And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Heavenly messengers visited Abraham on their way to destroy the corrupt city of Sodom, and God told him of the coming destruction because he had trained his children in a right manner. Though he was not in Sodom and was not connected with it, he had intense interest that it should be spared, in part because Lot had made his home there and had connections all through Sodom by marriage. Drawing near means stepping close to the heavenly messengers and pleading with them as a child pleads with parents, with the humility every child of God should possess.
His question asks whether the righteous will be destroyed along with the wicked, appealing to God's justice as the Judge of all the earth not to treat them alike, and pleading that Sodom would be spared if the righteous could be spared. His intercession runs from fifty down to ten in hope that ten righteous might be found there, leading to the assurance that the city would be spared if ten righteous were there, but the great city was destroyed as an example of what happens where the leaven of licentiousness has worked. The plea shows that before judgment God examines the people's conduct and grants time for repentance if they have not passed beyond divine mercy, for God does not delight in vengeance or the destruction of sinners, but extends mercy and holds back judgment because of the righteous who love and fear him.
The earnest pleading reveals his noble and benevolent character and strong yet tender spirit, the same compassion that bowed him with grief when sending away Hagar and Ishmael. His prayer was inspired by love for souls facing destruction and intense interest in the souls of sinners: he hated the city's sin while loving the souls for whom Christ died and wanting sinners to be saved. In drawing near for its inhabitants he stood as God's representative to them, not shutting himself away but maintaining friendly relations with the surrounding nations, so that through his fidelity, integrity, unselfishness, valor and benevolence God was revealed through him in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom, making his life a light to the people in all the countries of his sojourn.
The verse exemplifies faith in God and compassion for those in difficulty and teaches believers to feel deep concern for the impenitent and those in darkness, and humbly and persistently to plead with God for the guilty as one person pleads for another, while warning and urging them to turn from ruin. That compassion is applied to helping erring brethren rather than criticizing or censuring them. The verse calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a more decided stand, moving from merely professing belief in the truth to being obedient to all of God's requirements, with confession of sin and earnest prayer, in wakefulness, not trusting in human wisdom or strength but laying hold by faith on the infinite arm of God.
Heavenly messengers visited Abraham on their way to destroy the corrupt city of Sodom, and God told him of the coming destruction because he had trained his children in a right manner. Though he was not in Sodom and was not connected with it, he had intense interest that it should be spared, in part because Lot had made his home there and had connections all through Sodom by marriage. Drawing near means stepping close to the heavenly messengers and pleading with them as a child pleads with parents, with the humility every child of God should possess.
His question asks whether the righteous will be destroyed along with the wicked, appealing to God's justice as the Judge of all the earth not to treat them alike, and pleading that Sodom would be spared if the righteous could be spared. His intercession runs from fifty down to ten in hope that ten righteous might be found there, leading to the assurance that the city would be spared if ten righteous were there, but the great city was destroyed as an example of what happens where the leaven of licentiousness has worked. The plea shows that before judgment God examines the people's conduct and grants time for repentance if they have not passed beyond divine mercy, for God does not delight in vengeance or the destruction of sinners, but extends mercy and holds back judgment because of the righteous who love and fear him.
The earnest pleading reveals his noble and benevolent character and strong yet tender spirit, the same compassion that bowed him with grief when sending away Hagar and Ishmael. His prayer was inspired by love for souls facing destruction and intense interest in the souls of sinners: he hated the city's sin while loving the souls for whom Christ died and wanting sinners to be saved. In drawing near for its inhabitants he stood as God's representative to them, not shutting himself away but maintaining friendly relations with the surrounding nations, so that through his fidelity, integrity, unselfishness, valor and benevolence God was revealed through him in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom, making his life a light to the people in all the countries of his sojourn.
The verse exemplifies faith in God and compassion for those in difficulty and teaches believers to feel deep concern for the impenitent and those in darkness, and humbly and persistently to plead with God for the guilty as one person pleads for another, while warning and urging them to turn from ruin. That compassion is applied to helping erring brethren rather than criticizing or censuring them. The verse calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a more decided stand, moving from merely professing belief in the truth to being obedient to all of God's requirements, with confession of sin and earnest prayer, in wakefulness, not trusting in human wisdom or strength but laying hold by faith on the infinite arm of God.