Many of us wish we could confront God on the manner in which He executes judgement in the Bible, especially in the old testament. What many people don’t understand, is that the Bible records a conversation between Himself and Abraham, with that very topic.
In Genesis 18, verses 22-33, what we have is an Abraham who is informed that God is about to destroy Sodom for her immorality, but deeply believes that there must be a group of righteous people in Sodom. Therefore, Abraham confronts God on the injustice that would result if an entire city was swept away, even if righteous people lived in it. Abraham haggles with God, starting with 50 men, eventually ‘talking God down’ to 10 men. If there are 10 righteous men, in Sodom, then God will not destroy it.
What we have is a classic modern scenario. A man who thinks that he is more just than God. We may have different standards, but the issues is the same. Abraham believes that he is more merciful, more loving than God. He believes that if not for his rhetoric, God may have swept away 50 righteous people with the many wicked. How many modern readers think the same? But what happens in the story?
It turns out, that there are no righteous people in the city. First, everyone in the city turns up at Lot’s house that night, in order to gang-rape his two angelic visitors. I know that is offensive; that’s the point. The men in this town are evil. What about Lot? Well, he offers his two daughters to this lustful crowd, to appease them. Not exactly what I would call a noble and righteous father. Finally, in chapter 19 we have the character of Lot’s two daughters exposed, when they get their father drunk and have sex with him on two consecutive nights, in order to get pregnant.
But God is merciful. He saves Lot! There is no requirement in his discourse with Abraham that would bind him to saving Lot. But he does it anyway. Why? Because Lot is so righteous? No! As we have already seen, Lot is a filthy coward. Even when the angels offer to save him, Lot dawdles around, and they have to physically take him out of the city (19:16). And even then, when the angels tell him to escape to the hills, he says, “No, I want to go to another city”. After God says that’s okay, he goes to the hills. Wow.
On a final note, the two children that result from the incestuous intercourse of Lot’s daughters, end up being the starting point for two evil nations that cause Israel a great deal of trouble. What sort of legacy would have come from a whole city of evil men?
If you haven’t seen the point yet, it is simply this: God is far more merciful than we are. If anyone is saved by Him, it is due to grace: unmerited favor (Gen 19:29). And before we start to argue with Him like Abraham did, we should take some time to read and reflect on this story.
