Date: Sat, 2 Jul 94 0:49:13 CDT
From: Al Geiersbach <Bob.Sillyheimer@mixcom.mixcom.com>

7 / 1 / 94

   The 120 days of Sodom.

   Sodom was NOT destroyed because of the experience of the two
angels.

   This is obvious to anyone who reads the book.

   The first mention of Sodom appears to be in Genesis 13, verse
10ff, where Lot chose to pitch his tent in Sodom because it was
"all watered, before God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, as the
garden of the Lord, and as the land of Egypt, until thou come to
Zogora. In verse 13 already it is said "But the men of Sodom
were evil, and exceedingly sinful before God."

   Yet after this expression of the wickedness of Sodom, Chapter
relates how the kings of the area "made war with Balla king of
Sodom and with Barsa king of Gomorrha.... And the king of Sodom
went out, and the king of Gomorrha... and they set themselves in
array against them for war in the salt valley.... Now the salt
valley consists of slime-pits. And the king of Sodom fled and
the king of Gomorrha, and they fell in there... and they took
all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrha... and they took also Lot
the son of Abram's brother...."

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch....       "And Abraam having
heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, numbered his
own home born servants three hundred eighteen, and pursued after
them to Dan... And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he
recovered Lot his nephew, and all his possessions, and the women
and the people."

   Well, that's quite a way for "the Lord" to treat such
wickedness. Send Abraam to the rescue.

   Moving right along, we come to Genesis 18, where God appears
to Abraam and sends men to visit him in verse 16: And the men
having risen up from thence looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha...
And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraam my servant what
things I intend to do?... And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom
and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are
very great. I will therefore go down and see, if they completely
correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I
may know...."

   There follows the passage where Abraam bargains with God for
Sodom, and God says he will not destroy it if there be as few as
10 righteous men in the city. And after that the story which is
so well known and so often quoted.

   The point is that God had already determined to destroy Sodom
for its wickedness, though this "omniscient" Being felt the need
to "check it out" and see if the stories he had been hearing
were "really true". [A theologian might say that since the
Omniscient One already knew what was going on in sin city he
already knew he was going to destroy it.] He did NOT destroy it
just because of the incident of the two men.

   It must also be remembered that Gomorrha was destroyed as
well, though it was not given the same chance as Sodom of being
"checked out" before being destroyed.

   Sodom was, if you believe the story, destroyed for great
wickedness, but there is no real evidence of what that
wickedness was. The incident with the two men certainly was
wickedness, but it did not necessarily define the full extent of
the wickedness that was punished.

   The guilt of Sodom is mentioned in Ezekiel 16:49ff:
"Moreover, this was the sin of thy sister Sodom, pride: she and
her daughters lived in pleasure, in fulness of bread and in
abundance: this belonged to her and her daughters, and they
helped not the hand of the poor and needy. And they boasted, and
wrought iniquities before me: so I cut them off as I saw fit."
[We could as well say that Sodom was destoyed for being a den of
conservative Republicans who wanted to cut off welfare.]

   In considering the story of Sodom, one should also pay
attention to the story of Gibeah, which is told in Judges,
chapters 19-21. Skeptics will note the similarity with the story
of Sodom and consider that both are likely fabrications: a
standard plot trotted out on a convenient occasion with the
characters and details changed. This use of "boiler plate"
scripture is seen again in the deaths of Nebuchadnezzar, Herod,
and Antiochus (I'm told).

   The story of Gabaa of Benjamin is much like that of Sodom,
except the traveler was a Levite instead of two angels. The
crowd accepted the man's concubine and gang raped  *HER*  all
night, as a result of which she died. the Levite took her home
"And he took his sword, and laid hold of his concubine, and
divided her into twelve parts, and sent them to every coast of
Israel...."

   On receiving the pieces of the concubine's body, the children
of Israel asked came to the Levite: "And the children of Israel
came and said, Tell us, where did this wickedness take place?
[and remember, they had seen a part of the dead woman and were
wondering about that] And the Levite, the husband of the woman
that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to
Gabaa of Benjamin to lodge. And the men of Gabaa rose up against
me, and compassed the house by night against me; they wished to
slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she is dead."

   When asked what about the wickedness at Gabaa, the Levite
said "they wished to slay me". He did not say they wished to
"know" him or "humble" him as they "humbled" his concubine. The
story goes on to talk about their sin: "they have wrought
lewdness and abomination in Israel" but there is no mention of
any act beyond the gang rape.

   It seems reasonable to conclude that homosexual acts were not
THE cause of destruction either of Sodom or of Gabaa. A rape of
a woman was the cause of destruction of Gabaa, and high living
in general coupled with a refusal to give charity to the poor
were implicated along with unspecified "iniquity" in the case of
Sodom.

   Of course we know what has gone on. They have seen in the
story of Sodom what they have wanted to see.