Abraham’s Prayer of Intercession
Genesis 18:16-33
As we saw last time, Abraham was the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). In the first half of Genesis 18 we saw him entertaining the Lord and two angels who appeared in bodily form. After he served them a meal, they told him and Sarah that the next year the promised son would be given, and that Sarah herself would bear Isaac. Like all of those who are friends of God, we saw that Abraham worshipped the Lord (Gen. 18:1-3), served the Lord with zeal (Gen. 18:4-8) and inspired others to believe the Lord (Gen. 18:9-15). Then the men arose, looked down toward Sodom, and began to walk in that direction, and Abraham accompanied them. The Lord spoke so that Abraham could overhear Him, and let Abraham know about the impending judgment on Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain. Then, as the two angels proceeded toward Sodom, Abraham stayed alone with the Lord and engaged in the first instance of intercessory prayer recorded in the Bible.
It’s a remarkable scene, as Abraham intercedes for Sodom before the bench of divine justice. He pleads with God not to destroy the city if there are 50 righteous people in Sodom. God agrees. Then he cautiously moves to 45. Again, God consents. Abraham dares to move to 40, then 30, 20, and finally to ten. There Abraham rests his case with God. While God did not find ten righteous people in Sodom, He did honor Abraham’s prayer by rescuing Lot and his family before destroying that region and all its inhabitants (Gen. 19:29).
Listen to our passage, Genesis 18:16-33,
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. 17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20 And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 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.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.
23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” 27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” 29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” 30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” 32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
The outcry of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah called for judgment. The Lord had determined to bring destruction on those evil cities. Their overthrow would serve as a warning to all future generations of God’s coming final judgment (Luke 17:29-30; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7). Since that judgment day is drawing near, this passage is an example to us today (2 Peter 3:10-12). Abraham’s prayer for Sodom is an amazing revelation of the faith of one man in the justice of Almighty God and an incredible boldness of a mere human before the Judge of all the Earth. God‘s friends, like Abraham, intercede for people, for all the nations concerning His plan of righteousness and justice. As we pray, may God be pleased to save many before that great and awful day.
Here are some lessons about prayer from this passage:
1. Prayer begins with knowing the person of God
We pick up the narrative after Abraham had fed his special guests and the Lord had confirmed that Sarah would bear a son within a year. Genesis 18:16 says, “Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.” Abraham literally walked with God like Enoch and Noah before him (Gen. 5:24; Gen. 6:9). Ominously, it says they “looked toward Sodom.” In the hill country east of Hebron the Dead Sea and the surrounding plains can be seen from afar. They saw Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain.
From that vantage point, the Lord spoke to Himself and the angels with Him knowing that Abraham would overhear. “And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Gen. 18:17). Answering His won question, Yahweh reasoned why He should inform Abraham of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The first reason for God sharing His intentions with Abraham relates to God’s destiny for Abraham (Gen. 18:18), “since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” This was God’s calling for Abraham that we saw in Genesis 12:1-3. God would bless Abraham, so that He would be a blessing, so that all the nations of the earth would be blessed in Him. The Lord had expanded on that promise over the years and had confirmed His promises by establishing a covenant with Abraham. The fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham centered on the promised seed, the Savior Jesus Christ, Abraham’s descendant through Isaac. God’s purpose is to bless all the nations through Abraham’s seed, but not to save all from judgment, as seen here with Sodom.
The second reason for God revealing to Abraham His planned judgment on Sodom was (Gen. 18:19), “For I have known him …” The beginning of this verse can be translated either “For I have known him” (NKJV), or “For I have chosen him” (NASB). H. C. Leupold translates it, “For I acknowledge him to be My intimate friend” (Leupold). Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.” Servants may not know their master’s will, but friends do (John 15:15).
The third reason God tells Abraham His plan was “in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Gen. 18:19). God desires that His covenant people be a people who do righteousness and justice. Righteousness refers to conduct which conforms to the ethical or moral standard stemming from God’s character. Justice points to the administration of God’s righteousness in human affairs, such as government and society, through honest and consistent application of the law. In other words, we are to teach our children through both example and instruction how to live so as to please God.
Abraham was responsible to teach this to his children. Fathers are responsible to instill the Lord’s way, which involves righteousness and justice, upon their children. The biblical commands for training children in the ways of the Lord are most often directed to fathers, not mothers. Moses will later command the men of Israel, “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,” (Deut. 4:9). Ephesians 6:4 says, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Abraham was known by the Lord and he knew the Lord. He knew God’s His character and attributes. It was this relationship with the Lord that called him to prayer. It was this relationship with the Lord that caused him to intercede for others. This is why he could be humbly bold in his prayer. We who believe in Christ Jesus our Lord have a relationship with God. And in Christ “we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” Prevailing prayer begins with a relationship with God through Christ, knowing God and begin known by Him. Friends of God intercede for others.
2. Prayer proceeds according to purposes of God
Before Abraham begins to pray, God reveals His plans and purposes to him. “And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 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.”” (Gen 18:20-21).
The Hebrew word for “outcry” is used in Scripture to describe the cries of the oppressed and brutalized. It is used for the cry of the oppressed widow or orphan (Exo. 22:22, 23), the cry of the oppressed servant (Deut. 24:15), and the cries of the Israelites slaves in Egypt (Exod 2:23; 3:7, 9). Not only was Sodom practicing homosexuality as Genesis 19 reveals, but its people also neglected and oppressed the poor and the needy. Ezekiel compares the sin of Samaria and Jerusalem to Sodom writing, “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Eze. 16:49). No doubt, the poor and needy cried out in distress from Sodom. God heard the cries of the girl and boys there who had been sexually abused; He heard the cries of the father who had been cheated out of his living; He heard the cries of the wife who’d been scorned for a younger woman. He heard the cries of the hungry and hurting. Sin cries out to God. It cries out to Him for His righteous judgment.
Because of this, God sent two angels to confirm their sins before judgment. God did not need to go down to Sodom or send His angels there to know their wickedness. God is omniscient, He knows everything! God is not ‘going down’ to learn the facts, but to take personal interest in them and to rectify the matter. God chose to act in this way to make apparent the fact that He, as just Judge of all the earth, does nothing without first being in full possession of all facts. It was to demonstrate His justice to His friend, Abraham.
God was in fact prompting Abraham to engage in this spirit of prayer. Listen to what Derek Kidner says: “The initiative in this great intercession was with God, in the sense that He broached the subject Himself, He waited for Abraham’s plea, and He chose the point at which the conversation would end.”
Abraham intercedes for Sodom because He knew God and prayed according to the purposes of God. Ligon Duncan says, “Abraham … didn’t have a heart for the lost because it came naturally to him. He had a heart for the lost because he knew his God and he had seen the end of the wicked. And because he knew his God and because he knew what the wicked deserved, his heart was moved to intercede.”
Prayer begins with a relationship with God and proceeds according to His purposes. Thirdly,
3. Prayer remains persistent with God
At this point the two men (or angels, Gen. 19:1) “turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD” (Ge. 18:22). Now Abraham begins to pray to the Lord. Genesis 18:23, “And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”” Abraham was still standing before the Lord and then he came near (18:22-23). The Hebrew word “came near” can mean “to approach or come to court to argue a case.” Only those who are close to God can intercede with Him on behalf of others. Donald Grey Barnhouse observes, “The longer one remains in the presence of God, the more proper perspective he gains on the world and all that is therein” (Genesis [Zondervan], p. 158). You don’t have to wallow in the mud of the world to understand the evil in it. Abraham didn’t need to live in Sodom to know it was sinful. The Word of God gives us an adequate understanding of sin and its consequences. If we walk in righteousness before God and know His Word, God will give us insight on the needs of the people of the world. Then we can pray for them.
Notice that Abraham appeals to God based on the nature of the Lord, who God is. The approach Abraham took with God was that surely, in justice, He could not treat the righteous and the wicked alike. God had just spoken about Abraham’s destiny to raise up his family ” to do righteousness and justice” (Gen. 18:19). Now Abraham demands righteousness of God: ” Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). The term “judge” is shāpat, “judge, govern, act as ruler,” is from the same word group as mishpāt, “judgment, justice” in Genesis 18:19. How can God destroy a city that has 50 righteous residents? He asks. It would be wrong ” destroy the righteous with the wicked,” Abraham contends. If God expects justice of Abraham, surely the Lord himself must be just, Abraham argues. Abraham maintains from God’s own character that God must treat the righteous justly.
So Abraham asked, “Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?” (Gen. 18:24). Abraham then argues for the answer on the basis of God’s righteous justice, “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Abraham appealed to God based on who God is, namely, the just “Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25), and that He is merciful. Since He is merciful, Abraham could ask that He spare the whole wicked city on behalf of the few righteous. And yet He is just: He will not ultimately treat the righteous and the wicked in the same manner. Underlying this is Abraham’s concern for God’s reputation, or glory. He’s concerned that if God wipes out the righteous with the wicked, others will question His justice. When we pray, we should appeal to Him on the basis of His glory and His person, as revealed in His Word, especially the balance between His mercy and His judgment.
Abraham was persistent. Having received the promise from God that He would spare the city for 50 righteous, Abraham continues asking for 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. Abraham displays a reverent boldness toward the Lord, but never presumption. He repeatedly acknowledges his humble place before Almighty God:
“Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord …” (Gen. 18:27).
“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak …” (Gen. 18:30).
“Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord …” (Gen. 18:31).
“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more …” (Gen. 18:32).
There is no hint that Abraham thought of himself as better than those in Sodom. Abraham prayed for Sodom with the very real awareness of his own sinfulness. Abraham shows a balance of humility, knowing his place, and yet boldness to persist in asking God for more. We need that same perspective in our prayers. We need a reverent boldness in coming before the Lord and arguing our case. But we need to remember at all times that we’re unworthy sinners who have found mercy. As Leupold comments, “A man who has himself received mercy seeks to secure mercy for others” (1:549).
Jesus taught that we need to persist in prayer. He told the parable of the man whose friend came late at night asking for bread. The man and his family were already in bed, but this “friend” kept banging on his door. Jesus applied it to our need to keep knocking on heaven’s door (Luke 11:8-10). He also told of the judge, who would not listen to the repeated pleas of the widow. But finally, to get some relief, he gave her what she wanted. How much more, said Jesus, will God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him (Luke 18:4-8). Persevere in prayer!
Finally we see that,
4. Prayer trusts in the will of God
Abraham continued on from point to point, persistently asking God for more, until he went as far as he dared. Why did he stop at ten? My opinion is that Abraham sensed that he was at the limit at ten, and that if he went further he would no longer be pleading according to God’s will. God answered Abraham by rescuing Lot and his family before destroying Sodom. We need to remember that prayer is not getting God to do my will, but rather His will.
I don’t understand why or how God works out His eternal plan in cooperation with the prayers of His saints, but He does! Knowing God’s purpose, to call out a people for Himself from every nation; and, knowing God’s person, that He is both merciful and just; we who have experienced His mercy have the privilege of praying for a lost world. Are you willing to carry God’s burden for individuals, families, churches, and nations? God is looking for those who will intercede. He desires that none should perish but that all would come to repentance.
Years ago, the China Inland Mission discovered that the number and spiritual strength of the converts at one station far exceeded anyone’s expectations and could not be accounted for by anything exceptional about the missionary personnel there. The mystery remained unsolved until Hudson Taylor visited England. There, at the close of Taylor’s message, a man from the audience stepped forward to greet him. In the ensuing conversation, Taylor learned that the man had detailed knowledge of this station.
“How is it,” asked Taylor, “that you are so conversant with the conditions of that work?” “Oh,” he replied, “for four years I have corresponded with my missionary friend there. He has sent me the names of inquirers and converts, and I have daily taken these names to God in prayer.” Taylor realized the answer to the puzzle: the daily, specific, prevailing prayer of this man had brought eternal fruit for God’s glory. God wants us, His friends, to prevail with Him concerning His plan of righteousness and justice for the nations.
