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Abomination or Alternate Lifestyle?
By M. S. Shiflett
What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Most homosexuals could care less. Some declare that God is in no way opposed to it, and that as Christians, we have no right to judge them or condemn it. There are some very outspoken "gays" and "lesbians", (from this point on referred to as sodomites) that spend quite a bit of energy defending their lifestyle and are not content to just insist on their freedoms and right to choose, but they actually try to defend their actions with the Bible. If you think that I am just talking, I am not. I have had sodomites try to prove to me from the Bible that David and Jonathon were lovers, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. I am amazed at how adamant they get when you try to show them what God really says about their sin.
Those that are not sodomites may simply know it is condemned in the Bible and that along with the fact that they are "normal" is enough for them. But if by chance someone reading this article is involved in the sin of sodomy, then I challenge you to read this in its entirety. I firmly believe that many people who are experimenting with this sin are still able to be convicted of their sin and forgiven of them. However, though I do not know the exact details and limits, I firmly believe that the Bible teaches that sodomites are in great danger of being "given up" by God. (Romans 1:24-32) If you care to know what God says about the sin of sodomy, then by all means continue reading.
Let me begin by defining the definition and the origin of the word "sodomy". The origin is of course from the inhabitants of the city of Sodom, found in Exodus. Our first clue is in chapter 13 and verse 13. (By the way, the number 13 is the number for Depravity and Rebellion!!) It says: "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before God exceedingly." We could stop there and suppose and guess what their sin was. But we don't have to. Later on in the book, chapter 19 to be exact, we see two angels visiting Lot. These angels were men, or so we are told in verse 5. The men of the city surrounded the house of Lot and begged him to send out the men that they might know them. I quote: "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them." These men were homosexuals, and very aggressive ones at that according to verse 9 "And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door." Lot, in his attempt to protect these two angels, offered the crazed men outside his two daughters, but the men didn't want that. They wanted those two men. This is where we get the word "sodomite" from.
As for the definition of sodomy, or sodomite, let's look at Websters 1828 Dictionary. It lists "sodomite" as: an inhabitant of Sodom. 2. One guilty of sodomy. It lists "sodomy" as: A crime against nature. So there you have it from the experts. That is why I refer to homosexuals as "sodomites". I feel I can't go wrong calling them what God calls them. By the way, in the King James Bible, the word "sodomite" is used five times, and at least 48 times there are references to Sodom, and all of them with negative connotations.
I am going to give a list of reasons why God hates the sin of sodomy. In the Bible, God uses the word "abomination" to describe the act of homosexuality. What does the word "abomination" mean anyway? According to Webster, the word abomination means: extreme hatred, detestation, defilement, pollution, in a physical sense, or evil doctrines and practices which are moral defilements. Pretty obvious don't you think? Here is where God very matter-of-factly states his opinion of homosexuality. Levitucus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." For those that want to ignorantly cry that these laws apply only to the Jews and are Old Testament law, allow me to dissipate that theory.
First of all, God is an unchanging God. If something was an abomination to him in Leviticus, then it is still an abomination to Him today. The swelling ranks of the sodomite community does not sway his opinions or change his laws. He is a holy, sovereign God, and man's rejections and perversions can do nothing to change that. If we were to outline every reference in the Bible to holiness and godliness, this article would be quite lengthy to say the least. God is holy, and he commands us to be holy. There is absolutely no way in the world a sodomite can honestly believe in his or her heart that the practice of sodomy would fall under the category of "holiness". To say that would be the height of blasphemy. So to claim that because the Old Testament Law denounces and prohibits sodomy makes it essentially non-applicable to us today is not only ridiculous but shows great ignorance of God's word as a whole.
I would like to compile a list of reasons why sodomy is an abomination unto God. I will be as brief as possible while at the same time allowing no room for debate or doubt, the Lord willing.
1. IT IS PLAINLY FORBIDDEN BY GOD
As we just saw in Leviticus 18:22, God leaves no doubt as to what he is talking about. The entire chapter is dealing with sexual immorality as a whole, and God plainly shows us his mind on several different subjects, sodomy being one of them.
2. IT IS CONDEMNED IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE LANGUAGE.
Here are some of the words God used to describe sodomy and Sodom and Gomorrah.
"Cursed be Canaan." Genesis 9:25 We find that Canaan's borders included Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen.10:19
"...before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah..." Gen.13:10
"...and the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." Gen. 13:13
"...and because their sin is very grievous." Gen. 18:20
"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Gen. 19:24
"vile affections" Romans 1:26
"that which is against nature" Romans 1:26
"leaving the natural use of the woman" Romans 1:27
"men with men working that which is unseemly" Romans 1:27
"reprobate mind" Romans 1:28
"effeminate" I Cor. 6:9
"abusers of themselves with mankind" I Cor. 6:9
"inordinate affections" Col 3:5
"them that defile themselves with mankind" I Tim.1:10
"filthy conversation" 2 Peter 2:7
"going after strange flesh" Jude 7
3. GOD COMMANDED SODOMITES TO BE PUT TO DEATH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Sounds to me like God didn't like it too much!!
4. ALL THE KINGS THAT FOLLOWED GOD DISPOSED OF ALL THE SODOMITES
I Kings 15:11,12 "And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made."
"And Jehoshaphat made with peace with the king of Israel...and the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land." I Kings 22:44,46
"And the king stood by a pillare, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book....And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord..." II Kings 23:3,7
5. GOD INTENDED FOR THE WOMAN TO BE THE HELP MEET FOR THE MAN
Gen. 2:18 "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him." "And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man." Vs. 22 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Vs. 24,25 God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!!!
6. SODOMITES CANNOT REPRODUCE, THEY CAN ONLY RECRUIT!
God clearly commanded the first family to "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it..." Genesis 1:28 It is scientifically impossible for two members of the same sex to reproduce. God did not design for it to happen, and he had a purpose for it. If the first family had been two sodomites, that would have been the end of humanity.
7. GOD CONDEMNS IMMORALITY AND CONDONES MORALITY
Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
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