I wasn't ignoring the sexual sins at all. I was just pointing out what scripture said was their chief sin. Scripture trumps our opinion on the matter.
I just read the chapter. The next verse: Verse 50: "They were haughty & did detestable acts." So the full quote is "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty & did detestable acts."
What were these detestable acts? The rest of the chapter is all about sexuality. The whole chapter in general is calling out sexual sin (prostitution). This whole chapter is actually in support that Sodom's biggest problems were sexual. Verse 27 spells out specifically Jersualem was prostituing themselves to the Assyrian men & then when that wans't good enough, the Chaldean men. Ezekiel is comparing this problem to the sins of Sodom. In the context of the 'not supporting the poor & needy', I'm guessing what was going on was the people (most likely most were rich & powerful but wouldn't have been exclusive to that or even a majority) were prostituting themselves & chasing world's pleasures, not God's, & not other people's in the way he wants them to. & that did come at the expense of the poor.
So it's a double-whammy against God: It's not loving him with all your heart, soul, & strength b/c you're not following his commandments on sexuality; & it's not loving your neighbor as yourself. If this still isn't satisfactory, we can refer back to Genesis & Jude. All 3 are in harmony with each other. But unfortunately this is what false teachers do, they take a verse that sounds good, ignore the rest of the context, pretend it's not there, scribble it out when it's brought up in other places, & run w/ it to justify what they want to hear. Oh Saucy, what are you learning in those classes you signed up for....I am terrified for you right now.
The Bible trumps the world's opinions, but for the genuine Christian, it confirms what we know to be true & is a reminder for when we forget.
I really really think in this day & age where churches are caving on these issues: to downplay the sexual sins of the cities, that is very very dangerous right now & leading sheep to the slaughter, so that is why I am pushing back some.
BUT here is joy: People many times say that the God of the OT & NT are different, that he 'changed' & somehow 'grew up'. No, that verse you quoted says he cared about the poor & needy even back in the OT. It's the exact same thing you find in the NT w/ Christ preaching that.
Also, the beginning of the chapter is very beautiful. It talks about how much God loves Jerusalem & picked them for his own. Then the chapter gets depressing b/c Jersualem turned their back on God despite his love & prosituted themselves - everything God gave him as tokens of his love, they gave to aid in their prostituion. . But then at the end of the chapter it gets joyful again b/c even tho Jersualem did this, God says he remembers his covenant anyways & will stand true to it even tho they rejected him despite his deep love for them.
I hope things are well with you.
