"Then the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home." Genesis 18:17-33
In this scripture, the Lord turns attention toward the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is aware that the sin of the people there was "so grievous" and sends His angels there to check things out. We immediately get the sense that Abraham is aware that the cities are indeed as evil as the Lord has heard and fears what is to come for He asks God whether He will be discerning about who He destroys and who He doesn’t.
In showing his concern, Abraham doesn’t question God’s judgment on the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah. He understands that there are negative consequences for those who blatantly disobey the Lord’s will and way. What Abraham is concerned about is the matter of justice. Or in other words, the people who get punished will be the ones who deserve it.
Abraham asks God point blank, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham refuses to believe that God would be unjust and kill the righteous along with the unrighteous. He believes that God is merciful and just. God not only confirms Abraham’s belief but shows even a greater degree of His mercy when He states that "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." God would be willing to save everyone because of the righteousness of 50. Well, that wasn’t the final defining number. We know this because Abraham continues to count down while asking God each time what He would do if He found 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah with God repeating each time that He would spare everyone if He found that many righteous people. The problem was that there weren’t more 10 or more righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah and so doom is lurking in the future.
Still, there are two important points to take away from this passage:
1. God is just and merciful. He won’t punish the righteous like He will the unrighteous. In fact, there’s a good chance that the unrighteous are being preserved by the righteous people living alongside them. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t ever realize how close we are to being destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. Food for thought.
2. God listens to those who intercede for others. Abraham cared deeply for anyone who walked in the Lord’s way and will obediently…or in other words were righteous or right with God. Abraham felt such a passion for the righteous that he would boldly stand before God and challenge Him to proclaim that He was just in the way that He deals with the righteous and unrighteous. We should remember that God listens to the intercessors. Do you know someone who needs intercession today? Perhaps you could pray to the One who holds justice and mercy on His Holy Hands. Through our scripture today, we see that God will listen and respond in justice and mercy. Thanks be to God.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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