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“Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’ —Genesis 18:32
The time for praying and fasting is upon us as Christian Americans. Abraham prayed that the righteous would not be destroyed with the ungodly. He pleaded in an intercessory prayer that God would not destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for 50 righteous persons down to 10 righteous people living in Sodom. However, his prayers were ineffective because the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were past the point of return and God would not spare the cities because there were not 10 righteous citizens living in these twin cities.
Scripture reveals to us the ungodly nature of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah when the men of Sodom called for Lot to give them the men in his house. Genesis 19:5 says, “And they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” The words “knew” and “know” are the same word in Hebrew, past and present tense. This word takes on the connotation of a sexual relationship. It’s the same word used in Genesis 4:1: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.’” And again in Genesis 4:17 we read: “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.”
The men of Sodom were intent on sodomizing the angels although Lot offered his daughters to them to do as they pleased. Genesis 19:8 says, “Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” Homosexuality was a predominant sin within these cities.
The Bible is clear on the judgment of all sin. God will judge every sin; however, homosexuality is the only sin that God gives up on as a part of its judgment. Romans 1:27-29 states: “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”
Same-sex intercourse is categorized, in the Bible, in the same context as a human having sex with an animal. “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion (Leviticus 18:22-23). Things that are detestable to God make him sick, nauseated and vomitous. It must be gotten out of his system so he gives them up to a reprobate mind, a mind without God.
Wikipedia.org and the New World Encyclopedia provide similar historical background: “Jude 1:7. Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice and homosexuality viewed as a deviation. The story has therefore given rise to words in several languages, including the English word “sodomy” used in so-called sodomy laws to describe a sexual ‘crime against nature’ consisting of anal sex, either homosexual or heterosexual.”
Over the last 50 years, America has observed the decline of the family structure because the biblical principles, values and morals connected to marriage have eroded. Marriage is no longer viewed as a divine institution designed by God to procreate the human race. Nor is wedlock understood to provide a lifelong companionship for a husband and wife. Marriage as God created will essentially reveal the glory of God’s image living in both male and female as they serve as an example of Christ’s marriage to His bride, the church. On the subject of marriage, America remains on the wrong course.
Same-sex marriage is a ridiculous and unnatural idea. Some things automatically belong together in relationships: boyfriend and girlfriend, man and woman, bride and groom, husband and wife, mother and father, aunt and uncle. But the union of same-sex marriages totally changes how we view relationships in a way that will never naturally go together—a boy and his boyfriend, a girl and her girlfriend, a man and his husband, a woman and her wife, the bride and bride, groom and groom, wife and wife, husband and husband, and so on.
The recent positional statement from President Obama makes it clear America is now in the same morally sinful category as Sodom and Gomorrah. It is embarrassing and shameful to observe a confessing Christian president grossly misinterpret Scripture. His claim that the Bible allows for same-sex marriages is out of context with Scripture. His announcement has put parents in a heart-breaking situation to explain to their children that the president is wrong: boys are not made to marry boys or girls to marry girls.
Billy Graham has said, “If God doesn’t judge America he will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!” America is in trouble with God. We must pray that God will make us righteous, or America will one day become a modern Sodom.
Heavenly Father, I pray that you please help our president and governmental leaders see the error of their ways. In Jesus Name! Amen.
—Terry Turner is the pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite and president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
