The Comparison of Sodom and the Condition of Our Society
This lesson is the joining together the wife of Lot and End Times. It is a helpful look at where we are in our “lawless” society. Looking at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as it is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testament. Reading the seasons and seeing how close we are in the same destruction that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
The condition of the men of Sodom were that of unrest and the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD. This is where Lot and his family “pitched his tent” or moved. They moved toward Sodom to me this indicates they were aware of the life style and they did not disagree with it; they may not have partook in the wickedness but they certainly were aware of it. (Genesis 13: 12-13). It was because the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was great and very grievous. (Genesis 18:20). The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testament.
Joining together the times we live in and the times of the wife of Lot is not that difficult to accomplish. There is evil all around us today in our society beginning with drugs, offensive immoral sexual practices, pornography, abortions, and don’t forget the lying, violence and selfishness found around every corner.
We have been called to be a holy people that are set apart by the LORD God; a special people unto the LORD, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6). The New Testament reminds us we have been predestinated, which is decided beforehand, to be adopted as children to the LORD God by Jesus Christ. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to His grace. (Ephesians 1:5-6). We need to be careful not to be influenced by the wicked society we live in today.
The New Testament makes reference to Sodom and Gomorrah as a representation or warning of the coming of the Day of Judgment. 2 Peter 2:6-10 the argument that the turning of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrown or destruction, making them an example or a warning unto those that live ungodly, sinfully, immorally lives. Peter further suggested that Lot, was oppressed with evils and “filthy conversation of the wicked.” That is to say; the manner of life of Sodom and Gomorrah was unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence. Lot was delivered because he was a righteous man that dwelled among the wicked. This vexed his body and mind with grievous pains daily because of their wicked deeds.
Lot and his family was deeply entangled in Sodom they became witnesses because of what saw and heard and even experienced while in Sodom. (2 Peter 2:8). It was this continual association with the inhabitants of Sodom that the family of Lot felt the different forms of torment they experienced.
The times we live in today also can be associated with this form of torment. The moral decay of our society, family life and spiritual life is very similar to the Sodomites. I often wondered why Lot didn’t take his family and move somewhere else. The answer is simple where could they go? There were five other cities beside Sodom and Gomorrah that had been destroyed. There is no where we can go because the moral decay is everywhere in our day.
We live among people who live in spiritual darkness and sexual immorality. We live among the wicked. We cannot fall prey to the unbelieving the unrepentant people around us and think we can participate in the ways of the world. We must keep our heart, soul and mind on Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:4 speaks of certain men crept in unawares, they entered in secretly with stealth like accuracy. They were ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (unbridled lust, excess wantonness), and denying the only LORD God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We see this today in our churches. There are ungodly men that are using the church for their own personal gain. You can walk into many churches today and not find the LORD even present. It is all about money, possessions and their ability to be better off and more right than anyone else. They spend more time in keeping the needy ones, the sinners, and the imperfect people out than trying to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately there are too many churches that are more interested in their success, their money and stuff, their friends, their possessions than about the spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is very sad when people have to leave or be out of the church in order to find the message of Jesus Christ.
That is what is happening in today’s churches. Churches of today do not give guidance; they do not give help, nor comfort and certainly no message of Jesus. There is lots of financial guidance, ways in which the “good” church people have become great and even have more prosperity. Self-righteousness is proclaimed by too many of the churches of today. The message is you can make yourself better. This is no different than what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities that were close to them. There is more psychology and self-help spoken from the pulpit than the Word of God. There is more time spent on what type of music will bring in the people and less time speaking about how they could help the person down the street. What ever happened to Jesus came to save the sinners? (1 Timothy 1:15). When are the preachers going to start speaking out on moral matters, speaking out against corruption and immorality?
The reference of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jude 1:5 brings into remembrance the Passover and the saving of the Children of Israel and bring them out of the land of Egypt after which the LORD God destroyed those that did not believe. Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities that were around then that lived in the same manner, giving themselves over to fornication or going a whoring, and going after strange flesh or those that are not of the same nature, form, class, kind. They set themselves as an example of the proper example the people should be like. This sets them up for suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Vulgarity, profanity, idolatry and deceitfulness rule the everyday living in our society. There is an abandonment of pure Christian values, and righteousness. Family values of today are under extreme attack. The structure of the family has paid a high price over the past twenty years. The traditional marriage has been complicated with “gay right marriages.” Personal integrity has been sacrificed for family members who can yell or demand the loudest or most often. It is a matter of who demands the most attention, not who has the greater need. There is no guidance for the children on what pure Christian values are. These are left to the churches to address. The churches are not identifying anything except the amount of money they can bring in and making sure the sinners are kept out.
There is no humility, modesty or humbleness of spirit. We live in a time of arrogance and self-serving selfishness. The hearts of man fall on their personal accomplishments and their greatness. Man’s pride rules their value and the value of those around them. There is a demand that all in the group must participate in the activities like everyone else. The more moral depraved, the more acceptable it is.
When Jesus returns will there be anyone found waiting for Him? Or will His return take everyone by surprise because they are so focused on themselves? Has this society become the copy copies of Sodom and Gomorrah that we do not recognize our own demise?
We need to remember: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” (2 Peter 3:10-15).
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MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “The Comparison of Sodom and the Condition of Our Society:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1987,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) “The Comparison of Sodom and the Condition of Our Society:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1987,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “The Comparison of Sodom and the Condition of Our Society:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1987, (accessed).
