Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! As believers in Christ, we need not wait until the end of November to be thankful. You and I need to be grateful for God’s righteous goodness all the time. And as we will see over the next few minutes, you and I need to be grateful for God’s justice all the time.
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Genesis 18. Please bookmark Ezekiel 16 with me as well for we’ll be there in a minute.
We continue our series on Abraham, but we turn from the story of the promise to Abraham’s bargaining prayer for two cities. Cities are a big deal because half of the world’s population currently lives in cities and this is expected to grow to sixty percent by 2030. I love Fort Worth and the city of North Richland Hills, Bedford, Hurst, and Haltom City. How would you rate the quality of a city? Some experts will rate the size of a city, or the amount of land it covers. Others will say you judge a city by it growth rate or economic prowess. More personally, you may like a city because of the fun things there are to do in the city – Top Golf, the nearby lake, or the movie theatre. Now, you may like your city (Haslet, Haltom City, NRH, or Hurst) because it’s laid back, beautiful, or your favorite restaurant, beauty salon are near you. But God reveals a different way He measures cities. God uses a different yardstick to measure a city’s progress.
Today’s Scripture
Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” 22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place” (Genesis 18:16–33).
This is one of most interesting passages you will stumble over in the book of Genesis. Like an auctioneer, Abraham negotiates with God. But the two are not haggling over a car or a house, but instead, their focus is two infamous cities: Sodom & Gomorrah. Beginning with fifty people, the two dance or haggle their way all the way down to ten. If only ten good, righteous people are found, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be spared or rescued. Again, there are lots of ways to look at a city but God takes a searching spotlight over the city to see how many godly people are present in the city.
Look with me at …
1. A Preview of Destruction to Come
Most of you know something about these two famous cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.
God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes. They were condemned to extinction for the purpose of making them an example to all ungodly people (2 Peter 2:6).
1.1 A Sneak Peak
If you remember, Abraham has had two angels to come and visit him, along with God back from verse one. God has made grand and bold promises to Abraham and Sarah about a child to come one year from their day. Now, the Bible pictures Abraham walking along with his supernatural visitors, God accompanied by two angels – what a sight to behold! The two angels continue walking but the Lord lingers in verse 22.
God gives Abraham a sneak peak of things to come, if you will. Nowhere else in all the Bible do we witness a time and place where God “thinks aloud” (verses 17-19). This is an incredible to gift for Abraham (and to us!). Remember, Abraham is called the friend of God (James 2:23). And the conversation is incredible because Abraham gets a tip, if you will. You can think of this as insider trading. Abraham is told what is about to happen before anyone else knows about it.
1.2 An Outcry
This is what God tells Abraham: Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know” (Genesis 18:20-21).
Circle the word “outcry” on verse twenty, if you will. God’s attention, His face, is turned to these two cities because of an “outcry.” The ears of God are hearing something that is demanding His attention. So the Judge of all the earth hears the “outcry,” or the cries of those hurting. In the next chapter that continues our story, the angels tell Lot: “For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (Genesis 19:13). We should pause to remember that God heard a similar voice back when Cain killed Abel: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10b). Mordecai cries out (it’s the same word) when King Xerxes issues a genocidal edict to kill all the people of the Jewish race (Esther 4:1). Again, this same word will be used in the book of Nehemiah to describe the slaves crying out under the cruel Egyptians’ hands (Nehemiah 9:9). Mordecai cries out, the slaves in Egypt cry out, and Abel’s blood cries out.
So back to our story, God goes on a fact-finding mission to inspect the cities. He has been hearing these voices of desperation and voices that need rescuing. I wonder what voices God hears crying out even in our day?
1.3 The Sin of Sodom
We don’t know where Sodom and Gomorrah are exactly, but it’s probable the two cities are in the Dead Sea area. If you know anything from the famous story in chapter 19, you know that God wipes out these cities with fire and brimstone. In fact, on a recent tour of the area, my tour guide and friend, Nir, told me he has recently found brimstone in the area when he has scavenged for it. He said, “If we stop the bus and head off the road about fifty yards into Israeli-owned desert, we will find brimstone even today.” In fact, he said he has scrounged up ten or more pieces and gave them away as souvenirs.
These cities are well-known for their heinous moral and social corruption. In fact, I invite you to turn right in your Bibles to Ezekiel 16: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). Let’s look at each of indictments God levels against these two cities.
1.3.1 Pride
Pride is an attitude of independence from God: “I don’t need you, God. Stay out of my life. I can handle it myself.” Pride is a spirit of independence from God.
On December 12, 1915, a star was born and his name was Frank Sinatra. They called him “Ole Blue Eyes,” and the “Chairman of the Board” He was a phenomenal entertainer and Hollywood icon. Frank Sinatra was in Las Vegas and the parking attendant was taking care of his car and he said to the kid, he said “Hey kid, what’s the biggest tip that you have ever gotten?” And the kid said “One day somebody gave me $100.” He said “Wow, that’s a pretty big tip.” Sinatra reached into his pocket and gave him $200 and he said “If anyone ever asks you, you tell them, Frank Sinatra gave me two hundred dollars.” And Sinatra said in passing, he said “By the way who was the one that gave you $100?” The young man said, “Well, you did last year. Mr. Sinatra!”
Again, pride is a spirit of independence from God. You know what prideful people, don’t do? Prideful people don’t give thanks. Prideful people don’t bow their heads at the dinner table but instead go to the mirror to give thanks to the reflection they see.
1.3.2 Excess of Food
It was Thanksgiving day, and the young man had gorged himself on all of his favorite dishes: green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, turkey and dressing with gravy, cranberry sauce, homemade biscuits, followed by pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. Five hours later, the family gathered to eat again and the table was laden with the leftovers. Junior wasn’t even the least bit hungry because he was still full from that unbelievable lunch. But all of his favorites were laid out before him. Being religious, he bowed his head and uttered this simple prayer, “Lord, STRETCH ME.”
The average American consumes as much energy, the site says, as 2 Japanese, 6 Mexicans, 13 Chinese, 31 Indians, 128 Bangladeshis or 370 Ethiopians. Americans wolf down 815 billion calories of food every day — roughly 200 billion more than needed and enough to feed 80 million people — and throw out 200,000 tons of edible food.
1.3.3 Prosperous Ease
I discovered this week a website called the http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/. At many nearby stores, we will see a rush of people at its doors early on Friday morning. Over the years, shoppers have been trampled to death all in the name of find a good deal.
Did you know that God closes His ear to those who close their ears to the poor (Proverbs 21:13)? God says in effect, “I hear the outcry of these people who are being crushed, who are being violated, and who are victims of the some of the highest forms violence and the cruelty, that I must do something about this.”
1.3.4 Abomination
Continuing looking at each indictment the Lord has against these two cities, “They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it” (Ezekiel 16:50). Connect the words “pride” in verse 49 with the word “abomination” in verse 50. “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination…” (Leviticus 20:13).
Few areas are as controversial today as the topic of homosexuality. The younger generation have grown to believe that there’s nothing wrong this practice. The older generation remembers how this used to be a sinful practice. I sat with Stephen Stallard, the church planter from Brooklyn, just a few weeks ago. I asked him the challenges he had in there in NYC and he spoke about the prevalence of homosexuality. The challenge for so many new believers is the Bible’s teaching on this practice and what is becoming the new moral norm. Everything on our screens today tells us not to challenge someone’s sexual orientation. And it’s not just Brooklyn, New York, for even here in our own church, the only time I remember having people leave a message/sermon from protest was when I spoke against this sinful practice. You have a challenge – everyone of you in this room and beyond – have a real challenge.
I may say nothing more important to you than this next sentence: your opinions on homosexuality will serve as a window into what you think about the Bible itself. Your view on this controversial topic will go a long way toward answering one of the biggest questions in your life: Can I trust the Bible?
A generation ago, believers chucked the miracles of Jesus because we are told we know it is a scientific age – miracles cannot happen. And now we are told that homosexuality is but another healthy option for us. I believe that every word of Scripture is true and flawless.
Prideful people do not give thanks: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). Is it a coincidence that just a few verses later, Paul writes: “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:26-27). Isn’t any wonder they call their movement, gay pride? God’s opinion on homosexuality has not changed just because America’s opinion has changed.
1.4 What Abraham Didn’t Say
As soon as Abraham hears about God’s plans for the nearby cities, he raises a protest in verse 23: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23). Abraham says in essence, “Wait a minute. You can’t do this. If you do this, innocence people will get caught up in this. You cannot sweep away righteous people with criminals.” We’ll circle back to Abraham’s words in the next point. But it’s insightful to see what Abraham doesn’t say. 4,000 years have gone by since the story of Abraham and the way we reason has changed. Notice, Abraham never argues the vast population of the two cities is innocent. Abraham never challenges God’s opinion of the actions of the vast population even once. Not even once. Abraham never points his bony finger in God’s face and says, “You can’t do this.” Abraham is shocked at the possibility that God may sweep away the righteous in His destruction of the city… … but Abraham isn’t shocked destruction is coming. Abraham and God both agree that God’s actions will be just on the wicked. Abraham never says, “You can’t do this. You can’t pulverize these people into oblivion. They are good people and they don’t deserve this!”
1.5 My god is a god of Love
You say, “Well, I don’t believe in a God that judges people and wipes out cities. My God is a god of love and mercy.” Really, think with me about this for a moment. God hears these cries of people in need but does nothing about it? What kind of loving God doesn’t raise His hand to stop the hurt and pain of the most vulnerable in the world? If your god hears the cries of the oppressed and turns his face away in love, I want nothing to do with your god.
Are you telling me that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be seen as loving if he failed to deal with Hitler and his extermination of the Jewish people in the early 1940s. You and I both know that a loving person stops abuse if he/she can. A loving person stops senseless violence and evil when it’s the next street over or the next continent over. So please don’t tell me that God isn’t God since He stopped the evil in these two cities. God is a God of love and justice.
1. A Preview of Destruction to Come
2. A Plea for People to be Rescued
2.1 A Posture for Serious Praying
Again, this is a really strange story about Abraham and God haggling over the number of good people in this city. Remember, Abraham had diner with God, he walked with God, and now he will intercede with God. Abraham takes a position, a posture here that you need to note: “Abraham still stood before the Lord” (Genesis 18:22b). To stand before someone was the position you would take if you were make a legal pleas during this time.
If I were to tell you I am about to run a marathon in the next few minutes, you probably wonder why I don’t have runner shorts and shoes on. No one runs in a coat and dress pants. Similarly, Abraham is getting into pray – really intercede.
To stand before God means to begin a serious prayer for someone else, or intercessory prayer. There’s praying and then there’s praying and Abraham; Abraham is really praying for this city.
2.2 Abraham’s Prayer
In fact, six times in a matter nine verses, Abraham makes a request of God – six times. The first request is marked in verse 23: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” The sixth and last request is found all the way down in verse 32: “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.”
Abraham’s praying is bold at times even while maintaining tremendous respect, “…I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). So, yes he’s humble but he’s also bold. Abraham’s boldness increases as he goes long for he lowers his ask by five in his first three prayers (50, 45, and 40), but then he moves to lowering the number by ten in the last three prayers (30, 20, and 10). Abraham is increasingly bold as he prays to the Lord.
Abraham centers his prayer on a crucial question, “God, is the fate of these twin cities on the many people who are wicked or the few people who are righteous?” “God, what will determine this city’s future: the evil record of almost everyone or the righteous record of a few?” And you can see this growing realization dawn on Abraham. Abraham is learning something profound about the gracious character of God here. Could the righteous few save the unrighteous many? God says, “Yes, yes, and yes.” You need to know that Abraham’s impassioned prayers didn’t work for the original twin cities. The cities fell into destruction.
2.3 The Second Coming
By the way, years later, Jesus came along and said of His return: “Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:28–30). If you want to know what it’s going to look like when the Son of God returns to earth, then look no further than Sodom and Gomorrah.
1. A Preview of Destruction to Come
2. A Plea for People to be Rescued
3. A Predicament that Could have been Prevented
3.1 What Might Have Been
The real piece that grips your heart in this story, is what might have been. It’s what might have been. Because in reality, God comes all the way down to Abraham’s price in verse 32: “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there” (Genesis 18:32). You can tell Abraham has really pressed God here – even Abraham feels that he is asking too much. Remember, the two start negotiating at fifty good, righteous people but Abraham is successful in getting God to agree with his bottom dollar price, if you will. The real piece that grabs you in this story, is that the people in these two cities could have spared if only ten people were found to be righteous. Sadly, chapter 19 will reveal that God could not even find ten righteous people in the cities. I cannot help but think that what ultimately may hurt a city is not just the presence of sin but the absence of righteousness. In all the ways, you measure a city, God brings a different yardstick to the discussion.
God takes a searchlight throughout the city looking for justice, righteousness, and goodness.
3.2 Abraham’s Responsibility
So what do we do with this story? Remember, God says Abraham is singled out as the one who “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” Are you a son of Abraham? Are you a daughter of Abraham? Today, it is by faith that we are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:29). But with great privilege comes great responsibility: “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…” (Genesis 18:19a). With great privilege comes great responsibility. You have a responsibility, my believing friend. Like Abraham, you are to be instruments of goodness, justice, and peace to all people. Children of Abraham have a responsibility to do right. Anyone interested in following Christ for even two minutes should know there are righteous people and there are wicked people (see Psalm 1).
Just as Abraham was an instrument of blessing to the world, you are to be instruments of blessing to the world.
Just as Abraham taught His children God’s righteous ways, you are to teach our children God’s righteous ways.
Just as Abraham taught the people of his household, you are to teach the people of his house to do right.
Are you, child of Abraham, an instrument of goodness on your athletic team? Do you do right in your finances? Do you do the right thing with your family?
Remember, just ten righteous people could have preserved these two cities. God sees all and God hears all and God’s judgment will fall again. God is a good judge and He will do what good judges do. God has never purchased a hearing aid; He continues to hear the cries even in our day.
Conclusion
Be thankful this morning. Be thankful this Thanksgiving for a God who is altogether good. Be thankful today for just as God heard the cries against these 2 wicked cities, God continues to hear the cries of those in need. God hears the cries of a veteran even when the system turns against him. God hears the cries of an anguished wife whose husband has abused her. God hears even the whimpers of the poor when no one cares about him. God hears the cries of the unborn when her parents do not want him. And God sees the silent desperation of the elderly even when they are abandoned by the young and beautiful. Be thankful on this day that the God above is a God of tremendous and great justice.
