25.8.07
...Heading For Sodom
Abraham accompanies the celestial men from Mamre, near Hebron, to a place where all look down over the South end of the Dead Sea - presumed to be the site of Sodom, Gomorrah and Zoah.
Lot, Abraham's impetuous nephew who had parted from his uncle, lives there. That place has a reputation for being corrupt, so corrupt in fact that God has decided to investigate and punish it.
God remains at that place overlooking the South end of the Dead Sea with Abraham, while the two messengers proceed to Sodom to investigate the situation there.
Lot had chosen the lush Jordan area when he had parted from his uncle Abraham. He was young too. Abraham had agreed to settle in the barren land of Canaan. He was old. But God had chosen Abraham to be his blessed servant.
While the two messengers walk through the arid desert that afternoon, God soliloquizes: Should he tell Abraham about his plan to strike Sodom? In the ancient Near East, a servant of the god or king was also a friend, privy to his master's plan.
Besides, Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations, so God decides to show him he's a righteous god, so that Abraham's descendants will remember this trait of his character.
- What about the innocent in Sodom? If 50 innocent people live in the city, will you destroy it? Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the guilty, asks Abraham.
Some commentators believe Abraham is there interceding to save Sodom. I believe, as I have read in some books, that Abraham just wants to know if the Lord, which he calls: "the judge of the whole world" is a just god.
And Abraham's god replies: "If I find 50 innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake."
Abraham, though conscious of the distance between himself and the Lord, dares to bargain with him.
- What if there are only 40 innocent there?
The Lord will spare the city if 40 innocent souls are found there.
Abraham bargains again, to the point that he knows only 10 innocent people will suffice to avert the destruction of the city. Obviously, Abraham realizes that if there was less than 10 innocent people in Sodom, the Lord would find ways to save them from the city before destroying it.
God has been revealed as just in the dialogue and he then leaves Abraham there. Sodom is going to be judged...
Lot, Abraham's impetuous nephew who had parted from his uncle, lives there. That place has a reputation for being corrupt, so corrupt in fact that God has decided to investigate and punish it.
God remains at that place overlooking the South end of the Dead Sea with Abraham, while the two messengers proceed to Sodom to investigate the situation there.
Lot had chosen the lush Jordan area when he had parted from his uncle Abraham. He was young too. Abraham had agreed to settle in the barren land of Canaan. He was old. But God had chosen Abraham to be his blessed servant.
While the two messengers walk through the arid desert that afternoon, God soliloquizes: Should he tell Abraham about his plan to strike Sodom? In the ancient Near East, a servant of the god or king was also a friend, privy to his master's plan.Besides, Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations, so God decides to show him he's a righteous god, so that Abraham's descendants will remember this trait of his character.
- What about the innocent in Sodom? If 50 innocent people live in the city, will you destroy it? Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the guilty, asks Abraham.
Some commentators believe Abraham is there interceding to save Sodom. I believe, as I have read in some books, that Abraham just wants to know if the Lord, which he calls: "the judge of the whole world" is a just god.
And Abraham's god replies: "If I find 50 innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake."
Abraham, though conscious of the distance between himself and the Lord, dares to bargain with him.
- What if there are only 40 innocent there?
The Lord will spare the city if 40 innocent souls are found there.
Abraham bargains again, to the point that he knows only 10 innocent people will suffice to avert the destruction of the city. Obviously, Abraham realizes that if there was less than 10 innocent people in Sodom, the Lord would find ways to save them from the city before destroying it.
God has been revealed as just in the dialogue and he then leaves Abraham there. Sodom is going to be judged...
# poster: Mormon(s) of another kind at 09:18 
