Genesis 18:22-33. 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.
It’s not every day that we get to listen in on a conversation between a person and God, especially one where God is letting his mind be changed. God has told Abraham that because the city of Sodom is so wicked, he is going to destroy them. But who lives in Sodom? Yes, Lot, Abraham’s nephew. So Abraham begins to bargain with God.
Wait God, what if there are fifty righteous people in Sodom? Will you spare it for fifty? God says yes.
What about forty-five? Sure, God says.
How about forty? Thirty? Twenty? Each time God agrees.
Ten, what about only ten? Deal – And the Lord went his way.
Hundreds of years after Abraham, Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for them. That is exactly what Abraham is doing here. He is praying for Lot, who left Abraham behind, twice, and he is praying for Sodom, whose king tried to control Abraham back in chapter 14. But Abraham loves his enemies. Abraham wants to do what is right and just, like God told him to. And so in these verses, Abraham has decided to pray for Sodom. We call this intercession. Can you say intercession? Intercession happens when we pray for someone else, not ourselves. Who do you pray for? That’s intercession!
Abraham’s prayer can seem a bit strange to us, maybe even disrespectful. Are we allowed to try to change God’s mind? Are we allowed to try to convince him of something? We are if we are convincing God to do something that matches with what he is already like.
Abraham knows that God is righteous. That means that God has a perfect standard, and that Sodom is falling way short of that standard. Sodom is so wicked that God has every right to destroy them. And it’s not just Sodom, it’s all of us in all the world. Every person that has ever sinned has been sinful, bad, and wicked (yes, even you). None of us deserve to live forever with God.
But Abraham also knows that God is just. That means that he wants to fix what is wrong. The question is, is destroying Sodom the only way to fix it? Or, if there were some righteous people living there, could they help Sodom become good? So Abraham asks, what about if there are fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten good people in Sodom? Is that enough to fix Sodom?
But again, the problem is that there are not even ten righteous people in Sodom. As the Apostle Paul will remind us in Romans:
Romans 3:10 as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one.
We said that it is OK to ask God to change his mind. But the truth is that Abraham isn’t asking God to change; he’s asking God to stay the same. He’s asking God to be kind and merciful. To forgive wicked Sodom on behalf of the righteous ones that live there, something he will do for us because of Jesus. Abraham knows personally that God is forgiving and loving, so he’s counting on God to be forgiving and loving with Sodom too.
But in the end, when we pray, we have to always trust that God will do what is right. Like Abraham said, shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? Of course the answer is, yes, he will. How do we know? Because God sent Jesus to be our righteous one. God spared us, not for fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, or even just ten good people. He spared us for ONE good person – Jesus! Jesus who prayed the greatest prayer for us ever – Father forgive them.
Now Jesus, the righteous one is praying for us. The Bible says that he “lives to intercede for us.” Isn’t that awesome. Jesus is praying for you. Asking God to not only spare you from punishment, but to use you for good. That’s why Jesus told us to pray for others, even our enemies.
Our prayers DO work, because Jesus’ prayers work. Our prayers work when we pray for God to do what he already IS. When we pray for God’s mercy, he will always listen because he is already merciful. When we pray for God to be good and to fix evil, he will always listen because he is good and just.
I know praying can be hard. But don’t ever stop. Keep going to God in prayer for yourself ad for others. He IS listening. And he (Jesus) IS praying for you so that when you pray you will become more and more like him.
You: Do you pray for other people? Even your enemies? What makes this easy or hard?
You with Jesus: How does knowing that you are God’s friend and that Jesus is praying for you, help you to talk to God with an honest heart?
Prayer: Father, your word says that none of us is good on our own. We all need the intercession of Jesus. Thank you for saving me for the sake of the One, your Son, Jesus. Amen.
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