Sex is wonderful when it is used in the right way – within a life-long, committed marriage relationship, between a man and a woman. God specifically made us male and female. He designed us with differences in gender. He designed men to be men, and women to be women. He made us in such a way that there are physical and emotional differences between men and women. It makes life so much more interesting. From my male perspective, a beautiful woman, like my Martha, is better than anything else on Earth! More beautiful than the most beautiful artwork, more precious than gold or silver, more valuable than great wealth.
Sexuality is useful. It helps draw a man and a woman together, and keep them together. It’s a glue of marital companionship. It provides pleasure. Sex is a very powerful force that can have the most profound consequences for good or for bad. The proper use of sexuality is essential for healthy families and healthy societies. God has given us the power to reproduce. He allows us to be involved in the production of other human beings, beings made in the image of God, beings capable of living forever! What a miracle it is when a baby is born!
But, sexuality that is misused can be terribly destructive. It’s destructive physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. Both God’s law and natural law tell us that homosexuality is a perversion of what God intended. Nature shows us that men are not to have sex with men, and women with women. The male and female anatomy are designed for the opposite sex – not the same sex. God’s Word couldn’t be more clear on the subject.
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22).
If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:13).
You think the New Testament changed this? Think again. God gave them over to degrading passions; for their
women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error (Romans 1:26-27).
Homosexuality is unnatural. It’s an error. It’s a degrading passion. It degrades, it hurts, it ruins the one who engages in it. It brings a penalty to the person who engages in this shameful perversion, and it brings the ultimate the judgment of God. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexuals… will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Our study from the Torah today couldn’t be more relevant. Presidential candidate Dr. John Dean said this week that his decision to sign the bill legalizing civil unions for homosexuals in Vermont was influenced by his Christian
faith. “My view of Christianity … is that the hallmark of being a Christian is to reach out to people who have been left behind,” he claims. “So I think there was a religious aspect to my decision to support civil unions.” In other words, his so-called “Christian faith” was a driving force causing him to advance the radical homosexual agenda, which God calls an abomination! Unbelievable! He also stated that “from a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people.” God creating homosexuality? Incredible! Blasphemous!
In this portion of the Torah, we have the supreme example of sexuality run amuck. The two angels who had appeared to Abraham in a human form, left Abraham and the Lord, who had also taken on a human form, and had eaten a meal with Abraham, and headed east, some 10 or 15 miles, toward the city of Sodom, which is much lower in elevation, near the Dead Sea. Remember that at that time, Sodom and Gomorrah were in a lush well-watered valley.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and encountered Lot sitting near the gate of the city, where the leaders of the city gathered. This indicates that Lot may have been a respected leader in the city of Sodom.
Lot greeted them with honor, and since it was evening, he offered his home and his hospitality to the two strangers, giving us a good example of hospitality that we should imitate. Why should we be hospitable to others, even strangers? Well, it may turn out that they are not ordinary human beings, but angels sent from God, who will do something good for you, as these two angels will do to Lot.
The two angels in human form initially turned down Lot’s offer, wanting to spend the night in the city square, so they could test the goodness of the city. But Lot knew that the city square, which should be a safe place in a good city, was not safe, and he urged the angels to stay with him that night. Even though these strangers may not have been able to pay him back, that didn’t matter to Lot. He was generous with strangers, and treated them well that evening. He didn’t serve them poor fare, but served them a feast.
But then something terrible happened. Before they lay down to go to sleep, the male population of the city, both old and young, surrounded Lot’s house, and demanded that Lot send out the two strangers, so that they could be homosexually gang-raped by population of the entire city. Cruel, vile, disgusting, perverse, wicked, twisted, horrible. Abomination. How far they had fallen from the proper use of sexuality! How far they were from modesty, from decency, from compassion.
Lot went out to them, and offered to give them his two virgin daughters, instead of the men who had come into his home, and therefore were under his protection. This offer may have made Lot a good host, but I’m not sure it made him a good father!
The Sodomites, the men of Sodom, not only ignored Lot’s request, but threatened to treat Lot worse then the two strangers. The two men grabbed hold of Lot, and brought Lot back into his house. Then the angels did a miracle, and struck the men with blindness, so that they were unable to find the door. But in spite of learning the lesson from this miraculous judgment, and turning about from their sinful behavior, the men of Sodom were so inflamed with their perversion that they continued trying to get at Lot and the two strangers!
Then the angels told Lot to remove all the members of his family from Sodom. By their horrific actions, the people of Sodom had verified that they were wicked sinners and the situation was very serious. The Lord’s judgment had been determined and would come immediately.
Lot spoke to the men who were engaged to marry his daughters of the judgement to come, and the need to flee, but they didn’t believe him. They thought that Lot was making a joke, and refused to take him seriously. Very poor judgment, and a big mistake for them – likely their last mistake.
When morning of the day of judgment started dawning, in spite of the urging of the angels to immediately leave the city, Lot was hesitant to leave. But the good Lord loved Lot, and showed mercy to him, and the angels took hold of Lot, his wife and two daughters, and brought them outside of the city. Then one of the angels instructed them to escape if they wanted to stay alive. They must not remain in the valley. They must escape to the mountains, where they would be safe. And, they must not look back toward Sodom.
But, Lot didn’t want to flee to the mountains. He wanted to remain in the valley, which was closer and more convenient, and which Lot may have thought was safer. And so, he requested from God’s messenger permission to take refuge in a small town in the valley, and God’s angel gave him permission and promised to spare Tzoar, which means “small,” for the sake of Lot.
Do you think it was wise of Lot to not receive and follow the initial advice of the angel, which told him to flee to the mountains, and instead request to remain within a city in the valley? No. God’s advice is full of wisdom and foresight. His advise is better than our highest wisdom. But the Lord allowed Lot to have his own way, and so Lot, his wife and two daughters escaped to Tzoar. Then the Lord made sulfur and fire rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah. It came from God out of the sky. The cities of the valley were burned up, and of its people killed. Even the vegetation was destroyed. It was a total devastation. The next morning, Abraham, who was near Hebron, much higher up in elevation, was able to look down and toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and saw that the entire region was burning intensely, like the smoke pouring out of a furnace.
At the end of his life, Moses warned the Jewish to obey the Lord, and remain faithful to God, otherwise God would judge the Land of Israel, and all its land would become like sulfur and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath. I’ve been to that part of the Jordan Valley, and that area, near Sodom and Gomorrah, near the Dead Sea, and that once well watered, lush land a salty wasteland to this day.
Lot’s wife, who was commanded not to look back, did look back toward Sodom, and she was judged by God, and
turned into a pillar of salt. Poor Lot. The one who was given first choice where he would choose to live, and had chosen to live in the valley because it was well watered everywhere, and was like rich land along the Nile River in Egypt, and was like the Garden of the Lord, and therefore had plenty of grass for his many herds, lost everything. It’s hard to serve God and wealth – to want and choose having wealth in this world, and also serving God with all your heart and soul. Not only had Lot lost his home, and all his great wealth and possessions, and the city he was living in, and his place of leadership in the city, and his wife, and his son-in-laws-to-be, now he was afraid to remain even in little Tzoar!
He may have thought that the people of the city might blame him for being the reason for the destruction of their region, and kill him, or that the entire region was so ruined that there wasn’t much reason to live there. And so, he fled to the mountains, where God’s messenger had originally instructed him to go. There he found a cave and lived in it with his two daughters.
What happened next illustrates the saying, “you can take the girl out of Sodom, but you can’t take Sodom out of the girl!” While Lot was able to maintain his righteousness while living in Sodom, and was oppressed by the sensual conduct of the unprincipled people living around him, and his righteous soul felt tormented day after day as he saw and heard what was going on in Sodom, his children were not able to remain righteous. Lot’s daughters had been corrupted by their time in Sodom. The immorality of Sodom a found its way into their hearts.
Their fiancees had been killed along with the other people of Sodom, and they were alone in the mountains with their father. How would they ever find a husband? Their father was the only available male left on Earth, and he was old, and if they didn’t act quickly, they might die without having any children. O my, what could they do in such a desperate situation? Trust God to help them, as He did when He saved them out of Sodom? Seek out their uncle Abraham? No. They gave their father too much to drink, and when he was so drunk and asleep so that he didn’t know what was going on, the eldest had sex with him, and was impregnated. Her son’s name, Moav, which means “from father,” reflects this incest. The next night they got their father to drink too much again, and the second daughter committed incest, was impregnated, and had a son, “Ben-Ammi” which means, “son of my people.” He was the son of her people, her people in this case specifically being her father.
Sexual promiscuity and drinking too much go together. Drinking too much leads to loss of control, and lowers inhibitions. We wind up doing things we ordinarily wouldn’t do, things which can have the most profound and long-term consequences.
These two sons, born of drunkenness and incest, grew and had their own children. Their families increased, and became nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites. They settled in the area on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. They were never close to God, and they were generally hostile to the Jewish people, and from time to time would attack us. So, this caused many problems for the Jewish people throughout our history. The consequences of sexuality that become corrupted.
Even though they were closely related to the Hebrews in blood and language, the Ammonites hated us. The Ammonites showed no kindness to the Jewish people when we passed through their territory, en route from Egypt to the Promise Land, and therefore they were prohibited from “entering the congregation of the Lord to the tenth
generation” (Deut. 23:3). They remained hostile to Israel (Judg. 3:13). Jephthah waged war against them, and took “twenty cities… with a very great slaughter” (Judg. 11:33). They were again defeated by Saul (1 Sam. 11:11). David also defeated them and their allies the Syrians (2 Sam. 10:6-14), and took their chief city, Rabbah, with much spoil (2 Sam. 10:14; 12:26-31). The prophets predicted fearful judgments against the Ammonites because of their hostility to Israel (Zeph. 2:8; Jer. 49:1-6; Ezek. 25:1-5,10; Amos 1:13-15). The national idol worshiped by this people was Molech or Milcom, at whose altar they offered human sacrifices (1 Kings 11:5,7). The high places built for this idol by Solomon, at the instigation of his Ammonite wives, were not destroyed till the time of Josiah (2 Kings 23:13). So, the Ammonites had a very negative political and religious effect on the Jewish people.
The Moabites shared the same hatred for the Chosen People. They showed no kindness to the Jewish people when we passed through their territory, en route from Egypt to the Promise Land, and therefore they were prohibited from “entering the congregation of the Lord to the tenth generation” (Deut. 23:3). They hired Balaam to curse us. After the Conquest of Israel, the Moabites maintained hostile relations with the Jewish people, and frequently harassed us in war (Judg. 3:12-30; 1 Sam. 14). The story of Ruth, however, shows the existence of friendly relations between Moab and Bethlehem. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. Yet there was war between David and the Moabites (2 Sam. 8:2; 23:20; 1 Chr. 18:2), from whom he took great spoil (2 Sam. 8:2, 11, 12; 1 Chr. 11:22; 18:11). Several centuries later Isaiah uttered a prophecy about Moab, predicting the coming of judgment on that land (Isaiah 15-16). Between the time of Isaiah and the commencement of the Babylonian Captivity we have very few references to Moab (Jer. 25:21; 27:3; 40:11; Zeph. 2:8-10). After the Return from Babylon, it was Sanballat, a Moabite, who took chief part in seeking to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:19; 4:1; 6:1). [The history of the Ammonites and Moabites comes from WebBible Encyclopedia]
The Ammonites and Moabites, and all the trouble they caused us, came about because of the improper sexual activity of Lot’s two daughters! My friends, sex is powerful! Its use in its proper, God-given setting – marriage – is a great blessing. It’s misuse in any other setting, can have the most profound and destructive consequences!
Since the beginning of the Sexual Revolution in the 1960s, our nation has been progressively misusing sex, and it is leading to terrible consequences. Most Americans who are sexually active have multiple partners over their lifetime. One survey I recall said that it was close to 10 partners.
Since 1960, there has been an explosion of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. In 1960, there were only a couple of common STDs. Now there are 25!
In the United States, at the beginning of our fall into sexual degeneracy, there were no reported cases of AIDs. The first case was reported in 1981. Now, only 23 years later, more than 500,000 have died of AIDs, more than died during World War 2, and even more people are infected!
The Culture of Life Foundation reports that at a public health conference held in December in Washington DC, doctors cited evidence of an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among the nation’s teenagers, and cited “safe-sex” programs and condom-distribution as contributing factors of the problem.
At the conference, researcher Dr. David Hager reported that within the US each year, chlamydia cases increase by 4 million, pelvic inflammatory disease by 1.2 million, gonorrheae by 2 million, genital herpes by 1 million and human papilloma virus (HPV) by 5.5 million.
According to the American Social Health Association, 3.8 million of these and other STD cases are contracted by US teens – the highest contraction rate within the general US population. In fact, almost 45% of all teenagers and young adults are infected with at least one STD by their mid-twenties.
Many of these STDs cannot be cured, leading to long-term health problems including infertility and even cancer. 95% of all cases of cervical cancer are associated with HPV infection, resulting in 4000 deaths a year in the United States.
Yet teenagers continue to be the most targeted group for the safe-sex message, which advocates condom use to prevent the spread of STDs, including HIV. According to groups such as Planned Parenthood, “safer-sex practice allows couples to reduce their sexual health risks. Safer sex is anything we do to lower our risk of sexually transmitted infection.” Unfortunately, new statistics and studies have concluded that “while condom usage has increased most among teens, STDs have also increased most among teens.” Project Reality, the advocacy group sponsoring the conference, points out that “the popular claim that ‘condoms help prevent the spread of STDs,’ is not supported by the data. If condoms were effective against STDs, the increase in condom usage would correlate to a decrease in STDs overall-which is not the case. Rather as condom usage increases, so do rates of STDs.”
In addition to such statistics on STD cases, studies on sexual activity during adolescence also show increased percentages of depression, suicide, as well as an assortment of emotional problems including loss of self-respect, esteem, and trust among sexually active teens.
As Dr. Hager went on to point out, the only way to guarantee teens will not contract such diseases, or, prevent increases in these emotional and behavioral problems is to promote the delay of “sexual activity until they are in a mutually, monogamous relationship within marriage,” not the safe-sex message. The most effective messages promoting the delay of sexual activity came from parents and moral beliefs, which “accounted for 53% of the influences affecting teen decisions about sex.” (From the Culture of Life Foundation, 1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington DC 20005, www.culture-of-life.org).
Don’t listen to the ungodly, wicked sexual propaganda coming from the world. Heed God’s word. Learn the lessons from Sodom and Gomorrah. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter. God surely will judge sin. He will reject it. He will punish it, and the one who continues to practice it. Don’t ignore sin. Turn away from it before its too late!
Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, and are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Not that the fires are still burning, but the consequences will last forever, and all of us should learn from what happened to them, so that something similar doesn’t happen to us (Jude 7).
Messiah warned us to “remember Lot’s wife.” Lot’s wife, who was commanded not to look back, did look back toward Sodom, and she was judged by God, and turned into a pillar of salt. When God delivers us from an unhealthy situation, don’t look back with longing toward it. If you were engaged in sinful behavior, and the Lord revealed Himself to you, and brought you away from there, and started changing you, don’t look back on those former things with longing, with affection, with desire. Don’t think about them with pleasure. Don’t maintain fond memories of them. If God delivered you from sinful attitudes, and bad practices, don’t be drawn back toward them, lest something terrible happen to you, as it did to Lot’s wife.
The Son of God warned us that what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah would happen in the Achareet HaYameem – the Last Days: In the days of Lot they were homosexuals, great sinners who offended the Creator, but they thought they were OK. They were going about their affairs as usual. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and sulfur from Heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” Our society is rapidly descending into the materialistic and sexual cesspool of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our outcry is becoming great, and our sin exceedingly grave. Don’t be surprised if the Lord comes down, and His judgment falls.
Finally, the last lesson that we should consider is that there are sins even worse than those of Sodom and Gomorrah. And, those sins are the sins of unbelief, rejection of the of Messiah, and rejection of those who bring the Good News about the salvation He offers (see Matthew 10:11-15, 11:23-24). The Son of God declared that any city that does not receive one of His disciples, and pay attention to his words, and his message about the need to believe in Messiah, and turn to Him, will find that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Messiah promised that the city of Capernaum, in which Yeshua did many miracles, and yet didn’t receive Him, or believe in Him, will not be exalted to Heaven, but will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in Capernaum it would have remained. In the day of judgment, the people of Capernaum will be judged more severely than those who were part of Sodom! Unbelief in God and rejection of the Messiah whom He sent – Yeshua, mankind’s only Savior, is a terrible, terrible sin, my friends. It’s a very serious thing. Warn people of the danger. Tell them clearly, strongly, they must accept Yeshua, and obey and follow and serve.
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