Sodom & Gomorrah
The Passage
The LORD reveals to Abraham the coming judgment on Sodom. Abraham intercedes — fifty righteous? forty-five? ten? — and God agrees at every step. Two angels reach Sodom, find the evil first-hand, pull Lot's family out almost by force, and the cities fall under fire.
Abraham the Intercessor
Genesis 18 is the Bible's first sustained intercessory prayer. Two things stand out:
- God invites it — "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (18:17). The covenant partner is brought into God's counsel.
- The argument is God's character — "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (18:25). Bold prayer appeals to who God is.
God stops at ten not because Abraham stopped asking but because the point is proven: judgment falls only when rescue has been exhausted.
What Was Sodom's Sin?
Genesis 19 displays violent, predatory wickedness toward the vulnerable — strangers under a roof. Ezekiel 16:49-50 adds the wider indictment: "pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." Sodom is Scripture's standing picture of a society devouring the weak.
Judgment With Rescue
As with the flood, mercy moves first: the angels seize the hesitating Lot's hand — "the LORD being merciful to him" (19:16). Peter draws the lesson: the Lord knows how to rescue the godly and hold the unrighteous for judgment (2 Peter 2:6-9).
Kingdom Connection
Jesus invoked Sodom to warn religious towns that rejected Him (Matthew 11:23-24) — proximity to light raises accountability. And Abraham's bargaining points forward to a better Intercessor, who doesn't ask whether ten righteous can be found, but stands in as the One righteous for the many.