Bible Lesson: Intercessory Prayer:
Abraham Intercedes For The Righteous Of Sodom And Gomorrah.
Bible Text:
Genesis 18:20-32 KJV
20 And The Lord said, Because the
cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very
grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see
whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which
is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces
from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before The
Lord.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said,
Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty
righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the
place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after
this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the
righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And The Lord said, If I find in
Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the
place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said,
Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto The Lord, which am but
dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack
five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack
of five? And He said, If I find there forty and five, I will not
destroy it.
29 And he spake unto Him yet again,
and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And He said,
I will not do it for forty's sake.
30 And he said unto Him, Oh let not
The Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty
be found there. And He said, I will not do it, if I find thirty
there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have
taken upon me to speak unto The Lord: Peradventure there shall be
twenty found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for twenty's
sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not The Lord
be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall
be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
33 And The Lord went His way, as
soon as He had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto
his place.
The Angel Of The
Lord (Theophany of The Lord Jesus Christ.), and two angels, appeared
to Abraham on afternoon ( Genesis 18:1,2). The Lord had come to
reassure Abraham, that indeed he would be the father of many nations,
through his wife Sarah, and that He had come to judge Sodom and
Gomorrah.
Theophany: a
manifestation of God.
New World
Dictionary
Theophany: A
manifestation or appearance of God.
Dictionary.Com
Because he had
allowed his young nephew, Lot, to live at Sodom and Gomorrah, he felt
more than compelled to intercede for him.
Abraham asked The
Lord, what if there only be 50, 45, 30, 20, 10 righteous individuals
living in the city, would you destroy it then? And The Lord
replied...
Genesis 18:32 KJV
“...I will not destroy it for
ten's sake.
Lot, his wife and
two married daughters lived with in the city of Sodom.
The men of Sodom,
were homosexuals, with uncontrollable sinful appetites (Sodomites, Sodomy).
Genesis 19:1-11
KJV
1 And there came two angels to Sodom
at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose
up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
ground;
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords,
turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night,
and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly;
and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made
them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4 But before they lay down, the men
of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both
old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said
unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring
them out unto us, that we may know* them.
*Know-Hebrew:
Yada (Yaw-dah): (Law of first
reference: Genesis 4:17 KJV
“And Cain knew
his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch...” “to
know,” one sexually.)
6 And Lot went out at the door unto
them, and shut the door after him,
7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do
not so wickedly.
8 Behold now, I have two daughters
which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto
you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men
do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Stand back. And
they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will
needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.
And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break
the door.
10 But the men put forth their hand,
and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11 And they smote the men that were
at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so
that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Everything The Lord
had heard about Sodom and Gomorrah was true.
Would Abraham's
interceding save his nephew and his family?
Yes!
Though judgment was
to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah, yet Lot and his family would be saved!
Genesis 19:12-17
KJV
12 And the men (Mighty
Angels of God.) said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides?
son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast
in the city, bring them out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place,
because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of The Lord;
and The Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto
his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you
out of this place; for The Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed
as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then
the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two
daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of
the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men
(Angels)
laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the
hand of his two daughters; The Lord being merciful unto
him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the
city.
17 And it came to pass, when they
had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life;
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to
the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
Genesis 19:22-25
KJV
22 (The Mighty Angels warned Lot.)
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou
be come thither...
23 The sun was risen upon the
earth....
24 Then The Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from The Lord out of heaven;
25 And He overthrew those cities,
and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that
which grew upon the ground.
(Not the subject
here, but let us not forget our Lord's promise to keep and protect
the church!)
Revelation 3:10
KJV
Because thou hast kept The Word of
My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the
earth.
Revelation 3:10
NLT
“Because you have obeyed My
command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of
testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong
to this world.
The Lord, heard
Abraham's request, his nephew, wife and two daughters were taken out
of the city.
As
a Christian, how's your intercessory prayer life?
Ephesians 1:16
NLT (The Apostle Paul told the Ephesian believers...)
I have not stopped
thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly.
If a book was
recorded of all the prayers you ever gave, what would one find within
its covers?
(Read a book you will not soon
forget “Unlocking The Mysteries Of Prayer” Amazon.Com)
