After several statements of the covenant promise, and confirmations of the same, another level of confirmation comes to visit Abraham. Three men appear to him out of nowhere! He entertained these heavenly visitors, one of whom is addressed as “Lord.” He promised that in about a year, or at least by the time a child should be born, He would return and there would be a child born to Abraham and Sarah. So the timetable of this miraculous birth was now set. There was no further guesswork as to when this child of promise would come. The dream was about to become a reality! The fruition of the anticipated blessing was upon them. Sarah, though, even with a manifestation of Christ standing in front of her, still had her doubts. She laughed at the prospect of conceiving a child at such an old age. And the Lord reiterates, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” How much clearer could God be? How much clearer can God be with us when He gives us a promise or an instruction?
The Lord then stated His impending judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins. He states that He would observe them and then judgement would fall. After this exchange, the other two visitors–presumably angels–left Abraham and the Lord stayed with Abraham.
Then we see the story of Abraham doing his very best to save Lot and his family, who resided in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham tried to negotiate with God in order to spare the cities. He started by asking God to spare the cities if there were 50 righteous people. He negotiated God all the way down to 10. If there are 10 righteous people, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
This is an interesting exchange. This is an early example of the Bible showing us the revelation of God in a way to which we can relate. It is not always fully complete, because our finite human minds do not have the ability to fully comprehend the absolute nature of God. One thing to understand here is that God is omnipotent, meaning that He has perfect knowledge, or knowledge of all things. Therefore, God knows the past, present, and future, and knew exactly how many righteous people were in Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore, this was not a true negotiation. Abraham had good intentions, but God already knew the state of Sodom and Gomorrah’s sinfulness, and their immanent judgement. Therefore, God knew that there would not be 10 righteous, and that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed by fire.
Another possible angle on this story: What if Abraham had not stopped at 10? Could he have negotiated with God to a place of mercy? Another lesson we should learn here is that we should never limit God. We should not stop short of all that God could provide for us. God knows all, and he knows what is best for us. Do not lose your trust in Him. However, we should not ever be timid with God. We should pray with boldness and faith, being sure that God has already provided what we need in order to be blessed beyond measure!
Devoted To You 