Sodom and Gomorrah

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is typically understood as God's anger against homosexuality. Recently many scholars argue that it is a lesson regarding the importance of hospitality. An important commandment of the Old and New Testament is to "Love your Neighbor." Jesus states that there is no greater love that one person has for another than to lay down their lives for their friends. He instructs us to love our enemies. In the Old Testament God gives us rules to assist and help travelers. These things lend themselves to the thought that bonding, helping, lifting up, and sacrifice is very important to God in our relationships with each other.If we look at the beginning of the story in Genesis 18 we find the LORD appears to Abraham. The Lord takes on the plural form here. Don't be confused by that because it just a way to show God and two men (angels) as travelers. The two angels later in the story go to the cities to check things out. Abraham is super hospitable to the travelers. We read too of the ongoing covenant between the Lord and Abraham in the promise of a son. In verse 16 it appears that there are two men (angels) with the Lord. The Lord wonders if he should tell Abraham what is to become of Sodom and Gomorrah. The two men (angels) head toward the two cities. In parables and allegories and stories in general there are details that we question. It is important not to get bogged down in these details but try to stay on track as we travel through the story and bring meaning out of the story for our lives today.The Lord does not say what the sins of the cities are only that he has "heard" that it is an evil place and that he is going down there to check it out. Which we understand as we read on that the angels are going down to see and report back perhaps by Twitter. I don't know. It does not matter. Abraham then suggests as we might: "Are you going to destroy all the men women and children that are without blame to punish those that are bad?" Our understanding today is that a loving God would not do such a thing. If this is how God operates there would not be a city standing on earth. So Abraham bargains with the Lord. "If there are 50 good people there -- if there are 45 there, 40 there and so on..." Chapter 19 finds the angels in Lot's care (Lot is Abraham’s nephew). Lot has extended hospitality to the angels that of course appear as men. Now comes the townspeople that want Lot to send out the men so they can have sex with them.This is where the modern reader gets derailed. We think this desire for homosexuality and rape is what makes God so angry God will destroy two cities. Let’s say that the point God wants to make to us by inspiring the story is that God's anger is against not being hospitable. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus exaggerates the sin of the younger son. It could be suggested that in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah the events are also exaggerated to make a point. Say you were trying to tell a similar story for that same reason, that is God wants us to be helpful to each other. You might have two travelers passing through a remote area when their car breaks down. They would walk on foot in the hot sun until they were hungry, thirsty and tired. Finally they come upon a farmhouse where they seek help.Instead of hospitality what is the worse thing that the inhabitants of the house could do to the travelers? They could kill them and rob them I suppose but even worse would be to beat and rape them. Then in your story the travelers would escape and God would send a tornado to wipe out the farm and kill the abusers. Those listening to your story would have to discern why God punished the abusers. Was it for rape and beating? Many people would think that. However the rape and beating is hyperbole for not given help to the traveler. If the residents of the farm just refused help and sent the travelers on their way and then God wiped them out with a tornado the listener might think it was rather an extreme punishment or a coincidence. With the rape and beating however a definite connection can be made between the act of rape and beating and the punishment. The danger is that the listener might never make the real connection and think only the punishment was for rape and beating. A few thousand years ago listeners and readers of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah would understand the true reason for the destruction of the cities. Oral traditions and stories in those times were like our movies today. Modern stories and movies typically have a meaning, something we can learn from. If we just say, "God wants us to help each other, to love our neighbors as ourselves," most people really don't get how important it is. But if we hear a story like Sodom and Gomorrah with all the violence and destruction it makes an impact on us. Unfortunately the deeper meaning is lost on the modern reader. We just absorb the surface material and don't realize the point is that God inspired the story so we would know how important it is to take care of each other through support and sacrifice. In the ancient times of the Old Testament, travelers would die in the wilderness without the help of others. In addition to the story as it is, is that two cities near the eastern side of the Dead Sea were destroyed probably by earthquake a few thousand years ago. It was horrific with falling buildings and fire and widespread death. What made the story of Sodom and Gomorrah so real to ancient listeners is that they would have known about the destruction of those two cities. So the oral and later written tradition of this story ties in a real event with a tangible reason for the destruction. In those days people thought bad things happened because of God's anger. People would have asked why those cities were destroyed? There were probably many stories about it but the one that survived and later was placed in the Bible was the one that was most exciting. It was inspired by God of course but filtered through the understanding of storytellers and writers within the structure of their understanding and superstitions. What can we learn from the story today. Certainly we know better than to rape and beat people seeking help. We can give someone a ride or even a car if possible. We can help each other in the workplace and in our villages and cities. What can we do for the homeless and the hungry beyond what we are doing now? If someone loses a loved one how can we help? How can we reach out to people. In the story of Job his three friends come and just sit with him without saying a word for a week. That is really the best thing to do in that situation, just be there for a friend in loss. Why does God not stop pain and suffering we ask. Why does God not send someone to help? The answer is that God works in all those situations by sending us. We are God's eyes and hands and heart and that is how God works. God does not change disaster and suffering but God works for good in all things for those that believe by using us. God is a transforming God and can transform people in the midst of suffering when we work together for good.