Metaphysical meaning of Sodom (mbd)
Sodom (in A. V., Romans 9:29, Sodoma), sod'-om (Heb.)--burning; consuming with fire; conflagration; secret intrigues; hidden wiles; covered conspiracies; place of bitumen or lime.
One of the "cities of the Plain," in which Lot lived for a time. It was destroyed later by fire because of its wickedness (Gen. 13:12; 18:20--19:29).
Meta. Sodom (secret intrigues, hidden wiles) represents a concealed or obscure thought or habit of man. Gomorrah (tyranny, material force) signifies a state of mind that is adverse to the law of Spirit. These wicked "cities of the Plain" are located within man, and before he can come into a realization of the promised "son," or "Christ," he must consent to the thorough purification of his consciousness from the sins that Sodom and Gomorrah represent. This purification is by fire, and it must be complete.
We try hard to save some of our sense thoughts and secret habits. We have indulged them so long, and our ancestors before us did likewise beyond the memory of man, that we cannot help thinking that there is some good in them. "And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?" The Lord agreed to spare the place for the fifty righteous to be found in it. Then Abraham begged that it be spared if forty-five righteous be found, which was consented to; then forty, then thirty, then twenty--until he got down to ten, but there were not even ten righteous, and the city had to be destroyed.
Sodom symbolizes the lowest form of sense desire in the procreative center. (Sodom was the southernmost of the four cities in the vale of Siddim that were destroyed by fire. The Dead Sea exists where they were). Sodomy is to this day an almost unmentionable sin; yet the spiritual-minded Abraham maintained to the last that there was some good in it.
The tendency to plead for the good in sense habits is characteristic of man's development. We cannot conceive why these functions that seem so necessary to the reproduction of the race should not be under the divine law. We have not yet awakened to the fact that they are, in the external expression, a degenerate imitation of the divine law of reproduction.
We do not quickly see spiritual Truth and we protest that there is good in sense functions. In the early stages of the work of regeneration we believe that we perceive a very large proportion of good, but as we go on in spiritual discernment it grows gradually less until it is cut down to almost nothing. Only Lot and his wife and their two daughters were found righteous in that city. They were helped to escape and the city was destroyed.
Error must be wholly wiped out of consciousness, and the sooner we accept the divine law in full, the sooner shall we arrive at the door of the kingdom. Do not hold to your so-called natural functions as divine. There are great mysteries in human consciousness. The race has gone through strange experiences, and wonderful revelations come to those who get beneath the surface of things. Turn your back resolutely on all forms of sense thought, and you will gradually discern the light that shines within the light.
Under divine guidance the demoralization that mere animalism has produced must be purified through the descent of the fires of Spirit. This is what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Preceding Entry: Sodi
Following Entry: Sodomites
