June 30, 2025: Genesis 18:16-33.

Please read the passage before reading the comments.

Abraham argued with God.  God was set on destroying Sodom.  Abraham was set on protecting his nephew and the other innocent people in Sodom.

Certainly God would not destroy the city if he should find 50 good people in it, would he?  Certainly God would not destroy the innocent with the guilty?  Would God spare the city if he should find only 40 good people, or 30, or only ten?  What if God should find only four good people: would God spare them would destroy the city?

What are the limits of God’s pardoning and saving compassion?  Ten people could save a city, and four innocent people would not be destroyed along with the wicked.

Did God send Jesus to save us from our sins or do we have to be afraid that he will extinct us for being bad?  Who can be so bad as to go beyond God’s generous compassion and forgiveness?

God’s complaint against Sodom was that its people would not welcome and protect strangers, people who had not resources to protect themselves.  God’s example for them and for us is that God’s compassion and forgiveness will never come to an end. Therefore, we can always be assured that God will forgive us our offenses, that we can repent and receive what God has to offer.

You can find out in chapter 19 how God saved the innocent when Sodom was destroyed.