Genesis 18:¹⁶When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”  ²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”  ²²The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. ²³Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”  ²⁶The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”  ²⁷Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?”  “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”  ²⁹Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”  He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”  ³⁰Then he said, “May the LORD not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”  He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”  ³¹Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the LORD, what if only twenty can be found there?”  He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”  ³²Then he said, “May the LORD not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”  He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”  ³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Abraham’s prayer for Sodom — really for Lot and his family — is an amazing revelation of the faith of one man in the justice of Almighty God and an incredible boldness of a mere human before the Creator of the Universe. Abraham seems to stand before God alone, yet wields significant influence over God’s actions.

Throughout the ages God has shown mercy to peoples that have sinned (Exodus 34:6-7; Lamentations 3:22; Jonah 4:2; Romans 2:4; 3:25; 9:22; 1 Timothy 1:16). If God destroyed us for our sins, who would remain? (Psalm 130:3-4). Our God is merciful, giving us a chance to repent. 

Abraham’s name for God — “The Judge of All the Earth” — is another indication of Abraham’s very high view of God’s righteousness.  Yahweh is the righteous and holy God! He can be trusted to do what is right. Abraham is sure of it.  Abraham maintains from God’s own character that God must treat the righteous justly.

Was God upset with Abraham’s boldness? No. I think God had set up Abraham for this very act of intercession by revealing to Abraham his intentions for Sodom.  Over the course of the next few minutes, Abraham boldly bargains God down from 50 to 10 righteous people that would prevent God from destroying Sodom — and the Lord agrees. Abraham dares go no lower. Throughout this bold prayer, Abraham asks for the Lord’s indulgence, repeatedly acknowledging his own humble place before Almighty God.

Why does God bargain with Abraham? God could have said, “What I plan is just — because I say so!” Certainly God is the Judge of All the Earth. He would have been justified in destroying that wicked city and all who chose to live in it. Or he could have said, “Abraham, frankly there aren’t even ten just people in Sodom. Don’t waste your breath.” Be he didn’t.  Instead he engages in dialog with Abraham to see how far Abraham’s faith will take him.

Was the Lord angry with Abraham? Oh, no. Not at all.  He is delighted that his servant Abraham believes in him enough and understands him enough to ask this. Genesis 15:6 explains, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness.” The faith of this pre-Christian human is wonderful to God. Here is a man who actually trusts Him enough to pray this kind of prayer. 

God loves you when you pray to him. When you call out, “Abba, Father,” he hears your prayers and longs to answer them.  After all, you are his child. He has chosen to adopt you into his family and bless you — because of Jesus.

Notice, however, about this bargaining session, that Abraham is not offering to do something in return for God’s favor — trying to buy God’s response. Instead he is appealing again and again to God’s own gracious and righteous character. This is the kind of bargaining that doesn’t demean God by cheapening his response into a transaction, but exalts God by magnifying his righteousness, by insisting that his great righteousness requires him to spare the city for even ten righteous persons.

Lessons from Abraham’s Intercession

I believe God intended to teach Abraham — and us — several lessons about intercession, that is, praying to God on behalf of someone else. I see four lessons here:

1. Boldness or confidence before God is necessary. See Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Hebrews 4:16; 10:19.
2. Humility. Abraham remains respectful of God and cognisant of his own inferiority at the same time that he petitions boldly.
3. Yahweh’s character and word are the basis of the appeal. You can see this some of the great prayers of intercession in the Bible: Exodus 32:9-14; 33:12-17; Numbers 16:20-22; 1 Samuel 7:5-14; 2 Samuel 24:17; 1 Kings 17:20-23; 2 Kings 19:1-37; Ezra 9:5-15; Nehemiah 1:4-9; Daniel 9:4-19; Amos 7:2-6.
4. Persistence in prayer continues until the answer is received.

I invite you to seek this awesome God in bold, persistent, prevailing prayer, based on his promises and character. Indeed, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you! (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

When I think about Abraham interceding for sinful Sodom — especially for his nephew Lot — I think of Christ’s constant intercession for us his people before the Father. We read that he is our “Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1 John 2:1). He is the “one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). He is “at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). And he is able to save us to the uttermost “seeing that he ever lives to make intercession for [us]” (Hebrews 7:25).

The paperback version of my books, are available for purchase from Amazon and the e-books are available on www.toladehinde.com :

• Prayer Personified

• Godly Declarations