Covenant Church

At times I drive the car, and Laila reads the Bible to me. Recently, a scripture she shared was so stunning it has altered my life.

Ezekiel 16:49 states that Sodom’s sins were:

• Pride
• Too much food.
• Too much idle time.
• No compassion for poor.
• No compassion for needy.
• In pride did loathsome things.

If you had asked me why God destroyed Sodom before Laila read the scripture I would have said: “God destroyed Sodom because of sodomites. Lustful perversion was the order of the day.”

What so stunned me was the recognition that sexual perversion was only the symptom, not the cause.

Take it from the top. First, pride. It comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Pride is arrogance. Pride is conceit. Pride is feeling the right to do what one wants to do, regardless of whether it is right. Pride is defying God and his righteousness. Pride is exaltation of self above every other interest. Pride is entitlement. Pride is adjusting values to please self, so that lust can be fulfilled to the pleasure of the body and mind.

Prosperity of Sodom provided more food than could be eaten. Thus, eating became a driving reason for living. Living to eat replaced eating to live. Before a meal could be finished thoughts of what and where to eat next were happening. Always food. Always nibbling on something. Never far from a place to eat or a drink. Throwing away food. Just too much food.

Too much time. Idleness. Did not have to work. Did not want to work. Did not need to work. Free time. Time to do whatever a person wanted to do. Time to play. Time to engage in personal pursuits. Time and money to vacation. Boredom with past sins. Time to invent new sins. Idleness. Time to frustrate and be angry with people who talk about God, restraint, and morals that limit personal choices. Time to talk cheap talk that defies God.

Outside the door. Just down the street. Not far away. A cry in the night. A wailing cry. A child in distress. A young maiden being forced. A young man being sold into perversion. A lonely person sounding out agony of soul. A hungry person voicing with feeble energy the pain of a body lacking food.

Not far away. People in need. People suffering. People sick. People lost from God, bound by sin, hopeless, and with all dreams broken upon the wheel of life.

But shut the doors. Close the windows of the soul. There is food in my house. There is plenty in my house. There is leisure in my house. There is comfort in my house. There is time for pleasure in my house. There is more than enough and to spare in my house.

Oh, My Friend, the sin, the great sin that brought down Sodom was not needing God. Not caring about others. Too much pleasure. Lust took its course. Lust led to perversion. Perversion did not happen first. Perversion followed pride.

Perverted thinking follows those who get comfortable and think they have earned their comfort. They are entitled to special privileges. They are better than others. Back door sins are a result of what comes in the front door.

Is God your life? How are you working to defeat pride? Do you live to eat—always thinking about food? Do you have too much idle time—too much TV, videos, playing around on the Internet…no time for prayer, Bible, fellowship with saints and worship? What are you doing about the poor and needy?

Beware. Do not let the sin of Sodom bring destruction.

Sobered,

Pastor Bare

Ezekiel 16:49