“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen (Ezekiel 16:49-50).

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Forget Sodom!

The enemy attacks on all fronts; that’s a big problem with tunnel vision. We can get so wrapped up with what the left hand is doing that we lose sight of the right. I’m no hater, because it’s a struggle for me too, but struggle or not, it’s something I believe the church must face together. Pride is the rot from which all kinds of poisonous fruit grow, and it has long since breached our perimeter.

“Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! ‘The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!’” (Isaiah 1:10-15).

From my Bible commentary on Isaiah.

1:10–15 God despises rituals without reality, sacrifices without obedience, gifts without the givers. As long as people are living in sin, their attendance at the temple [church] services is an insulting trampling of His courts. The mixing of iniquity and solemn assembly is hateful to Him. He will pay no attention to their outstretched hands or many prayers.

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen” (Ezekiel 16:49-50).

From my Bible commentary on Ezekiel.

16:44–52 The abominations committed by Jerusalem (Judah) were worse than those of her predecessors, the Hittites, Amorites, Samaria, or Sodom. Sexual perversion was only one of Sodom’s sins. The iniquity of Sodom also included fullness of food and abundance of idleness. This reads only too much like a description of modern Christendom! Feinberg comments:

Notice how pride was singled out as the root of Sodom’s sin when her abominations were traced to their source. God had blessed her abundantly with fullness of bread (Gen. 13:10), but she monopolized these blessings for her own pleasures and basked in prosperous ease. Provision for her own needs made her insensible to the needs of others; she had no social conscience. Then she committed the abominations and enormities which are linked inseparably with her name. God took her away with a final blow when He saw it (Gen. 18:21).

Copyright © 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2016 by William MacDonald.

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