Slices
Prepare
‘Consider … the kindness and sternness of God’ (Romans 11:22). How do you feel about these aspects of God’s character?
Bible passage
Abraham pleads for Sodom
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 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.’
20 Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 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.’
22 The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 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? 25 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?’
26 The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’
27 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, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’
‘If I find forty-five there,’ he said, ‘I will not destroy it.’
29 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.’
30 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.’
31 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.’
32 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.’
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Explore
This remarkable conversation is the prelude to the judgement of Sodom, the home of Abraham’s nephew Lot, legendary for its wickedness. If you have haggled in an eastern market, you will recognise Abraham’s style. Is it OK to speak to God like this? It seems that the Lord positively invites Abraham to do so because his nature is always to have mercy.
Abraham is fiercely protective of his nephew, but being a descendant of Abraham requires more than ancestry. God’s vision is that Abraham will raise a people who, from generation to generation, will ‘keep the way of the Lord’ (v 19; see Romans 9:8). Abraham himself needs to learn this way.
The way of the Lord involves ‘doing what is right and just’ (v 19), so in this situation how will ‘the Judge of all the earth do right’ (v 25)? The focus of this incident is not so much Abraham trying to change God’s mind as God teaching Abraham his mind. Justice is a struggle: both sides in the argument have to be represented. God welcomes Abraham’s pleading, as the counsel for the defence, but ultimately justice will require a terrible judgement on the sinful cities. Only through the death of his Son can God both be just and justify sinful people (Romans 3:26).
Respond
‘What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8). Are you meeting his requirements today?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Job 13,14; Luke 18
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise God for how he is using sport across the country to bring together and build trust between churches and young people in the wider community, so that the next generation get to hear the good news of Jesus. (This week's prayers relate to this story.)
