The Sin of Sodomy and the End Times (The Journey of Abraham)

The Sin of Sodomy and the End Times

(Photo: Abraham. Click for Source.)

Abraham (or Abram) had left Ur of the Chaldees with his father, Terah; his nephew, Lot; his wife, Sarah (or Sarai); and their servants. He traveled over 1,000 miles from Ur to Canaan (1), the land God had promised to him and his son Isaac. Ur is now called Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq and is 140 miles southeast of the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon (in Iraq) (2).

In modern times, Abraham would have hopped aboard an airliner and reached his destination in a few hours. When Abraham (who was then called Abram) got to Haran, he stayed there, waiting until his father had passed away. Then, he traveled to the land of Canaan.

In Canaan, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and promised him and his son Isaac (who was born much later) that Canaan would belong to Abraham along with all the land between and the Nile river (the river of Egypt) and the Euphrates river (see Genesis 15:18-21). God also promised the land to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:1-8), making it clear who God had chosen to be the promised seed. Finally, God also confirms his promise to Jacob, Isaac’s son and Abraham’s grandson (Genesis 28:10-15).

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY AND SODOM

(Photo: the ziggurat at Ur, Iraq. Source)

Getting back to Abraham—Abraham’s flocks and herds, along with Lot’s flocks and herds, get so numerous that they cannot occupy the same land anymore and Abraham gives Lot the opportunity to choose whether or not he will settle in the then-fertile land near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 13 says…

Genesis 13:10-12 

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 

11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

(Photo: Sodom, found by Ron Wyatt. Source.)

Years go by and Abraham gets older. As Lot stayed in the region near Sodom, he began to get closer to the city until the Bible records that Lot lived in the city of Sodom (Genesis 19). God the Son, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, appears to Abraham in the form of a man along with two angels who also appear as men. Abraham prepares a meal for them and communes with these people who he thinks are travelers. After a time, the two angels leave and head toward Sodom.

The pre-incarnate Jesus Christ stays longer with Abraham. From Him, Abraham learns that God is going to destroy Sodom and the neighboring Gomorrah because…

Genesis 13:13: “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

Abraham pleads with the LORD (Jesus Christ) and asks Him if He would spare the city if there were only 50 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to the conversation between the LORD and Abraham…

(Photo: Sulfur found at the site of Sodom by Ron Wyatt. Source.)

Genesis 18:20-24 

20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. 

22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 

24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

The LORD, out of His abundant mercy, agrees to not destroy the cities if 50 righteous people could be found. Genesis 18:26: “And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

Abraham pleads more with God, getting the LORD to agree not to destroy the cities if 45 righteous people were in them. Pleading more, Abraham whittles the numbers down to 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. The LORD agrees to not destroy the cities if 10 righteous people were found in them. 

Genesis 18:33: “And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”

In the city of Sodom, the two angels find Lot at the gate and he gives them lodging in his house. He urges them to stay with him during the night. Part of his urgency might have to do with what happens next.

(Photo: Swirling layers in rock at Sodom. This is not natural. Source.)

Genesis 19:1-5 

1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. 

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

This is very disturbing behavior on the part of the men of Sodom. They saw two handsome men walk into the city of Sodom and they began to lust after them. These wicked men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that Lot give them the two angels to do with as they pleased. Lot was between a rock and a hard place. Being a good host, Lot could not let the men touch the visitors. It was a hard choice to make, but he chose to offer to the Sodomites his unmarried daughters, hoping that they would be okay in the morning. These men refused Lot’s offer. They were not attracted to the women. They wanted men.

Genesis 19:6-11 

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. 

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. 

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. 

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

The two angels pulled Lot back into the house, shut the door, and “…smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness,…” They were not going to let Lot or his family get hurt. God was watching over Lot. The angels help Lot get his family (just his wife and two unmarried daughters) to safety before...

(Photo: Painting of Sodom and Gomorrah, 1852. Source.) 

Genesis 19:24-30 

24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: 

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. 

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. 

30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

JUDGMENT ON THE WICKED

The land became a complete wilderness and desolate. It was uninhabited ever since God’s judgment on it for its sin and rebellion against God. The Bible tells us that Lot was a righteous man who was vexed (greatly troubled) over the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. 2 Peter 2 tells us more about Lot and what exactly God judges.

(Photo: Sodom, found by Ron Wyatt. Nothing grows there. Source.)

2 Peter 2:4-9 

4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 

7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 

8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 

9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

God judged the fallen angels (who married human women in Genesis 6); God judged the evil pre-flood world with a world-wide flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 7); God judged Sodom and Gomorrah (also spelled Gomorrha) to turn them into ashes; and God will judge sin. There is a day of judgment coming.

Jude 1:14-15 [Note: There is only one chapter in the book of Jude.]

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 

15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

The Lord Jesus Christ will come “with ten thousands of his saints” at the end of the Tribulation period, which was prophesied about in Revelation 19 and throughout the Old Testament (Daniel 7, Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 63:3 and others).

The LORD judges people according to their actions. He will not allow any sin into Heaven, His holy realm. Revelation 21 tells us…

Revelation 21:7-8 (bold added) 

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Sodomy is included in this list. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 6…

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (bold added) 

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

(Photo: False Grace vs. TRUE Grace.)

God wants a pure bride, one who is not living according to the carnal nature of the flesh. God wants a bride who is living according to His Spirit who leads them into all truth and righteousness.

Do you know God’s name? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God? Would you like to have true salvation from sin and Hell? Read the following below.

Would you like to find out how to Know God's Name Personally?

IF YOU ARE SEEKING TO KNOW GOD, please read this message.

1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 

Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 

Ephesians 2:8-9 

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and shed His precious blood to pay for all of these sins. (See John 3:16; and 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; and Romans 5:8-11.)

If you repent (turn away) from your sins (Acts 3:19), and believe and confess aloud that Christ has done this for you (Romans 10:9-10), and have made Him your Lord and Savior (again Romans 10:9-10) you are saved.

Now seek God with all your heart. Seek to know Him and you will (Jeremiah 29:13).

John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” 

Jeremiah 29:13: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” 

John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” 

Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

WORKS CITED

(1) "The Journey of Abraham." kidsbiblemaps.com. Bible History Online. n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

(2) Woolley, Sir Leonard. "Ur." britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 30 April 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.