The Friend of God and the Judge of All the Earth Text: Genesis 18:16-33
Introduction: The High Council of Heaven
We come now to one of the most remarkable conversations in all of Scripture. It is a scene that ought to adjust our thinking about prayer, justice, and what it means to be in a covenant relationship with the living God. Abraham, the patriarch, the friend of God, is brought into the high council of heaven. He is not merely a subject of God's decrees; he is invited into the deliberation room. This is not the kind of access one gets with a distant, impersonal deity. This is the intimacy of a covenant friendship.
Our age has a peculiar relationship with justice. On the one hand, our culture is screaming for justice. They want justice for the oppressed, justice for the marginalized, and justice for the planet. But the justice they demand is a justice of their own making, defined by their own shifting standards, and enforced with their own brand of self-righteous fury. On the other hand, when confronted with the actual, objective, holy justice of God, this same culture recoils in horror. The idea of a God who judges sin, particularly sins like those of Sodom and Gomorrah, is considered barbaric, intolerant, and altogether unacceptable. They want a God who is all mercy and no justice, which is to say, they want a God who is not God at all. A God without justice is a cosmic sentimentality, an impotent teddy bear in the sky.
But the God of the Bible is both just and merciful. And in this passage, we see these two attributes in glorious tension. God is about to execute perfect, righteous judgment on a city that had become a cultural cancer. But before He does, He stops to talk it over with His friend, Abraham. And in this conversation, we learn something profound about the nature of God, the responsibility of covenant headship, and the power of righteous intercession. This is not just a historical account of a man bargaining with God. This is a paradigm for how the people of God are to stand in the gap for a world bent on its own destruction.
Abraham's intercession is a foreshadowing of the work of the great Intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is also a summons to us. We who are in Christ are also friends of God. We have been brought near. And we have a responsibility to plead for our cities, to appeal to the Judge of all the earth to do right, and to be the righteous remnant for whose sake God might show mercy.
The Text
Then the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. Now Yahweh said, “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” So Yahweh said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before Yahweh. Then Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?” So Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” And Abraham answered and said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Then he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” And as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham, Yahweh departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
(Genesis 18:16-33 LSB)
Covenant Friendship and Federal Responsibility (vv. 16-21)
The scene opens with an act of hospitality. Abraham is walking with his divine guests to send them on their way. But Yahweh, one of the three, pauses. He deliberates with Himself, but He does so out loud, for Abraham's benefit.
"Now Yahweh said, 'Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do...?'" (Genesis 18:17)
This is the language of friendship. As Jesus would later say to His disciples, "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). God is treating Abraham not as a mere creature to be commanded, but as a covenant partner to be consulted. Why? The text gives two reasons.
First, because of the covenant promise itself (v. 18). Abraham is the father of a great nation through whom all the nations will be blessed. What happens to Sodom, a city in the promised land, is directly relevant to Abraham's future and the fulfillment of God's promises. God is not arbitrary; His actions in history are all ordered toward His covenant purposes.
Second, and more pointedly, God reveals His plan because of Abraham's covenantal responsibility (v. 19). "For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice." This is the very heart of what we call federal headship. God chose Abraham to be a representative head, not just for himself, but for his entire household. He is responsible for teaching them, commanding them, to walk in the way of the Lord. And what is that way? It is the way of "righteousness and justice." God is about to give Abraham a real-world, object lesson in divine justice so that he can teach his children. This is not an abstract theology lesson. This is, "Look, son. This is what happens when sin reaches its full measure. This is what divine justice looks like. And this is why you must walk in righteousness." God's judgment on Sodom is a pedagogical act for the covenant family.
Then God states the charge against the cities (vv. 20-21). The "outcry" of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. This is legal language. It is the cry of the oppressed, the cry of spilled blood, the cry of gross injustice that has reached the ears of the celestial court. Their sin is "exceedingly grave." God then says He will "go down" to see if it is as bad as the reports. This is not because God is ignorant. This is anthropomorphic language describing a formal, judicial investigation. God is demonstrating His own due process. He is not a capricious tyrant. His judgment is always careful, measured, and perfectly informed.
The Righteous Intercessor (vv. 22-26)
The two angels depart for Sodom, but Abraham remains, standing before Yahweh. And here, the patriarch's greatness shines.
"Then Abraham came near and said, 'Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?'" (Genesis 18:23 LSB)
Abraham "came near." This is an act of priestly boldness. He is entering the holy place, as it were, to intercede. His first concern is for the righteous. This is not primarily about his nephew Lot, though Lot is certainly on his mind. His argument is a theological one, rooted in the very character of God. He is concerned that God's reputation for justice might be compromised.
His plea in verse 25 is one of the high points of the Old Testament. "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?" Abraham is not questioning whether God is just. He is appealing to God's justice against a perceived threat to that justice. He is, in effect, holding up a mirror to God and saying, "This is who You are. Be Yourself." This is the essence of true prayer. It is not trying to bend God's will to ours, but aligning our will with His revealed character and asking Him to act consistently with it.
And God's response is immediate and gracious. "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account" (v. 26). Notice this principle. It is a principle of federal representation, but in a positive sense. The presence of a righteous remnant has a preservative, saving effect on the whole community. The wicked city would be spared for the sake of the righteous few. This is a foundational principle of God's economy. A nation is not judged simply by the depths of its depravity, but by the absence of a righteous, preserving remnant.
Holy Haggling (vv. 27-33)
Emboldened by God's grace, Abraham presses his case. This is not the haggling of a marketplace, but the persistent pleading of a desperate man who knows both the holiness of God and the wickedness of men.
"Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes." (Genesis 18:27 LSB)
His boldness is tempered with profound humility. He knows his place. He is "dust and ashes," a creature before the Creator. This is the necessary posture for all effective prayer: boldness in God's promises combined with humility about our own status. He is not making demands; he is making requests. He is not presuming; he is venturing.
He works his way down from fifty, to forty-five, to forty, to thirty, to twenty, and finally, to ten. With each step, his humility deepens: "Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak." And with each step, God graciously condescends to meet him. God is not annoyed by Abraham's persistence; He is honored by it. He is teaching Abraham, and us, the depths of His own mercy. He is willing to spare a wicked metropolis for the sake of just ten righteous people.
Why did Abraham stop at ten? Perhaps he could not imagine that a city as large as Sodom would not have at least ten righteous people, the size of a small household. He had brought the terms as low as he dared. But the tragic reality, as we will see in the next chapter, is that there were not even ten. There was only one, Lot, and he had to be dragged out by the angels. The city was so corrupt that it could not produce a righteous minyan.
The conversation ends, and Yahweh departs. The terms have been set. The justice of God is unimpeachable. If the city is destroyed, it is not because God is unjust, but because the city is utterly devoid of righteousness. Abraham has done all he can. He has stood in the gap. Now, the judgment must fall.
The Greater Abraham
This entire scene is a magnificent portrait of intercession. But it is a portrait that is intended to make us long for the original. Abraham's intercession, as great as it was, had its limits. He was a man of "dust and ashes." He stopped at ten. And ultimately, his prayer did not save the city.
But we have a greater Abraham, a greater Intercessor. The Lord Jesus Christ did not stand at a distance and plead for the righteous. He entered the city of destruction itself. He became sin for us. He did not ask, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" Instead, He, the only truly Righteous One, allowed Himself to be swept away with the wicked, for the sake of the wicked, so that the wicked might be counted as righteous.
Abraham appealed to the justice of God. Christ satisfied the justice of God. On the cross, the Judge of all the earth did what was perfectly just. He treated the righteous One as the wicked one, so that He could treat the wicked ones as righteous ones. God did not spare His own Son, so that He could spare the whole place, the whole world, on His account.
And now, this greater Abraham ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). His intercession is not a negotiation based on finding a certain number of righteous people. His intercession is based on His own finished work, His own perfect righteousness, which has been imputed to us. He does not plead for us because we are good; He pleads for us because He is good, and we are in Him.
Therefore, we are called to be a people of intercession. We are to be little Abrahams. We are to stand before the Lord, in the name of Jesus, and plead for our cities, our nations, and our world. We should appeal to the character of God. We should plead for mercy. We should be that righteous remnant, that salt and light, that has a preserving effect on the culture around us. And we do so with boldness, not because we are anything, but because we are standing with the One who is everything, the true Friend of God and the Advocate for all who are but dust and ashes.