Luke 17:30

One of the "keystone" verses in the message is Luke 17:30. But is William Branham's interpretation just another example of twisted or lazy theology?

Here it is in the KJV - Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

William Branham's interpretation of Luke 17:30

What does this verse mean?

William Branham continually points to this reference to Sodom and emphasizes that Sodom was destroyed for their sexual immorality and homosexuality. He frequently types this behavior to that of the modern church, equating the way people dress, the immorality of the world today, and of churches to that of Sodom. Here's one such example:

What did He do to Sarah and Abraham? After He went on down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Angels come down there, seen that perverted generation of people, just like we're getting today... Look at the papers and things, how they're packing, how perversion people is on the move because men can't be satisfied with one wife, and he's living with every thing, every woman that he can run around with, and women the same way. And it's become just like the sin of Sodom. On the increase, till the government's full of them; the nation's full of them. This West Coast is contaminated with it. I get thousands of letters from up-and-down this coast of men and women and things, done stepped across the line, perverted, giving them the mind of--of that type. Notice, what a pitiful thing it is. Not a remedy or medicine in the world can cure it: only God.

The context of Luke 17:30

First, let's make sure we get additional context by reading more of Luke 17. In this case, we are quoting the NLT, but you can see this plainly in the KJV as well:

But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.

“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”

“Where will this happen, Lord?” the disciples asked.

Jesus replied, “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.

Other references to Sodom

Notice that this passage in Luke 17 doesn't really refer to any specific sins committed in Sodom, but rather, types the experience in Sodom to what will happen when Jesus returns. Essentially, people will be carrying on with their normal business and they will be caught off-guard; His return will be a surprise. The specific sins of Sodom don't really seem to matter in this context, however, at first glance it's easy to see how Brother Branham's teaching could be inferred from this scripture....or can it? What does the Bible say elsewhere about Sodom's sins?

“Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day — just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

What is Ezekiel saying?

According to Ezekiel, Sodom's sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness while the poor and needy sufferd outside her door. Now, I'm not trying to condone or justify immorality, homosexuality, and perversion here: those things are obviously very wrong. However, according to this passage in Ezekiel those things were not the core reasons that God destroyed Sodom.

As a result, what William Branham says in relation to Luke 17:30 doesn't include the full picture. The passage is about people being caught off guard and surprised by Jesus' return. The core sins of Sodom according to Ezekiel were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while neglecting the poor and needy. Sexual perversion was also present as indicated by Jude but it was only part of the picture. As always, the entirety of scripture must be examined to get a true picture.

Trying to type the modern church to Sodom and tying it into Luke 17:30 requires significant twisting of the scriptures. In fact, the very things that Sodom was guilty of in Ezekiel are manifest abundantly within the message, even more so than they are in most "worldly" churches.

Conclusion?

While William Branham stated that Sodom was destroyed because of sexual immorality, that's not the whole picture. And when ridicules denominational churches for preaching down in Sodom, that is where the church is supposed to be - preaching against sin and standing up to the pride, gluttony and laziness as well as sexual immorality.

Jesus prayed:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

So the church is in the world but is not of the world. That is our calling.