Cui bono

To whose gain?

We now see in society through NAMBLA gay marriage, and the Episcopal Bishop the results of indiscretion, the abdication of moral responsibility to those entrusted to the care of parents, and the scientific community's quest to push the envelope of their homegrown variety of progressive truth.  The causality is not quite limited to just these examples and the permutations are myriad in the continuum of human behavior.  The line has been moved several times and people have been in situations that are hateful to them against their will until resignation and distortion has taken its toll.  Genetics has taken its place in the arsenal of those who would argue that normative behavior cannot be morally defined as well.  Many homosexuals believe that they are born that way due to genes.  The reference to the natural is a common definition for the apologist of what was once considered behaviors that are not normative.  The great champion of doing what is right in our own eyes is science for some, not because it is right or wrong morally, but because science has been elevated to the level of being a belief system, regardless of fact.  This is ironic in view of the fact that science is the garnering of factual information.

Many husbands adopted the standard of being superior to their wives due to natural sexual superiority for years, excusing their abuse and evil.  They took scripture from the Bible to twist it to meet their needs to defend what is clearly wrong as right.  As the normative behaviors of different players in society are redefined it seems any excuse will do.  Women famously are implored to put up with evil practices against them and their children because divorce is wrong.  Of course taking one verse from the Bible and ignoring the whole counsel of scripture is warned against within the pages of Bibles, but no matter.  It seems to be an acceptable practice among some within churches with ready application to be used without regard for the victim, keeping them in line with how things would look, or maybe to protect a man who contributes a lot to the church kitty.  Then there is the fact that many who purport to be preachers or priests do not know the Bible sufficiently or at all to offer an opinion about what a woman should do about a man who is abusive and a terrible husband.  The continuum of doing what is right in our own eyes stretches from the pulpit to the openly criminal due to disbelief or ignorance.  It seems that people would catch on to the fact Jesus came to save the sick, the lost, and the dying because there was a need for Him to do so.  It would seem as though we toss that off and rule in favor of accepting sickness, being lost, and assured of death as our ruler in some circles.  It is utterly frightening to consider rejecting the dominion, sovereignty, and counsel of God for the dominion, sovereignty, and counsel of Death.  However, the election of the Bishop is a tacit agreement that the Episcopal Church has so chosen.

Someone recently argued with me that people ran around naked in more primitive times and homosexual behavior is the natural state of mankind and therefore preferred.  This person also rejects the moral authority of Christian scripture and believes the Bible to be a collection of ideas that have little merit other than being another book.  That is not a unique view and in ancient times Jesus entered into a world where there were lots of practices that were normative based on what mankind came up with through natural practice.  Along with nakedness and homosexuality came pederasts and people who did all sorts of things besides.  The world that Abram was called from by God included an advanced culture, wealth and international trade, as well as things God says are wrong.  The Bible teaches that God's voice has been with us all along from the very earliest beginnings of mankind and always will be.  Those who tout the natural and reject God's sovereignty have been here all along as well and this is taught in the Bible as well.  Like the scientists who have erred using their status as the arbiters of objective truth, some who pawn themselves off as historians that have a lock on truth err as well.  No where in the Bible is the case put forth that in the absence of God's Word such "natural" practices did not exist though people who cite surmisings that certain evils are natural act as though that is the case to defend.  

The Bible chronicles quite well the disobedience of man and its results.  Apologists for the latest thing to do against the Bible as valid accuse God, the Bible, or question the historical veracity of the Bible in its contextual integrity.  In the 1800's people thought they had God on the ropes because the Bible talked about Babylon and there was no archeological evidence of it having existed.  The it was discovered that there was such a place by archeologists.  Time and again the archeologist or historian has been called upon as proof that we need not take the Bible seriously for ostensibly scientific or rational reasons.  Some reason that Moses may not have existed and tomes are written on suppositions that supposedly discredit him as being who the Bible says he is.  "Maybe he was Sargon or maybe he was a fiction invented by nomads sitting about a campfire", they reason.  New ideas and inventions of stories to discredit the Bible abound based on reason as if the Bible is not reasonable or rational.  The prejudice among those who are looking for a way to square their views with their personal level of integrity is an acceptable hypocrisy in context with common views of the historicity of the Bible.  No matter what proof is brought to the table, a new idea spurs demands for more proof.  The argument put forward that there was no such place as Sodom is spurious to say the least.  Historians record history.  Joseph was a Jewish historian and recorded part of the history of Sodom, drawing on extra-Biblical accounts of its existence.  I notice that many who reject Biblical authority reject Josephus as well.  The reasons for doing so are questionable.  The same often reject any ancient historian if in fact his record squares with the Bible or historical Christianity.

Here is an excerpt from Josephus.  

(171) At this time, when the Assyrians had the dominion over Asia, the people of Sodom were in a flourishing condition, both as to riches and the number of their youth. There were five kings that managed the affairs of this country. Ballas, Barsas, Senabar, and Sumobor, with the king of Bela; and each king led on his own troops; (172) and the Assyrians made war upon them; and, dividing their army into four parts, fought against them. Now every part of the army had its own commander; and when the battle was joined, the Assyrians were conquerors; and imposed a tribute on the kings of the Sodomites, (173) who submitted to this slavery twelve years; and so long they continued to pay their tribute: but on the thirteenth year they rebelled, and then the army of the Assyrians came upon them, under their commanders Amraphel, Arioch, Chodorlaomer, and Tidal. (174) These kings had laid waste all Syria, and overthrown the offspring of the giants; and when they were come over against Sodom, they pitched their camp at the vale called the Slime Pits, for at that time there were pits in that place; but now, upon the destruction of the city of Sodom, that vale became the Lake Asphaltitis, as it is called. (175) However, concerning this lake we shall speak more presently. Now when the Sodomites joined battle with the Assyrians, and the fight was very obstinate, many of them were killed, and the rest were carried captive; among which captives was Lot, who had come to assist the Sodomites.

1. (176) When Abram heard of their calamity, he was at once afraid for Lot his kinsman, and pitied the Sodomites, his friends and neighbors; (177) and thinking it proper to afford them assistance, he did not delay it, but marched hastily, and the fifth night fell upon the Assyrians, near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan; and before they could arm themselves, he slew some as they were in their beds, before they could suspect any harm; and others, who were not yet gone to sleep, but were so drunk they could not fight, ran away. (178) Abram pursued after them, till on the second day he drove them in a body unto Hoba, a place belonging to Damascus; and thereby demonstrated that victory does not depend on multitude and the number of hands, but the alacrity and courage of soldiers overcome the most numerous bodies of men, while he got the victory over so great an army with no more than three hundred and eighteen of his servants and three of his friends: but all those that fled returned home ingloriously.
2. (179) So Abram, when he had saved the captive Sodomites who had been taken by the Assyrians, and Lot also, his kinsman, returned home in peace. Now the king of Sodom met him at a certain place, which they called The King’s Dale, (180) where Melchizedek, king of the city Salem, received him. That name signifies the righteous king; and such he was without dispute, insomuch that, on this account, he was made the priest of God: however, they afterward called Salem Jerusalem. (181) Now this Melchizedek supplied Abram’s army in an hospitable manner, and gave them provisions in abundance; and as they were feasting he began to praise him, and to bless God for subduing his enemies under him. And when Abram gave him the tenth part of his prey, he accepted of the gift: (182) but the king of Sodom desired Abram to take the prey, but entreated that he might have those men restored to him whom Abram had saved from the Assyrians because they belonged to him; but Abram would not do so; nor would make any other advantage of that prey than what his servants had eaten; but still insisted that he should afford a part to his friends that had assisted him in the battle. The first of them was called Eschol, and then Enner, and Mambre.

3. (183) And God commended his virtue, and said, Thou shalt not, however, lose the rewards thou hast deserved to receive by such thy glorious actions. He answered, And what advantage will it be to me to have such rewards, when I have none to enjoy them after me?—for he was hitherto childless. And God promised that he should have a son, and that his posterity should be very numerous, insomuch that their number should be like the stars. (184) When he heard that, he offered a sacrifice to God, as he commanded him. The manner of the sacrifice was this:—He took an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram in like manner of three years old, and a turtledove and a pigeon; and, as he was enjoined, he divided the three former; but the birds he did not divide. (185) After which, before he built his altar, where the birds of prey flew about, as desirous of blood, a divine voice came to him, declaring that their neighbors would be grievous to his posterity when they should be in Egypt, for four hundred years, during which time they should be afflicted; but afterwards should overcome their enemies, should conquer the Canaanites in war, and possess themselves of their land, and of their cities.
4. (186) Now Abram dwelt near the oak called Ogyges,—the place belongs to Canaan, not far from the city of Hebron: but being uneasy at his wife’s barrenness, he entreated God to grant that he might have male issue; (187) and God required of him to be of good courage; and said, that he would add to all the rest of the benefits that he had bestowed on him ever since he led him out of Mesopotamia, the gift of children. Accordingly Sarai, at God’s command, brought to his bed one of her handmaidens, a woman of Egyptian descent, in order to obtain children by her; (188) and when this handmaid was with child, she triumphed, and ventured to affront Sarai, as if the dominion were to come to a son to be born of her; but when Abram resigned her into the hand of Sarai to punish her, she contrived to fly away, as not able to bear the instances of Sarai’s severity to her; and she entreated God to have compassion on her. (189) Now a divine angel met her, as she was going forward in the wilderness, and bid her return to her master and mistress; for, if she would submit to that wise advice, she would live better hereafter; for that the reason of her being in such a miserable case was this, that she had been ungrateful and arrogant towards her mistress. (190) He also told her, that if she disobeyed God, and went on still in her way, she should perish; but if she would return back, she should become the mother of a son who should reign over that country. These admonitions she obeyed, and returned to her master and mistress, and obtained forgiveness. A little while afterwards, she bare Ismael, which may be interpreted Heard of God, because God had heard his mother’s prayer.
5. (191) The forementioned son was born to Abram when he was eighty-six years old: but when he was ninety-nine, God appeared to him, and promised him that he should have a son by Sarai, and commanded that his name should be Isaac; and showed him, that from this son should spring great nations and kings, and that they should obtain all the land of Canaan by war, from Sidon to Egypt. (192) But he charged him, in order to keep his posterity unmixed with others, that they should be circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin, and that this should be done on the eighth day after they were born: the reason of which circumcision I will explain in another place. (193) And Abram inquiring also concerning Ismael, whether he should live or not, God signified to him that he should live to be very old, and should be the father of great nations. Abram, therefore, gave thanks to God for these blessings; and then he, and all his family, and his son Ismael, were circumcised immediately, the son being that day thirteen years of age, and he ninety-nine.

1. (194) About this time the Sodomites grew proud, on account of their riches and great wealth: they became unjust towards men, and impious towards God, insomuch that they did not call to mind the advantages they received from him: they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices. (195) God was therefore much displeased at them, and determined to punish them for their pride, and to overthrow their city, and to lay waste their country, until there should neither plant nor fruit grow out of it.
2. (196) When God had thus resolved concerning the Sodomites, Abraham, as he sat by the oak of Mambre, at the door of his tent, saw three angels; and, thinking them to be strangers, he rose up and saluted them, and desired they would accept of an entertainment, and abide with him; (197) to which when they agreed, he ordered cakes of meal to be made presently: and when he had slain a calf, he roasted it, and brought it to them, as they sat under the oak. Now they made a show of eating; and besides, they asked him about his wife Sarah, where she was; and when he said she was within, they said they would come again hereafter, and find her become a mother. (198) Upon which the woman laughed, and said that it was impossible she should bear children, since she was ninety years of age, and her husband was an hundred. Then they concealed themselves no longer, but declared that they were angels of God; and that one of them was sent to inform them about the child, and two of the overthrow of Sodom.
3. (199) When Abraham heard this, he was grieved for the Sodomites; and he rose up, and besought God for them, and entreated him that he would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. (200) And when God had replied that there was no good man among the Sodomites; for if there were but ten such men among them, he would not punish any of them for their sins, Abraham held his peace. And the angels came to the city of the Sodomites, and Lot entreated them to accept of a lodging with him; for he was a very generous and hospitable man, and one that had learned to imitate the goodness of Abraham. Now when the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beautiful countenances, and this to an extraordinary degree, and that they took up their lodgings with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; (201) and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer anything immodest to the strangers, but to have regard to their lodging in his house; and promised, that if their inclinations could not be governed, he would expose his daughters to their lust, instead of these strangers—neither thus were they made ashamed.
4. (202) But God was much displeased at their impudent behavior, so that he both smote those men with blindness, and condemned the Sodomites to universal destruction. But Lot, upon God’s informing him of the future destruction of the Sodomites, went away, taking with him his wife and daughters, who were two, and still virgins: for those that were betrothed to them were above the thoughts of going, and deemed that Lot’s words were trifling. (203) God then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire, with its inhabitants; and laid waste the country with the like burning, as I formerly said when I wrote the Jewish war. But Lot’s wife continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, and being too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, although God had forbidden her so to do, was changed into a pillar of salt; for I have seen it, and it remains at this day. (204) Now he and his daughters fled to a certain small place, encompassed with the fire, and settled in it. It is to this day called Zoar, for that is the word which the Hebrews use for a small thing. There it was that he lived a miserable life, on account of his having no company, and his want of provisions.
5. (205) But his daughters, thinking that all mankind were destroyed, approached to their father, though taking care not to be perceived. This they did, that humankind might not utterly fail. And they bare sons; the son of the elder was named Moab, which denotes one derived from his father. The younger bare Ammon, which name denotes one derived from a kinsman. (206) The former of whom was the father of the Moabites, which is even still a great nation; the latter was the father of the Ammonites; and both of them are inhabitants of Celesyria. And such was the departure of Lot from among the Sodomites.

Another historian makes mention of the city of Sodom.  Below are two excerpts from Philo.  When Philo was alive the place where Sodom once was smoked and gave proof of a catastrophe.  People could travel there and see for themselves that this place once stood and then was destroyed.  

(131) But that which is seen is in reality a threefold appearance of one subject is plain, not only from the contemplation of the allegory, but also from that of the express words in which the allegory is couched. (132) For when the wise man entreats those persons who are in the guise of three travellers to come and lodge in his house, he speaks to them not as three persons, but as one, and says, "My lord, if I have found favour with thee, do not thou pass by thy servant." For the expressions, "my lord," and "with thee," and "do not pass by," and others of the same kind, are all such as are naturally addressed to a single individual, but not to many. And when those persons, having been entertained in his house, address their entertainer in an affectionate manner, it is again one of them who promises that he by himself will be present, and will bestow on him the seed of a child of his own, speaking in the following words: "I will return again and visit thee again, according to the time of life, and Sarah thy wife shall have a son."

XXVI. (133) And what is signified by this is indicated in a most evident and careful manner by the events which ensued. The country of the Sodomites was a district of the land of Canaan, which the Syrians afterwards called Palestine, a country full of innumerable iniquities, and especially of gluttony and debauchery, and all the great and numerous pleasures of other kinds which have been built up by men as a fortress, on which account it had been already condemned by the Judge of the whole world. (134) And the cause of its excessive and immoderate intemperance was the unlimited abundance of supplies of all kinds which its inhabitants enjoyed. For the land was one with a deep soil, and well watered, and as such produced abundant crops of every kind of fruit every year. And he was a wise man and spoke truly who said—

(135) As men, being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful connections; for not only did they go mad after women, and defile the marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another, doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature, and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome by violent desire; (136) and so, by degrees, the men became accustomed to be treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they made also their souls most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of man, as far as depended on them. At all events, if the Greeks and barbarians were to have agreed together, and to have adopted the commerce of the citizens of this city, their cities one after another would have become desolate, as if they had been emptied by a pestilence.

XXVII. (137) But God, having taken pity on mankind, as being a Saviour and full of love for mankind, increased, as far as possible, the natural desire of men and women for a connexion together, for the sake of producing children, and detesting the unnatural and unlawful commerce of the people of Sodom, he extinguished it, and destroyed those who were inclined to these things, and that not by any ordinary chastisement, but he inflicted on them an astonishing novelty, and unheard of rarity of vengeance; (138) for, on a sudden, he commanded the sky to become overclouded and to pour forth a mighty shower, not of rain but of fire; and as the flame poured down, with a resistless and unceasing violence, the fields were burnt up, and the meadows, and all the dense groves, and the thick marshes, and the impenetrable thickets; the plain too was consumed, and all the crop of wheat, and of everything else that was sown; and all the trees of the mountain district were burnt up, the trunks and the very roots being consumed.

(139) And the folds for the cattle, and the houses of the men, and the walls, and all that was in any building, whether of private or public property, were all burnt. And in one day these populous cities became the tomb of their inhabitants, and the vast edifices of stone and timber became thin dust and ashes. (140) And when the flames had consumed everything that was visible and that existed on the face of the earth, they proceeded to burn even the earth itself, penetrating into its lowest recesses, and destroying all the vivifying powers which existed within it so as to produce a complete and everlasting barrenness, so that it should never again be able to bear fruit, or to put forth any verdure; and to this very day it is scorched up. For the fire of the lightning is what is most difficult to extinguish, and creeps on pervading everything, and smouldering.

(141) And a most evident proof of this is to be found in what is seen to this day: for the smoke which is still emitted, and the sulphur which men dig up there, are a proof of the calamity which befell that country; while a most conspicuous proof of the ancient fertility of the land is left in one city, and in the land around it. For the city is very populous, and the land is fertile in grass and in corn, and in every kind of fruit, as a constant evidence of the punishment which was inflicted by the divine will on the rest of the country.

VIII. (26) These are they who "made a treaty with one another in the valley of Salt." For the region of the vices and of the passions is a hollow valley, rough, and full of ravines; truly salt, and producing bitter pains; and their treaty, as one that was not worthy of being confirmed by any oath or by any libation, the wise Abraham, who knew the character of it, annulled. For it is said in the scripture that, "All these men made a treaty at the valley of Salt, that is the sea of Salt." (27) Do you not perceive that they who are barren of wisdom and blinded as to the intellect which it would be natural to expect should be sharp-sighted, having the name of Sodomites from their real character," did, with all their people united together, from young to old, surround the house in a circle" (that is to say, the house of the soul), in order to pollute and contaminate those strangers from a foreign land, who had been received in hospitality, namely, sacred and holy reasons, the guards and defenders of the soul; no one whatever attempting either to resist those wrong doers, or to avoid doing wrong himself? (28) For Moses does not speak of some as having consented and of others having stood aloof; but, as he says, "The whole people surrounded the house all together, both old and young," having entered into a conspiracy against all those holy actions and words which it is customary to call angels.

Philo Judaeus, The Works of Philo, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems) 1997.

The Bible has the witness that Sodom existed and I think the evidence that such a place existed will no doubt be put forward from the scientific community.  There are reports that indeed sonar of some sort has detected that there are ruins in the Dead Sea.

⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: ⁵And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. ⁶And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, ⁷And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. ⁸Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. ⁹And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. ¹⁰But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. ¹¹And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Genesis 19

vdeq; QaÆdeÆsh, kaw-dashe’; the same as 6945; sanctuary; Kadesh, a place in the Desert:— Kadesh. comp. 6947.

Kadesh. i.e. Sodomite; devoted to Venus; set apart; sacred, xS#6946h. Ge 16:14. 20:1. Nu 13:26. 20:1, 14, 16, 22. 27:14. 33:36, 37. Dt 1:19, 46. 32:51. Jg 11:16, 17. Ps 29:8. Ezk 47:19. 48:28.

Deuteronomy 23:17. There shall be, etc. The prohibition in the text, like many others, has no direct application to practices that were common among the Israelites at that time; but was intended to guard them against the enormities which were practiced among the surrounding nations. The words kaidesh and kedaishah, properly denote persons dedicated or consecrated to the worship of some abominable god or goddess (See note on Ge 38:21); whose impure earnings were applied to the support of their execrable worship. Dt 22:21, 29. Le 18:22. *19:29. Pr 2:16. whore. or, sodomitess. Ge 38:21, 22. Ho 4:14. Ro 1:26. sodomite. Ge 19:4, 5. 34:7. Le 18:9, 11. 20:13, 17. Jg 19:22, 23. 20:6. 2 S 13:12. 1 K 14:24. 15:12. 22:46. 2 K 23:7. Jb 36:14mg. Ro 1:27, 28. 1 Co 6:9, 10. 1 Ti 1:9, 10. xS#6945h: Dt 23:17. 1 K 14:24. 15:12. 22:46. 2 K 23:7. Jb 36:14mg.

Jerome H. Smith, editor, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge [computer file], electronic edition of the revised edition of The treasury of scripture knowledge, Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, © 1992 by Jerome H. Smith.

¹⁷There shall be no whore 2 of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite 3 of the sons of Israel.

Deuteronomy 23

2. hv;deq] qƒdeÆshaÆh, ked-ay-shaw’; fem. of 6945; a female devotee (i.e. prostitute):— harlot, whore.

3. vdeq; qaÆdeÆsh, kaw-dashe’; from 6942; a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (tech.) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry:— sodomite, unclean.

James Strong, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.

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