Alex Haiken says, "In Ezekiel chapter 16...the prophet spells out explicitly what God calls the sin of Sodom: 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord … this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.' (Ezekiel 16:48-50)"1
As usual, Mr. Haiken is being deceptively dishonest. He is begging the question and failing to address the whole context of what the prophet is saying. Mr. Haiken fails to notice—or chooses not to
address—a significant connection between Genesis 19, the two passages
in Leviticus, and Ezekiel 16:48–50. Behold:
"Ezekiel, who makes abundant use of the book of Leviticus, describes various sins of Sodom (Ezek 16:48–49), then concludes, “They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it” (16:50). This indicates that the “abomination” committed by Sodom led to their destruction. Ezekiel’s reference to Sodom’s “abomination” uses the singular form of the term toevah, and that term is used in the singular only twice in the book of Leviticus, when same-sex intercourse is called an abomination in 18:22, and when the death penalty is prescribed for it in 20:13. The four other instances of the term in Leviticus are in the plural, making it likely that Ezekiel uses the term from Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 to reference the same-sex intentions of the men of Sodom."2
By the statement "committed abomination before me" (Ez. 16:50), our minds should be brought to Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, where we find the term "abomination" used to describe homosexual behaviour. The Hebrew word translated "abomination" here is to'ebah (תועבה), the very same term used to describe homosexual activities/relationships in the Holiness Code. To'ebah
properly refers to
something morally disgusting. Mr. Haiken attempts to dismiss this and sweep it
under the rug, but the fact it is a viable correlation between the two
can be seen in how 2 Peter 2:6-8 and Jude 7 refer to the sins of Sodom
as gross immorality. Proper exegesis arrives at the conclusive fact that
Genesis 19 informs us of the homosexual behaviour that the Sodomites
were guilty of.
The Sodomites were guilty of many sins, but only one sin in particular lead to their destruction, as attested to by God Himself: “They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it” (16:50). Sodom was destroyed because of the rampant homosexuality that had enveloped and engulfed it. Make no mistake about it, homosexuality is immoral, unhealthy, and unnatural. It is a perversion of both human and sexual natures, and abomination of the created order.
The Sodomites were guilty of many sins, but only one sin in particular lead to their destruction, as attested to by God Himself: “They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it” (16:50). Sodom was destroyed because of the rampant homosexuality that had enveloped and engulfed it. Make no mistake about it, homosexuality is immoral, unhealthy, and unnatural. It is a perversion of both human and sexual natures, and abomination of the created order.
1 Alex Haiken, Genesis 19: What the Bible Really Says Were the Sins of Sodom.
2 Albert Mohler, God and the Gay Christian?: A Response to Matthew Vines, p.35.