Always Does Right

He [the Lord] answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:32, NIV 1984).

My Musings – In between Lot and Abraham parting ways, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord visited Abraham and shared what He planned to do. “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 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.” (Genesis 18:20–21, NIV 1984). Of course, He already knew. He wanted Abraham to know.

“Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 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? 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?'” (Genesis 18:23–25, NIV 1984). What Abraham did not fully appreciate was that the “the judge of all the earth [will always] do right.”

“The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.'” (Genesis 18:26, NIV 1984). Emboldened, Abraham continued to “bargain” with God. All the way down to ten “righteous” people. “‘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.'” (Genesis 18:32, NIV 1984). In the end, only four were found. But God did not sweep them away with the wicked. He took Lot, Lot’s wife and two daughters “and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them,” (Genesis 19:16, NIV 1984).

My Advice – It certainly would be bold to think you could out bargain the Lord. God does not bargain. But even if He did, you never could. Just as bold, or foolish, would be thinking you could “out grace” the Lord. “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,” (Exodus 34:6, NIV 1984). Yet at the same time, “the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished,” (Nahum 1:3, NIV 1984). Grace or judgment, the Lord always does right.