Genesis 18: Abraham's Plea for Sodom

In verse 16, "The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off". For a while, the Lord pondered whether or not He should tell Abraham what He was about to do. He realized that Abraham would one day be a great leader, and He wants Abraham to learn how to do what is right and just. So He decides to tell Abraham in verse 20 "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. ²¹ I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out". The Lord was going to judge these two cities, and the sins committed in these cities were great.


So the men went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood there before the Lord. Abraham showed the Lord he was able to think righteously and justly. Although there were many sinners in these cities, Abraham thought it was wrong to wipe out the entire city if there were some righteous people in the city as well. In verse 24-25, Abraham says to the Lord  "²⁴ What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? ²⁵ You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won't the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"


The Lord, seeing reason in what Abraham says, tells him that if he finds 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, then he will spare the entire city for the sake of the righteous people. He continues to negotiate with the Lord. He's afraid the Lord may get offended by his negotiations, so he says "Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further". Finally, Abraham was able to negotiate until they reached the number 10. The Lord agreed that if there were 10 righteous people in the city, He would spare the entire city, because verse 25 "You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike". Abraham was afraid to negotiate any further, so the Lord went on his way and Abraham returned to his tent.