Today’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 18:20-32) is the amazing story of Abraham’s prayer for Sodom (really for his nephew Lot and his family). The scene is an amazing revelation of the faith of one man in the justice of Almighty God and an incredible boldness of a mere human before the Creator of the Universe.
This was not the first time that Abraham had intervened for his beloved nephew. Years earlier, Abraham had emigrated to Canaan along with his nephew. Lot ultimately settled in Sodom, a sinful city in the fertile valley near the Dead Sea. When the kings of Mesopotamia sacked Sodom and carried off Lot and other residents as slaves, Abraham raised his own personal military force, attacked the Mesopotamian army by night, rescued Lot, and returned him to his home (Genesis 14:1-1).
But now Lot is threatened by another overpowering force: God Himself. And Abraham finds himself once again contending for Lot, this time before the Lord. Prior to today’s reading, Abraham has entertained three “men”. It turns out that they are on their way to destroy Sodom. Here is where today’s story begins.
The sins of Sodom had reached the point where a righteous God must punish them. Throughout the ages God has shown mercy to peoples that have sinned (Exodus 34:6-7; Lamentations 3:22; Jonah 4:2; Romans 2:4; 3:25; 9:22; 1 Timothy 1:16). After all, if God destroyed us for our sins, who would remain? But God is merciful, giving us a chance to repent. Nevertheless, Sodom’s days are numbered. There is a time that judgment must fall, and that time has come.
Abraham is under no illusions. He knows how bad Sodom really is. He knows how truly wicked the city and its leaders are. He knows that when the Lord’s angels observe the sins of the city, God will be obligated by all that is right and holy to destroy it. But Abraham feels an obligation to protect his nephew’s family from that destruction.
Now we see a most amazing, bold, audacious appeal from Abraham to God.
“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?” (Genesis18:22-25).
Was God upset with Abraham’s boldness? No. I think God had set up Abraham for this very act of intercession by revealing to Abraham his intentions for Sodom.
Over the course of the next few minutes, Abraham boldly bargains God down from 50 to 10 righteous people that would prevent God from destroying Sodom — and the Lord agrees. Abraham dares go no lower.
Throughout this bold prayer, Abraham asks for the Lord’s indulgence, repeatedly acknowledging his own humble place before Almighty God:
“Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD, though I am nothing but dust and ashes….” (Genesis 18:27)
“May the LORD not be angry but let me speak….” (Genesis 18:30)]
“Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD….” (Genesis 18:31)
“May the LORD not be angry but let me speak just once more….” (Genesis 18:32)
Here is a fine balance of humility, knowing our place, and yet boldness, taking the opportunity that God has given us by inviting us to intimacy with him, the King of Heaven. Why does God bargain with Abraham? God could have said, “What I plan is just — because I say so!” Certainly, God is the Judge of All the Earth. He would have been justified in destroying that wicked city and all who chose to live in it. Or he could have simply said, “Abraham, frankly there aren’t even ten just people in Sodom. Don’t waste your breath.” Be he didn’t.
Instead, he engages in dialog with Abraham to see how far Abraham’s faith will take him.
Was the Lord angry with Abraham? Not at all. Abraham is the apple of his eye. He is delighted that his servant Abraham believes in him enough and understands him enough to ask this. Genesis 15:6 explains, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.” The faith of this pre-Christian human is wonderful to God. Here is a man who actually trusts him enough to pray this kind of prayer. Wow!
God loves you when you pray to him. When you call out, “Abba, Father,” he hears your prayers and longs to answer them. After all, you are his child. He has chosen to adopt you into his family and bless you — because of Jesus.
Notice, however, that in this bargaining session, that Abraham is not offering to do something in return for God’s favor — trying to buy God’s response. Instead, he is appealing again and again to God’s own gracious and righteous character. This is the kind of bargaining that doesn’t demean God by cheapening his response into a transaction, but exalts God by magnifying his righteousness, by insisting that his great righteousness requires him to spare the city for even ten righteous persons.
But Abrahams was persistent. An older generation of saints used to call this kind of persistence “praying through,” praying until assurance of an answer comes. If we want answers to our prayers, we too must learn to “pray through” and not quit before the assurance of answered prayer comes.
Notice how God answers. While God knows that there are not ten righteous people in Sodom, God answers the intent of Abraham’s prayer — to save his nephew. Lot is righteous (2 Peter 2:7), so he and the family who comes under Lot’s protection must be saved. The angels were under strict orders from God that they were not to destroy Sodom until Lot is safe. When Lot requested permission to flee as far as Zoar, the angel granted his petition:
“Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (Genesis 19:21-22)
Abraham prays and God grants the intent of his request, even though he does not grant the literal request itself. How wonderful! How gracious!
I believe God intended to teach Abraham — and us — several lessons about intercession, that is, praying to God on behalf of someone else. I see four lessons here:
- Boldness, or confidence before God, is necessary. See Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Hebrews 4:16; 10:19.
- Humility. Abraham remains respectful of God and cognizant of his own inferiority.
- God’s character and word are the basis of the appeal. You can see this in some of the great prayers of intercession in the Bible: Exodus 32:9-14; 33:12-17; Numbers 16:20-22; 1 Samuel 7:5-14; 2 Samuel 24:17; 1 Kings 17:20-23; 2 Kings 19:1-37; Ezra 9:5-15; Nehemiah 1:4-9; Daniel 9:4-19; Amos 7:2-6.
- Persistence in prayer continues until the answer is received.
When I think about Abraham interceding for sinful Sodom — especially for his nephew Lot — I think of Christ’s constant intercession for us His people before the Father. We read that He is our “Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1 John 2:1). He is the “one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). He is “at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). And He is able to save us to the uttermost, “seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for [us]” (Hebrews 7:25).
Perhaps the extent of our sin is not as great as that of Sodom, but certainly our sinfulness before God is just as repugnant. Thank God that there is One who intercedes for us, who has brought us to repentance, and has made a way for us to be forgiven.
Now, like Abraham and Moses and Jesus, we are to intercede for others. We are to stand in the gap for them (Ezekiel 22:30), that they might find salvation. God has called us to intercession. God has called us to prayer.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!