15 INTERCESSION

When the messengers from heaven had completed one part of their business, an errand of grace to Abraham and Sarah which they delivered first, next they began a work of another nature. Sodom is to be destroyed, and they must do it. Verse 13 says, “because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

As with the Lord there is mercy, so He is also the God to whom vengeance belongs. In keeping with this next task they “looked toward Sodom” and then “went toward Sodom.” They set their faces against it in wrath, as God did to the host of the Egyptians as recorded in Exodus 14:24, “During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.” God for a long time will seem to be patient with  sinners, from which they very wrongly infer that the Lord does not see, regard, consider important or punish. Yet, when the day of His wrath comes, He will look and then go towards them and arrive there, “The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground” as it says in the first verse of the next chapter. The third One, likely the Lord, held back and probably Abraham and He speak together as told in verse 23, “Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’’ And the sincere intercession began.

After the meal, Abraham further honored his guests. He walked along with them to see them on their way” (1). In addition to being a courtesy it may also have been as one that was reluctant to part with such good company, and desired to pay his utmost respects to them. This courtesy is to be shown to friends, especially Christian friends, “They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God” (3 John 6). This pleases God.

Notice the honor they did to him; for those that honor God He will, in turn, honor. God communicated to Abraham His purpose to destroy Sodom, and not only so, but entered into a free conversation with him about it. Having taken him, more closely than before, into covenant with Himself, He now allows Abraham to have a more intimate conversation with Himself. We want that too. Right?

God’s friendly thoughts towards Abraham include His resolution to tell Abraham his purpose concerning Sodom with the reasons for it. If Abraham had not brought them on their way, perhaps he would not have had this favor, but he that loves to walk with wise men shall be wise, as it says in Proverbs 13:20, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” Notice how God is pleased to deliberate with himself in front of Abraham: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” This is as though to ask, “Can I go about such a thing, and not tell Abraham?” God appears to be willing to share His thoughts with those who like to be with Him. The Jews believe that because God had granted the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed, therefore He would not destroy those cities which were a part of that land, without Abraham’s knowledge and consent. Maybe. But God here gives two other reasons.

Abraham must know, for he is a friend and a favorite, “The Lord confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.” (Psalm 25:14). And Proverbs 2:32 says, “For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence.” You and I can also know the inner thought of God. Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Wouldn’t that be an advantage to any Christian leader? To know God’s thoughts? How could we lead God’s people without knowing God’s thoughts? Those who by faith live a life of communion with God surely will know more of His mind than other people, though not necessarily for a prophetical advantage. Yet they would enjoy a practical advantage because of being able to better understand present (and future) events. They would have a clearer insight than others into what is present and their foresight of what is to come is less foggy. This equips leaders to lead. Psalm 107:43 says, “Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”

Also, Abraham must know, for he will teach his household, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (19).  As a very bright part of Abraham’s character and example, he not only prayed with his family, but he taught them as a man of knowledge, commanded them as a man in authority, and was prophet, priest and king in his own house. God having recently at Abraham’s tent ratified the covenant with him and his seed, and his household being circumcised, he was very careful to teach and rule them well. If our children be the Lord’s, they must be nurtured and trained for Him. Abraham evidently had a vision of posterity, and was careful not only that his household with him, but that his household after him, should keep the way of the Lord, that godly faith and behavior might continue to flourish in his family when he was in his grave.

Observe God’s friendly talk with Abraham, in which He makes known to him his purpose concerning Sodom, and allows Him an opportunity to say more. “Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’” How can a Christian leader lead unless he or she has an understanding of the awfulness of sin? God taught Abraham and we can listen to the conversation and benefit. The iniquity of Sodom was crying out, that is, it was so very provoking that it even urged God to punish. God knew it, but to emphasize His justice it says He would go down to see. Not as if there were anything concerning Sodom of which God is in doubt, or in the dark; but He is pleased to express himself as men usually do. God wanted to demonstrate the incontestable equity of all His judicial proceedings. Men are apt to suggest that His way is not equal; but let them know that His judgments are the result of an eternal counsel, never rash or sudden. He never punishes on a report, or common fame, or the information of others, but on His own certain and infallible knowledge.

Also this figure of speech could give an example to magistrates, and those in authority, of the utmost care and diligence with which to enquire into the merits of a cause, before they make a judgment. And further to the point of this lesson, God said it so that room and encouragement might be given to Abraham to make intercession for them. God looked if there were any to intercede as Isaiah 59:16 says, “He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.” God lets us know His thoughts and plans so that we may pray accordingly.

Communion with God is kept up by the Word and by prayer. In the Word God speaks to us; in prayer we speak to Him. God had revealed to Abraham His purposes regarding Sodom and from this Abraham correctly takes the opportunity to speak to God on Sodom’s behalf. God’s Word does us good when it furnishes us with matters for prayer and stimulates us to intercession. When God has spoken to us, we must consider what we have to say to Him about it.

Notice Abraham’s two part response: “Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” He approached God because God is approachable. We can be thankful for that. And he began to reason with God with a question. Abraham’s question displayed a holy concern: He engaged his heart and mind to approach God. God wants leaders of His people to be close to Himself. Jeremiah 30:21 make this exceedingly clear, “Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me— for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the Lord.” Abraham felt a responsibility as though to ask, “Shall Sodom be destroyed, and I not speak one good word for it?”

This is the first solemn prayer recorded in the Bible; and it is a prayer for the sparing of Sodom. Abraham, no doubt, greatly abhorred the wickedness of the Sodomites; he did not want to live among them, as Lot did, even if they would have given him the best estate in their country; and yet he prayed earnestly for them. Though sin is to be hated, sinners are to be pitied and prayed for. Though He delights in the deaths of His own, God does not delight in the death of the wicked. Abraham begins with a prayer that the righteous among them might be spared, and not involved in the common calamity, possibly having an eye particularly to just Lot (a righteous man according to 2 Peter 2:7) whom he obviously by now had long since forgiven. He improves this beginning an extended petition that all might be spared for the sake of the righteous that were among them. God’s response indicates that God, Himself, was pleased with Abraham’s prayer and allowed Himself to be further and further engaged. We must pray, not only for ourselves, but for others also.

The next several verses are a record of profound thoughts on prayer. Great faith, dependance on God’s righteousness, belief in God’s justice, Abraham’s humility, perseverance until the end and eventual success. We will examine two of them: Abraham’s humility and perseverance.

Abraham’s great humility  and sense of personal unworthiness is on display in verse 27: “Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,” He speaks as one amazed at his own boldness, and the liberty God graciously allowed him, considering God’s greatness—He is the Lord; and his own humanity—but dust and ashes. The greatest of men, the most considerable and deserving, are but dust and ashes, mean and vile before God, we are despicable, frail, and dying yet amazingly loved, welcomed and received. Whenever we draw near to God, it places us in good stead to reverently acknowledge the vast distance there is between us and God even as we approach God with confidence. He is the Lord of glory, we are worms of the earth. The access we have to the throne of grace, and the freedom of speech given to us, are all matters of humble wonder. In 2 Samuel 7:18, David too acknowledged this. “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”

Abraham’s perseverance Fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty then ten. The perseverance which believers use in their addresses to God is such that, if they were dealing with a man like themselves, they could not help but fear that He would be angry with them. But He with whom we have to do is God, not man; He is not angry and, moreover, is pleased when He is wrestled with.

I love this last verse in the chapter: “When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home” (33). God did not leave off granting until Abraham left off asking. Such is the power of prayer. Why then did Abraham leave off asking, when he had prevailed so far as to get the place spared if there were but ten righteous in it? Maybe he realized that Sodom deserved to be destroyed if there were no more than ten righteous there. Remember the vine-dresser who said, “If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down?”  He agreed that the barren tree should be cut down if one more year’s trial did not make it fruitful. Or perhaps God restrained Abraham’s spirit from asking any further. When God determined the ruin of Judah He did to allow Jeremiah to pray for it any more. (see Jeremiah 7:16).

God did not go away until Abraham had said all he had to say for He is never weary of hearing prayer. God did answer Abraham’s prayer, yet Sodom was not spared, because there were not ten righteous in it. We may expect too much from man, but never from God. “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). For the Christian leader, this means that we had better not allow sin in our ranks. God may reject us. Yes, it can happen.