Genesis 18:23 - Meaning and Application

Communion with God is kept up through the Word and through prayer. In the Word, God speaks to us. In prayer, we speak to him. God had revealed to Abraham his plans for Sodom, and Abraham took that as a chance to speak to God for Sodom.

God’s Word does us good when it gives us material for prayer and stirs us to pray. When God has spoken to us, we should think about what we have to say back to him. Abraham then drew near (Genesis 18:23). That phrase suggests holy concern and holy confidence. He set his heart to come near to God (Jeremiah 30:21), and he came with faith, like a prince who has access to the king (Job 31:37).

When we pray, we should remember that we are drawing near to God. That should fill us with reverence for him (Leviticus 10:3). This prayer is the first solemn prayer recorded in the Bible, and it asks God to spare Sodom. Abraham deeply hated the wickedness of the Sodomites. He would not have lived among them, as Lot did, even if they had offered him the best land in their country. Yet he still prayed earnestly for them.

We should hate sin, but pity sinners and pray for them. God does not delight in their death, and neither should we desire it, but instead grieve over the coming day of judgment. Abraham first asked that the righteous among them would be spared and not caught in the shared disaster. He had Lot especially in mind, and Lot had once treated him badly, but Abraham had long since forgiven and forgotten it. He had already shown his love for Lot by rescuing him with his sword, and now he showed it again with his prayers.

He then enlarged that request and asked that all the city might be spared for the sake of the righteous living there. God himself encouraged this request by what he said in reply to Abraham’s first appeal (Genesis 18:26). We must pray not only for ourselves, but for others too, because we belong to the same human family. We are all brothers and sisters.

This prayer shows several beautiful graces. First, it shows great faith, and the prayer of faith is the prayer that prevails. Faith pleads with God, presents the case clearly, and fills the mouth with arguments. Abraham especially trusted the righteousness of God, and he was sure of this: God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked (Genesis 18:23). “Far be it from you” (Genesis 18:25). We must never think anything that lowers the honor of God’s righteousness. Paul uses the same kind of argument in (Romans 3:5-6).

The righteous and the wicked are often mixed together in this world. Among the best people, there are usually some bad ones, and among the worst there are sometimes some good ones. Even in Sodom there was one Lot. Yet even when the righteous are among the wicked, the righteous God will certainly not destroy the righteous with the wicked. In this life they may be caught in the same troubles, but in the great day God will make a clear difference.

Abraham also believed that the righteous would not suffer as the wicked do, even if they suffered with them. Shared troubles are very different for the righteous than for the wicked (Isaiah 27:7). He also trusted this truth: the Judge of all the earth will do right. That is true because he is the Judge of all the earth. He rules over all, sees all, and will judge all. God has never done, and never will do, wrong to any creature, whether by withholding what is right or by demanding more than is right (Job 34:10-11).

Second, this prayer shows great humility. Abraham felt his own unworthiness deeply: “I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, though I am only dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). He speaks like someone amazed that God would allow him such boldness. He remembers God’s greatness, since he is the Lord, and his own smallness, since he is only dust and ashes.

The greatest people, the most respected and gifted, are still dust and ashes before God. We are weak, lowly, and dying. Whenever we come near to God, we should humbly remember the great distance between us and him. He is the Lord of glory; we are creatures of the earth. The access we have to the throne of grace, and the freedom to speak there, should fill us with humble wonder (2 Samuel 7:18).

Abraham also showed an awful fear of God’s displeasure: “O let not the Lord be angry” (Genesis 18:30, 32). When believers press their requests hard, if they were dealing with another person, they might fear anger. But the one we come to is God, not man. Whatever he may seem at times, he is not truly angry with the prayers of the upright (Psalm 80:4), because those prayers delight him (Proverbs 15:8). He is pleased when people wrestle with him in prayer.

Even when we receive special signs of God’s favor, we should still watch ourselves carefully, so we do not become guilty before him. For that reason, we must bring the Mediator, the one who brings us to God, with us in faith, so his sacrifice covers the sin that clings even to our holy things.

Third, this prayer shows great charity. Abraham had a charitable view of Sodom’s people. As bad as the city was, he thought there were several good people in it. We should hope the best of the worst places. If we are going to be wrong, it is better to be wrong in that direction. He also showed a charitable desire for Sodom’s good. He used all his influence at the throne of grace to ask mercy for them. We never find him pleading so earnestly for himself and his own family as he does here for Sodom.

Fourth, this prayer shows great boldness and believing confidence. Abraham took the liberty to name a certain number of righteous people he thought might be in Sodom: fifty (Genesis 18:24). He kept building on God’s concessions, again and again. As God allowed more, he asked for more, hoping to gain his request. He brought the number down as far as he could with humility, until he reached ten righteous people among the five cities. He may even have thought that if there were ten, the cities would surely have been spared.

The prayer had great success. Abraham wrestled and prevailed wonderfully. Like a prince, he had power with God, and it was as if he had only to ask and receive. God’s general goodwill appears in this, because he agreed to spare the wicked for the sake of the righteous. See how ready God is to show mercy. He even looks for a reason to do so. This also shows how great a blessing good people are to any place, and how little those who hate and persecute them help themselves.

God’s special favor to Abraham appears in this too, because he did not stop granting until Abraham stopped asking. Such is the power of prayer.

Why did Abraham stop asking after he had gone so far as to ask that the city be spared if only ten righteous people could be found there? One answer is that Abraham agreed the city deserved destruction if even that number of good people could not be found in it. He was like the gardener in the parable who was willing for the barren tree to be cut down if one more year did not make it fruitful (Luke 13:9).

Another answer is that God held Abraham back from asking any more. When God has decided to bring judgment on a place, he does not allow people to keep praying for its preservation (Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 11:14; Jeremiah 14:11).

Then the conversation ended (Genesis 18:33). The Lord went on his way. The visions granted by God are not meant to be constant in this life, where we walk by faith and not by sight. God did not leave until Abraham had said everything he wanted to say, because he is never tired of hearing prayer (Isaiah 59:1).

Abraham went back to his place. He was not proud because of the honor God had shown him, and these special meetings did not turn him away from his normal duties. He returned to wait and see what would happen. The result showed that his prayer had been heard, yet Sodom was not spared, because there were not ten righteous people in it. We should not expect too much from people or too little from God.