Someone wrote the following in the comments section of this blog mildly taking me to task for something I just posted.

According to Jewish thought, Sodom and Gomorrah’s main sin was allowing people to die at the gates of those cities. The gates would be closed at sunset and would not re-open until morning. Since they were desert communities, many people waiting to get in would die of thirst or starvation by the time the gates re-opened in the mornings. Sexual sins sure were a big problem there but was not the main reason those cities were destroyed. They were destroyed mainly because of they’re hardness of hearts. Sound familiar? Does history always have to repeat itself like this?

Here is my response to them:

With all due respect, if you intend to post on my blog, you’d best have your facts straight and represent the Bible correctly, or you’ll be called on it. Moreover, instead of looking to Jewish thought for our biblical understanding, how about going directly to the Bible? Jewish thought also declares that Yeshua is NOT the Messiah. So “Jewish thought” must be taken with a huge grain of salt, and, in most cases, can’t totally be relied on as the basis for biblical understanding.

Now to the point:

It is a myth and a misunderstanding of Scripture to say that YHVH Elohim primarily destroyed Sodom for its lack of hospitality. This argument was raised to justify homosexuality, and is based on a mis-reading of Ezek 16:49. Those who proffer this myth not only overlook all the other biblical scriptures that talk about the sins of Sodom, but also overlook the context of Ezek 16:48 including the very next verse—Ezek 16:50. Here it is stated that Elohim overthrew Sodom because they proudly committed abominations, which was in addition to their lack of hospitality. What abomination is this? The Bible only calls a few sins abominations. Homosexuality is one of them (Lev 18:22).

Now let’s address America shutting its borders to illegal immigration.

First let’s address the issue from a secular perspective. A nation has to have laws or there will be anarchy, mayhem and it will not be a safe place for its inhabitants to live. A nation also has to have borders, or there is no nation. Period.

True, our nation is one of immigrants. My grandmother was born in Germany, and my great-grandfather in Sweden. Both came here legally. They didn’t crash the border. And when they got here, they went to work and assimilated into the American culture; they even refused to speak their mother tongue in favor of English. They didn’t come here with their hands outstretched looking for public assistance in the form of welfare benefits. They also weren’t full of diseases and with criminal backgrounds. Such people were turned away at Ellis Island and sent back home. Those who were deemed to be an asset to this country were allowed in.

This is not the situation with many, if not most, of those currently crashing America’s southern border illegally. Few of them seem to care about our laws and legal immigration. They feel it is their right to come to the US simply because they want to. Many of them are criminals, drug runners and will go on the public dole as they can get here. The US can’t handle this economically or socially. Currently 27 percent of all criminals in the US Federal Prison System are foreigners from our south.

Second, let’s address immigration from a biblical perspective. (This is a quick overview and a brief study, and not a comprehensive discussion of this subject.) Did Israel have borders? Yes. Did the Israelites defend these borders from foreign invasion? Yes, and by Elohim’s instructions. Did Israel have laws? Yes. That body of laws was called the Torah, which tells us how to love Elohim with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourself. Read the Bible. It’s all there.

Now, under what conditions were foreigners allowed to immigrate into Israel? First, they were to be treated with respect, but they had to accept YHVH Elohim, the God of Israel, and to follow the laws of Israel, namely the Torah of Elohim (Exod 12:43–49; 22:21; 23:9; Lev 24:22; Num 15:16, 29).

Second, they didn’t come into Israel as welfare dependents or criminals, nor were they allowed to bring in their foreign cultures or satanic religious systems. They had to assimilate into the tribes of Israel and once there they went to work, while, at the same time, accepting the God of Israel and his laws. They weren’t working to overthrow the borders, language and culture of Israel, or the God of Israel, nor were they sucking the economic resources out of Israel. If they fell onto hard times, like any other Israelite native or foreign born, they sold themselves into temporary servitude to their debtor and worked until their debts were paid off. There was no free lunch here!

To use the Bible to justify allowing anyone to come into America illegally for any reason, frankly, demonstrates biblical naivety if not ignorance of the facts.