53 “When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them, 54 that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. 55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state... Ezekiel 16:53-55
I read this recently and I had to scratch my head. Wasn't Sodom and Gomorrah completely destroyed except for Lot and his daughters? How will the 'captives of Sodom return to their former state' unless God restores them post-Mortem? I'm curious if anyone has a better understanding of this prophecy and can explain it in some other way. When was this prophecy fulfilled since Sodom's destruction? Is Sodom a nickname for the northern tribes of Israel and not referring to literal Sodom?
Sodom's Restoration
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RICHinCHRIST
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backwoodsman
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Re: Sodom's Restoration
F.C. Cook's view seems to make sense:
"This is not a promise of restoration, but a denunciation of hopeless ruin. When Sodom shall be rebuilt and shall flourish, when Samaria shall be again a mighty people, then, but not till then, shall Jerusalem be restored."
-from F.C. Cook's Commentary, 1876; several O.T. books of the 1879 edition were included as part of Barnes' Notes, and are in the electronic version of Barnes.
"This is not a promise of restoration, but a denunciation of hopeless ruin. When Sodom shall be rebuilt and shall flourish, when Samaria shall be again a mighty people, then, but not till then, shall Jerusalem be restored."
-from F.C. Cook's Commentary, 1876; several O.T. books of the 1879 edition were included as part of Barnes' Notes, and are in the electronic version of Barnes.
Re: Sodom's Restoration
Commentators have commonly brushed over this section without answering the key questions that come to our minds when we read it. Technically, it would be impossible to restore the earthly race of Sodomites, since they were rendered extinct hundreds of years before Ezekiel's time. Several suggestions have been floated by various commentators, without giving much detail.
1) I usually have seen it as a term referring to Israel. Adam Clarke says that it is commonly believed [by commentators of his day???] that Sodom is a symbolic name for the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan. Thus they are distinguished from both Jerusalem and Samaria. Jerusalem is sometimes called "Sodom" (e.g., Isa.1:9-10; Rev.11:8), so this name might also have been applied to the other Israelites as well. It is interesting that, when Ezekiel lists "Sodom's" sins, he does not mention those of Canaanite Sodom, which we would expect to include sexual perversion, but rather "pride, fullness of food...idleness" and unconcern for the needy (Ezek.16:49). Interestingly, these are the very sins (besides idolatry) for which the northern kingdom fell (compare Amos' prophecies against them).
2) Universalists often see this as evidence of postmortem repentance—since Sodom could not be saved without repentance, and since any future repentance of the Sodomites would have to be postmortem (their race being extinct).
3) The statement in Ezek.16:53, if applied to literal Sodom, might be taken ironically (Sounds like this might be the idea of Cook's Commentary, cited above): "Like I'm gonna restore YOU? Yeah, when I restore Sodom I will!" In other words: "When hell freezes over!" Of course, God did ultimately restore Judah from Babylon (but not Samaria or Sodom). This ironic statement could, however, be referring to a more short-term restoration from initial damages done to Judah's villages in Babylon's earlier invasions, in 605 and 597 BC.
Other options may be available, but they are elusive.
1) I usually have seen it as a term referring to Israel. Adam Clarke says that it is commonly believed [by commentators of his day???] that Sodom is a symbolic name for the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan. Thus they are distinguished from both Jerusalem and Samaria. Jerusalem is sometimes called "Sodom" (e.g., Isa.1:9-10; Rev.11:8), so this name might also have been applied to the other Israelites as well. It is interesting that, when Ezekiel lists "Sodom's" sins, he does not mention those of Canaanite Sodom, which we would expect to include sexual perversion, but rather "pride, fullness of food...idleness" and unconcern for the needy (Ezek.16:49). Interestingly, these are the very sins (besides idolatry) for which the northern kingdom fell (compare Amos' prophecies against them).
2) Universalists often see this as evidence of postmortem repentance—since Sodom could not be saved without repentance, and since any future repentance of the Sodomites would have to be postmortem (their race being extinct).
3) The statement in Ezek.16:53, if applied to literal Sodom, might be taken ironically (Sounds like this might be the idea of Cook's Commentary, cited above): "Like I'm gonna restore YOU? Yeah, when I restore Sodom I will!" In other words: "When hell freezes over!" Of course, God did ultimately restore Judah from Babylon (but not Samaria or Sodom). This ironic statement could, however, be referring to a more short-term restoration from initial damages done to Judah's villages in Babylon's earlier invasions, in 605 and 597 BC.
Other options may be available, but they are elusive.