Sodom and Gomorrah

A number of years ago, I attended a class taught by a former member of the Seventy in which he mentioned the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. He made particular reference to the following scripture in Ezekiel, and then stated something to the effect that when the prophets and apostles of this dispensation have discussed this topic, they have most often emphasized the latter part of this scripture:

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49).

Recently, I was talking to a colleague who suggested a similar idea. Then, the other day I picked up a copy of Approaching Zion and read the following:

Abraham was preeminently a fair dealer. The Abraham literature includes the Old Testament, which also makes it clear that the people he dealt with were scoundrels–mean and inhospitable. The nature of their economy is fully set forth: their one guiding principle was the maximizing of profits. After the flood, the Jewish writings explain, the people were haunted by an understandable feeling of insecurity. To overcome it, they undertook tremendous engineering projects and became very knowledgeable in fire, flood, earthquake, and other potential disasters. A great economic boom and commercial expansion enabled them to undertake all kinds of engineering projects for controlling a dangerous nature. But the Lord fooled them by altering the course of nature and creation. And the Nimrod legends are full of the great scientific understanding of Abraham’s day of which a good deal is made in the time of Enoch. The people had a great deal of sophistication and know-how. It was a world of unrest and insecurity, and the people were mean and short-tempered. But Abraham’s Canaan didn’t offer escape for long. The fabulous prosperity of the cities of the plain turned them into little Babylons. The record describes their ways of doing things, how they dealt with all strangers, taking away possessions by force; then the wrath of the Lord came upon them.

The Testament of Levi, speaking of Abraham, says that he found the same hostility elsewhere. There was worldwide cruelty, inhospitality, insecurity, suspicion wherever he went. The Bible tells us that the Jordan depression was a veritable paradise when Abraham first visited it, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 13:10). It was not surprising that “the men of Sodom were the wealthy men of prosperity, on account of the good and fruitful land whereon they dwelt. For every need which the world requires, they obtained therefrom.. .. But they did not trust in the shadow of their Creator, but [they trusted] in the multitude of their wealth, for wealth thrusts aside its owners from the fear of Heaven.” Rabbi Eliezer seems to be quoting the same source as Samuel the Lamanite. “The men of Sodom had no consideration for the honour of their Owner by (not) distributing food to the wayfarer and the stranger.” The same thing is described in Deuteronomy and the Book of Mormon. “They [even] fenced in all their trees on top above their fruit so that they should not be seized; [not] even by the bird of heaven.” The law of Moses forbade doing these mean things to the olives, the wheat, and other crops, but they did them. These were the crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of Abraham, the people elected leaders “of falsehood and wickedness, who mocked justice and equity and committed evil deeds.” This isn’t something invented by a Jewish doctor of the thirteenth century. These are contemporary records that tell us that the wicked oppressed the weak and gave power to the strong. Inside the city was tyranny and the receiving of bribes. Everyday, without fail, they plundered each others’ goods. The son cursed his father in the streets, the slave his master. They put an end to the offerings and entered into conspiracy. This sounds like the Book of Mormon, though it was discovered long after the Book of Mormon. All manner of wickedness is described. But we don’t need to go into this sad story here.

It’s not surprising, the records tell, that travelers and birds alike learned to avoid the rich cities of the plain, while the poor emigrated to other parts. “If a stranger merchant passed through their territory, he was besieged by them all, big and little alike, and robbed of whatever he possessed.” As the Amarna letters show us, this was a world in which every man was for himself. What a terrible state of things. Being grossly materialistic, they rated the hardware high above the software.

A famous quotation recurs a numbers of times: “If a man was killed working on the tower, he was ignored. But if a brick fell they sat down and wept. Abraham, seeing them, cursed them in the name of his God” for doing this sort of thing: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom” (Ezekiel 16:49).¹

Sources:

1. Nibley, Hugh W. “Three Degrees of Righteousness from the Old Testament”. Approaching Zion. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989. 321-323. See also Nielsen, Donna. “The Cry of Lot’s Daughter“. 26 Nov 2009. Connections. 30 Nov 2009. Donna quotes Nehama Leibowitz who recounts a story in which Pelotit, Lot’s daughter, was to be put to death by fire for sustaining a poor man in the city.↩

Related posts

• Priesthood of the Nephites
• Gadianton Robbers
• What Jesus Taught About Leadership
• Spiritual Gifts
• Polarization in the Book of Mormon