Abraham seemed to be pushing his luck when he kept requesting the Lord to spare Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a good reminder that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that he knows infinitely more than we do. The Lord said “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Abraham then made an assumption that there were 50 righteous people in those cities and based on that assumption he thought the Lord should and would spare those cities because they had at least 50 righteous people.
His assumption was obviously wrong as there were not 50 righteous people, there were not even 10 righteous. This fact had to surprise Abraham. Abraham's assumptions got him nowhere and didn’t change the outcome of what happened. He should have simply left the decision up to the Lord. The Lord knew exactly how many righteous folks there were in Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham didn’t need to bring his questions to the Lord.
There is a lot we can learn from Abraham’s encounter with the Lord. The main point is that we should not make assumptions when it comes to what the Lord says. For example, if Jesus Christ says the only way to the Father is through him then that is the only way. We don’t need to think to ourselves or ask others or the Lord “what about this” or “yes, but what if that happened.” The secret things belong to God and he says what he means and means what he says. We must trust in him. Our prayer lives should not be composed of telling God what he needs to do and when.
So, I was going to write my own post, but I guess I'll just comment here. While I appreciate the perspective, I was actually struck by a different aspect of the account.
ReplyDeleteGod's Mercy.
He patiently listened to Abraham and chose to save Lot and his family when there still weren't enough people to spare the city. Rather than striking the men of the city dead, He struck them blind. When Lot was scared and dragging his feet, He prompted and gave advice.
With all that mercy it would be easy to think that you could push the envelope even further...but, we see that God has limits. When He speaks, He means it. His expectations cannot be compromised. Sadly, Lot's wife is our example. God gave such a simple command, and followed through when she disobeyed.
Our commands today are simple, don't be tempted to compromise your faith. Do show mercy to the world and brothers when they stumble.