Scripture Daily

Context No. 3915 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 18:22-28: in context

22The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26The LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. 28What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?” He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

As the LORD prepares to judge Sodom, Abraham does a remarkable thing: he draws near and begins to intercede, pleading for the city to be spared for the sake of any righteous people in it. Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? he asks; shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?

And he presses on, appealing to God's justice and mercy, asking whether God would spare the city for fifty righteous, then bargaining down. Two things are striking. Abraham's boldness in intercession. Though he calls himself but dust and ashes, he dares to plead with God for others, standing in the gap for a doomed city. And the ground of his appeal: he appeals not to his own worthiness but to God's own character, his justice and mercy. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Here is a model of intercessory prayer: humble, aware of our own smallness, yet bold to plead for others, and grounded in appealing to God's own goodness. We are invited, like Abraham, to stand before God and pray for others, even the undeserving.

Do I dare, like Abraham, to intercede boldly for others, even the undeserving, humbly aware of my own smallness yet appealing to the justice and mercy of the God who is the Judge of all the earth?

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