The Depths of Sodom and Gomorrah
Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah. Isaiah 1:10
Sodom and Gomorrah had been gone for around a thousand years when the Prophet Isaiah uttered those words. Who was he speaking to? Clearly, though the cities and the people were gone, the prophet of God saw that their spirit was thriving. He saw that spirit in the rulers and people of Judah; that they were more interested in their position and power than in purity.
One doesn’t have
to be a prophet to see that same spirit is with us today. The depravity of man
is seen throughout cities like San Francisco, Atlanta, and New York City. We
find ourselves too easily condemning those cities and that's not the point of the
intent of Isaiah’s message. As we examine the Scriptures you'll find in the
next few verses refers to religious practices in the temple. This accusation
was not intended to the pagans but God was fed up with his people and their
worship in His temple. Not because they were doing it wrong, but because they
were coming to him while guilty.
“Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD." I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. "When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:10-17
This is my personal rendition of Isaiah 1:10-11:
"You folks are as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah. Why do you even bother coming to church? Do you think I need your offerings? Who asked you to come into my house, anyway? I am sick of it! Forget your potluck dinners and Easter Services. I will not listen to your prayers because you are guilty. Wash the blood off your hands or get out of my sight. Get your act together. Do right. Defend the helpless!"
The prophet Isaiah was not talking to obvious
sinners; Isaiah was talking to the "church folks." You see, you don't
have to go to San Francisco or New York City to find the spirit of Sodom and
Gomorrah. It’s all right here in each of our communities… sex sells!
It's part of our culture…like the air we breathe!
Personally, I have
never seen any of Lady Gaga videos, but I've seen enough of her on News Reports.
She has surpassed Madonna and has become a global Sex Goddess influencing millions
of people of all ages. Times Magazine April 2010 honors Lady Gaga as one of the
100 “Most Influential People in
the World.”
The spirit of Sodom runs rampantly on prime time as we sit comfortably and watch Paris Hilton’s Spicy Burger Ads for Hardee and watch the half nude dancers on Dancing with the Stars on television.
When you hear some
radical Islamicist call the United States the "Great Satan," we must
remember these things we feed to them and to ourselves; we are not content to
feed ourselves… we export it! Just think
for a moment about a people who are so modest that women cover their hair and
face in public. How do you think they feel about what we pump into their homes
through HBO, Showtime, and the rest, 24 hours a day?
Pagan religions and
there practices seem silly to most modern people until it is translated into
clearer terms.
America worships not only Eros (the
goddess of sex) but Baal, the erotic deity associated with fertility rites.
Baal worship in the ancient world encouraged degenerate practices of the most
licentious kind. It is the reason for the loathsome practices evident in our
country today. Baal worship is manifest in the rise of homosexuality as an
acceptable lifestyle. It is behind the pornography that pervades almost every
aspect of life in our times. More than that, Americans are unwarily worshiping
the god Molech, the terrible furnace god into whose fiery mouth parents in
ancient times threw their own children, destroying them to relieve the guilt of
their own consciences. This is with us yet today, manifested in skyrocketing
cases of child abuse and abortions.
Completely unaware
America has fallen into the same snare as the ancient Israelites. This can be
seen in the motion picture Pan's Labyrinth a 2006 film directed by Guillermo del Toro, this
fanciful and chilling story set against the backdrop of a fascist regime in
1944 rural Spain.
The film centers on Ofelia, a lonely and dreamy child living with her mother and adoptive father; a military officer tasked with ridding the area of rebels. In her loneliness, Ofelia creates a world filled with fantastical creatures and secret destinies. This film is rated-R due to graphic violence and foul language. But anyone who is familiar with Satanism and the occult knows that “Pan” is the pagan god of sexual fertility, lust, homosexuality, rape and pedophilia. Many statues of Pan display him with an erection. Wiccans adore Pan more than all the other false gods that they worship.
Rabbinical sources tell us something about other
Canaanite gods as well. To Baal-Peor, the phallic god of the Moabites and
Midianites, human sacrifices were offered, and the priests who administered
these sacrifices indulged in cannibalistic orgies. One ancient source says the
name Baal-Peor means "My Lord the opener of the maiden's hymen." Thus
the god claimed from the man the sacrifice of circumcision or castration, and
from the woman the sacrifice of her maidenhead. Male worshipers of Baal-Peor
were said to "distend their posteriors before him and offer to him the
deposit." Female followers of the god uncovered the mons veneris (organs
of the female reproductive system) before it. In Syria statues of Baal-Peor had
a phallus protruding from his mouth according to St. Jerome. "The
constant tradition was that this idol was an obscene deity, whose figure and
manner of worship was filthy and abominable...The god was served by an obscene
act, which required his worshipers to be uncovered before him..."
Directed by
Stanley Kubrick 1999 Eyes Wide Shut opens the door to the satanic orgies that
occur in our secret societies.
Stanley
Kubrick I believe decoded in a very distinct and clear way the Illuminanti.
Kubrick died 4 days after delivering the final print. The strange circumstance of Kubrick’s March 7, 1999 death at his home and his family refuse to release the exact cause of death other than natural cause (may be sudden cardiac arrest) shortly after approving the lock on final cut and before the film was released in theatres in North America.
The Word of God
States that behind the pillars, statutes, temples and imagery of these ancient
religious practices were hideous demons and unclean spirits who had (then and
now) the power to ruin and destroy "...the
sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you
to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot
have a part in both the Lord's Table and the table of demons." (1 Cor.
10:20-21).
Our culture
is rapidly spiraling downwards. As the perverse inhabitants of Sodom came for the two
Angels of God staying in Lots house this same perverse spirit is coming for our children today. 
What will it take to turn us from these degradations?
The Book of Chronicles
places emphasis upon the spiritual life of the nation and events that are most
noteworthy from God's point of view. The books of Kings focus more on the facts
of history as they happened. So we gain additional insight in the life and
reign of Jehoshaphat from the record in 2 Chronicles which commences at chapter
17, “Jehoshaphat his son [Asa's]
reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces
in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah,
and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had taken. The LORD was with
Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father; he did not
seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his
commandments, and not according to the ways of Israel. Therefore the LORD
established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought tribute to
Jehoshaphat; and he had great riches and honor. His heart was courageous in the
ways of the LORD; and furthermore he took the high places and the Asherim out
of Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-hail,
Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; and
with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth,
Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the
priests Elishama and Jehoram.
And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; they went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute; and the Arabs also brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats. And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store-cities, and he had great stores in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with three hundred thousand mighty men of valor, and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with two hundred and eighty thousand, and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the LORD, with two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield, and next to him Jehozabad with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor...
Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, "Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD; he is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no perversion of justice with the LORD our God, or partiality, or taking bribes." Moreover in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the LORD and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. And he charged them: "Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: whenever a case comes to you from your brethren who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or ordinances, then you shall instruct them, that they may not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath may not come upon you and your brethren. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the upright!" (2 Chron 17:1-19:11)
King Jehoshaphat saw the problem and did all that he could do on his own initiative to correct the obvious and gross areas of open idolatry in his time. Beyond a certain point he could do no more, nor did he have a strong moral consensus from the people or even from his own family and the religious establishment. What is most heartening about his successful overthrow of the united forces of pagan idolatry encroaching upon God's people, was that the victory given the king was 100% of God's doing. The Lord God Almighty moved, acting in great grace, knowing full well the weakness of many of his people--their inability to resist the powerful seductive forces loose in that society in that time.
"As a father pities his children, So the
LORD pities those who
fear Him." (Psalm 103:13)
It has been said that “America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” - Alexis Charles de Tocqueville (1831) a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America uttered these words of wisdom.
You might say, I
don't support the Pornification of America and certainly don't approve of
it! Then I will have to ask what you
have you as the Body of Christ have done to stop it!
Modern
America is surely one of the most debased countries the world has ever seen. Some
Christians are grieved as Lot was while living in Sodom "and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who
was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man,
living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the
lawless deeds he saw and heard." (2 Peter
2:7-8) but the majority goes
on desensitized to the depravity around them…
May God have mercy on us all!
Peace,