The Religious Element Of Homosexuality
Homosexuals
in Sodom practiced counterfeit religion. I arrived at that belief through a
study prompted by advocates of homosexuality trying to convince me and others
the real reason why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. One of their arguments is
the false teaching that homosexuality was not a factor in God’s decision to
destroy Sodom; that it was other sins that caused such a reaction from heaven.
To bolster this false theory, advocates for homosexuality say that of all the
references to Sodom in the Bible, only the passage in Genesis 19 specifically
mentions any form of homosexuality. All the other passages, they say, point to “other sins.”
As I began to study these Scriptures, I found
that although these Scriptures do mention “other” sins that Sodom was guilty
of, these “other” sins are also characteristics of the contemporary homosexual
movement, which was quite a revelation to me. What I learned was quite
profound. In their effort to do away with the Scriptures that condemn
homosexuality, and pointing to the “other sins” that Scripture declares Sodom
was guilty of, these preachers of sodomology have actually pointed us to a
bigger and more clear picture of life in Sodom and other ancient cultures
mentioned in the Bible that shows us that the homosexuality in 20th
century B.C. Sodom was no different than the homosexuality of 21st
century America. The same goes for the homosexuality of 7th century
B.C. Israel or of 1st century A.D. Corinth. It is no different. The
characteristics of the homosexuals in of all those time periods and cultures
are no different than the homosexuals of 21st century America. The
reason for this of course is homosexuality is lust driven by a spirit and that
spirit will manifest itself similarly wherever. I have already written about
the similar characteristic of pride here: http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/Faith/Word_of_God/SODOMS_PRIDE_WAS_GAY_PRIDE/4614
Isaiah
1:10-20 is one of those passages advocates of homosexuality quote in order to
deflect the judgment of Sodom away from same sex behavior. Of all the “other
sins” and characteristics these homosexual advocates point to, the most bizarre
is the religious characteristic. Yes, Sodom had a religious element to its
homosexuality.
Isaiah 1:10-20
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“Hear the word of
the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith
the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beast;
and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When
ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my
courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the
new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is
iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my
soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many
prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make your
clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do
evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relive the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith
the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye
shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
In the passage from Isaiah we see that Sodom and
Gomorrah had “a multitude” of sacrifices. They had their “solemn meeting”,
their “calling of assemblies”, and they said “many prayers”. But all their
religious ceremonies were in God’s eyes and in his words, “abomination” and
“iniquity”. Yet with all the condemnation from the Lord for their behavior, the
only sins listed are in verse 17, “Learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow”, and verse 15, with the
phrase, “your hands are full of blood”. Except for the mention of blood on
their hands, in verse 15, which is not explained, it appears these sins do not
justify the reaction of wiping these cities off the map; but when we look at
the whole indictment against Sodom shown in all the passages that mention
Sodom, we see the justification of God’s judgment. This passage in Isaiah is
only one piece of the picture that shows its vain religious ceremony. Another
piece is given in Jude 7 in the New Testament.
“Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of
eternal fire.”
The Greek word
for “going”, according to Zodiates Word Study Dictionary, is aperchomai and it means “to go after
someone, to follow as companions or disciples.”[i]
The Greek word for “after”, from the same source is opiso and it means “following as a disciple or otherwise.”[ii]
We can see that Jude was using the same terminology. The “cities of the plain”
were religious disciples of perversion.
Just as there was a religious element to Sodom’s
homosexuality, there was a religious element to ancient Israel’s homosexual
movement. In Deuteronomy 23:17, 18 God warned Israel.
“There shall be no whore of the daughters of
Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of
a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow:
for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says of the term “sodomite”
“They were not inhabitants of Sodom or their descendants; but men consecrated
to the unnatural vice of Sodom as a religious rite.”[iii]
But this is not the only scriptural evidence of a religious element to
homosexuality in ancient Israel. In fact the same Hebrew word for sodomite used
in Deuteronomy 23 is used in at least two more occasions. One is 1 Kings 14:24,
“And there were also sodomites in the land:
and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD
cast out before the children of Israel.”
The time period
1 Kings 14 was about 930 B.C., during the beginning of Rehoboam’s reign as king
of Judah. This verse gives us a couple facts; these homosexuals were not only
in the land of Israel but they also engaged in every behavior the Canaanites
engaged in previous to the LORD kicking them out, which implies a religious
element to Canaanite homosexuality. (In spite of God’s judgment upon Sodom and
the other cities of the plain in Abraham’s day, four centuries later in Moses’s
day, homosexuality had gradually spread throughout Canaan prompting the
warnings by God in Leviticus 18:22, 18:27-30.)
About 300 years after Rehoboam, Josiah became king of
Judah. Josiah was no doubt the greatest king of Judah. During his reign he
implemented godly reforms, one of which was he destroyed the places where
homosexuals engaged in their behavior. 2 Kings 23:7 says,
“And he brake down the houses of the
sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings
for the grove.”
300 years
previous they were just “in the land”, now during Josiah’s time they “were by
the house of the LORD”. In fact the New American Standard Version says of this
verse, they “were IN the house of the LORD”. These “houses” according to
Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon were nothing more than “a moveable house, a tent”.[iv]
If they were in the temple or next to the temple is open to debate, but a
couple facts remain. There was a religious element to ancient Israel’s
homosexuality, and in the 300 years between Rehoboam and Josiah, Judah’s
spiritual culture had degenerated to the degree they allowed homosexuality to
infiltrate the temple worship. Just as it was a gradual change in Judah’s
spiritual culture, I believe it was a gradual change in other cultures as well,
including Sodom’s. No one can deny the gradual change in our culture. In 1961,
Illinois was the first state to decriminalize homosexuality. In 1986 the
Supreme Court upheld state laws forbidding homosexuality and in 2003, the
Supreme Court struck down all state laws forbidding homosexual conduct.
Today in 2011, to say there is a religious element to
homosexuality is a no brainer, considering there are whole denominations in
turmoil over homosexuality. In the late 1970’s, incidents in the news
concerning homosexuality and Christianity were a trickle. In the 1980’s, the
number and frequency increased and continued to increase into the 1990’s. As we
entered the 21st century, and thanks to the internet, the news
events about homosexuality and Christianity are nonstop. In the Episcopal Church
in 2003, Gene Robinson was elected the first non celibate homosexual Bishop in
the Episcopal Church of America. In December of 2008 the Episcopal Church in
America split over the issue and others may follow suit. There is even a
homosexual denomination, called the Metropolitan Community Church. Here we are
in 2011 and the very institution of marriage, established by God in Genesis
2:21-24 is under attack not only from outside the church, but also from within
the church, from pretending Christians and apostates. We must remember that all
of this has transpired in a gradual change in the last 50 years. It did not
happen overnight. Homosexuals practiced counterfeit religion in Sodom! Homosexuals
practiced counterfeit religion in Israel and Judah! And homosexuals practice counterfeit
Christianity today!
Ecclesiastes
1:9. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and the thing which
is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.”
[i]
Spiros Zodhiates Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament, # 565.
[ii]
Ibid. # 3694.
[iii]
Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Moody Press.
[iv]
Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. # 1004.
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About Don Costello
Name, Don Costello. I live outside Cincinnati Ohio in a city called Batavia. I am 58 years old, married with 5 children. I have been a born again Christian since November 10th 1976. Some people like to fish or hunt, but my passion is studying God’s word and writing about it.
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