“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?” (Genesis 18:25 ESV).
When Abraham’s visitors left towards Sodom, the one who spoke as the Lord turned aside and revealed His intent to judge Sodom and Gomorrah according to the “outcry” of its sin. Hearing this, Abraham began to appeal to God’s sense of justice, asking Him to show mercy for the sake of the righteous. No doubt, he was thinking of his own nephew Lot, and his family.
As the story unfolds, we see that the two men visiting Sodom are in fact, angels. And we see that the One remaining to speak to Abraham is revealed to be the LORD Himself. As Abraham makes his prayerful appeal and the LORD responds to him, much is revealed about the character of both God and of Abraham. For Abraham, who must’ve known about the wickedness in Sodom, still prayed that God would show mercy for the sake of the righteous. And God, who is all powerful and holy, bent His ear not only to hear Abraham’s prayer, but to be moved by his request.
From Abraham’s prayer we learn how to passionately and reverently pray for the salvation for our family, neighbors and friends. We also learn how God heard Abraham’s prayer and preserved Lot, even though there were no righteous found in Sodom, so that it fell under God’s judgment.
The prayers of the righteous have a preserving power with God. Therefore, let us pray as Abraham did for our families, our cities, and our nation, knowing that the Judge of all the world will do right.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we know that the outcry of sin in our land has risen to Your ears. Yet we pray that You would bring revival on our people for the sake of the righteous, who have been made so by the blood of Your Son, Jesus. For it’s in His name, we pray, amen.