§ 8. Jesus' Ministry in Galilee Continued

Both John and Jesus are quoted as preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). The Lord is gracious in sending us messengers to correct us, but He ultimately expects our turning to Him in return. Even Sodom was given a chance to repent, and as bad as they were, as Jesus says, they would have repented on seeing what the Lord is doing in Galilee.

Although Tyre and Sidon are denounced in Isaiah 23:1–12, Jesus's themes in this passage seem more closely to parallel Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 26:1–28:19 addresses Tyre with a general rebuke, a lamentation, a message to the prince—really a lengthy passage. Ezekiel 28:20–23 addresses Sidon.

In the lamentation over Tyre we note:

Ezekiel 27:3, 27

…O Tyre, you have said,
    ‘I am perfect in beauty.’

Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
    your mariners and your pilots,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
    and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
    that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
    on the day of your fall.

And in the message to the prince of Tyre we note:

Ezekiel 28:2, 6–8

Because your heart is proud,
    and you have said, ‘I am a god…,

…therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you make your heart
    like the heart of a god,
therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,
    the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
    and defile your splendor.
They shall thrust you down into the pit,
    and you shall die the death of the slain
    in the heart of the seas.

In both places, the themes of self-exaltation versus abasement from God are evident. The stylistic language, too, features heights and depths that parallel the words of the Lord in Matthew 11.

This language appears to borrow from the prophecies against Edom.

Obadiah 3–4

The pride of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rock,
    in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
    “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
    though your nest is set among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,
        declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 49:16

The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,
    I will bring you down from there,
        declares the LORD.

Sodom's Failure to Repent

First of all, the reference to Sodom regards Sodom's destruction at the Lord's hands (Genesis 19:24–25). Before He destroyed Sodom, the Lord had made genuine efforts to save Sodom's inhabitants. He had decided to give them a chance to prove themselves innocent (Genesis 18:20–21), and He showed great mercy when He allowed Abraham to "negotiate" Him down to 10 righteous (Genesis 18:22–33). He even worked a miracle among them as He rebuked them before Lot (Genesis 19:11).

However, Jesus is greater than Abraham, and His works in Galilee more numerous and more powerful than what was done in Sodom!

1 Timothy 2:5

There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus….

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God's People Can Resemble Sodom

Second, Jesus's reference to Sodom follows a significant tradition in Scripture.

The first time God's people are compared to Sodom is in Deuteronomy—the second generation from Egypt!

Deuteronomy 29:18–19; 22–28

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick— the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath— all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’

The prophets made similar comparisons regarding Judah. Isaiah says:

Isaiah 1:9–10

If the LORD of hosts
    had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
    and become like Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the LORD,
    you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!

Isaiah 3:9

The look on their faces bears witness against them;
    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
    they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
    For they have brought evil on themselves.

And Jeremiah says:

Jeremiah 23:14

But in the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
    so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

Finally, the Revelation refers to Jerusalem as spiritual Sodom, and even Paul calls for the Hebrews to leave it behind.

Revelation 11:8

…the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Hebrews 13:12–14

Jesus…suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.