Just because we have been told a story over and over again
does not mean we are actually hearing the true story; and just because a famous
preacher comments about a particular story does not mean he actually knows the
full story. We have studied this subject in the past, but we will take another
look at some of the aspects of Sodom and why Jesus pointed out that on the Day
of Judgment Sodom would fare better than other places. We also want to explore
the possibility that Sodom and its cities had a behavioral pattern that still
exists in the world today. What cultures behave like Sodom in our modern era? The
behavior of Sodom and its surrounding cities is one of manipulation,
intimidation, and domination, which are all aspects of witchcraft. We see that
someone has blown smoke or clouded over the truth as to the sins of Sodom and
until we readjust our thinking we will continue believing a lie.
Who were the people of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim?
These people were technically sons of Ham, Canaanites, but also descendants of
fallen angels. They were also under two curses from Noah. One was due to the
division of the land among Noah’s three sons, where he placed a curse on anyone
who would live in land that was not divided to him. The second of Noah’s curses was specifically
against Canaan who was Ham’s fourth born. Since Ham “uncovered” his father’s
nakedness, or castrated Noah when he was drunk so that there would not be any
more heirs, Noah cursed Ham’s fourth born.
Gen 10:18-20 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the
Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.19
And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto
Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto
Lasha.20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues,
in their countries, and in their nations. KJV
Keep in mind that the Canaanites were rather tall people as
were some of the others in the region. Also, remember that in later years
Abraham married Keturah, a Canaanite, and had six sons with her. Abraham
specifically told his sons to move south as those people would be destroyed.
That was Joshua’s mission. Let’s look at the Book of Jasher, chapters 18 &
19 for some detailed perspective on how these people lived.
Jasher 18:11In those days all
the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the whole five cities, were
exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord and they provoked the Lord with
their abominations, and they strengthened in aging abominably and scornfully
before the Lord, and their wickedness and crimes were in those days great
before the Lord.
As the communities grew older (as the people aged), they
became stronger in their bad behaviors. Here are some of the things they did.
And they had in their land a
very extensive valley, about half a day's walk, and in it there were fountains
of water and a great deal of herbage surrounding the water. And all the people
of Sodom and Gomorrah went there four times in the year, with their wives and
children and all belonging to them, and they rejoiced there with timbrels and
dances. And in the time of rejoicing they would all rise and lay hold of their
neighbor's wives, and some, the virgin daughters of their neighbors, and they
enjoyed them, and each man saw his wife and daughter in the hands of his
neighbor and did not say a word. And they did so from morning to night, and
they afterward returned home each man to his house and each woman to her tent;
so they always did four times in the year.
First of all, it seems like this herbage was something that
enhanced the partying. One might think marijuana or something similar. Using
drugs in and of itself is witchcraft, kashaph
in Hebrew, pharmakeia, in Greek. They
did something comparable to a swingers club, as a community, four times per
year. In other words they copulated with whomever they wished. Clearly here the
connotation is men with women, whether wives or virgin daughters, and everyone
partook. This type of fornication and adultery between adults is not a big
issue for Yahweh as noted in the Old Testament behaviors of many people. There
are two aspects of this that may be bothersome to Yahweh. One is that we have
no indication how young the virgins were. Were they five years old, ten years
old, fifteen years old? Second, was this forced on the women? Were people
allowed not to participate? What if a woman or a young girl did not want to be
with a certain man? These are important questions and many people overlook them
because they wish to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The partying aspect
is something we see from the stories of the sons of Cain, which is something to
keep in mind. So not only is there an element of drugs which is manipulation,
there is an element of domination here as well.
From our Old Testament records, there were some serious
cases of rape, adultery, and fornications, but the difference seems to be that forced
sex is wrong. It is an act of domination, not love. Compare Judges 19 to David
and Bath-sheba. The Benjamites wanted to rape the Levite (yes that is in your
Bible) but instead they raped his wife until she died, whereas David practiced
voyeurism and when David connected with her we are not told that Bath-sheba
objected in any way. Compare Joseph and Potiphar’s wife to Judah and Tamar. Potiphar’s
wife sexually harassed Joseph and eventually falsely accused him, but Judah
visited someone he thought was a prostitute which turned out to be his
daughter–in-law. Abraham, Jacob, Esau, David, and Solomon had multiple women partners,
some wives, some not. So clearly Yahweh does not seem to have a problem with
the sexual act itself, but more importantly the forcing of oneself on another. Consensual
sex versus forced sex or rape. This is not the only issue these cities had, it is
only one aspect. Think about our modern civilization, is there a group of
people who regularly deny rights to women, rape women and young girls, and call
it all good? Is there a group of people on earth that band together in a
religious manner and call this behavior acceptable? This would be intimidation
and domination. Let’s go on.
Also when a stranger came into
their cities and brought goods which he had purchased with a view to dispose of
there, the people of these cities would assemble, men, women and children,
young and old, and go to the man and take his goods by force, giving a little
to each man until there was an end to all the goods of the owner which he had
brought into the land. And if the owner of the goods quarreled with them,
saying, What is this work which you have done to me, then they would approach
to him one by one, and each would show him the little which he took and taunt
him, saying, I only took that little which thou didst give me; and when he
heard this from them all, he would arise and go from them in sorrow and
bitterness of soul, when they would all arise and go after him, and drive him
out of the city with great noise and tumult.
When a merchant came to town to sell his goods, people
stole from him and split up the stolen merchandise among so many people that
there were too many people to contend with. All the people claimed that the
merchant gave them the little bit of merchandise they had. How could one person
fight with so many people? Look at the extent of the manipulation, the whole
city was involved in this behavior, not just one or two people. The craftiness
of this behavior is not absent in our modern era. Is there a group that steals
without conscience from others? Is there a group of people who are actually
told they are allowed to steal from people not of their religious persuasion?
Is it backward and twisted to steal from a stranger rather than treat a
stranger with kindness? From the Old Testament we see that traveling strangers
were shown hospitality. Remember Jesus’ words regarding the Good Samaritan? And
like Abraham, we may be entertaining angels unaware, Hebrews 13:2, when we are
kind to strangers. This behavior contains all three aspects of witchcraft:
intimidation, manipulation, and domination.
And there was a man from the
country of Elam who was leisurely going on the road, seated upon his ass, which
carried a fine mantle of divers colors, and the mantle was bound with a cord
upon the ass. And the man was on his journey passing through the street of
Sodom when the sun set in the evening, and he remained there in order to abide
during the night, but no one would let him into his house; and at that time
there was in Sodom a wicked and mischievous man, one skillful to do evil, and
his name was Hedad.
Notice the mention that Hedad was skillful to do evil, that
would mean he probably mastered the art of manipulation. Notice that no one
would let this man into their house which was the culture of other cities as we
see in the Old Testament.
And he lifted up his eyes and
saw the traveler in the street of the city, and he came to him and said, Whence
comest thou and whither dost thou go? And the man said to him, I am traveling
from Hebron to Elam where I belong, and as I passed the sun set and no one
would suffer me to enter his house, though I had bread and water and also straw
and provender for my ass, and am short of nothing.
The traveler had everything he needed for himself and his
animal but notice what happens next.
And Hedad answered and said to
him, All that thou shalt want shall be supplied by me, but in the street thou
shalt not abide all night. And Hedad brought him to his house, and he took off
the mantle from the ass with the cord, and brought them to his house, and he
gave the ass straw and provender whilst the traveler ate and drank in Hedad's
house, and he abode there that night. And in the morning the traveler rose up
early to continue his journey, when Hedad said to him, Wait, comfort thy heart
with a morsel of bread and then go, and the man did so; and he remained with
him, and they both ate and drank together during the day, when the man rose up
to go. And Hedad said to him, Behold now the day is declining, thou hadst
better remain all night that thy heart may be comforted; and he pressed him so
that he tarried there all night, and on the second day he rose up early to go
away, when Hedad pressed him, saying, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread
and then go, and he remained and ate with him also the second day, and then the
man rose up to continue his journey. And Hedad said to him, Behold now the day
is declining, remain with me to comfort thy heart and in the morning rise up
early and go thy way.
Even while the traveler had everything he needed Hedad gave
him food and hay, but while Hedad seems nice, he has a scheme in mind.
And the man would not remain,
but rose and saddled his ass, and whilst he was saddling his ass the wife of
Hedad said to her husband, Behold this man has remained with us for two days
eating and drinking and he has given us nothing, and now shall he go away from
us without giving anything? and Hedad said to her, Be silent. And the man
saddled his ass to go, and he asked Hedad to give him the cord and mantle to
tie it upon the ass.
Watch this closely.
And Hedad said to him, What
sayest thou? And he said to him, That thou my lord shalt give me the cord and
the mantle made with divers colors which thou didst conceal with thee in thy
house to take care of it. And Hedad answered the man, saying, This is the
interpretation of thy dream, the cord which thou didst see, means that thy life
will be lengthened out like a cord, and having seen the mantle colored with all
sorts of colors, means that thou shalt have a vineyard in which thou wilt plant
trees of all fruits. And the traveler answered, saying, Not so my lord, for I
was awake when I gave thee the cord and also a mantle woven with different
colors, which thou didst take off the ass to put them by for me; and Hedad
answered and said, Surely I have told thee the interpretation of thy dream and
it is a good dream, and this is the interpretation thereof. Now the sons of men
give me four pieces of silver, which is my charge for interpreting dreams, and
of thee only I require three pieces of silver.
Notice the twist here, the man simply wanted his mantle but
Hedad keeps pretending to interpret a dream. What skill! What manipulation! The
poor traveler just wanted to leave, and now Hedad is asking for money for
interpreting a dream the traveler never had.
And the man was provoked at
the words of Hedad, and he cried bitterly, and he brought Hedad to Serak judge
of Sodom. And the man laid his cause before Serak the judge, when Hedad
replied, saying, It is not so, but thus the matter stands; and the judge said
to the traveler, This man Hedad telleth thee truth, for he is famed in the
cities for the accurate interpretation of dreams. And the man cried at the word
of the judge, and he said, Not so my Lord, for it was in the day that I gave
him the cord and mantle which was upon the ass, in order to put them by in his
house; and they both disputed before the judge, the one saying, Thus the matter
was, and the other declaring otherwise. And Hedad said to the man, Give me four
pieces of silver that I charge for my interpretations of dreams; I will not
make any allowance; and give me the expense of the four meals that thou didst
eat in my house. And the man said to Hedad, Truly I will pay thee for what I
ate in thy house, only give me the cord and mantle which thou didst conceal in
thy house. And Hedad replied before the judge and said to the man, Did I not
tell thee the interpretation of thy dream? the cord means that thy days shall
be prolonged like a cord, and the mantle, that thou wilt have a vineyard in
which thou wilt plant all kinds of fruit trees. This is the proper
interpretation of thy dream, now give me the four pieces of silver that I
require as a compensation, for I will make thee no allowance. And the man cried
at the words of Hedad and they both quarreled before the judge, and the judge
gave orders to his servants, who drove them rashly from the house. And they
went away quarreling from the judge, when the people of Sodom heard them, and
they gathered about them and they exclaimed against the stranger, and they
drove him rashly from the city. And the man continued his journey upon his ass
with bitterness of soul, lamenting and weeping. And whilst he was going along
he wept at what had happened to him in the corrupt city of Sodom. http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/18.htm
The traveler thought he could get some justice from the
judge in Sodom, but he found out that Hedad would continue to manipulate the
situation and there was no justice in Sodom. Unjust behaviors are common but
have you ever heard news stories in our modern day of someone stealing from
someone then accusing the victim of doing something wrong. The victim is
victimized twice. This happens in many places where there is a culture that
allows for this behavior. This same religious culture has their own laws and
judges and these religious people attempt to set up their own justice system within
countries that are not their own. We can see the disease of Sodom is still
alive in parts of the world. Manipulation is a crafty, underhanded way of
getting something but that is not Yahweh’s way of doing things.
And the cities of Sodom had
four judges to four cities, and these were their names, Serak in the city of
Sodom, Sharkad in Gomorrah, Zabnac in Admah, and Menon in Zeboyim. And Eliezer
Abraham's servant applied to them different names, and he converted Serak to
Shakra, Sharkad to Shakrura, Zebnac to Kezobim, and Menon to Matzlodin.And by
desire of their four judges the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had beds erected
in the streets of the cities, and if a man came to these places they laid hold
of him and brought him to one of their beds, and by force made him to lie in
them. And as he lay down, three men would stand at his head and three at his
feet, and measure him by the length of the bed, and if the man was less than
the bed these six men would stretch him at each end, and when he cried out to
them they would not answer him. And if he was longer than the bed they would
draw together the two sides of the bed at each end, until the man had reached
the gates of death. And if he continued to cry out to them, they would answer
him, saying, Thus shall it be done to a man that cometh into our land. And when
men heard all these things that the people of the cities of Sodom did, they
refrained from coming there.
Look at the strange way the cities of Sodom treated people
by forcing them to lie in beds and stretching them or torturing them so that no
one wanted to go there. Again the idea of rape and injustice seems to be the
opposite of what we see in the surrounding countries at that time. It seems
like these cities had their own twisted way of living. Remember, these are four
cities, and they were descendants of Ham, but also descendants of fallen
angels. There is a key point here which we will explore, but first let’s continue
with the crazy behaviors of these people. Domination, taking control over
another person physically, is what we see here.
And when a poor man came to
their land they would give him silver and gold, and cause a proclamation in the
whole city not to give him a morsel of bread to eat, and if the stranger should
remain there some days, and die from hunger, not having been able to obtain a
morsel of bread, then at his death all the people of the city would come and
take their silver and gold which they had given to him. And those that could
recognize the silver or gold which they had given him took it back, and at his
death they also stripped him of his garments, and they would fight about them,
and he that prevailed over his neighbor took them. They would after that carry
him and bury him under some of the shrubs in the deserts; so they did all the
days to any one that came to them and died in their land.
Again, a strange way to treat people who came to the
cities, giving visitors silver and gold but not letting them eat. Then taking
their clothes and burying them under some shrubs. Intimidation is key here,
along with manipulation. I do have to wonder how many people snuck away from
these cities in the dark of night with nothing, just to spare their own lives. It
seems strange that Lot would want to remain in that area. Clearly, Sarah was
concerned for him and sent Eliezer to see how he was.
And in the course of time
Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare. And
Eliezer went to Sodom, and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and
the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes and went away. And
this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the
man of Sodom had done to him.
Eliezer was Abraham’s servant and he was doing what was
right as far as the rest of the world at that time was concerned. The idea that
Eliezer was helping a stranger put him in danger.
And he said to him, Why dost
thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy land? And the man of Sodom
answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom
made thee a judge this day, that thou speakest about this man? And Eliezer
strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer
approached to recover the poor man's clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened
and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead. And the blood flowed copiously
from Eliezer's forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of
Eliezer, saying, Give me my hire for having rid thee of this bad blood that was
in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.
What? Isn’t this backwards?
And Eliezer said to him, Thou
hast wounded me and requirest me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would not
hearken to the words of the man of Sodom. And the man laid hold of Eliezer and
brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgment. And the man spoke to the
judge, saying, I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him
with a stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to
give me my hire.And the judge said to Eliezer, This man speaketh truth to thee,
give him his hire, for this is the custom in our land; and Eliezer heard the
words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone and smote the judge, and the stone
struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed copiously from the forehead of the
judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the custom in your land give thou unto
this man what I should have given him, for this has been thy decision, thou
didst decree it. And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went
away.
Again, this behavior is the opposite of what should be
taking place. Witchcraft is always the opposite of what is good and right.
Calling bad behavior good is what witchcraft is all about. Think about our
modern times, are there countries that behave the opposite of the rest of the
world? Do the people take advantage of the innocent? Have you ever heard of a
women who went to a bar or club in one of these countries only to be drugged
and raped, then brought before the courts only to be thrown in jail for having
unmarried sex with the rapists? We in the west shake our heads, but truly this
contrary thinking and living is still going on today.
And when the kings of Elam had
made war with the kings of Sodom, the kings of Elam captured all the property
of Sodom, and they took Lot captive, with his property, and when it was told to
Abraham he went and made war with the kings of Elam, and he recovered from
their hands all the property of Lot as well as the property of Sodom.
Consider how evil Sodom was, yet Abraham went to save Lot
and consequently helped Sodom. We have to ask ourselves why Lot was still
living in Sodom, even after Abraham saved him from the kings of Elam. This
would have been Lot’s chance to leave but he did not.
At that time the wife of Lot
bare him a daughter, and he called her name Paltith, saying, Because God had
delivered him and his whole household from the kings of Elam; and Paltith
daughter of Lot grew up, and one of the men of Sodom took her for a wife. And a
poor man came into the city to seek a maintenance, and he remained in the city
some days, and all the people of Sodom caused a proclamation of their custom
not to give this man a morsel of bread to eat, until he dropped dead upon the
earth, and they did so. And Paltith the daughter of Lot saw this man lying in
the streets starved with hunger, and no one would give him any thing to keep
him alive, and he was just upon the point of death. And her soul was filled
with pity on account of the man, and she fed him secretly with bread for many
days, and the soul of this man was revived. For when she went forth to fetch
water she would put the bread in the water pitcher, and when she came to the
place where the poor man was, she took the bread from the pitcher and gave it
him to eat; so she did many days. And all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah
wondered how this man could bear starvation for so many days. And they said to
each other, This can only be that he eats and drinks, for no man can bear
starvation for so many days or live as this man has, without even his
countenance changing; and three men concealed themselves in a place where the
poor man was stationed, to know who it was that brought him bread to eat. And
Paltith daughter of Lot went forth that day to fetch water, and she put bread
into her pitcher of water, and she went to draw water by the poor man's place,
and she took out the bread from the pitcher and gave it to the poor man and he
ate it. And the three men saw what Paltith did to the poor man, and they said
to her, It is thou then who hast supported him, and therefore has he not
starved, nor changed in appearance nor died like the rest. And the three men
went out of the place in which they were concealed, and they seized Paltith and
the bread which was in the poor man's hand. And they took Paltith and brought
her before their judges, and they said to them, Thus did she do, and it is she
who supplied the poor man with bread, therefore did he not die all this time;
now therefore declare to us the punishment due to this woman for having
transgressed our law. And the people of Sodom and Gomorrah assembled and
kindled a fire in the street of the city, and they took the woman and cast her
into the fire and she was burned to ashes.
Now that Lot’s daughter was murdered one might think Lot
would leave, but still he did not. It is understandable that Lot came out of
Babylon when Nimrod was king, and we know that the behaviors and practices of
Babylon were not Godly, but it seems Lot was perfectly comfortable living in
Sodom. Babylon had its own style of witchcraft, but not to this extreme. Another
one of the cities of Sodom has a story about it.
And in the city of Admah there
was a woman to whom they did the like. For a traveler came into the city of
Admah to abide there all night, with the intention of going home in the
morning, and he sat opposite the door of the house of the young woman's father,
to remain there, as the sun had set when be had reached that place; and the
young woman saw him sitting by the door of the house. And he asked her for a
drink of water and she said to him, Who art thou? and he said to her, I was
this day going on the road, and reached here when the sun set, so I will abide
here all night, and in the morning I will arise early and continue my journey. And
the young woman went into the house and fetched the man bread and water to eat
and drink. And this affair became known to the people of Admah, and they
assembled and brought the young woman before the judges, that they should judge
her for this act. And the judge said, The judgment of death must pass upon this
woman because she transgressed our law, and this therefore is the decision
concerning her. And the people of those cities assembled and brought out the
young woman, and anointed her with honey from head to foot, as the judge had
decreed, and they placed her before a swarm of bees which were then in their
hives, and the bees flew upon her and stung her that her whole body was
swelled. And the young woman cried out on account of the bees, but no one took
notice of her or pitied her, and her cries ascended to heaven.
Why would anyone have laws that one cannot help strangers
and travelers? It seems that Yahweh was not pleased. Who is the father of
witchcraft and how is it that people think that witchcraft is better than
Yahweh’s way?
And the Lord was provoked at
this and at all the works of the cities of Sodom, for they had abundance of
food, and had tranquility amongst them, and still would not sustain the poor
and the needy, and in those days their evil doings and sins became great before
the Lord.
Let’s pay attention to this statement, the cities of Sodom
had food and peace but did not help the poor and needy. Their sins became great before the Lord
indicates that Yahweh takes note of these practices. We have to keep this in
mind because we have somehow distorted this terribly and we miss something so
profound; that the Bible seems like a book of contradictory ideas and that
somehow Yahweh is like a schizophrenic wack-a-mole Elohim. Isn’t that exactly
what witchcraft does, turns the truth into a lie and lies into truth? Who would
want to do that? Let’s go on.
And the Lord sent for two of
the angels that had come to Abraham's house, to destroy Sodom and its cities. And
the angels rose up from the door of Abraham's tent, after they had eaten and
drunk, and they reached Sodom in the evening, and Lot was then sitting in the
gate of Sodom, and when he saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed down to
the ground. And he pressed them greatly and brought them into his house, and he
gave them victuals which they ate, and they abode all night in his house. And
the angels said to Lot, Arise, go forth from this place, thou and all belonging
to thee, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of this city, for the Lord will
destroy this place. And the angels laid hold upon the hand of Lot and upon the
hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his children, and all belonging to him,
and they brought him forth and set him without the cities. And they said to
Lot, Escape for thy life, and he fled and all belonging to him. Then the Lord
rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah and upon all these cities brimstone and
fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew these cities, all the plain
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground; and
Ado the wife of Lot looked back to see the destruction of the cities, for her
compassion was moved on account of her daughters who remained in Sodom, for
they did not go with her. And when she looked back she became a pillar of salt,
and it is yet in that place unto this day. http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/19.htm
Genesis gives us some further indications as to why we
think Sodom and its surrounding cities were only about homosexuality; but the
twist is that homosexuality has been magnified and the rest of the
manipulations have been hidden. Witchcraft, manipulations, intimidations, and
dominations are the issue here.
Gen 19:1-5 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he
bowed himself with his face toward the ground;2 And he said, Behold now, my
lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and
wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said,
Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.3 And he pressed upon them
greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made
them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.4 But 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:5 And 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 [3045] them. KJV
OT:3045 yada` (yaw-dah'); a primitive root; to know
(properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses,
figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation,
care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
[as follow]: KJV - acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer,
appoint, assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, comprehend,
consider, could they, cunning, declare,
be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend,
famous, feel, can have, be [ig-] norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to
let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be,
make, make to be, makeself) known, be
learned, lie by man, mark, perceive,
privy to, prognosticator, regard, have
respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can)
tell, understand, have [understanding],
will be, wist, wit, wot.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and
Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006
Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Here is the Aramaic:
Genesis 19:5. And they called out to Lot and told him,
"Where are those men who came to you in the night? Bring them out, let us
get to know them." http://www.v-a.com/bible/supporters/genesis_17-20.html
Let’s look at the Septuagint:
Genesis 19:5 And they called out Lot, and said to him,
Where are the men that went in to thee this night? bring them out to us that we
may be with them. http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Genesis/index.htm
Genesis 19:5 G2532AndG1573.1they
called forth G3588 G*Lot. G2532And G3004they
said G4314to G1473him, G4226Where G1510.2.6are
they, G3588the G435men, G3588the
ones G1525entering
G4314to G1473you G3588 G3571this night?
G1806Lead G1473them G4314to G1473us,G2443that G4773.1we may
be intimate G1473with
them! http://studybible.info/ABP_Strongs/Genesis%2019
NT:4773 suggenes (soong-ghen-ace'); from NT:4862 and
NT:1085; a relative (by blood); by extension, a fellow countryman: KJV -
cousin, kin (-sfolk, -sman).
NT:4862sun (soon); a primary
preposition denoting union; with or together (but much closer than NT:3326 or
NT:3844), i.e. by association, companionship, process, resemblance, possession,
instrumentality, addition, etc.: KJV - beside, with. In composition it has
similar applications, including completeness.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and
Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006
Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
The Greek uses a different word in verse 5 for “to know”
than in verse 8 regarding Lot’s daughters. The Hebrew uses the same word yada
for both.
Gen 19:6-8 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut
the door after him,7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.8
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known [3045] 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.
Genesis 19:8 G1510.2.6But
there are G1161 G1473to me G1417two G2364daughters
G3739who G3756knew
not G1097 G435a man.
G1806I will
lead G1473them G4314toG1473 you,G2532and G5530you
treat G1473them G2505as G302 G700pleases
G1473you! G3440Only G1519to G3588 G435these
men G3778 G3361you
should not G4160doG94unjust,
G3739because
G1752 G1525they
entered G5259under G3588the G4629.2protection
G3588 G1385of my
beams. http://studybible.info/ABP_Strongs/Genesis%2019
NT:1097 ginosko (ghin-oce'-ko); a prolonged form of a
primary verb; to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of
applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus
clearly expressed):KJV - allow, be aware (of), feel, (have) know (-ledge),
perceived, be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand.(Biblesoft's New
Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
What kind of a Father was Lot to offer his virgin daughters
to be gang raped? Lot must have recognized that these men were angels rather than
just mortals. In any event, we see that the men of Sodom wanted to take hold of
the angels and put them on their community beds, and Lot was very willing to
give up his virgin daughters to these men. But as we have seen, the culture was
not for the men of the cities to rape city dwellers, just strangers.
Gen 19:9-11 And 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.10 But the men put forth their hand, and
pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.11 And 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. KJV
The angels caused blindness to all the men, both small and
great. This could be young and old, as well as important and non-important men
from Sodom. The men were not completely blind, they simply couldn’t find the
door, so this was localized blindness. In other words, the door disappeared.
Why were the men of Sodom smitten? Because they wanted to rape the angels. At
one time, before and after the flood, angels took earth women and created a
hybrid race known as the Nephilim. The descendants of the Nephilim were those
who resided in Canaan. Why was Yahweh set to destroy them? Because of the way
they treated people. Rape can be homosexual or heterosexual, but rape is the
issue not homosexuality, and not consensual fornication or adultery. It is a
sensitive subject for men to recognize that being a victim of rape is horrid.
Women have been saying that for ages. Rape is the issue, and this is why we
know that Sodom’s destruction was due to despicable treatment of others:
because male prostitution as well as female prostitution existed in the Temple
for over 300 years alongside the glory of God. This is bombshell revelation
that we have studied and worked but have not necessarily put into perspective.
2 Kings 23:4-9 Then the king ordered Hilkiah the high
priest, his associate priest, and The Temple sentries to clean house — to get
rid of everything in The Temple of God that had been made for worshiping Baal
and Asherah and the cosmic powers. He had them burned outside Jerusalem in the
fields of Kidron and then disposed of the ashes in Bethel. 5 He fired the pagan
priests whom the kings of Judah had hired to supervise the local
sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Judah and neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
In a stroke he swept the country clean of the polluting stench of the
round-the-clock worship of Baal, sun and moon, stars — all the so-called cosmic
powers. 6 He took the obscene phallic Asherah pole from The Temple of God to
the Valley of Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it up, then ground up the ashes
and scattered them in the cemetery. 7 He tore out the rooms of the male sacred
prostitutes that had been set up in The Temple of God; women also used these
rooms for weavings for Asherah. 8 He swept the outlying towns of Judah clean of
priests and smashed the sex-and-religion shrines where they worked their trade
from one end of the country to the other — all the way from Geba to Beersheba.
He smashed the sex-and-religion shrine that had been set up just to the left of
the city gate for the private use of Joshua, the city mayor. 9 Even though
these sex-and-religion priests did not defile the Altar in The Temple itself,
they were part of the general priestly corruption and had to go.
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language ©
2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
Josiah, Hezekiah, and Asa all tried to clean up the Temple
that became defiled at or before the time of Rehoboam. However, the Glory of
God resided there in the Temple among all of the male and female prostitution
acts until the time of Ezekiel, when quite dramatically the Glory left.
Consensual prostitution, both male and female, is different than rape. The evil
ways Sodom and the surrounding cities treated people as a whole, is far more complex
than an issue of homosexuality. Witchcraft is the basis of Sodom’s destruction.
Manipulations, intimidations, and dominations and the twisting and spinning of
truth are the reasons for Yahweh destroying them. Now we have to ask ourselves,
how it is that some of this unusual behavior still infiltrates the Middle East
and why are we so afraid to say that it is wrong thinking and wrong behavior?
It is not right to kidnap young girls and boys and make them complete slaves. Why
do some people claiming to be religious insist on setting up their own system
of law in countries that are not their own. Why do some who claim to be
following their religion steal from others and then claim the victim is at
fault. How is it that we refuse to acknowledge these behaviors as wrong? Think
about Eastern religions for a moment, where behaviors and actions are to be
kind and non-manipulative. I would guess that those philosophies became
dominant after Sodom was destroyed so as not to fall into that way of thinking.
We have to remember what Jesus said. Jesus notes that if the miracles he did
were done in Sodom, they would have believed and therefore it will be better
for Sodom than for other cities on the Day of Judgment. We will explore that next
week as well as what Ezekiel, Solomon, Ezra, Peter, and Jude say regarding
Sodom, which we all have overlooked. Evil behavior, witchcraft, and rape is the
sin of Sodom.
End Notes
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