The Lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah

For his help, Abraham was offered a reward, but he declined it. He wanted nothing of the luxuries of sin for himself. He did accept that which was needed to deal with the expenses he paid for his part of the war, and he approved his men taking just compensation for themselves, but beyond that, the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah was tainted and rejected by Abraham:

And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”  But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, `I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.” (Gen. 14:21-4 RSV).

From this we see how Sodom and Gomorrah, before their eventual destruction, were already given a foreshadowing of their doom, of what lies ahead for them if they do not change their ways.  They wanted to be free and independent cities which celebrated their liberty by denying that the rule of justice itself had any sway over them. When their revolt failed, they were shown the weakness of such licentiousness. When Abraham came to help them, they had the opportunity to see the power of justice and what it could do to preserve society, but instead of learning their lesson, they rejoiced in their victory.

After being blessed by the aid of Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah took their victory as a sign that the powers that be approved their lifestyle. They would allow no one to have authority over them, for they saw themselves as being the lords of the earth. They rejoiced in their luxury whiling avoiding what was necessary for their society to thrive and not collapse in upon itself.  Before Abraham had come and saved them, they had once suffered the possibility of perdition, but they ignored the warning and so fell into a worse situation where Lot and his family was to be taken from them, and so doing, losing all the blessing they received.  They were utterly destroyed, wiped out, for that was the judgment rendered to them. As they abandoned justice, the fruit of justice left them.  “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.  They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them, when I saw it” (Ezek. 16:49-50 RSV).

The cities had been given a foreshadowing of doom when they were losing their war of rebellion, and it was only with the mediation of Abraham  (through Lot) that they initially were saved. Instead of seeing the weakness of a society where justice is neglected for the sake of an excess of worldly pleasure, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah assumed the end of the war demonstrated their strength and that they would not be destroyed due to their wayward ways.  They won the war, not due to themselves, but by the help of other. They saw the sign of victory as a sign of favor, and so instead of turning around to justice and strengthening themselves from within, the victory proved hollow as they cast aside the last remnants of any sense of social justice and engaged in full-blown materialistic hedonism. The cities could not last. They could only collapse. Lot was no longer able to save the people from themselves. He had to be removed for his own sake, so that the city could collapse from within, showing the fruit of such hedonism is nihilistic destruction.

The relative closeness between the war, which Abraham was able to bring about to a resolution, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, should make us realize the two events are linked together, giving all future societies warning against following the example of Sodom and Gomorrah.  No society should become complacent after any war in which they end up victorious. They must not assume whatever benevolence is used to save a nation in a time of war will continue with them after the war is over; such grace can be used up, and if the mediation of the righteous is cast aside, then such a nation is going to self-destruct and collapse. It was not for sexual sin that Sodom and Gomorrah fell apart, but for their licentiousness and self-sufficient smugness that made them think the rule of justice need not be enforced; their sexuality was but a minor symptom of the greater problem, a problem which faces us as a nation today. Shall we learn the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah, or will we let our social injustice drag us down and make us crumble from within?

 

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