Need To Know

The LORD said to himself, “I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth. I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair. Then I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised.”

The LORD said, “Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren’t, I want to know about it.”

The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the LORD stayed with Abraham, who asked, “LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? Wouldn’t you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? You surely wouldn’t let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right.”

The LORD replied, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed.”

Abraham answered, “I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, LORD, for daring to speak to you like this. But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?”

“If I find forty-five good people,” the LORD replied, “I won’t destroy the city.” (Genesis 18:17-28)

God and Abraham were on speaking terms. God had eaten a meal with Abraham that his wife Sarah had made for them. God had just told him that within a year he’d be a father and Sarah would be a mother. Then God decided to let Abraham in on another piece of the future: he planned to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Abraham was upset, not because he had a great love for those two wicked cities, but because he knew that his nephew Lot and Lot’s family lived there. Abraham didn’t ask for mercy for the guilty cities. But he believed that God was not one to punish those who didn’t deserve it. So he got God to agree to spare the city if there were but ten righteous living in it. Abraham doubtless figured that was a safe number.

Although it turned out that there were far less than ten righteous there, Abraham was right in thinking that God wouldn’t destroy the innocent with the guilty. But Abraham forgot that the innocent could simply be moved out of the way. God’s judgment hit only the guilty. Lot and two of his daughters were spared, though even Lot’s wife lost her life to God’s judgment.

Send to Kindle