It is quite common nowadays to hear Christians play down the sin of homosexuality by asking why Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount didn't even mention it. They say He was silent on the subject in the Bible but they are wrong. In making such shallow misleading statements they are dismissing the fact that the 2nd Person of the Godhead was involved in what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah. A study of Genesis 18and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah will provide evidence that Jesus was very much involved personally in the raining down of fire and brimstone upon the numerous practicing homosexuals in those wicked cities - making an example of them once and for all to reveal how that sinful lifestyle is an abomination in His sight and that if it is not repented of will ultimately result in the Lake of Fire. Genesis 18:1-3, Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.” Theologians generally agree that that is one of the many Theophanies of Jesus (appearing on earth before the incarnation) as it mentions “the Angel of the Lord.” You cannot argue against the fact that there are appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ (Christ before He came in the flesh) and the visit to Abraham on the way to Sodom and Gomorrah (to reveal to His friend what He is about to do) is one of them. This “Angel” is referred to numerous times in the Old Testament with masculine pronouns (Genesis 16:13; Judges 6:21). He is identified as God (Judges 6:11, 14; Zechariah 12:8). He performed miracles (Judges 6:21; 13:20). Gideon and Manoah thought they would die because they saw the “Angel” face to face (Judges 6:22; 13:22). The “Angel” accurately foretold future events (Judges 13:3). His name is “wonderful” (Judges 13:18; Isaiah 9:6). He destroyed 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army in one night (2 Kings 19:35). While angels have occasionally performed some of these actions, such as miracles and prophecy, there are clear examples when “the Angel of the Lord” cannot be viewed as a normal angel. He is occasionally identified as God, accepted worship, and at least two people who saw Him thought they would die for seeing Him face to face. These same attributes and activities are clearly attributed to God elsewhere in Scripture. (All of this according to answersingenesis.org) Finally, “the Angel of the Lord” does not make any appearances after the birth of Christ in the New Testament, although the risen Jesus did appear to Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–6; 22:6–10; 26:14–19; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15). These truths have led many students of Scripture to conclude that “the Angel of the Lord” in Genesis 18in the Old Testament is none other than Christ Himself. In the Old Testament He is called God, given attributes of God, seen by people, worshiped, and distinguished from the Father and Spirit. So Jesus said according to Genesis 18:17-25, “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” God asked. 18 “For Abraham shall become a mighty nation, and he will be a source of blessing for all the nations of the earth. 19 And I have picked him out to have godly descendants and a godly household—men who are just and good—so that I can do for him all I have promised.” 20 So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are utterly evil, and that everything they do is wicked. 21 I am going down to see whether these reports are true or not. Then I will know.” 22-23 So the other two went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham a while. Then Abraham approached him and said, “Will you kill good and bad alike? 24 Suppose you find fifty godly people there within the city—will you destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes? 25 That wouldn’t be right! Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, to kill the godly with the wicked! Why, you would be treating godly and wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth be fair?” (TLB) So, you say Jesus said nothing about His disdain for sodomy? Look again. In fact it appears then that He basically told Abraham that He was going to do what needed to be done in Sodom and Gomorrah if the cries coming up to Him because of their wicked sins warranted a display of judgment! And upon His evaluation of the truth of the accusations - Jesus destroyed that wicked place with fire and brimstone. No question in my mind as to how He views homosexuality. So all this stuff about Jesus never revealed anything about how He feels about Sodom or sodomy or homosexuality is just plain ignorant. Read your Bible if you want to know how Jesus feels about it. To answer the typical misstatement about Jesus not addressing homosexuality in His Sermon on the Mount is an easy thing to do. He didn't have to address the things that were blatantly obvious (like being a rapist, pedophile or bestiality) because Jesus was a Jew teaching Jews living in a Torah observant culture. In the first century Jewish culture there was no need for Him (ministering unto His own, the Jews) to expound on men doing detestable things with each other because His very culture of Torah observance adamantly opposed such abominations. In other words - it was a given.Later, as the Church spread from just that Jewish culture to the gentiles, the apostle to the gentiles had to talk about such detestable things (read Romans) because it was no longer assumed that everyone they ministered to had a good basic anti-abominations upbringing. So Paul speaking to the Gentiles in Romans 1:24-27has to say things that a Jew teaching Jews wouldn't have to expound upon as Paul says to the Romans, 24 So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin, and do whatever they wanted to—yes, vile and sinful things with each other’s bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they prayed to the things God made, but wouldn’t obey the blessed God who made these things. 26 That is why God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God’s natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sex relationships with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved.
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