Haggling for Mercy

Genesis 18:22-33 (ESV)

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 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? 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?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 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.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 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.” 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.” 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.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

This is a fascinating passage where we see a number of things happening all at once.

The first and perhaps the most striking thing is that there is this person, a human real person debating with God about whether God's plan is the right thing to do. So the two angels head towards Sodom, but Abram remains standing before the Lord. And this shows us just what a privilege his relationship as the covenant bearer, the bearer of the promise, the one whom God had chosen ultimately through whom Jesus would be born. What a privilege that relationship was before the Lord. Abram here can actually talk back and reason with the judge of all the earth. What a privileged place to be in.

But Abraham has this repeated question. Will you continue to sweep away the righteous with the wicked? He says, you know, is there 50? What if there's 45? What if there's 30? What if there's 20? What if there's 10? And every time God says, no, I won't destroy the city if I find this handful of righteous people.

And actually Abram's repeated question, will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked, shows us that God is a just God. Both that sin really matters, God is coming in judgment, but also that mercy really matters. Even if only a handful of people were there that were truly righteous before God, that would shield thousands who lived within the city.

But there's this downward spiral that happens, isn't there? From 50, 45, 30, 20, ultimately 10. Each time Abraham asked this question, he's really asking, how wide is your mercy? And each time God responds and says, my mercy is wider than you think, Abraham.

But actually, ultimately, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. And so we need to wrestle with why is that the case? You know, the conversation here ended. At the end of the day, Abraham and God separated, went their own way. And we will see in the next passage that Sodom and Gomorrah do get destroyed. How does that work? Well, the answer is that there was no one in the city who was righteous, right? No one who deserved mercy.

Ultimately, this is the picture of all of humanity. This is a picture of us before God. None of us are righteous in his eyes. None of us are free from sin. None of us deserve to be saved in the way that Abraham here is debating with God. Ultimately, there is no one righteous, not even one, except, of course, for Jesus. And that really changes things.

You see, Jesus is the far greater intercessor than Abram ever was. Jesus doesn't bargain from 50 down. He actually just starts with one. I am the righteous one. I am the one who lived perfectly before God. My sacrifice is enough for all who would come to him, all who are chosen, all who are included in God's covenant. And so his righteousness is enough to cover not just one city, but in fact one entire world.

The thing that Abraham doesn't realize is that even Abraham's position before God in faith is dependent ultimately on Christ, the one who stands in the place. And we should give great glory to Christ that he was the one who lived the perfect life, which means that we are not destroyed by the judgment of God in faith in him.

Now there are some real practical implications for us as well in this passage. The first thing I think we need to see is that this intercession of cities before God really actually matters. In a sense, I wonder whether this passage calls us to stand before the Lord, for our community, for the people that live around our churches, the ones we encounter in our daily lives. Can we pray for mercy when really they, like us, deserve God's judgment? I think bold prayer is part of being part of God's covenant. It's part of what it means to look after those that are around us.

And secondly, I think this passage also reminds us that a righteous influence within the world is actually a really big influence. In this passage, 10 God-fearing people could have rescued the thousands that lived in Sodom. You know, if you are a person who walks before the Lord to the best of your ability, your quiet faithfulness at work or at school or wherever you might find yourself actually genuinely changes the outcomes for people.

Now, it's probably not saving them from a Sodom and Gomorrah type judgment where God sends this massive destruction upon the city. But it does change how people choose to react, what the things are that they choose to do. Just think of a Christian working within the finance sector and he shares his view that actually what we're doing here is unrighteous, is wrong and we shouldn't be exploiting people financially. That one voice in a boardroom can make a massive difference to what happens in the world. And the same is true wherever we find ourselves and wherever God has put us.

The final thing I think this passage just challenges us to think about, particularly perhaps as Reformed Christians, is that we as covenant people, we as people who are covered by the righteousness of Christ, can actually step into God's presence with great boldness. Abraham is almost cheeky in this passage. He's persistently kind of arguing with God. And we are invited by God through that, I think, to have an honest conversation with him.

Whether it's things that we see as unjust, whether that's natural disasters or loved ones who we see that are walking into destruction in their lives, or whatever the case may be, God's shoulders are big enough for us to actually come to him and say, Hey, I don't understand how this is working. I don't know what you're doing here, Lord. We have the opportunity to enter into God's presence boldly because we are covered by the one righteous man who stood in our place. And that, I think, is a good thing.

Let me pray.

Lord, we pray that you will teach us to stand before you like Abraham and knowing that we are covered by the righteousness of Christ, knowing that we can boldly stand before you because we have been washed clean through his righteousness, through his sacrifice on the cross and through his blood. We pray that you will make us people of influence who, through us trying to be obedient to your word and your calling on our lives, ultimately changes the outcome for our communities, our schools, our businesses, wherever we might find ourselves. Thank you for using even small and frail people like us to make a real difference because of what Jesus has done for us. We pray this in his mighty name. Amen.