Ezekiel 16:49, commentary and pictures

Behold, the guilt of Sodom and her daughters was pride, plenty of food, idle ease, and refusing to strengthen the poor and needy. Fullness of bread was excess of food and indulgence of appetite that founded all their other sins, abundance of idleness was living in ease with nothing useful to do, and pride was haughtiness and display before God in contrast to simplicity and modesty. Idleness itself is sin because it enfeebles the mind, debases the soul and perverts judgment, leaving unoccupied hands and minds ready for Satan to control while useful labor leaves no time to heed temptation. Riches and leisure gave birth to luxury, pride, hardness of heart, love of pleasure and sensual indulgence until appetite enslaved reason and God swept those cities away as a blot from creation, and those same causes brought their ruin and remain just as deadly to human progress now. The same pride, excess, idle ease and neglect of the poor now fills society as in the days of Lot before fire fell, so all who would escape the doom of Sodom must shun that course, teach children that idleness is sin and keep them usefully occupied, and show love for Christ by caring for the needy.

Sodom's Sins Identified

Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom and her daughters: pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, and failure to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Abundance and idleness there show the terrible result of treating work as degrading, for idleness weakens the mind, debases the soul, and perverts understanding and judgment, turning work, which was given as a blessing, into a curse. Much sin results from idleness, because active hands and minds occupied in useful labor find no time to heed temptation, while idle hands and brains are ready for Satan to control and the unoccupied mind dwells upon improper things. Inactivity, delicate idleness without useful physical labor, and overeating sow the seeds of disease and bring sure decay, leaving youth weak in bone, brain, and muscle, so that idleness with inactive life and overeating brings a thousand to the grave where pure overwork breaks down only a hundred.

Pride in the verse includes haughtiness and abominations committed before God for which He took them away. It is shown in fashionable display and making a stylish appearance and worldly conformity, in contrast to the simplicity and modesty expected of followers of God. Ministers, ministers' wives, and parents are to discard deforming fashionable dress such as paniers, bustles, unnecessary plaiting, and fashionable arrangement, to dress children in simplicity and modesty approved by God, and to take far greater pains to give them beautiful characters and keep the way of the Lord than to seek stylish appearance. Riches and leisure, though most desired among men, gave birth to luxury, pride, hardness of heart in those never oppressed by want or burdened by sorrow, love of pleasure, and sensual indulgence.

Fullness of bread means having plenty of food and more than enough, even abundance of food and excess of food with idle living. It means gratification of unnatural appetite and indulgence of appetite and passion, which was the foundation of all their sins and part of the increase of intemperance in every form after the Flood when men forgot God and corrupted their ways. That indulgence benumbed the intellect so they could not discern between the sacred claims of God and the clamor of appetite, enslaved them to appetite, and made them ferocious and bold in detestable abominations until God would not tolerate them upon the earth and swept entire cities as a blot from creation, even as the same corrupted perverted appetite destroyed the Noachian world, and as the wickedness of Babylon is ascribed to gluttony and drunkenness. Luxury, indulged appetite, and idle living weaken a people into effeminacy and bring a nation to destruction, and any nation following the same path will go to the same destruction, as shown when Rome was destroyed by effeminacy and luxury though surrounding arms could not conquer it in its plain early days, and Alexander the Great was invincible in war while practicing plain temperance but was finally conquered when he gave way to appetite.

Abundance of idleness means living in idle ease with too much idle time and nothing useful to do, with plenty of food together with having nothing special to do. Idleness itself is sin and produces much sin and ruin, and can lead into mischief and evil, so parents must teach children that idleness is sin and train them to useful labor, self-control, and being usefully occupied. To let children grow up in idleness is sin, and mothers must not lift burdens from daughters, give them nothing special to do, and let them choose only crochet or other fancy work, but must give them work that exercises limbs and muscles and teach them to cook, because useful labor builds around them a barrier preserving them from folly and vice. Weariness from such labor does not hurt them more than their mothers unless they are overworked, and they recover in a good night's rest to labor again the next day.

Failure to help the poor and needy means refusing to share food, clothing, and shelter and to strengthen the needy, which is a mark of guilt. Too much leisure and failure to serve others foster self-absorption and imagined sorrows, while useful work that lightens others' burdens benefits the worker as well. Care for people in need and giving to advance the gospel show love for Christ more truly than profession does.

How Idleness Brings Ruin

Idleness enfeebles the mind, debases the soul, and perverts the understanding and judgment. Work was given as a blessing, but treating work as degrading turns it into a curse, and abundance with idleness shows that terrible result. Idleness itself is sin and produces much sin and ruin. Idle hands and brains are ready for Satan to control, and the unoccupied mind dwells upon improper things, while active hands and minds occupied in useful labor find no time to heed temptation and have less inclination to vice. Satan is never more successful than when he comes in idle hours in attractive disguise to the unguarded.

Idleness is the greatest curse upon man because vice and crime follow in its train. It defaces the image of God until men become satanic rather than divine. It fosters depraved thought and feeling and passion, and encourages brooding over sorrow. Misusing the physical powers or leaving them unused while overtaxing the mind weakens self-control, gives sway to impulse, and opens the door to impurity, since right living depends on right thinking and physical activity is essential to purity of thought.

Riches and leisure, though most desired among men, gave birth to luxury, pride, hardness of heart in those never oppressed by want or burdened by sorrow, love of pleasure, and sensual indulgence. Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins and part of the increase of intemperance after the Flood, when men forgot God and corrupted their ways. That indulgence benumbed the intellect so they could not discern between the sacred claims of God and the clamor of appetite, enslaved them to appetite, and made them ferocious and bold in detestable abominations until God would not tolerate them on the earth and swept entire cities as a blot from creation.

Inactivity and overeating sow the seeds of disease and bring sure decay. A life of delicate idleness without useful physical labor leaves youth weak in bone, brain, and muscle. Idleness with inactive life and overeating brings a thousand to the grave where pure overwork breaks down only a hundred. Luxury, indulged appetite, and idle living weaken a people into effeminacy and bring a nation to destruction, and any nation following the same path will go to the same destruction. Rome was destroyed by effeminacy and luxury though surrounding arms could not conquer it in its plain early days, and Alexander the Great was invincible in war while practicing plain temperance but was finally conquered when he gave way to appetite.

These conditions of pride, plenty of food, idle ease, and failure to help the poor and needy were the causes that led to the sin and destruction and ruin of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. Those same evils are just as deadly to human progress in this generation.

Warning and Duty Today

The same pride, excess of food, idle ease, and refusal to help the poor and needy that marked Sodom now fills society in every part. This proves the time is like the days of Noah before the flood and the days of Lot before fire destroyed Sodom. It marks the nearness of the day when the Son of man is revealed, and present guilt is even greater than Sodom's. All who would escape the doom of Sodom and the judgments of God must shun the same course that brought judgment on that wicked city. That shunning includes leaving the crowded city for a retired place where children will be shielded from temptation as far as possible and trained and educated for usefulness.

Parents must teach children that idleness itself is sin. Idleness produces much sin, because active hands and minds occupied in useful labor find no time to heed temptation, while idle hands and brains are ready to be controlled and the unoccupied mind dwells upon improper things. Left idle, children are led into mischief and evil, so they should be taught self-control and kept usefully occupied in helping parents and others. Children must be trained at home and at school to work, to bear burdens, to help parents and others, and to learn practical duties such as cooking. Physical labor is to be blended with mental study so the mind develops better, and being raised without bearing burdens and without physical labor spoils usefulness and leaves youth in lovesick sentimentalism.

Daughters must not be left with nothing special to do or left to choose only crochet or fancy work, but must be given work that exercises the limbs and muscles and must be taught to cook. Such useful labor builds around them a barrier preserving them from folly and vice, fits character for the future immortal life, guards against a slipshod religion, and teaches that life means labor, responsibility, and caretaking. Weariness from such labor does not hurt them more than their mothers unless they are overworked, and they recover in a good night's rest to labor again the next day. Treating work as degrading is one of the greatest evils of wealth, while the working man or woman sees what is great and good in life and bears its responsibilities with faith and hope.

Too much leisure with failure to serve others fosters self-absorption, imagined sorrows, and brooding over sorrow, with depraved thought and feeling and passion. The verse therefore warns against mistaking a self-focused, sentimental religious experience centered on leisure, self-absorption, and imagined sorrows for true spiritual-mindedness and consecration. True spiritual-mindedness and consecration are marked instead by purity, goodness, humility, and concern for making others happier and better. Useful work that lightens others' burdens benefits the worker as well. Failing to help the poor and strengthen the needy is a mark of guilt, and care for people in need with giving to advance the gospel shows love for Christ more truly than profession does.