Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 18:20 - 19:5
Christians believe in prayer. A significant part of prayer is bringing our petitions and requests before God. The Bible commands us to tell God what we want (see 1Tim 2:1).
Unfortunately, humans often have the attitude that we deserve to have God do what we want. When God doesn’t answer our prayers, or doesn’t grant our desires immediately, we tend to get impatient or accuse God of not caring about us.
Today’s passage tells us about a time when Abraham negotiated with God. Abraham was essentially telling God what he wanted. However, Abraham did not have the attitude that he deserved to have God’s ear. In fact, he had the opposite posture, a posture that maybe we should emulate when we bring our petitions and requests before God.
The 18th chapter of Genesis tells us about a time when Yahweh appeared to Abraham. Yahweh was in human form and two angels in human form accompanied Him. After Abraham fed the three men, Yahweh promised that Sarah would bear a son. Then Yahweh turned His attention to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Gen. 18:20 So Yahweh said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
Think about the description “exceedingly grave”. If Yahweh describes something as exceedingly grave, it is bad.
Gen. 18:21 I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Gen. 18:22 ¶ Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before Yahweh.
The word “men” refers to the two angels in human form who had accompanied Yahweh.
Gen. 18:23 Then Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Think about why Abraham asked about sweeping away the righteous with the wicked. Yahweh had just said the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was exceedingly grave. Abraham knew that Yahweh’s character demanded that Yahweh destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their exceedingly grave sin.
At the same time, Abraham knew Lot was living near Sodom. He was afraid his nephew would be swept up and destroyed when Yahweh destroyed the sinners of Sodom.
Gen. 18:24 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?
Gen. 18:25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death 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 do justice?”
Deep inside, humans want life to be fair. In this case, fairness meant only destroying those who were guilty of grave sin and deserved to die.
Don’t miss the astounding fact that Abraham was trying to sway the actions of Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, the one and only God. Abraham asked Yahweh to spare all the sinners if there were 50 righteous people in the city.
Gen. 18:26 So Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”
Don’t miss the astounding fact that Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, agreed to Abraham’s request.
Gen. 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
Ponder Abraham’s description of himself as “dust and ashes”. Abraham was negotiating with the Creator of the universe, but as he negotiated, he acknowledged that he was nothing compared to Yahweh and didn’t deserver to be heard.
Humans often have the attitude that we deserve to have God do what we want. When God doesn’t answer our prayers, or doesn’t grant our desires immediately, we tend to get impatient or accuse God of not caring about us. Abraham did not have the attitude that he deserved to have God’s ear. In fact, he had the opposite posture, one that perhaps we should emulate.
Gen. 18:28 Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
Gen. 18:29 Then he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”
Gen. 18:30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Gen. 18:31 And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”
Gen. 18:32 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.”
Take note of Abraham’s fear. He knew that since he was nothing compared to Yahweh, he was taking a risk by continually asking Yahweh to lower the threshold that would cause Yahweh to spare the sinners of Sodom.
Christians often talk about prayer. A significant part of prayer is asking God to do what we want. Prayer is good. The Bible commands us to bring our petitions to God.
At the same time, we humans need to be aware that we are nothing compared to God. We don’t deserve to be heard. However, Yahweh listens to our prayers anyway.
Gen. 18:33 And as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham, Yahweh departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
Gen. 19:1 ¶ Then the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them and rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
The words “two angels” refers to the men who had eaten Abraham’s meal and then turned away toward Sodom (see Gen. 18:22). This verse is how we know it was angels in human form who ate Abraham’s meal.
Gen. 19:2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.”
Gen. 19:3 Yet he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Gen. 19:4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter;
Gen. 19:5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them.”
Christians believe in prayer. A significant part of prayer is bringing our petitions and requests before God. Unfortunately, humans often have the attitude that we deserve to have God do what we want. When God doesn’t answer our prayers, or doesn’t grant our desires immediately, we tend to get impatient or accuse God of not caring about us.
When Abraham negotiated with Yahweh, he acknowledged that he was dust and ashes. He acknowledged that he was nothing compared to Yahweh and did not deserve to be heard. When we pray, we should keep Abraham’s attitude in mind and emulate it, because Abraham was correct. We are but dust and ashes.
When you pray, do you have the attitude that you deserve to have God listen to you, or are you like Abraham and acknowledge that you are but dust and ashes?
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to Bible Mountain dotcom, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”