Worse Than Sodom

Ezekiel 16:48-50

Ezekiel 16:48-50

• [48] As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters…

• [49] 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…

• [50] And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

•Introduction

Ezekiel 16:2 – Ezekiel’s work

• “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations”

• Ezekiel rebuked the Jews for their sins

“Worse than Sodom”

• Ezekiel compared Jerusalem to Samaria and Sodom – he called them Jerusalem's sisters• He stated that Jerusalem was

worse than Sodom!

• In comparing Jerusalem to Sodom, Ezekiel throws light on the sins of Sodom • Sodom was guilty of other sins in

addition to homosexuality

• Ezekiel does not mention the sin of homosexuality• He does mention things which

many do not even consider sinful!• The sins that he mentions start

one on a sinful course

2 Tim. 3:13

• But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Js. 1:15

• Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death

• “We need to learn that some of these socially acceptable attitudes are sinful, dangerous, and deadly.”

•I. Pride

• Pride = thinking to highly of self; • “An overhigh opinion of oneself”

– conceit (Webster’s Dictionary)

Ps. 10:4

• The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

• Sinful pride makes one feel that he is independent and does not need God

Lk. 18:11 – the Pharisee

• The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Rev. 3:17 – church at Laodicea

• Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Rom. 12:3

• For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Gal. 6:3

• For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

•II. Fullness of bread

• This does not mean that it is sinful to have plenty to eat• The sin is in living to satisfy

fleshly appetite – to put the flesh first

Phil. 3:18-19

• [18] (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:• [19] Whose end is destruction, whose

God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

1 Cor. 10:31

• Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

• Fullness of bread may cause one to forget God

Proverbs 30:8-9

• Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:• [9] Lest I be full, and deny thee, and

say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

• We are more likely to forget God in times of prosperity

•III. Abundance of idleness (KJV) --prosperous ease

(ESV)

• “Prosperous ease, for all nations as well as individuals, brings softness and decay. Watch out, America! (W.T. Hamilton)

Amos 6:1

• [1] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Amos 6:4-6

• [4] That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

• [5] That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;• [6] That drink wine in bowls, and

anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

• Idleness brings poverty and destruction• Eccl. 10:18• “By much slothfulness the building

decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.”

Proverbs 24:30-34

• 30 I went by the field of the lazy man,And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;31 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down…

• 32 When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:33 A little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to rest;…

• 34 So shall your poverty come like a prowler,And your need like an armed man.

Eph. 5:14-16

• [14] Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.[15] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,[16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Jn. 9:4

• [4] I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

•IV. Neither did she strengthen the

hands of the poor and needy

• God has always demanded that His people be merciful• The Jews were to leave

something for the gleaners

Acts 4:36-37

• [36] And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,• [37] Having land, sold it, and brought

the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Js. 1:27

• Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

1 Jn. 3:17

• But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

•Conclusion

• Pride• Fullness of bread• Abundance of idleness• Neither did she strengthen the

hands of the poor and needy

Ezekiel 16:50

• “….I took them away as I saw good.”

2 Pet. 2:6

• and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;