Genesis 18:25, commentary and pictures

Abraham's appeal rests on the certainty that the Judge of all the earth always does right, never slays the righteous with the wicked nor treats the innocent as guilty. His justice distinguishes the righteous from the guilty, examines each case fully before deciding, and holds back destruction while mercy still lingers and repentance is possible. In the final judgment He tries every person individually and impartially according to works, weighed by His holy law with perfect evidence where no bribe, deception, or lack of proof can pervert the decision. That justice is vindicated and reconciled with mercy through Christ, who though guiltless suffered for the guilty so repentant believers may be justified, while persistent sin leaves no excuse and meets righteous condemnation. Abraham's compassionate intercession for a corrupt city is therefore the model for pitying and pleading for the perishing, and the certainty that God will do right calls everyone to watchfulness, mercy, and faithful obedience now before each case is decided forever.

Abraham's Plea for Sodom

The verse belongs to the plea that Sodom be spared for the sake of its righteous inhabitants. Its corruption came from licentiousness, and the plea asked that the righteous not be swept away with the wicked, that the city be spared if ten honest people could be found there, but the city was destroyed.

It declares that the Judge of all the earth does right and does not slay the righteous with the wicked or treat the righteous as guilty. The humble appeal rests on God's character, not on Abraham's own righteousness. Standing before this Judge carries fear and solemn force.

God's justice distinguishes the righteous from the guilty. He examines the case before judgment and grants further time for repentance if the measure of guilt has not been reached, for He takes no delight in destruction. The presence of righteous people on earth is a reason He extends mercy and holds back judgments.

Abraham hated the city's sin but wanted its sinners to be saved. His earnest pleading reveals a noble, benevolent disposition. It is an example of pity and love for the impenitent, with earnest intercession for those facing destruction.

His appeal in faith and compassion is a model for responding to brethren whose decisions have brought difficulty by helping rather than adding criticism and censure. He did not shut himself away but maintained friendly relations with surrounding nations, and his fidelity was a light in all the countries of his sojourn. Through his integrity and unselfishness, his valor and benevolence, the character of the God of heaven was represented in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom.

God Judges Righteously

God as Judge is infinitely pure and holy, with perfect wisdom and justice. Human beings with finite wisdom are not competent to judge the justice of His dealings with His creatures, but should leave Him to carry out His wise purposes. His judgments answer persistent sin and rebellion, and His authority as ruler of the universe must be upheld. His right to take away blessings that people have abused does not make His judgments unjust.

His final judgment is just and impartial. He cannot be bribed or deceived, but examines each person's case closely and weighs character. He judges each person according to his or her own works, rather than through a general or averaged accounting. He tries every case with perfect right and with no respect of persons.

Unlike earthly courts where justice often fails and the innocent suffer and the guilty go free for lack of proper evidence, the court of heaven will have no lack of evidence. Every deed with every concealed motive will be revealed, and the eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the whole earth. He who offered salvation to the sinner and died that man might become a partaker of the divine nature will Himself one day judge the thoughts and deeds of all, acquitting or condemning each before the Father and the holy angels. In that day gold and silver will not ransom anyone, but only the merits of the blood of Christ can wash out guilty stains from the heart.

Christ is Judge even in this life, measuring people's characters by the divine standard. God's law is that standard. For those who delight in it and live in harmony with it, the law is holy, just, and good, a source of strength and protection rather than condemnation.

Christ, though guiltless, suffered for the guilty so that repentant believers might be justified. His sacrifice shows both mercy toward sinners and justice, and He does not treat the righteous as wicked nor excuse willful transgression of His holy law. Those who persist in sin cannot claim the salvation He purchased, and will face wrath.

His justice is revealed both in the condemnation of Satan and in the redemption of man. He manifested abhorrence of rebellion and vindicated His law through the atonement, making the greatest sacrifice God could make in the death of Christ to save a fallen race, suffering the penalty of the law so man could accept Christ's righteousness. God is just and yet the justifier of all who believe in Jesus, and nothing less than this plan could convince the whole universe of His justice. In the final execution of judgment it will be seen that no cause for sin exists, when He demands of Satan why he rebelled and robbed Him of the subjects of His kingdom. The originator of evil will be able to render no excuse, and every mouth will be stopped and all the hosts of rebellion will stand speechless before His tribunal.

The scene of Jesus' condemnation sheds light on this character: His words to Pilate recognize that Pilate's power was permitted from above, while distinguishing the greater guilt of those who had greater light and knowingly condemned Him. Achan's punishment was just because he had deliberately violated the command and his concealed sin brought defeat and loss upon Israel. His later confession came only when his guilt was exposed and could not save him.

Final Judgment Process Revealed

The Judge of all the earth presides in the heavenly courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review, and His decisions there draw far greater interest than the decisions of earthly tribunals. Before Him the divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their transgressions, restored to their Eden home, and crowned as joint-heirs to the first dominion. The plea asks for them not only full and complete pardon and justification but a share in His glory and a seat upon His throne, so that the divine plan in man's creation is carried into effect as if man had never fallen.

He does not reward the righteous with dwelling in His presence for long ages before their cases are investigated and they receive commendation to enter His joy, nor does He consign the wicked to torment at death only to summon them afterward to receive sentence to everlasting fire. Character and deeds must first pass in review before God out of the books, with reward according to works at an appointed future day. Punishment or reward before that judgment would be solemn mockery impeaching His wisdom and justice, for He always does right with perfect wisdom and justice.

Final sentence upon each life weighs in the balances and finds the unready wanting, and that sentence may come suddenly while people are absorbed in worldly pursuits. It may come in the hour when those weary of watching have turned to the attractions of the world, while business is absorbed in gain, pleasure in indulgence, and fashion in adornment. The present time is the time of investigation before the near day of great final review, when every character will have been investigated and every case decided for eternity and the people of this world must stand before Him to answer for their deeds. The Judge stands at the door, so people should stay watchful rather than be found spiritually asleep, take His holy requirements seriously, and turn from sin.

He keeps a ledger record of each life in heaven and examines it with a searching glance falling first on the record and then on the person. His silent look exposes weakness and defects of character and brings self-conviction without a word spoken, so the sinner himself pronounces condemnation as weighed and found wanting and as having sown to the flesh to reap corruption, openly confessing before the assembled throng where he first stumbled into perdition. He weighs human characters in the scales against the holy law as the standard, finding one after another wanting and unworthy to have a place among the perfect. Lingering probation still gives opportunity to haste, repent, and return from wrongdoing before the record becomes final reality.

In the final awards He sifts the nations, and those who have kept the truth enter the city of God, for the righteous are not treated as wicked. At the final judgment the cross will stand plainly before those receiving sentence, revealing His love for fallen humanity and the evidence He gave for salvation and how continued transgression dishonored Him. They will recognize that obedience to His law would have brought life, health, prosperity, and eternal good, so those rejecting the gift are condemned justly.

He will arise to vindicate His insulted authority and honor and to deliver those who keep His commandments and refuse the mark of the beast and its image. The obedient will see the blessed results that follow keeping all of His commandments, and transgressors of His law will reap the reward of their doings, with His judgments already seen in the land though the end is not yet, and He will keep working until sin and sinners are destroyed from the earth. He will vindicate His honor and punish the rebellious inhabitants of the earth when mercy's limits are passed and the boundary line is reached after bearing patiently with rebellion and the trampling of His holy law. As in Noah's day when the earth was filled with violence and He declared He would destroy all flesh with a flood, so again now iniquity has increased through successive generations, men have made void His law by arrogance and blasphemous denunciation and have accepted a false sabbath in place of the day He sanctified as a memorial of creation. The cup of iniquity is nearly full and the crisis will soon come, and then He will interfere and show that He is God.

Individual Accountability Under Law

The Judge of all the earth calls each person to stand before Him to answer for himself and not for another, for responsibility is individual. What others venture to do or say that is not in accordance with the Christian standard is no excuse for one's own course, nor can another's righteousness or wrongdoing remove that accountability. No defects of character in others excuse guilt, and none may plead the sins of others for neglecting the truth and light received, because Christ has given in His character a perfect pattern and faultless life for all to follow.

Every case is determined by the unerring standard of His perfect and holy law, infinitely pure and holy Himself. Because all must stand before Him, each must impartially examine the heart and review the record of life with both past and future in view, including fruit borne, influence upon others, souls gathered to Christ, and whether life follows Christ's example in self-denial, meekness, humility, forbearance, cross-bearing and devotion. When the books are opened each one's guilt and departure from the right way will be plain, with the influence that turned others from truth and righteousness and the dishonor brought to God by breaking His law, and Sabbathbreaking will have no valid excuse when facing the Lawgiver.

The law lays to men's charge the full results of leading others into transgression. Jeroboam put plans into operation that led Israel away from God into idolatry and to perform and permit terrible evils, and the awful results of that course will be laid to his charge, while men today who manifest the same spirit and do a similar work of leading away from God will likewise have the results of their wrong course laid to their charge. Priests and rulers will be called to account for leading souls astray and for terrible wrongs, imprisonments, tortures and martyrdoms done under the rule of the man of sin who exalts himself as God in the temple of God, with the case of every imprisoned and tortured soul noted by the recording angel for judgment.

His judgment examines each person's work with its motives, and no thought, word or act in His work is free from scrutiny. The record brought before Him includes choices made by following independent judgment and refusing the Lord's counsel, for the Lord knows every deception and every misuse of speech and deals with people individually, and those who have robbed Him will answer to Him. Smaller duties connected with the Master's service assume importance because it is Christ's service, so hurried, slurred-over, unfinished service done while reaching for greater work must bear His examination, and neglecting the light and calls He sends brings loss.

Final judgment holds people accountable for practical care or neglect of the needy, the oppressed and the tempted, and those who ignore them cannot expect to enter the city as redeemed. He holds men accountable for duties and opportunities entrusted to them, including good they could have done but neglected, charging the unused talents and the souls that faithful service might have helped save. Each will soon have to stand to answer for deeds done in the body, including an account for good that might have been done but was not done because not so closely connected with God as to know His will and understand His claims. This reckoning is near because the end is at hand and Christ is soon to come in the clouds to reward every man as his works have been, so selfish expenditure and neglect to supply mission funds and workers for a world-wide message will be judged, while faithfulness will meet approval as having done what could be done.

Those who treat His law with contempt will be condemned by the Judge who does right. He cannot be deceived by one pleading his own cause, but judges righteously, and from His decision there will be no appeal. A selfish, covetous, self-caring person can never be saved as he is, with no excuse for his course, for it is life or death to reform and become a true Christian and overcome for everlasting life, or to continue as he is and perish with the sinner.

Faithfulness in Daily Life

In the great judgment those who have neglected responsibility and lived for themselves receive the same condemnation as those who did evil. Those who drift along carrying no responsibility, thinking of themselves and pleasing themselves, are placed with evildoers in that day, for not working for Christ and withholding service and care for others is working against Him. He will deal with those who in any way rob orphan children of the means they should have and those who regard their wants with indifference. Widows and orphans receive His special care, His elect are precious to Him, He will not allow His people to remain oppressed but will avenge them when they cry to Him, and He judges those who treat the vulnerable with indifference, unfeeling selfishness, and oppression.

Human judges corrupted by intemperance, liquor, tobacco, appetite, passion and debased sentiments will answer before Him for their judgments and be tried by Him. Unfaithful judges who neither fear God nor regard man pervert judgment and will be stripped of their robes of honor to stand before His bar. When afflicted, unjustly used, or in trouble, His people are to cry to God, turn from hard-hearted men, agree together, and unite in persevering prayer with faith and patience for deliverance and reward, rather than betray sacred trust by depending on lawyers and judges who do not fear Him and do not obey His requirements to settle difficulties in the church. Parents and children will answer before Him for neglect. Parents who fail to set a worthy example and to train and guide their children in obedience, permitting them to do wickedly, will face the consequences of faithfulness or neglect, with children's wrongdoing testifying to that neglect and harm spread to others laid at the parents' door.

His investigation of human conduct places blame where it belongs, and people must not take judgment into their own hands, for He will do right. That investigation exposes selfishness and neglect of the suffering and needy, including being narrowed up and consumed in selfishness that withholds bountiful care from self-sacrificing workers and the needy and leaves them exiled and uncared for to suffer and die. Those who failed to show mercy will be found to blame and found wanting in the day of God unless selfishness is removed and replaced with mercy, tenderness, compassion, bowels of mercy and hearts of flesh. He holds men accountable for the little duties and responsibilities of life, for privileges, opportunities, and the Lord's goods entrusted to test whether they will prove true and faithful, and the inattentive He will call unprofitable servants. He judges people by the standard they themselves have set, holding those who place a high value on their talents and demand exorbitant prices to service fully proportionate to the worth they claim.

Those who live for their own pleasure must answer to Him for misused and misspent privileges and neglected opportunities, with no second trial for the unfaithful in this life. Those who choose the world will perish with the world and lose an eternity of bliss and the riches of everlasting life, while the conflict between good and evil is watched by a cloud of heavenly witnesses, so no sacrifice for truth is too great rather than delaying until too late to be saved. Everyone must be prepared to meet the coming Lord as Judge at the close of this earth's history in the last great day. Meeting Him rightly requires showing mercy now, for judgment without mercy will fall on those who showed no mercy, and requires patience and a Christlike, self-controlled disposition that does not make religion distasteful to others. It will be terrible in that day to see familiar associates, family members, children, and guests separated forever among the lost, bringing searching self-examination over impatience and unchristlike character that turned them away.

Confidence that He will do right assures those who do their part faithfully as they fulfill high covenant responsibilities. Those covenanted to serve Him must fulfill all obligations of life through daily sanctification and continual knowledge of His will from day to day, hour to hour and moment to moment, constant watch over self, cultivation of the mind in spiritual things, and consecration of the whole being — body, soul and spirit — working in harmony with Him as laborers together with Him. The call is to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a more decided stand, to be obedient to all requirements and not only professed believers, with heartfelt confession and softened and subdued hearts. Life must therefore withstand His searching investigation rather than follow public opinion. Facing death, a person will not regret loving God more than pleasure or avoiding worldly dissipation, but may regret not loving more fervently and not helping others turn toward holiness and heaven.

He sees lives accurately and will decide eternal destiny concerning the way people live, including character formed through children's daily choices and actions. Because every person will stand in the last great day to answer for what was done and said, all business transactions must be pure, considerate and just, with nothing done or said that one would be unwilling to meet in judgment, requiring decided change from unjust, worldly policies or condemnation of the unfaithful. Each must stand alone before Him, with others standing aside and not bolstering mistaken ideas of self, breaking away from self, taking Christ's yoke, becoming meek and lowly of heart, making truth the study in order to see the kingdom, putting away sophistries used to influence minds, and testing character by the Word. He will not permit cruelty to go unpunished, including taking children from their mother and causing a mother's agony of heart, because those children are His property bought with the price of His Son. The affirmation that He will do right gives assurance to trust Him while facing a child's suffering and to seek reconciliation to His will.