Genesis 18:20-33

2007.Jun.16 20:21

How Many Righteous

Read Genesis 18:20-33 | Full Chapter

And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
(Genesis 18:20-22, NASB)

So Jehovah explains his intentions to Abraham. There’s been a lot of sinning going on in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, enough to produce a great outcry to Jehovah, whatever that means. Insofar as I do believe in God’s omniscience, I don’t suppose this next part is quite necessary, but God is going to go there (at least to Sodom, anyway) and see if the outcry is accurate. At some point in this, Jehovah possibly communicates to Abraham that he will destroy these cities if their sin is indeed so great. That, or Abraham assumes this, which is a pretty interesting point to ponder. This passage does not make that intent explicit.

I really like the idea that God investigates personally (or has his messengers investigate personally; I really ought to learn Hebrew so I have a better chance of figuring out these details). He’s not going to wipe out this city based on what other humans say about it, or even what he just knows. He actually sends a research party physically there, possibly including himself. Jehovah’s justice is just. It is not distant and unknowing.

Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
(Genesis 18:23-25, NASB)

When following Abraham’s reasoning here, it’s worth remembering that his nephew, Lot, has chosen to live in the vicinity of these cities, and that, as revealed in Genesis 19, Sodom is Lot’s current residence. In other words, this is not an impartial cry for justice for it’s own sake. And, yet, there’s a lot to be learned from the times when our decisions come as much from emotion as from “reason”. I admire Abraham for his care for his relatives, but I also remember that Lot made this decision, chose this path, based largely on the physical benefits of the land while apparently accepting or ignoring the prevailing unrighteousness.

For Abraham to judge Jehovah like this is pretty amazing. But Jehovah’s reaction is so much more impressive. In choosing to confide in Abraham, among humanity, this plan, Jehovah reveals that he values Abraham’s input and reactions, even if only for the sake of his own glory. Jehovah listens to Abraham’s complaint, which is the basic “justice means fairness” argument where fairness is defined as the terms of the person speaking, and he says, “Okay.” Abraham is not content with this, possibly because he knows that few in Sodom, and possibly not even any of his relatives, will hit the righteous mark. He dwindles the justice mark down to ten righteous.

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
(Genesis 18:32-33, NASB)

Jehovah again accepts. He already knows how many righteous there are, so this is sort of a moot discussion. But he’s also proving to Abraham that he is in fact just. This is all the more important because Jehovah has set up Abraham to be the establishing patriarch of a religion and nation that ought to be Jehovah-centered. Of course, it will fail in that, but then, that may be the point: not even a religion or nation can save us, but Jehovah alone. Or maybe that’s another stretched interpretation.