Peter Deison | Nielsen's Nook

Abraham’s Prayer for Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33)

Will Nielsen

February 18th, 2007

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¹⁶Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? ¹⁹For 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.” ²⁰Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, ²¹I 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.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

²²So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose 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? ²⁵Far 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?” ²⁶And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose 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.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then 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.” ³¹He 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.” ³²Then 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.” ³³And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. (ESV)

In reflecting on this morning’s sermon by Pete Deison at Park Cities Presbyterian Church, I began to consider the intricate relationship between prayer and righteousness. The memorable experience that this prayer was for Abraham seems to lend itself to encouraging us to pray and to reflect on the righteousness required for prayer.

It is notable in this passage that Abraham’s desire was that the city of Sodom be spared the wrath of God’s just destruction of it. Pastor Deison reminded us this morning that there were many in the city with whom Abraham had relation. He had conquered the five kings that had pillaged Sodom and returned all of its citizens belongings back to it. He had met with the king of Sodom and of course had family there, namely that of Lot. While Lot was influential in commerce and perhaps politics, he was not influential for the Lord.

Abraham prays boldly, most certainly. However, he stops short in his intercession. He stops at “if there are ten righteous people,” would you spare the city. God was most gracious to entertain Abraham’s prayer. In delighting to hear the prayer of his people, we find God preparing Abraham and his descendants for the reality of righteousness. Should Abraham had asked, “If there were one righteous person in the city, would you spare it, O Lord?” It seems plausible that God would have given the same reply, “If there is one, I will relent.” Nevertheless, the fate of Sodom would have been the same, for there were none righteous no, not even one (c.f., Romans 3:9-18).

So God answered Abraham’s prayer, but not the way Abraham had thought he intended. We often find ourselves praying boldly and yet without reference to the reality of the world as God has revealed it to us. God mercifully delivered Lot on account of His gracious promise to Abraham. On the basis of that promise, Abraham had prayed boldly and endured long in prayer for Lot (Genesis 19:29). So God delivered Lot, by means of Abraham’s intercession and “investment of love” to Lot.

Abraham’s intercession could not deliver the city, but it did deliver Lot, for the promise was to Abraham and his household, his family. This intercession ironically delivered Lot from the destruction of Sodom and in the subsequent portion of Genesis (19:30-38), Lot’s daughters defile their father by inebriating him in order to have sexual relations with him for the purpose of preserving his and their family line. It is at this point that we find Abraham’s intercession was at once efficacious in time and space and yet only imperfect and temporary. God had provided an intercessor for Lot in Abraham, and yet Abraham’s intercession looks forward to the Intercessor between God and Humanity, the Lord Jesus Christ, “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Christ intercedes eternally for his people, always and everywhere and never failing.

I would suggest to you the difference between Abraham and Christ is largely one of righteousness. Sodom is a picture that hits all too close to home. It is the City of Humanity, the city that is without any righteous citizenry. The Incarnation of God is the mystery in which the Lord in all his righteousness, makes himself poor, limiting himself to time and space in the person of Jesus of Nazareth — the singular righteous citizen who has ever lived. God would turn aside his wrath against sin for the righteousness of one man. That one man was not in Sodom, nor was he in Gomorrah. Where Abraham’s prayer of intercession failed to deliver the city, Christ’s righteous intercession remakes it, resulting in a New City. The Righteous One established the City of God and was exalted to reign over it. Instead of destroying the City of Humanity with wrath, it is invaded and transformed with Love, a far more potent offensive. The City of God is displacing and remaking the City of Humanity, making it truly human! God spared this city on the basis of one righteous man, Jesus Christ, who now perfectly and eternally intercedes for his citizens to whom he has bound himself with unbreakable bonds of love. It is on the basis of these unbreakable bonds of Love that we, as He, now intercede boldly in prayer before the throne of grace.