The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – was it real or imaginary?

The book of Genesis did not set out to report a scientific fact about the creation of the world. Hence, we are told that most of the stories found there in were written to teach us how God intervened in the life of a people and turned it round for the better. The authors were more concerned “with the origin of the world, of the human race, and, in particular, of the Hebrew people. Eleven structural units of unequal length and importance, present the unity and purpose of the book in terms of God’s universal sovereignty, his dealings with men, and his choice and formation of a special people to be the instrument of his plan of salvation.” The purpose of this post is not to give an exegetical expose on the book of Genesis. Oh no! I am only interested in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of the book. In fact, I am only interested in the discourse between Abraham and the Lord and the actual destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So the question is, since most parts of the Book of Genesis are not historical fact, can we say that the destruction did not take place?

My answer, as you would expect, is in the negative. We know that there are many cities that have been wiped out from the face of the earth and many more are simply hanging on, waiting for their destruction time. What with wild fires that have engulfed many cities and driven the inhabitants to look for shelter elsewhere? Think of earth quark and tsunami that have devastated many countries and rendered them uninhabitable? What about tornadoes and hurricanes that have decimated many towns and villages? I bet you, it this was in the time of the bible, these events would have been seen as acts of God because He is displeased with the inhabitants of these cities and hence punished them due to their iniquities.

There is another big question that must be asked if this post is to be meaningful, and that is: Why was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed? And how? The Book of Genesis has not told us exactly what the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was. According to Genesis 18:20-21 “Then the Lord said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out.”” The commentary on Gen. 18:20 as recorded in The New American Bible states thus, “Israelite tradition was unanimous in ascribing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra to the wickedness of these cities, but tradition varied in regard to the nature of this wickedness. According to the present account of the Yahwist, the sin of Sodom was homosexuality (Gen 19:4f), which is therefore also known as sodomy; but according to Isaiah (1:9f; 3,9), it was a lack of social justice; Ezekiel (16:46-51) described it as a disregard for the poor, whereas Jeremiah (23:14) saw it as general immorality.” I want believe that all the reasons given above and more most have contributed to the destruction of these two cities. If we look at how these cities were destroyed, they could have been engulfed by wild fire, as many of our cities today have been. So what is the difference Sodom and Gomorrah and our present day cities destroyed by fire?

My contention: there are many cities today that have surpassed Sodom and Gomorrah in their sins of iniquity. Like Godons, the Nigerian comedian said, God will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if He does not punish this generation. If the sin of these two cities was homosexuality, then what about the same sex union that has been legalized in many of the states of the nation? And yet many more are clamoring for marriage reform to include the union between man and man and woman and woman. In my March 18^th blog post I reflected on the same sex union controversy. There I made my point.

St Paul makes a very strong case against cities that have thrown God’s commandment overboard and decide to follow their own laws. In Philippians 3:18-19 he said, “For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.” I know a lot of people live their lives without the thought of God, well that is their problem. But our life and the way we choose to live it has repercussion on the lives of others. Our life style may, consequently, bring punishment on others. In his letter to the Romans 1:18-32, Paul once again has a very strong and rather frightening opinion on this topic. “The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” He goes on to say, “…for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or four-legged animals or of snakes. Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lust of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshipped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper. They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips and scandalmongers and they hate god. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but given approval to those who practice them.” Does it, in any way, sound familiar? So the question again, “The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – was it real or imaginary? Do we, in any way, experience the iniquities recounted by Paul prevalent in our Society? Do we think that these sins do not cry out to God? What if God should come down to see that we are, in fact, engaged in these practices, do you think he will spare us?   Just thinking aloud!