social and political snubs, peer pressure and a few court cases. The lawsuits against Christians who run businesses who do not cater to homosexuals will increase.

(3). As ungodly judicial decisions impose homosexual marriage upon the individual states or a Supreme Court decision decrees it the law of the land, financial penalties and perhaps jail time will be imposed by civil courts upon those who because of their relationship with God cannot yield. Look for pensions and retirements social security benefits to be suspended by local, state and federal governments. Insane and absurd judicial decrees and restraints will increase causing horrible hardships upon those who oppose this immorality, particularly Christians who espouse Biblical Christianity. Just as Jesus said, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot… Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

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