Sodom and Gormorrah by Henry Tanner 1920
Abraham does not dispute the wickedness of Sodom and
Gomorrah or the punishment God has planned for the twin sin cities. Abraham’s concern
is for the collateral damage caused by God’s righteous wrath which must in his
mind include his nephew Lot and Lot’s family. Each proposal preceded by “Far be
it from you” asks God to reconsider the just sentence on the wicked for the
sake of a diminishing population of the righteous. He stops at ten because he
either senses he’s gone as far as God will go or he can’t imagine there would
be less than ten righteous people in the cities on the plain. Unfortunately for
the wicked there are only four who are counted righteous, although the
character of Lot’s turned to salt wife is questionable. And Lot’s daughters
prove to be as sinful as Sodom (Genesis 19:30-36) and Lot drunk in a cave is no
saint. So what if no one is righteous? What then? What Abraham didn’t know and
we can hardly imagine is that God’s desire was that mercy would triumph over
judgment for it is God’s will to be both just and the one who justifies. So
since none were found, God in Christ became the One through whom we are counted
righteous and who knows, might also be the ones for whose sake the city is
spared.
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