Righteous Criteria

Righteous Criteria

Genesis 18: 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.

 

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Abraham recognized that the LORD was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah from the cryptic words given by GOD. He was told by GOD that there was a great outcry against Sodom and Gomorra and their sin is very grave. Abraham knew GOD had come to destroy the city, so he began using his bargaining talents that he probably learned while acquiring his wealth.

 

My Observations:

• Abraham started with a very low number, thinking it would be ridiculous to destroy a city if fifty righteous people lived there.
• Abraham suddenly recognized that all of his numbers were too high when it came to finding righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
• GOD’s criteria for righteousness does not match human criteria.

 

Being born with a sin nature makes it hard to see GOD as HE really is. HE hold the criteria for what is righteous and what is not. HE gave Sodom and Gomorrah plenty of time to turn to HIM, but they refused and now HE was going to destroy it.

 

He allowed Abraham to try to bargain with HIM, attempting to convince HIM to not destroy the city.  GOD probably allowed this to show Abraham how far humans would fall and that HE holds the criteria for what is righteous. Abraham was probably concerned about Lot and his family. So he bargained feverishly to no avail.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD allow Abraham to bargain with HIM?
• Have you ever tried to bargain with GOD, trying to convince HIM to give you something?
• Will you align with GOD versus trying to bargain with HIM today?