Abraham’s Intercessory Prayer — Genesis 18 Daily Word

Explore Abraham’s bold intercessory prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. Discover how Abraham appeals to God’s justice and love, questioning whether the righteous should perish with the wicked.

Genesis 18:27-33 Daily Word

1. [Scripture]

[27] Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. [28] Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” [29] Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” [30] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” (Gen 18:27-30, ESV)

[31] He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” [32] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” [33] And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. (Gen 18:31-33, ESV)

2. [Daily Word]

# God intends to see for Himself the true nature of the outcry.

In verse 21, God says, “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and whether they have not — I will know.” The reason God intends to go down personally and see the true nature of that outcry is to condemn and judge Sodom and Gomorrah. At this point, the angels departed from there and set out toward Sodom.

Seeing this, Abraham asks the Lord, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” Abraham is concerned that among Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities that God is about to destroy, there might be those who are righteous before God.

And so,[24] Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? [25] Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen 18:24-25, ESV), Abraham appeals to God, asking that it would be unjust to put the righteous to death with the wicked, and calling on Him to judge the world with justice.

In fact, after the ark of Noah, God had promised never again to judge the world by water, and He displayed the rainbow as a sign of that covenant. Abraham, knowing this account of God’s judgment, also understood that God could judge Sodom and Gomorrah in an instant. That is why he appeals to God’s justice and love to forgive sinners.

# If God is truly just, He must not judge the righteous and the wicked together.

And if God is a God of love, then even for those who may fall short of the standard He has set — even those who cannot yet be called righteous — He ought to embrace and forgive with love those sinners who still have the possibility of repentance. In this sense, the fact that God is now leading Abraham to intercede before Him through his own lips bears witness to the truth that God is indeed One who is right to do this very thing, and it reveals that He alone is worthy to receive all glory.

So in verse 26, God declares: [26] And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” (Gen 18:26, ESV) Even without Abraham’s earnest pleading, God would have distinguished the righteous from the wicked.

Yet what is most significant in this passage is the fact that God receives the earnest prayer of a weak human being. Abraham continues to petition God: “I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. What if five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And God replies that if He finds forty-five there, He will not destroy it.

Abraham asks again: what if forty are found there? God answers that He will not destroy it for the sake of forty. In verse 30, Abraham says, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” God answers that He will not do it if He finds thirty there. Abraham continues: “Behold, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” God answers that He will not destroy it for the sake of twenty. Then in verse 32, Abraham says once more, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” And God answers that He will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

God gave Abraham the same answer each and every time. This ultimately tells us that God remains in the same place, waiting for our earnestness to come to Him.

# From this passage, we receive one important lesson.

God treasures earnest prayer offered on behalf of even a single soul. In particular, Abraham prayed this fervently for his nephew Lot. And so God received Abraham’s earnest prayer for Lot — [29] So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. (Gen 19:29, ESV) — when God destroyed the cities of the valley, and when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived, God “remembered Abraham” and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow. The reason Lot was saved was not his own righteousness. In God’s sight, there was not a single righteous person in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Yet what God desired in this moment of judgment was Abraham’s earnest intercessory prayer. For God is a God who acts in justice.

God’s justice, as Abraham expressed it, means: ① distinguishing the weak from the strong and protecting them; ② distinguishing the righteous from the sinful; and ③ embracing with love and extending forgiveness to those sinners who have the possibility of repentance. And it is precisely this that God desires all of us to carry out as intercessors.

Therefore, let us remember that what we must do in these last days is to remain watchful and ceaselessly pray on behalf of those who have not yet believed — calling out their names before God. May we all be people of such prayer, and let us pray together now.

Intercessory prayer, the faith of Abraham, God’s mercy, petitionary prayer, humble faith

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com