The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 318

Though doubtloss tho righteous character of the impending retribution hart been expl11ined to him, its appalling severity was such as to thrill his feeling heart with nnguish, which would certainly not be lessened, but intensified, if he allowed his thoughts to dwell upon the future into which thl\t overwhelming calamity woulr! forthwith launch its unhappy victims. 2. Unselfish clw,1-ity. Not blindly shutting his eyes to the miseries of the Sodomites, as many would have done, on the plea that they were richly merited, or that they were no concern of his, or that it was little he could do to nvert them, he actively bestirs himself, if possible, to prevent them. Nor does he se.y that, having delivered them once from the devouring sword of war, without their having profited by either the judgment or the mercy that had then been mensured out to them, he will now leave them to be engulfed by the approaching storm of Almighty wrath; but, on the contrary, he rather seeks a second time to effect their rescue. 3. Amazing cathol-ici,ty. Not content with asking Lot's deliver- ance, or the rescue of the righteous, he aims at nothing short of the complete pre- servation of the cities. He solicits not a few of their inhabitants only, but their entire population. One wonders whether to admire most the greatness of the love or the grandeur of the faith herein displayed. II. THE SPIRIT Oil' HIS INTERCESSION. 1. Holy boldness. Abraham "drew near." The expression intimates confidential familie.rity, earnestness of entreaty, unrestrained freedom of discourse, almost venturesome audacity in prayer; all of which charac- teristics should be found in a believer's prayers, especially when interceding in behalf of others (Heh. x. 22). 2. Reverent humility. Three times he deprecates Jehovah ·s nnger, and acknowledges personal unworthiness; o.nd that this self-abasement was not affected, but.real, is apparent from the circumstance that the more his supplication prospers, the deeper does he sink in self-prostration. Gracious souls are ever humble under a sense of God's mercies: Jacob (eh. xxxii. 10), David (2 Sam. vii. 18; cf. Luke vii. 6). 3. Fervent importunity. With a sanctified dexterity he, as it were, endeavours to shut up the heart of God to grant the deliverance be solicits. Nor does he rest contented with the first response to hie entreaty, but with greater vehemence returns to the charge, increasing his demands as God enlarges his con- cessions (cf. Matt. xv. 22). III. THE L0CJI0 OF HIS INTERCESSION. 1. The argument. The principle on which tl1e patriarch stands is not the grace of the covenant, but the righteousness of the Judge. Hie meaning is that in moral goodness there is a certain dynamic force which opernte9 towards the preservation of the wicked, and which the Divine righteousness itself is bound to tnke into its cal,,;ulations. Where this force reaches n certain limit in intensity, n regard to judicial equit.y seems to require that it shall be nllowed to exercise its legitimate sway-a principle which God admitted to the patriarch when he said that the Amorites were !pared because their iniquity was not full ( eh. xv. 16), and which he here endorses by consenting to spnre Sodom if even ten righteous men cnn be found within its gates. 2. The a'fPluation. The patriarch conducts his case with singular directness, going strnight to the logic11l issues of the principle with which he starts; with mn.rvelloue ingenuity pitching the hypothe- tical number of pious Sodomites so high n.s to insure o favourable response, and grndually diminishing as grnce enlarges, nnd with unwearied assiduity refusing to discontinue his holy nrgument so long as a chance remains of saving Sodom. IV. THE succEss OF HIS INTERCESSION. 1. He got all lie asked. He did not cre.ve the unconditional sparing of the city, but only its preservation on certain suggested con- ditions. Those conditions too were of his own framing; and yet against them not so much as one single caveat was entered by God. 2. He ceased asking bPjore Gad sfo'fPed giving. It may be rash to speculate as to what would have happened had Ahra- hnm continued to reduce the number on which he perilled the salvation of Sodom; but for God's glory it is only just to observe that it was not he who discontinued nnswering the patriarch's petitions, so much as the patrinrch himself, who felt that he had reached the limit of thnt liberty which God accords to believing suppliants nt his throne . .Lessons :-1. The liberty which snints have to npproach God in prnyer. 2. The Divinely-tnught art of wrestling with God in prayer. 3. The great encouragement which sn.inls have to pray without ceasing. 4. The profound interest which saints should ever take in the welfare of their fellow-men.  2!i2 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [ell, ltIX. 1-11