Should I pray for Sodom?

One of the cool things about daily Bible reading is that you almost always come across something that invariably strikes you for the first time.

Out of nowhere a text grips your heart, takes your breath away and you can’t get it out of your mind. Over the years it’s happened to me time and time again.

And last night, guess what? It happened again!

Last night’s shock encounter was with Genesis 18.

It’s the chapter that begins with three mysterious men appearing to Abraham promising him a son. Two of the men were angels (as 19:1 makes clear). So who was the third man? Was it perhaps a manifestation of Almighty Himself? Maybe a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God? I’ll leave you to wrestle with that question.

It’s the next part of Genesis 18, however, that interests me today. The second half of the chapter records Abraham’s intercession. He starts asking the Lord to have mercy on Sodom if He finds 50 righteous men there. Then 45. Then 40. Then 30. Then 20. Then 10. And then Abraham and the Lord part ways.

Now, Genesis 18 is a passage with which I’m quite familiar. So as my wife was reading the text I was already advancing in my mind with the intercession countdown: 50-45-30-20-10. But then it hit me. What on earth was Abraham doing?

Just think about this for a second. Abraham was interceding for dirty old Sodom. I repeat: Sodom! Yes, that’s right, Sodom as in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom as in lust-filled, sin-driven and gay pride-celebrating Sodom! Sodom as in the word Sodom synonymous with sordid, stinking, sickening, shocking and stomach-churning! Come on, Abraham, what are you playing at? How could anyone ever dream of praying for Sodom?

If I was in Abraham’s shoes (or sandals for that matter), I know exactly what I would pray for: destruction, judgment and fire from heaven. Pretty much like the ‘sons of thunder’, don’t you think? After all, Sodom had blasphemed the name of God and spat in the face of His holiness. I would almost feel obliged to ask the Lord to annihilate the Sodomites. And yet here’s the crux of the matter: Abraham didn’t. He prayed for salvation and deliverance. He sought God for mercy.

Of course some might say that Abraham’s prayer was motivated by his love for Lot. That may be so. But should not that also be the same in our case when we think of our family members who don’t know Jesus? On the one hand, yes, we desire the glory of God to be manifest and for all of His enemies to be crushed underfoot. Yet on the other hand we realize that many of our loved ones do not know Jesus and are soon to inherit the wrath of God. So we intercede and fight with God for their souls.

I think Abraham’s example is a great lesson for us all today. We see wicked sin on visible display in all of our major cities today. And no doubt, God’s name will be vindicated.

But I also sense that many of us could do with a good dose of Abraham’s spirit: the spirit of compassion, intercession and love for those in danger of condemnation.

Who knows? Maybe God will have mercy. Maybe He won’t. 

But let’s pray…