Parlay with God

Genesis 18:16-33

In an abrupt change of subject, God speaks to himselves about being transparent in his motives toward Abraham as he prepares to destroy the sin-filled cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.


Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 

For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 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.”

The presentation here is a bit different from the way western Christians perceive the omnipotence of God.  Here, God says will will go down to see if they're really doing what God has heard they are doing - -and then He will know. That does not scan as perfect foreknowledge.

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? 

Abraham has already refused any type of alliance with the King of Sodom, I wonder why he's found the backbone to parlay on behalf of this city? I know his nephew Lot is a resident there - but why not just ask the Lord to save his kin?  

Are we seeing the blossoming of Abraham's faith?

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?” 

So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” 

And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. 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.” 

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.” 

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.” 

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.” 

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.
Another odd prayer.  I know a lot of people bargain with the Lord. They say things like, "Lord save me, and I promise to ... [fill in the blank]."

That leads some to a theology that says we can provide something from ourselves in return for salvation.

But reading Abraham's prayer carefully, we see that Abraham is offering nothing from himself - he is simply holding God's honor up to God.  There is nothing Abraham can add to help tilt the balance.

He does get to see that God is approachable and fair, and that is a good outcome from a prayer.