Genesis 18:28
Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
The verse records Abraham asking whether the whole city of Sodom would be destroyed if five were lacking from fifty righteous, and God promising not to destroy it if forty-five righteous were found there. The exchange shows humble, persistent prayer for the city meeting willingness to spare it for the sake of the righteous. The threatened judgment would not be carried out before God had examined the city's guilt, and mercy remained possible if the city had not passed the limits of divine patience.
God is willing to spare a wicked city for the sake of the righteous, honest inhabitants in it, though in Sodom's case only ten could be found. The presence of people who obey and fear God extends mercy and restrains His judgments. Through Abraham as His representative, God revealed Himself to the inhabitants of Sodom. Abraham's fidelity was a light in all the countries of his sojourn, and by not shutting himself away but maintaining friendly relations with surrounding kings, his integrity, unselfishness, valor, and benevolence represented God's character in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even to Sodom.
Abraham's pleading was humble, persistent, and earnest, expressing faith in God and growing confidence as he interceded. His earnest appeal revealed a noble, benevolent character. It showed love for perishing people, compassion for the erring, and concern that sinners be saved, even while he hated the city's sin.
His example teaches that people should pity and love sinners and plead with persevering faith for those facing destruction. Its lesson is to meet others' failures and difficulties with compassionate, courageous help rather than criticism and censure, as in helping fellow believers free their institutions from debt. Together with its context, the verse calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly, take a more decided stand for the Lord, and move beyond merely professional belief in the truth to obedience to all of God's requirements, with confession and softened, subdued hearts under the Spirit of God.