Genesis 18:23-25

ABRAHAM'S INTERCESSION

"And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou consume the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are within? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

"Wilt thou consume and not spare ... ?" The Genesis account does not mention God's consuming the city prior to this time; but inherent in this question of Abraham is the proof that God indeed had revealed to Abraham his purpose of utterly destroying the wicked cities.

"Shall not the Judge of all earth do right ... ?" That the chief dignitary of the "three men" was indeed God is further proved by this. Also, inherent in this question is the conviction of Abraham that the person whom he addressed was "The Judge of all the earth." Also, it was the fundamental conviction of Abraham that he was a just and merciful God. Such basic understanding of the nature of the Heavenly Father is a prerequisite of all truly holy religion; and it was the lack of this that resulted in the man of Jesus' parable being cast into the outer darkness (Matthew 25:24,30). One may wonder about Abraham's motivation for what he undertook here; but we cannot speak with any certainty. It could have been concern for the safety of his kinsman Lot, then living in Sodom; or it could have been his concern for the whole city, which he himself had so wonderously blessed by his rescue of their king and many of his people, and all their wealth, from the recent disaster of their defeat and capture; or it might have been a combination of these and other things that prompted Abraham to plead their cause before the Judge of all the earth.