Sodom and Gomorrah

There’s an interesting story in Genesis 18 and 19: God appears to Abraham in the form of a man, with two angels, also in the form of men, and He warns Abraham that the city of Sodom is going to be destroyed. Abraham knows that his nephew Lot is living in Sodom, and he is, understandably, concerned for his nephew’s life. For whatever reason, though, Abraham doesn’t want to just come out and say, “God, you aren’t going to kill my nephew, too, are you?” So, instead, he tries to bargain with God. “But, God, surely there are some righteous people in Sodom (they can’t all be wicked—I know, my beloved nephew is there), you won’t destroy the city if there are, say, fifty righteous people in Sodom.” That’s not a direct quote, by the way, I’m paraphrasing. And God says, “If there are fifty righteous in the city, I will not destroy the city,” knowing full well that there aren’t fifty. So Abraham decides to push his luck—God answered much too quickly, there must not be fifty righteous people in Sodom, “But what if there’s only forty-five? You wouldn’t destroy an entire city for the lack of five people, would you?” Again, God answers immediately, that He would not. Now Abraham realizes that there must not be forty-five. “What if there’s only forty?” Eventually, Abraham talks God to ten, dropping five people each time. But, after God promises not to destroy Sodom if there are ten righteous people in Sodom, He tells Abraham not to ask Him again.
Of course, God did spare Lot, even though He did destroy the city. The two angels that were with God when He spoke to Abraham went to Sodom and got Lot, and his wife, and two of his daughters out of the city. They tried to get Abraham’s other two daughters out, but they, and their husbands, thought Lot was crazy, or drunk, or playing an April Fool’s joke; they wouldn’t leave. Even then, the angels told Lot’s family not to look back, and Lot’s wife looked back, anyway. Why? Apparently she had friends in Sodom; she had become accustomed to her way of life in Sodom, she didn’t want to give that up. When your way of life becomes more important to you than your life itself, then you have a problem.
There are a few things that we can learn from this: The usual moral attached to this story is don’t look back. Of course, Jesus told us that any man, putting his hand to the plow, and looking back, is not fit…In Romans chapter 6, Apostle Paul asks the church at Rome what good were they able to do before accepting Christ, that now they have regrets. That’s a good moral, but I think that there is more.
Abraham tried to bargain with God. It is a testament to Abraham’s faithfulness that God allowed him to try, but, I think that it’s important to note that it didn’t do any good. God still destroyed the city of Sodom, even though Abraham tried to talk Him out of it, but God saved Lot, even though Abraham never specifically asked Him for that. It’s what Abraham wanted, but he never did ask. It occurs to me that it’s better to just ask God for what you want—He may say no, but you aren’t going to bargain anything away from Him that He isn’t willing to give you, anyway.