The Righteous and the Wicked

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED

Gen 18:20-33

20 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.   23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." 29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."  30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." 31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." 33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

NIV

We do wonder why the LORD, YAHWEH, had to go down and see if they had done as wrong as the outcry that reached him. Could he not have known how bad they had been, and that their sin was so grievous he just had to destroy them? However, it was for the sake of Abraham that the LORD made this personal trip so that he and Abraham could have this conversation. We have already considered that God did not withhold his plan from Abraham, but now it is Abraham’s opportunity to speak to the LORD on behalf of his nephew Lot, who he knew was at Sodom. So, we have the two angels headed down to Sodom, and Abraham is there standing before the LORD. Interestingly, some of the ancient texts read that the LORD was standing before Abraham. However, we would believe that God would not stand before us, but rather we would stand before the Lord. Still, if God should appear before us, at this very moment, it could be said that he is standing before us, and should he appear, we would not be standing at all, for we would fall face down on the ground both in reverence and in fear of God. Nevertheless, here is where Abraham makes his plea before the LORD. Abraham makes a compelling request, and he adds, “Far be it from you to do such a thing”. Is it acceptible to challenge God in this way? Surely, as this is recorded for our learning about God, being revealed of his Sovereign Almighty power, and his character, his justice, grace, mercy, righteousness, and love, we are being told God is content with Abraham’s challenge to relent from destroying the righteous with the wicked. We know that God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, and it then beholds people to become righteous rather than to remain wicked. However, today, we have the same problem the people of Sodom had, as they did not think of their actions as wicked. If someone has shut up the door of their heart to God, they cannot know of the wrong they commit, for they are acting only by their own nature, and no one judges themselves as wicked, but instead justifies their actions as normal behavior, or their rights to be the way they are. We will see just how wicked the men of Sodom had become, but for now, let us focus on standing before the Lord in intercession for others we know. Yet, we cannot intercede for those who are wicked, for God will judge them. Abraham wanted to save his nephew Lot, who he knew was a righteous man. God agreed not to destroy Sodom for fifty righteous. Abraham continued to be bold before the LORD and got him to agree to less than forty-five, then less the forty, twenty, and finally less the ten. What we learn and know is that God will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked. Whenever the LORD decides to sweep away this earth and all the wicked, we will have been saved from that destruction. The Lord will save the righteous from having to endure the devastation of fire from heaven upon the wicked. We know some think that we who are in Christ, and thus seen by God as “the righteous” will go through the tribulation, and the rapture or catching up of the righteous will be after that outpouring of God’s wrath. However, just as Abraham knew, that God will save the righteous, so do we.  Our great lesson for today is to know we can seek the face of God and know he will allow us to ask questions. He allowed Abraham to even challenge his actions. We wonder if we would be allowed to be that bold before the Lord. “Are you sure, that is what you want to do Lord”? “what if they repent, will you save them?” we know that answer, but the question, is about who is righteous before the Lord, and who is wicked before him. Of course, we know he does not desire anyone to remain wicked as he sent Jesus to pay the price for all of us, but it is still our choice to either be among the righteous or the wicked.