HAS THE WORLD LEARNT FROM SODOM AND GOMORRAH? A GREAT EVIL IS ON US - Jude 1 v 7
[A]. REVISION: Jude was in the process of writing about the Christian’s common salvation when it became urgent for him to side-track his letter to address the problem of false teachers moving into church fellowships to destroy the faith of the believers. This was critical, so Jude gave all urgency to write about that problem. These evil men had crept in unnoticed and without great ceremony, and among them were those who were telling the saints they could live however they liked, because God’s grace would cover their sin. The more you indulged the flesh, the more grace God gives to cover that sin. The word Jude used was “licentiousness”. These men are deniers.
From there he cited examples to show that God does not tolerate apostasy and unbelief, or those arrogant ones who abuse God’s true message. He sends them into judgement. The first group he covers was Israel, redeemed from Egypt, protected by God, provided for by God, but were utterly faithless and disloyal. Then he looked at the angels who left their heavenly appointments and sinned in a most evil way and they were, and are confined in chains in the gloomy darkness until they end in the lake of fire forever.
To speak on the issue of homosexuality is politically incorrect but we obey the scriptures not the perverted laws of man. Those who stand for the truth are now persecuted in losing their careers as in the case of sports people and honest politicians. Very evil people, including increasing numbers of politicians, are trying to formulate actions against Christians to silence them so they can not speak against the immorality of the nation. We move to God’s word -
[B]. Verse 7. LUSTING AFTER STRANGE FLESH
(a) Verse 7 in Context. We will now look at the second group Jude covers in revealing apostasy and evil, and judgement that follows. Here is the verse in the NASB – {{Jude 1:7 “In the same way as these, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”}} It is important in our study to see the opening words of the verse – “in the same way” or “in a similar way”, so that means he is being consistent with the argument he presented in the previous verses, which is gross sin = definite judgement. Jude has just written of these fallen angels who sinned immorally (maybe lusting with earthly women, but all that was uncertain) but then he moves to what is unnatural – man with man. Verse 7 considers Sodom and Gomorrah, the two main cities, but the net is cast wider to include the cities around them, Admah and Zeboim, and all the valley.
(b). The Charge Against the Sodomites. Jude now states the reason for the judgement that came upon them. It was “gross immorality” (NASB), “sexual immorality” (NIV), but I feel neither translation is strong enough for the meaning. It means to indulge oneself in great immoral behaviour. Here you have these people of Sodom, more so the men, who feasted themselves and indulged in the grossest of immorality, particularly homosexuality. The bible uses words the world hates, which it tries to eradicate from its language, namely, fornication, adultery, indecency, perversion, homosexuality (especially that one and the name has changed to “gay”), but all those sins are listed by God under the umbrella of immorality, but only one of them is termed as “gross”, and that is homosexuality.
(c). The Importance of the Marriage Blueprint. I believe there is a reason why “gross” is attached to the sin. Let me explain. There is only one institution God gave to mankind. Yes, He outlined codes of behaviour but only one institution. It is found in Genesis – {{Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them. Gen 1:28 God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”}} Those verses indicate a union of male and female which is explained in more detail in this section - chapter 2 – {{Genesis 2:22 “and the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Gen 2:23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.” Gen 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”}}
Now to complete the references to the marriage union, instituted in Genesis, the Lord Jesus Christ put His stamp upon this in the greatest possible affirmation – {{Matthew 19:4 “He answered and said, “Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, Matt 19:5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?’ Matt 19:6 Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”}}
The marriage union is absolutely essential in the uniting of male and female, and there is no exception whatever to male and female. Two males or two females do not count. In fact, in Jude’s terms this is gross immorality. As it is enshrined in law, marriage is the union of one male and one female. Look at Australian Federal politicians. Warren Entsch, Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and Penny Wong were among the first to advocate same sex marriage, and would nail their colours to the mast in Sodom for this gross immorality, and will suffer the same fate as those cities did long ago. The authority of the bible will shout that out. May those 4 turn in repentance to God and be delivered from the penalty. However it is now so widespread since that happened six years ago. It has been made it like “commonplace”.
There are those who say the laws against homosexuality in the OT related to the Jewish culture of the time and are not relevant today. Well let’s look at the prohibition in the Old Testament – {{Leviticus 20:13 “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. Their blood-guiltiness is upon them.”}} Both the NIV and NASB say it is a “detestable act”, yet there are those in church pulpits these days advocating gay marriage. These are the exact ones Jude speaks of in his letter.
(d). Why is Marriage Enshrined? Before we come to the New Testament to look at the references there, I want to pose a question, “Why is God so precise about marriage between male and female, and why is the penalty for contravening that, the ultimate one? (destruction). The answer is simple for me but some may not be sure. Before the creation of the universe, way back in eternity past, the foreknowledge of God and the predetermined will of God, decided that the Son of God, God the Son, would have His Bride, the Church redeemed by His blood, and that His Bride would be united with her Redeemer in a marriage in heaven. That takes place in Revelation chapter 19. The deep preciousness of that union between Christ and His Church was the basis upon which human marriage was instituted. Therefore homosexual marriage is a perversion and insult and mockery of Christ’s marriage and will suffer the same penalty as Sodom and Gomorrah suffered.
[C]. HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.
When we come to the New Testament, we see there also, an unchanged stance on homosexuality. The best known passage is this one – {{Romans 1:24 “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonoured among them, Rom 1:25 for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, Rom 1:27 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. Rom 1:28 Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper”}}
Paul confirms this stance again in two more passages, ones that contain lists of continuing sins that will never gain heaven – (a). {{1Corinthians 6:9 “or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,”}} (b). {{1Timothy 1:10 “and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,”}}
WARNING TO CHRISTIANS
At this stage there is something most important I want to say. Some Christians are on a bandwagon against homosexuality, and I understand that, but there is the greatest danger here, that in pursuing one sin, you are overlooking others. What about pride? What about dishonesty? What about lying and failing to do good, AND don’t miss the phrase “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching”? In one sense all sin is equal in God’s eyes in that it keeps one from heaven. We must be very careful here about casting the first stone.
LAST LOOK AT THE JUDE VERSE
Let us look again at the Jude verse. The NASB uses “went after strange flesh” in the next phrase. The NIV uses “perversion”; the ESV translates it as “pursued unnatural desire” and the KJV also uses “strange flesh”. This phrase used means they were addicted to the evil vice. In Leviticus 18 v 22 it says “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” (ESV) and nearly every translation used “abomination” or “detestable act”. Today in looking at this issue, we have used many “not too nice” words, ones of strong meaning like detestable, abomination, perversion, but I do not apologise, as this is what our holy bibles say. The bible is the word of God. I would be rejected in an increasing number of churches for this message today, but ironically, not by Moslems, not by Islam.
GETTING BACK TO SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Now to conclude what Jude is saying about Sodom and Gomorrah (not concluding this message) – at the end of the verse he states that these towns are presented as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. They sustained and suffered the eternal fire from heaven. As the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah suffered fire and brimstone from the earth, so too will those in hell suffer the same consequences. They suffered punishment, and that punishment was typical of the eternal retribution of God. "A destruction," says Professor Lumby, "so utter and so permanent as theirs has been, is the nearest approach that can be found in this world to the destruction which awaits those who are kept under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
How were all these towns destroyed back in Genesis? Let us look at that – {{Genesis 19 v 24-29 “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD, and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley. . .”}} The skeptics dismiss the hand of God in this saying that the whole area was full of bitumen pits and sulphur in the old volcanic region around the Dead Sea, and some natural event set off the burning material. In the book of Enoch (67.4) the angels who sinned are said to be imprisoned in a burning valley (Hinnom, ch. 27) in which there was a great swelling of waters, accompanied by a smell of sulphur; and “that valley of the angels burned continually under the earth”. Charles notes on this that “the Gehenna valley here includes the adjacent country down to the Dead Sea. A subterranean fire was believed to exist under the Gehenna valley.”
[D]. PETER’S TESTIMONY OF EVENTS.
{{2Peter 2 v 6 “and if He 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 thereafter;”}} I will remind you again that Peter did not copy Jude or Jude copy Peter. They both addressed the same issues, especially with the false teachers coming in, but with a big difference. Peter gives the summary of events but Jude provides the particulars. Peter does stress that condemnation led to destruction, and that God recorded all this as an example for those living ungodly lives (we can say by inference, he means to a greater extent, homosexuals, but it is wider than that). The comment “reducing them to ashes” means a complete burning, or destruction.
[E]. PETER’S ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.
The Apostle leads on from Sodom and Gomorrah to ass an additional thought about Lot. Here are the verses – {{2Peter 2 v 7-10 “and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.”}} I don’t see Lot in a good light, but that is another story. He had no right being in Sodom and even the depraved men of Sodom said so. This is what the evil men of Sodom said when they were trying to break down the door to rape the two men inside who had come to Lot (they were the two angels sent from God) – {{Genesis 19 v 9 “but they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them,” so they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.”}} What Peter wants to add for our benefit in verse 9, is the contrast of the two ways. God rescues the godly from temptation, but will keep the ungodly under punishment for the day of judgement, and verse 10 specifies that this class of people are those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh, as did the Sodomites, and who despise authority.
[F]. THE CHRISTIAN LIVING IN SODOM AND GOMORRAH
We live in the world. We are part of it. We live in this current sinful world but must never be part of this evil world system. Where do we stand as Christians in the matter of homosexuality? The first thing is that we must be thoroughly convinced of the bible’s position on it, and that I have been covering today.
Secondly we must oppose in our churches, every suggestion that we as Christians, have to be tolerant towards the acceptance of the homosexuality practice and welcome gay people as our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. That attitude is what Jude strongly opposes. So must we. Caution is required here. We can not accept homosexual ministers in a church or consider we have a like common faith with homosexuality. We interact with homosexuals in the world and we should never treat these people with disrespect or deliberately be unfriendly to them. Do not forget the parable of the Good Samaritan. If one enters a church it is wrong to attack or persecute.
We stand our ground against same sex marriage and must not participate in, or watch the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras where the Lord is blasphemed and Christians vilified.
ANOTHER WARNING TO CHRISTIANS!
Thirdly, we do what we can to support the biblical position on marriage which means we can write to politicians, etc, if we feel we should. Fourthly, and this is most difficult – we must distinguish between the practice and the person; between the sin and the sinner. We must hate the practice but not the person. Acceptance of the person is not acceptance of the practice. Jesus ministered to the Samaritan woman but did not accept her immorality. He loved the person but not the sin.
Fifthly, we have to understand we live in the days when good is becoming evil, and evil is considered good. God says that those who hold to that are cursed – {{Isaiah 5 v 20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isa 5 v 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!”}} In our generation we will see the decline of the good and the promotion of the evil. This includes homosexuality. You will see great advances in laws and acceptance of homosexuality. Same sex marriage is legal practice for Australia and in all the western world now. These things grieve us but we must look up to God, for all this is to happen. Do not be dismayed. Read the prophecies for the last days. Lastly, you as Christians will be despised for your godly stand as Israel was. You will be called homophobic because you reject the practice, a complete misapplication of the term “homophobic” which means “fear of the male species”.
As bad as homosexuality is, it is but one of the sins of the flesh that applies to the old sinful nature. There are so many of these sins and in a few places Paul gives lists of these. We must always be careful about concentrating on one of those sins all the time, and bypassing the others. The Holy Spirit in us has given us a new nature that fights against the old one. We should hate sin, and if we sin, we should feel guilty about that as the Spirit convicts to lead us to repentance. The old things have passed away and all things are new for the Christian. We are to pursue righteousness, not the desires of the flesh which are many.
None of this we are expected to do in our own strength or with our ability. That results in failure. Actually Jude has the secret he gives to us at the end of his letter – {{Jude 1 v 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand blameless in the presence of His glory with great joy, . . . “}} Who keeps us from stumbling? None other than the answer in the last verse – “God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
This is a difficult subject. God help us all. Amen
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
