Genesis 18:26, commentary and pictures

The Lord's word is a promise to spare the whole place of Sodom if fifty righteous should be found within the city. Abraham pleaded that the righteous should not be destroyed with the wicked, and as he kept asking he was given assurance that the city would be spared even if only ten righteous were found. Only ten could be found, and Sodom, corrupted by licentiousness, was destroyed. Before judging the city God would examine its conduct and still allow time for repentance if it had not passed beyond the limits of mercy, showing His judgment to be just and that He takes no delight in destruction. The promise shows that God extends mercy and delays judgment for the sake of those who love and fear Him and keep His commandments.

Though Abraham was not in Sodom and was not connected with it, he had intense interest that it should not be destroyed if God could spare it, and remembering that Lot had made his home there with connections throughout by marriage, he began his intercession at fifty. He drew near to the heavenly messengers and pleaded as a child pleads with parents, with true humility and with intense interest in the souls of sinners. His earnest pleading for people facing judgment revealed his noble and benevolent disposition, his love and concern for them, and his faith and compassion for the erring. God revealed Himself to the inhabitants of Sodom through Abraham as His representative, for Abraham did not shut himself away but maintained friendly relations with surrounding nations, and his fidelity, integrity, unselfishness, valor, and benevolence made the character of God known in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in Egypt, and even in Sodom.

The word teaches those who represent God to hate sin while pitying and loving sinners, to warn them and humbly plead with God for them and to put up earnest prayer for those in darkness as one person pleads for another, before their opportunity for mercy ends. That spirit of intercession is a model for responding to others' troubles with help rather than criticism and censure. It calls hearers to seek the Lord most earnestly and take a more decided stand for Him, to be not only professed believers but obedient to all His requirements, with heartfelt confession of sin and earnest prayer while the Spirit softens and subdues hearts.