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?”
The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
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, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”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.”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.”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.”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.”When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home
My Thoughts:
I found this section to be fascinating – not only because here Abraham is having a conversation – but that he was actually bargaining with the Lord!
The other men have turned and left toward Sodom, but Abraham and the Lord are standing there, and Abraham makes an argument to the Lord. He appeals to Him that destroying Sodom would be killing the innocent along with the guilty – and that is not justice. Abraham makes a case that to be truly just, one has to be merciful, even if only a few innocents are found among the many guilty.
So Abraham asks if there were 50 righteous people in Sodom, would the Lord spare it? Getting an affirmative answer, Abraham is emboldened to ask for more….what if only 45 could be found. The Lord says he will spare the city for the 45. Then Abraham goes down the numerical scale – 40 – 35 – 30 – 20 – 10…..and each time the Lord says He will spare the city (for He already knows the numbers). Abraham stops at 10 – and there the conversation ends….I imagine that Abraham thinks he has now spared his nephew Lot – since Sodom is where he lived, and the Lord is going to do what He is going to do. So the Lord leaves, and Abraham goes back home.
Interesting that this bargaining could take place, and how willing the Lord is to go the extra mile to dispense mercy as well as justice. But in the end, justice will prevail
