When God spoke, and a person answered
God and Abraham at Sodom
Before Sodom is destroyed, God chooses to tell Abraham what He is about to do, and Abraham dares to bargain with the Judge of all the earth. It is one of the boldest, tenderest conversations in Scripture.
“And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”Genesis 18:23
The conversation
The conversation. God says within Himself, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" and reveals that He will go down to see whether Sodom's sin is as grievous as the cry against it. Abraham draws near and asks the great question: "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Then he presses, "That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked... Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" He begins the bargain at fifty: will God spare the city for fifty righteous? God agrees. Abraham, calling himself "but dust and ashes," lowers it to forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, and at last, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once," to ten. Each time God consents: "I will not destroy it for ten's sake." "And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned unto his place." The city, it turns out, does not hold even ten, yet God brings righteous Lot out before the fire falls.
What God was doing
What God was doing. God was confiding in His friend; He calls Abraham into His counsel because covenant makes friends, not merely servants (James 2:23). He was inviting intercession, not resenting it. Abraham's boldness is not rebellion; it is faith reasoning with the character of God, appealing to God's own justice, "shall not the Judge of all the earth do right." And God patiently, repeatedly says yes. He was teaching that He does not sweep away the righteous with the wicked, that a handful of the faithful can shelter a whole city, and that judgment is His strange and reluctant work. Above all He was revealing His character: perfectly just, so that Abraham can appeal to His fairness, and astonishingly merciful, willing to spare the many for the sake of the few. The God of this conversation is not eager to destroy; He is searching for a reason to relent, and He honors a man who pleads for the guilty.
How it leads to Christ
How it leads to Christ. Abraham stood as an intercessor between God and a doomed city, pleading that the many be spared for the sake of the righteous few. Jesus is the greater intercessor who "ever liveth to make intercession" for us (Heb 7:25), and He does what Abraham could not, He becomes the one righteous man for whose sake the guilty are spared. Where Abraham asked whether ten righteous could save a city, Christ, the only truly righteous one, saves a countless multitude by His own righteousness. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right" is answered fully at the cross, where God is shown to be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom 3:26). The God who once communed face to face with His friend has spoken His final word in the Son who calls us friends (John 15:15).
Questions people ask
Was Abraham being irreverent by bargaining with God?
No. He approaches humbly, calling himself "dust and ashes," and appeals to God's own justice. Scripture presents his boldness as faith, not presumption, and God patiently grants every request.
Why did God tell Abraham His plans at all?
God said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" Because of the covenant, God treated Abraham as a friend and confidant, drawing him into intercession rather than acting in secret.
Did God break His promise since Sodom was destroyed?
No. Sodom did not contain even ten righteous people. God kept His word exactly, and He still rescued righteous Lot and his daughters before the judgment fell, showing He would not destroy the righteous with the wicked.