Sodom

In most people's minds, the town of Sodom is closely associated with homosexuality. The story of Sodom is found in Genesis chapter 19. Two angels visit Sodom, and are welcomed into Lot's home as his guests. The townspeople are angered by this and attempt to rape the visitors.

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. (Genesis 19:4-9, NIV)

It is clear from this passage, particularly verse 9 ("We'll treat you worse than them") that the townspeople wanted to harm the visitors. They wanted to rape them.

Rape is a terrible crime, and it is the attempted rape of the visitors that should shock us, not the gender of the intended victims. In Judges 19, a woman is raped by a group of men in the town of Gibeah, in the region of Benjamin.

So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. (Judges 19:25-26, NIV)

God destroyed Sodom because of its wickedness. He also destroyed Gibeah, this time using the army of Israel rather than fire and brimstone as used to destroy Sodom.

The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.

Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. (Judges 20:35-37, NIV)

The story of the destruction of Gibeah in Judges does not teach that consensual heterosexual sex is wrong. The story of the destruction of Sodom does not teach that consensual homosexual sex is wrong. Judges 19 is completely silent about the morality of consensual heterosexual sex. Genesis 19 is completely silent about the morality of consensual homosexual sex.

Inhospitality

The men of Sodom tried to rape two angels who were visiting the town. Some people think that the rape attempt was the sin of Sodom. Others think that the men sinned because they attempted to have gay sex with the visitors. According to Ezekiel, neither was the sin of Sodom.

Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezekiel 16:49-50, NIV)

The people of Sodom did not love their neighbours as themselves. That was what they did wrong. Like the people of Gibeah, they were inhospitable. Their attempted rape was merely a manifestation of that inhospitality. In the 21st Century Western World, visitors to strange cities are a mere credit card away from a safe and comfortable night's rest. Two, three, and four thousand years ago, it was not that simple. Travellers depended on hospitality. Who could be more poor and needy than a traveller with no place to stay? What could be more detestable than raping them instead of helping them?

It is not just Ezekiel that associates Sodom with inhospitality. When Christ mentions Sodom, it is in the context of inhospitality.

Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town. (Matthew 10:11-15, NIV)

A town that did not welcome the people Christ sent out—an inhospitable town—is worse than Sodom or Gomorrah. This comparison only makes sense if the defining sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality.

In the Bible, Sodom is associated with inhospitality and unkindness, not sexual immorality.1 There is no scriptural reason to take the story of Sodom and use it as evidence that all same-sex relationships are wrong. (And if there is, then you have to take the story of Gibeah and use it as evidence that all opposite-sex relationships are wrong.)

The next book we must look at is Leviticus.

Next page: Leviticus >>