And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
The words belong to Abraham's earnest pleading with God for the people of Sodom, spoken after heavenly visitors came to him on their way to destroy the corrupt city. God told Abraham of the coming destruction because he had trained his children in a proper manner, and Abraham asked God to spare the city for the sake of its honest inhabitants, of whom only ten could be found. The episode belongs to God's revealing of Himself to the inhabitants of Sodom through Abraham as His representative, whom He called, prospered, honored, and made a light by fidelity in all the countries of his sojourn; Abraham did not isolate himself but kept friendly relations with surrounding kings, and by integrity, unselfishness, valor, and benevolence represented God's character in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom.
By calling himself dust and ashes, Abraham approached God with deep humility, recognizing his mortal lowliness and sinfulness and claiming no favor or worth because of his obedience, righteousness, or sacrifices, but speaking as a sinner pleading for sinners without self-confidence or boasting. Even while humble, he spoke with the confidence, trust, and earnestness of a child to a loved father, showing that reverence and humility belong together with confidence in God's love and persevering faith when approaching God.
His pleading showed a noble and benevolent disposition driven by love and compassion for people facing ruin and for those who had done wrong, hating their sin but desiring the sinners themselves to be saved as he spoke on their behalf. The surrounding account shows that God extends mercy and stays judgment for the sake of the righteous. The verse calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a decided stand in obedience to all of God's requirements rather than mere profession, to plead with God for the impenitent with such humility and persevering faith, and, since Sodom was destroyed after the leaven of licentiousness had worked in it, to stay wide awake and trust not in human wisdom or strength but by faith to lay hold on God's infinite arm.
The words belong to Abraham's earnest pleading with God for the people of Sodom, spoken after heavenly visitors came to him on their way to destroy the corrupt city.
God told Abraham of the coming destruction because he had trained his children in a proper manner, and Abraham asked God to spare the city for the sake of its honest inhabitants, of whom only ten could be found.
The episode belongs to God's revealing of Himself to the inhabitants of Sodom through Abraham as His representative, whom He called, prospered, honored, and made a light by fidelity in all the countries of his sojourn; Abraham did not isolate himself but kept friendly relations with surrounding kings, and by integrity, unselfishness, valor, and benevolence represented God's character in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom.
By calling himself dust and ashes, Abraham approached God with deep humility, recognizing his mortal lowliness and sinfulness and claiming no favor or worth because of his obedience, righteousness, or sacrifices, but speaking as a sinner pleading for sinners without self-confidence or boasting.
Even while humble, he spoke with the confidence, trust, and earnestness of a child to a loved father, showing that reverence and humility belong together with confidence in God's love and persevering faith when approaching God.
His pleading showed a noble and benevolent disposition driven by love and compassion for people facing ruin and for those who had done wrong, hating their sin but desiring the sinners themselves to be saved as he spoke on their behalf.
The surrounding account shows that God extends mercy and stays judgment for the sake of the righteous.
The verse calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a decided stand in obedience to all of God's requirements rather than mere profession, to plead with God for the impenitent with such humility and persevering faith, and, since Sodom was destroyed after the leaven of licentiousness had worked in it, to stay wide awake and trust not in human wisdom or strength but by faith to lay hold on God's infinite arm.