Last 5 Days
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Three men (presumably “angels”) appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre. They told Abraham that Sarah will have a son next year. As they were preparing to leave, the Lord decided to tell Abraham His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah since he was chosen to become “a great and mighty nation.”
The reason He wanted to destroy these cities was that “their sin is very grave.” The three men were going there to confirm that this was true, the cities were doing such wicked things.
As the three men left, Abraham continued his discussion with God. Abraham was more pleading and bargaining with God for the city of Sodom. The reason for his plea for God to spare the city was because his nephew, Lot, was living there after he separated from Abraham because their herdsmen had been quarreling among themselves.
Abraham asked God if there were fifty righteous men found there, “Will He spare the city?”. When God said He would, Abraham began his “bargain” with God, He asked how about fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and down to ten and God said He would. Finally, God left, and Abraham went home.
Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom because of personal interest, he does not want his nephew and his family to be destroyed along with the city. It was a selfish reason. Why stop at ten and not one? Could “ten” be the number of members in Lot’s family?
God is not a “dictator” who is unreasonable. You can negotiate with Him. It is said that God cannot change. Yes, it is true. God cannot change especially the things that would contradict His nature and character. However, He can change on lesser things especially when it is consistent with His nature and character such as being gracious and merciful.
It is why we pray to Him. If not, why bother praying at all in the first place if we cannot “change” His mind? It is not wrong to plead and bargain with God. But man does so for selfish reasons than selfless ones. Abraham asked God out of his personal interest than the collective interest of everyone else. Was God bothered by it? No, He was not! He was more willing to bless rather than harm. This is the kind of God we worship!
Therefore, do not stop praying but as Paul said, “Pray without ceasing.” We need to persist like the parable of the persistent widow that Jesus told in Luke 18:1-8. Do not stop praying just as Jesus used the parable of the persistent widow to illustrate to us!
