Rev. Don Campbell
Ezekiel 16-17
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, August 31, 2019
“THE GUILT OF SODOM”
Ask anyone with a superficial knowledge of the Scriptures, “What was the guilt of Sodom?” and the answer will probably be “HOMOSEXUALITY!” They were guilty of this sin, but they were guilty of sins that have been much more common throughout the ages.
Ezekiel 16 is about God’s faithless bride who, he said, was more evil than the surrounding nations, although he had bestowed perfect splendor on her (vv. 13-15 & 44-48. He makes a comparison of them to the sins of Sodom: “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, 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. Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous” (vv. 48-52).
Sodom’s sins fell into three categories: The first was pride, which may have been in their prosperity or it may have been in their tolerance of all lifestyles, as sins of unbridled passion are next. The term “abomination” referred to homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13). The third category is the sin of callous indifference to the needs of others.
Sodom may have been proud of its tolerance of all lifestyles; many today have the same pride. Some are just as proud of their intolerance.
We could pursue several lines of inquiry here, but I want to focus on one which has to do with doctrine. I remember certain brethren discussing the egotistical, belligerent, judgmental attitude of a certain well-known champion of dirt-digging and mudslinging. He obviously did not have the mind of Christ, and his defenders admitted it, but they said, “We support him because he is sound,” meaning that he passed their creedal checklist of orthodoxy.
The American people have proved over and over that they are not callously indifferent to the needs of others. Legitimate nonprofits serving the needs of the downtrodden daily, swing into action when natural disasters strike, seek cures for childhood cancer, and on and on I could go. And they could not do any of this without the support of the people. As to our government, it seems it is more concerned with protecting the portfolios of the privileged class than helping the huddled masses.
I fear that in the future the balance may shift from the true greatness of America, which is its people, to the propaganda, politics, and sound-bite governance of the demagogues. When this happens, we will not be the nation we once were. Our great buildings may still stand, our coffers may be full, we may be singing happily, and congratulating one another; but we will have become a nation without a heart, living on life support, but ignorant of the fact.
CONNECTIONS
1. In arguing for tough minds and soft hearts, Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted Abba Hillel Silver: “Our lives need much more than a precise, eager and powerful intellect. They need not only knowledge which is power, but wisdom which is control. They need not only truth which is light, but goodness which is warmth” (Silver, Religion in a Changing World [New York: Richard R. Smith, 1930], p. 172). Do you see evidence that the nation is soft-minded (will believe anything if it is packaged attractively), instead of soft-hearted?
2. Do you believe that how we treat—or allow the government to treat—the least and the lowest among us give a good spiritual MRI of our hearts?
