And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
The moment comes when the heavenly messengers turn their faces and go toward Sodom while Abraham remains standing before the Lord. God has taken Abraham into His counsel and told him His purpose toward Sodom. The reason given is that the cry of distress and suffering has come up to heaven, and He has come down to see whether its deeds match that cry altogether. Though Abraham does not live in Sodom and has no connection with it, his remaining shows his intense interest that Sodom should not be destroyed if God could spare it. By remaining he stands as God's representative to plead for the inhabitants of Sodom, and for sinners as one person pleads for another.
His standing reflects a life that does not shut itself away but keeps friendly relations with the people around him, so that his fidelity is a light to them. His integrity and unselfishness, his valor and benevolence, reveal the God of heaven and represent the character of God to Sodom just as to Mesopotamia, to Canaan, and to Egypt. The lesson is that while sin is hated, the souls for whom Christ died are to be loved and prayed for earnestly. In its Genesis 18-19 setting the account calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and to take a more decided stand for Him. It calls them to move beyond merely professing belief in the truth to obedience to all of God's requirements, with confession and earnest prayer.
The moment comes when the heavenly messengers turn their faces and go toward Sodom while Abraham remains standing before the Lord. God has taken Abraham into His counsel and told him His purpose toward Sodom. The reason given is that the cry of distress and suffering has come up to heaven, and He has come down to see whether its deeds match that cry altogether. Though Abraham does not live in Sodom and has no connection with it, his remaining shows his intense interest that Sodom should not be destroyed if God could spare it. By remaining he stands as God's representative to plead for the inhabitants of Sodom, and for sinners as one person pleads for another.
His standing reflects a life that does not shut itself away but keeps friendly relations with the people around him, so that his fidelity is a light to them. His integrity and unselfishness, his valor and benevolence, reveal the God of heaven and represent the character of God to Sodom just as to Mesopotamia, to Canaan, and to Egypt. The lesson is that while sin is hated, the souls for whom Christ died are to be loved and prayed for earnestly. In its Genesis 18-19 setting the account calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and to take a more decided stand for Him. It calls them to move beyond merely professing belief in the truth to obedience to all of God's requirements, with confession and earnest prayer.