As In the Days of Lot

[billym]

Jesus Christ gave many "indicator markings" to help us to determine when His second coming is near. One of these is mentioned in Luke 17:28-30:

Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Jesus shows us that an indicator of His imminent return is that the society around us will be similar to that of Sodom when Lot lived there nearly four thousand years ago. People will be going about their everyday lives seemingly unconcerned about the egregious evils in society, unaware that their lifestyles are abominable in the eyes of God. Thinking their ways of life are "normal," they will not expect the calamitous events that will befall them.

It is axiomatic that a dominant characteristic of Sodom's culture was rampant homosexuality. English has borrowed the words sodomy and sodomite to describe homosexuality and those who practice it. When angels came to Lot in the form of human men to inform him that God would overthrow the city, the men of Sodom came to Lot's door, demanding that the visitors come out and have a homosexual relationship with them (Genesis 19:1-5). The angels struck these Sodomites with blindness to drive them away (verse 11).

Most people would look upon such behavior as unthinkable. However, the men of Sodom apparently regarded it as "normal"; they did not view it as evil at all! Today, a similar attitude is slowly and insidiously beginning to work its way into our society. Increasingly, homosexuality is considered to be an ordinary lifestyle. Instead of being viewed as a horrible perversion, homosexuality is more and more being regarded as an "orientation" just as left-handedness is an orientation, for example. As usual, the Western world, composed primarily of the nations that have descended from Israel, is leading the way in this radical change in attitude.

Normal? Neutral?

An article appearing in the January 6-12, 1996, edition of The Economist entitled "It's Normal to be Queer" describes the radical changes in attitude toward homosexuals that have occurred worldwide over the last thirty years. As often happens, the changes have occurred gradually, one step at a time. First, many societies decriminalized homosexuality, and people slowly stopped considering it an illness or perversion. This led many to abandon the traditional view that homosexuality is shameful, opening the door to the idea that gays and lesbians are simply a cultural minority—like a racial or ethnic minority. Finally, some cultures are beginning to regard homosexuality as a normal but different lifestyle—simply an "orientation."

In fact, some countries have begun to look upon homosexuality as a harmless, neutral trait that a small percentage of people are born with—like having blue eyes or red hair. As such, it is seen as a characteristic that the individual did not choose and cannot change. These attitudes have led many to accept the homosexual lifestyle as a distinct but, at the same time, normal, ordinary and harmless condition. The article in The Economist describes how people just seem to accept this:

So emerges that rare but proliferating species: the young woman of 20 who realises she is a lesbian but, after a period of adjustment, shrugs her shoulders, informs her family, and plans to get on with an otherwise mundane life. (p. 69)

There are, of course, exceptions to this attitude. Many countries of the Middle East where Islam is the dominant religion still treat homosexuals very harshly. Throughout most of Africa, homosexuality is rarely discussed. Even in the Western world, many homosexuals still have not "come out of the closet." Nevertheless, the changing attitude is unmistakable and is growing in most areas of the world.

Last year the first gay page appeared in a mainstream newspaper in Turkey; an openly homosexual Pakistani poet published what may be the first book of gay verse in Urdu; and Latin America's first gay resort opened in Brazil. In 1995 activists demanded marriage rights in Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic and New Zealand. Estonia's all-lesbian group started in 1990, Hong Kong's in 1994 (followed by another last year), and Brazil has at least seven. Mexico's homosexual groups number more than a dozen; South Africa's, more than 50. . . . In short, homosexuals are emerging from the closet. And, more interesting still, they are doing it in more or less the whole world at once. (ibid.)

Reasons for Its Acceptance

There are numerous reasons for this radical change in attitudes toward homosexuals. Surprisingly, one reason is directly related to the spread of AIDS: The rising concern around the world about the spread of this deadly disease and efforts to control it forced governments to deal directly with homosexuals. Before long, the governments developed a grudging relationship with predominantly homosexual organizations. This interaction with these organizations legitimatized them in the eyes of many people, leading to the development of casual attitudes toward a lifestyle that would otherwise be abhorrent to the majority.

Economics also plays a role. The world in general is becoming more wealthy, and nations that used to be mired in grinding poverty now have citizens who travel and communicate with acquaintances around the world and have degrees from Western educational institutions. This results in adoption of worldly, cosmopolitan attitudes toward life. Western attitudes toward such things as homosexuality have spread swiftly around the globe.

The emergence of democratic forms of government in many nations also contributes to a softening of attitudes toward homosexuality. Under the Franco regime in Spain, homosexuality was a crime. Now that Spain has a democratic government, however, homosexuality has been decriminalized, and about three dozen homosexual groups now operate there. A similar phenomenon is occurring in Eastern Europe where numerous nations have thrown off Soviet communism and adopted more democratic institutions. Since the elimination of apartheid in South Africa, the new government's constitution specifically prohibits discrimination against homosexuals.

The Internet has also assisted in spreading more tolerant attitudes toward gays. Homosexuals used to be limited in the number of other homosexuals with whom they could communicate. Now that has all changed. Numerous gay bulletin boards and electronic addresses on the World Wide Web are specifically designed to aid homosexuals in communicating with one another.

An example of how this contributes to the strength of the gay movement was demonstrated when gay protesters hounded Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, on numerous state visits. Last August, President Mugabe stated that homosexuals did not have any rights at all. He threatened homosexuals with arrest and called them "sub-animal." Infuriated, homosexuals around the world kept tabs on Mr. Mugabe's itinerary and ensured that other gays around the world were notified about his state visits. In South Africa in August, New Zealand in November and Holland in December, protesters met him, shouting, "Two, four, six, eight, is Mugabe really straight?"

Gay Marriages

Of all the items on the gay agenda, none is more important than homosexual marriage. Traditionally, marriage is regarded as a mark of stability and normalcy. State-sanctioned marriage does more than legally bind two people together. It confers upon partners unique rights of inheritance, the sharing of economic and medical benefits, and the guardianship and care of one another. Probably no other single "gain" could confer upon gays the attributes of "normalcy" than the right to a civil ceremony legally binding together two people of the same sex in a marriage union. Those behind the gay-rights movement are pressing hard to achieve this.

There is no question that marriage rights for gays are on the horizon; it is only a matter of time. Already, Denmark, Norway and Sweden permit homosexual partners to register with the state and claim some of the prerogatives of marriage. Similar trends are developing in Holland, France and Belgium. In the United States, the state of Hawaii may legalize homosexual marriage based on the outcome of a recent court case.

Andrew Sullivan recently wrote a book entitled Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality. A review, also published in The Economist, clearly outlines the author's conclusions:

The core conclusion of the book is simple enough. All discrimination against homosexuals by the state should end: meaning in particular that open homosexuals should be allowed into the armed forces, and that they should be allowed a civil ceremony of marriage. Mr. Sullivan reasons that when homosexuals are revealed as deeply traditional, patriotic and indeed conservative, there is no reason why society should not embrace them as different but valued parts of the whole. Homosexuals (being largely free of the distraction of children, which fetter heterosexuals) can become the movers and shakers, the volunteers, the inspiring teachers: as, indeed, many are already. (ibid., p. 71. Emphasis ours.)

Here we see an avowed homosexual telling us that, once the state eliminates all discrimination against gays, and once they obtain the right to marry openly and bear arms, they can then become the leaders and molders of society! Clearly, this is the direction this world is headed.

God's View

Many would undoubtedly applaud this push to bring homosexuals out of the closet and allow them to practice their lifestyle openly with the same rights as "straight" people. Many would argue that this is an "enlightened" and "progressive" movement that all decent human beings should advocate. But what does God say about this? How does He see and regard homosexuality? Does God advocate gay rights?

God sees things quite differently than most people in this world. He clearly states that homosexuality is wrong (Leviticus 18:22); it is an abomination of which people must repent! In no uncertain terms, He decrees that homosexuals will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9).

Many thousands of years ago, God knew that this type of movement would occur in the end time among His people, the modern-day descendants of Israel. Through the prophet Isaiah, God thunders a warning to His people today, calling them by a name that unmistakably brands them with the sin of homosexuality: "Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah" (Isaiah 1:10). God prophesies as to where this open acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle would lead:

For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. (Isaiah 3:8-9)

God reveals that when His people accept the attitude that homosexuality is "normal," they have begun to tread the path that will ultimately lead to their destruction.

As we see the same conditions that existed "in the days of Lot" developing today, we can take comfort that the glorious second coming of Jesus Christ is drawing near. When He comes, He will make the Spirit of God available to all (Joel 2:28-32), and homosexuals will be taught that they can repent and change. Jesus is described "like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver" (Malachi 3:2-3). He will cleanse the earth from all unrighteousness and perversion, and show all people how to live the way that leads to peace, happiness and joy. Then—and only then—will the homosexual lifestyle be eradicated from the earth forever.


(Moderator's Note: the preceeding article was reprinted from the Church of the Great God website. The CGG is the linear descendant of the WCG (Worldwide church of God) started and run by the heretical Herbert W. Armstrong. Nonetheless this particular article by CGG Senior PastorJohn Ritenbaugh happens to be worth reading because it contains some goof information. I would caution, however, that we all remember that it is the practice of homosexuality that is wrong. Having the temptation is not. Homosexual impulses may not be my problem or yours, but it is one of many common problems among mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13). God understands and forgives the one who is rpentant and desires not to sin against Him. The sinner is not to continue his sin but to submit it to God for the outworking of Christ's victory in his life. No person with homosexual tendencies and temptations should think he or she cannot be saved because they are tormented by that type of lust. That just is not true.)

[ANY MINUTE]

I think this is a good article, agree with much of it. I certainly don't agree with much of the church's (from link) statement of faith though, there are a few things they listed I would be careful of. Thanks for posting the article though.

[anath]

ALL paths (other than Jesus' path) leads to destruction. We must be born of the Spirit and from that point the Lord (HS) conforms us to Him. Gay or straight or whatever, we all fall short.

[LivnForChrist]

I agree good article.

[oceanminded]

I have a question regarding this prophecy that confuses me. During the height of the Roman Empire immorality was running rampant. At least that is the way it is portrayed in Hollywood with the Gladiators, sexual orgies, homosexuality, greed, and all other types of bizarre behavior. So when the Bible says the last days were like the days of Noah or as in the days of Lot before the Son of Man is revealed wouldn't that also apply to other times throughout history. I would think our culture today is similar to the Roman times. Does that possibly mean that we haven't quite yet seen the full wickedness of a future society that is to come. I sometimes struggle with God's timing of the rapture. It could happen today or 100 years from now.

[mattfivefour]

I have a question regarding this prophecy that confuses me. During the height of the Roman Empire immorality was running rampant. At least that is the way it is portrayed in Hollywood with the Gladiators, sexual orgies, homosexuality, greed, and all other types of bizarre behavior. So when the Bible says the last days were like the days of Noah or as in the days of Lot before the Son of Man is revealed wouldn't that also apply to other times throughout history. I would think our culture today is similar to the Roman times. Does that possibly mean that we haven't quite yet seen the full wickedness of a future society that is to come. I sometimes struggle with God's timing of the rapture. It could happen today or 100 years from now.

In one sense you are correct. We just do not know when the Rapture will occur. One thing we do know is that it is always imminent. And that it WILL occur prior to the seven year Great Tribulation.

It is clear from a number of scriptures that we are indeed living in the last days. Israel is God's timepiece as is Jerusalem. That which was prophesied thousands of years ago has come to pass since I have been alive. Beliefs in prior ages that they were living in the end times was incorrect in that it ignored the specific prophecies about the restoration of Israel as a nation. Man naturally ignored (or spiritualized to the Church) these prophecies because, after all, to their minds there was absolutely no way at all in which there could ever again be a nation Israel populated by the descendants of Abraham. That existence had ended hundreds of years before. Of course they were wrong. God means exactly what He says, and says exactly what He means. Indeed, as was prophesied more than two and a half thousand years ago in Isaiah 66:8, Israel became a nation in one day (May 14, 1948) and she immediately began to blossom and grow ... which then fulfilled the prophecies in Amos 9:11,13; Ezekiel 36:11; Isaiah 41:18-20; 43:5-6; and Zechariah 8:7-8, which said that God would not only gather his people back to Israel, but they would prosper and the land would bloom.

BTW. that Isaiah 66:8 prophecy does not end there but continues through to the end of that chapter. And it speaks of a day of coming victory for the Lord and of a new heaven and a new earth. Yet those parts have not yet come to pass. We know from other OT prophets and from the Book of Revelation that they WILL come to pass once the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's Sorrow, has taken place. (The new heavens and new earth will occur following the Millennial reign.) And the Great Tribulation will occur at some point following the Rapture. (Rapidly following it, I think, because the Holy Spirit will not longer be indwelling man on this earth and without the Church the Evil One can move almost unhindered.)

I realized I have rambled a bit. Frankly, I find it hard to look at one bit of prophecy without also seeing the other bits that dovetail with it. The bottom line of my comments is that of all generations that have ever lived, we are the only ones to see the prophecies regarding the return of Israel—after generations and generations of wandering unsafe among the nations of the world—to the land God gave her when He brought His people out of Israel more than a thousand years before Christ. And because of the fulfillment of those prophecies and the near coming fulfillment of those prophecies that are tied to these ones, we are indeed in the last generation. Therefore it is most unlikely the Rapture will not occur for a hundred years. It is much more likely to occur within the next decade or two ... at the most. BUT ... it can occur at ANY moment. Including one split second from the moment I am writing this ... to the split second you begin to read these words. Jesus told us to "watch" and "wait" which, in the original Greek, actually means "to be on the alert" and "to faithfully serve" Him until that moment.

I pray this helps.

[oceanminded]

mattfivefour;
Thank you for your response. It does help. I need to remember that Israel becoming a nation is the key that differentiates us from other generations throughout History. Other prophecies like the decline of morality, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars are sometimes hard to deal with as those could have occurred throughout History with various intensities. Life was probably pretty brutal at times throughout History and the people that lived during those events surely must of thought the end was near.

[WhisperWisdom]

Article was very informative. Sometimes it is hard to go against the opinions of the world when it is so popular. I have had arguments with those who are gay, and the one topic they always bring up is Rome. "If the Romans did it, and they didn't fall but rather gradually collapse over time, then obviously there's nothing wrong with it." All I can say is, buddy, you're gonna be in for one heck of a surprise when Jesus comes a-calling.

[Obie]

I am in no way trying to open a can of worms here, please understand that. I am so weary of the world, and sometimes this very site, changing the true meanings of words and situations. For example, it is not GAY...it is sodomites or homosexuals. Period, not gay. And for corn's sake, how did the word 'straight' become to mean normal, God-defined sexual behavior?!

When we used these words and phrases, we are also being conditioned to accept them. Oh and one I really hate, what does "pro-life" mean. It is a politcal term only. The correct term would be ANTI-ABORTION.

I have several others I won't go into because I don't want to offend anyone. As in day of Noah.....God's words and warnings were more than ignored, they were re-defined.

[dave-o]

I have a question regarding this prophecy that confuses me. During the height of the Roman Empire immorality was running rampant. At least that is the way it is portrayed in Hollywood with the Gladiators, sexual orgies, homosexuality, greed, and all other types of bizarre behavior. So when the Bible says the last days were like the days of Noah or as in the days of Lot before the Son of Man is revealed wouldn't that also apply to other times throughout history. I would think our culture today is similar to the Roman times. Does that possibly mean that we haven't quite yet seen the full wickedness of a future society that is to come. I sometimes struggle with God's timing of the rapture. It could happen today or 100 years from now.

One thing that makes our culture different from Rome is that the Romans were quite literally death on crime, sentencing even petty thieves to death. Now look at today where it's not uncommon for a person to spend more time in prison for selling drugs than for murder.

I think this may be the first time in history where both rampant immorality and rampant crime are more or less excused or blamed on 'society'.

[FaithInChrist]

In one sense you are correct. We just do not know when the Rapture will occur. One thing we do know is that it is always imminent. And that it WILL occur prior to the seven year Great Tribulation.

It is clear from a number of scriptures that we are indeed living in the last days. Israel is God's timepiece as is Jerusalem. That which was prophesied thousands of years ago has come to pass since I have been alive. Beliefs in prior ages that they were living in the end times was incorrect in that it ignored the specific prophecies about the restoration of Israel as a nation. Man naturally ignored (or spiritualized to the Church) these prophecies because, after all, to their minds there was absolutely no way at all in which there could ever again be a nation Israel populated by the descendants of Abraham. That existence had ended hundreds of years before. Of course they were wrong. God means exactly what He says, and says exactly what He means. Indeed, as was prophesied more than two and a half thousand years ago in Isaiah 66:8, Israel became a nation in one day (May 14, 1948) and she immediately began to blossom and grow ... which then fulfilled the prophecies in Amos 9:11,13; Ezekiel 36:11; Isaiah 41:18-20; 43:5-6; and Zechariah 8:7-8, which said that God would not only gather his people back to Israel, but they would prosper and the land would bloom.

BTW. that Isaiah 66:8 prophecy does not end there but continues through to the end of that chapter. And it speaks of a day of coming victory for the Lord and of a new heaven and a new earth. Yet those parts have not yet come to pass. We know from other OT prophets and from the Book of Revelation that they WILL come to pass once the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's Sorrow, has taken place. (The new heavens and new earth will occur following the Millennial reign.) And the Great Tribulation will occur at some point following the Rapture. (Rapidly following it, I think, because the Holy Spirit will not longer be indwelling man on this earth and without the Church the Evil One can move almost unhindered.)

I realized I have rambled a bit. Frankly, I find it hard to look at one bit of prophecy without also seeing the other bits that dovetail with it. The bottom line of my comments is that of all generations that have ever lived, we are the only ones to see the prophecies regarding the return of Israel—after generations and generations of wandering unsafe among the nations of the world—to the land God gave her when He brought His people out of Israel more than a thousand years before Christ. And because of the fulfillment of those prophecies and the near coming fulfillment of those prophecies that are tied to these ones, we are indeed in the last generation. Therefore it is most unlikely the Rapture will not occur for a hundred years. It is much more likely to occur within the next decade or two ... at the most. BUT ... it can occur at ANY moment. Including one split second from the moment I am writing this ... to the split second you begin to read these words. Jesus told us to "watch" and "wait" which, in the original Greek, actually means "to be on the alert" and "to faithfully serve" Him until that moment.

I pray this helps.

Your posts on prophecy always get me so excited for the Lord. Even though I know all of what you have written to be true, just seeing it inspires me to keep going. Even if I leave this world before the rapture, because tomorrow is never promised, I live in excitement that soon things will be changing. I am sure the souls and angels in Heaven are also excited because they see the same changes we do. Hallelujah, the time of our Lord is near. Soon He will rule, and our anguish will be no more!!