Sodom/Gomorrah: Sinning When Committing Acts of Physical Abuse and Violence to Others – Chapter 3, Part 3

​This week in our review of Isaiah Decoded we’ll continue with Chapter 3 - Babylon, Rebels and Worshippers of Idols and look at Sodom/Gomorrah. We saw last week Mahan sin against the Holy Spirit and killed to obtain worldly gain. What we will see this week is Sodom/Gomorrah commit sin with acts of physical abuse and violence to others. Dr. Gileadi states that the sins of Sodom included tyranny, murder, exploitation, and sodomy – P.77.  The common thread that we see in these four sins is the physical abuse and violence to others or in other words, violence was an integral aspect of Sodom’s sins.

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Sodom/Gomorrah Defined
When we look at the definitions for the Hebrew words for Sodom and Gomorrah, what we see is a description of what happened to these two cities – they were “burned” and became a “heap of ruin”. These definitions don’t really provide us a sense of why God destroyed them. One other example that we see in the scriptures where God destroyed man is with the flood. The scriptures indicate there that the earth was filled with violence – Gen 6:13, which was a primary reason God destroyed mankind. Moreover, we can see that violence was also a primary aspect with God threatening to destroy Nineveh – Jonah 3:8. Essentially, both wickedness and violence are required when God executes judgement Himself.

"But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands." - Jonah 3:8

God Executes Judgment Himself

Wickedness

AND

Violence

Violence is “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation”.
 
We can compare this to Babylon where physical abuse, and violence to others isn’t an element of idolatry and injustice.

Babylon	Sodom/Gomorrah
Idolatry and Injustice	​Tyranny, Murder, Exploitation, and Sodomy
Non-Violence	Violence

Sodom/Gomorrah’s Acts of Violence and Wickedness
Now we’ll turn and look at each of the primary sins of Sodom/Gomorrah.
 
Tyranny
Tyranny is when governments use violence or the threat of violence to control and oppress the people. This oppression includes the sin of denying civil or human rights.
 
 
Exploitation
Here, exploitation is the use of violence or the threat of violence to take advantage of someone or a group of people to profit from them or otherwise benefit oneself, which also includes some act of wickedness.
 
Sodomy
Sodomy here is the use of violence or the threat of violence to force another to engage in any type of unlawful or non-consensual sex.
 
Murder
Murder is violence or the threat of violence to kill one human being by another for any wicked reason. These acts of violence don’t include killing for self-defense, during times of war, and to execute righteous judgement. Moreover, those who kill here are Non-believers; whereas, Believers who kill are generally Mahan.
 
 
Sinning Against God
Last week we saw Mahan being defiant towards God, sinning against the Holy Spirit by reducing human life to worldly gain through murder. Here in our Sodom/Gomorrah category we see Believers who commit acts of violence and are under greater condemnation for sinning against the Holy Spirit.  On the other hand, there are Non-Believers who commit violence and who sin against their conscience or the Light of Messiah.

Acts of Violence when Committing Sin >>  Greater Judgement  >>​

​Non-Believers	Believers
Sins Against the Light of Messiah (A Person’s Conscience)	​Sins Against the Holy Spirit (God’s Law/Truth)

Categories of Wickedness and Acts of Violence
So in summary we have Mahan who defies God in the most wicked way by reducing human life to worldly gain through murder, and Sodom/Gomorrah who sin and by committing acts of violence.

Categories of Wiekedness

​Babylon Sins without the Element of Violence

​Sodom/Gomorrah Commits Acts of Wickedness AND Violence

​Mahan Believers Murdering for Gain

Sodom/Gomorrah and Immortality
What we see here with Sodom/Gomorrah and immortality is similar to Mahan. Sodom/Gomorrah will suffer for their sins until the terms of justice are met, but can still be saved – receive immortality – in God’s lowest eternal realm.

Babylon Sodom/Gomorrah ​Mahan

Zion/Jerusalem

Most High God God of Israel Seraphim/Angels ​Sons and Daughters

Realm of the Spirit	Realm of the Son	Realm of the Father
The Second Death	Presence of the Son	Presence of the Father
Redemption	Redemption ​Sanctification	Redemption ​Sanctification ​Exaltation