HOMILETICS. Ver. 17.-Sodom's doom revealed. I. THE REASON OF THE REVELATION. 1. Abralrn.m's new posit-ion. Having been lately taken into covenant with God, allied "by tLe holy tie of a celestial friendship to Jehovah, the patriarch seemed in the Lord's eyes to occupy a footing of intimacy before him that demanded the disclosure of Sodom's impending doom. That footing the patriarch no doubt owed to Divine grace-sovereign, unmerited, free; but still, having been accorded to him, it is, by a further act of grace, represented as laying God himself under certain obligations to- wards bis servant. So" the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will tihow them his covenant" (Ps. :x:.xv. 14). 2. Abraham's new prospects. About to become the head of a great nation, it was natural to suppose that Abraham would be profoundly interested in all that concerned mankind. As the head of the Old Testa- ment Church too, which had just been constituted (eh. xvii.), there existed a special reason for Lis being properly instructed as to the impending judgment of Sodom. Upon him would devolve the interpretation to the men of his day of the i:ignificance of that event. Rightly viewed, this is one of the proper functions of the Church on Ott. XVIII. 16-22.1 TltE BOOK OF GtNESI8. 247
cnrth-to explain God's judgments to the unbelieving world. Hence "the Lord God docth nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos iii. 7). 3. Abmham'e new responsibilities. These were the cultivation of personal nnd family religion, which devolved upon him with a new force and a heavier degree of obligation than they did before in consequence of his new standing as a Church member. God having graciously nssigned this position within the Church in order that he might command his children and his household after him, by means of religious instruction as well as through the influence of personal example, to fear God, it was needful that he should be informed 11B to the ground, at lea~t, of thE> coming judgment on the cities of the plain. II. THE REASON OF THE RETRIBUTION. This was the wickedness of Sodom, which was-1. Exceedingly heinous as to its character. Minutely detailed in the ensuing chapter, it is here only indirectly mentioned as something grievous in the sight of God. All sin is inherently offensive in the eyes of the Almighty ; but some forms of wickedness are more presumptuously daring or more intrinsically loathsome than others, 'and of such ~ort were the sins of Sodom ( eh. xix. 1). 2. E:r,ceedingly ahundant as to its measure. It was "multiplied" iniquity of which the Sodomites were guilty; ·and this not simply in the· sense in which the sins of all may be charac- terised as beyond computation (Ps. xix. 12 ; xl. 12), but in the sense that their hearts were set in them to do evil (Eccles. viii. 11), so that they worked all manner of uncleanness with greediness (Ephes. iv. 19). 3. Exceedingly clear as to its com- tnission,. Though God speaks of making investigation into the sins of Sodom, this was really unnecessary. The moral degeneracy of the inhabitants of the Jordan valley was one of the "all things" that are ever "naked and manifest" unto his eye. So nothing can hide sin from God (2 Chron. xvi. 9; Prov. xv. 3; Amos ix. 8). 4. Exceeclingly JJatent as to its ill desert. This was the reason why Goel employed the language of ver. 21. He meant that though the guilt of Sodom was great, ha would not let loose his vengeance until it should be seen to be perfectly just. Nothing would be done in haste, but all with judicial calmness. Lessons :-1. The impotence of anything but true _religion to purify the heart or refine a people. 2. God is specially observant of the wickedness of great cities. 3. When great cities sink to a certain depth in their wickedness they are doomed to perish. 4. When God's judgments overtake a nation they are ever charncterist)d by justice.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 16-33.-Abraham'& intercession (_or Sodom. The whole wonderful scene springs out of the theopbany. Abrahams faith has given him a special position with the Lord. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" &c. The true priesthood and mediatorship is friendship with God. The grnce of God first gives the likeness and then exalts it. The Lord knew Abraham because Abraham knew the Lord. The superior angel, the Lord, remains behind his comp1mions that Abrnham 1night have the opportunity of intercession; so the Lord lingers in his providence that he may reveal bis righteousness and mercy. As to the pleading of the patriarch and the answers of the Lord to it, we may take it- I. As it bears on the CHARA<TrEr. OF Goo. 1. He is open to entreaty. 2. He is unwilling to destroy. 3. He spurcs for the sake of righteousness. 4. He "does right" 11s "Judge of the earth," even though to the eyes of the best men thcra is awfnl mystery in his doings. IT. As it reveals the CHARACTERISTICS OF PATRIARCHAL PIETY. 1. It wus bold with the boldness of simplicity and faith. 2. It was full of true humanity while deeply reverential towards God. Abrnhum was no fanatic. 3. It waited for and humbly accepted Divine judgments nnd appointments not without reason, not without the exercise of thought and feeling, but all the more so as it prayed and talked with Goel. 4. The one living principle of the patriarchal religion wns that entire con- fidence in God's righteousness and love, in separating the wicked and the good, in both his judgments and his mercy, which is the essence of Christianity 11s well. " The right" which the Judge of 11ll the earth will do is not the right of mere blind 'l'HE BOOK OF GENESIS. [cFI, XVIII. lA-22,