Can some exaplain this verse to me. Im having trouble understanding it.
Thank you
God Bless
Thank you
God Bless
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Genesis 18: 20-33
- Thread starter Jun_Canada
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As I see it, these verses show Abraham asking or pleading with the Lord to spare the city of Sodom if ten righteous people can be found within it. The Lord says that he will not destroy it if ten can be found. I assume that this can be extended to mean that even if a single righteous person is found in the city, it would not be destroyed.
Apparently, there weren't any righteous people in the city, as we see it destroyed in chapter 19.
Apparently, there weren't any righteous people in the city, as we see it destroyed in chapter 19.
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Future Preacher
Future Preacher
These verses are all about God sending his 2 angels down to Sodom and Gomorrah to see the evil that Sodom and Gomorrah were committing. Even though he knew that he was going to destroy it and there was no hope for it, he sent his 2 angels there to get Lot out of there. Abraham, wanting the cities to be spared because of human life, asked God if he would spare it for such and such a number of people. He knew there werent many righteouse people there, so he kept lowering the number, hoping the angels would find at least 10. The Lord, being an awesome and just God, agreed to that number, knowing that the only "righteous" people there was Lot, his daughters and his wife. I hope I've explained this a little bit to you. If i havent I would suggest asking your preacher for help or some great man of God that you know has a lot of knowledge.
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Yitzchak
יצחק
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Sometimes angels appear as persons when they communicate with us. This conversation between Abraham and the angels/ The Lord in my view shows the importance which God places upon our co-operating with him through prayer. The Lord can do whatever he wishes without asking our opinion or telling us but the Lord chooses to work in co-operation with people many times. This concept is developed throughout the entire scripture and finds it's most significant place in our generation in the church.
A second concept which I see in this passage is the justice and judgment of God. The scripture teaches that the Lord withholds judgment with the hope that some when given more time will come to repentance. This is expressed in many ways throughout the scripture and in my view is the best explanation for why God allows evil to continue on this earth. As long as their is a witness in the form of righteous persons there is hope that they will persuade some of the unrighteous to repent. However, sometimes the process is reversed and the evil spreads and corrupts the righteous. The Lord in His wisdom knows when to withold destruction of evil in hopes of repentance of some and when on the other hand to destroy the evil before it spreads even further. The final outcome of this is found in the Judgment of the whole earth at the time of the second return of Christ. One other passage worth mentioning on this subject is the parable of the tares and the wheat which Jesus teaches . Jesus says in response to tares(destructive weeds) being planted by satan amongst the wheat that we need to wait to pull out the tares until both the whaet and tares have grown lest some of the wheat be pulled out along with the tares and be lost.
The focus of the story in genesis 18 in my view is not upon the Lord reigning judgement unrighteously upon righteous people. But rather upon the possibility that in the process of destroying the evil, there may be some righteous whose opportunity for good upon this earth will be cut short. the righteous will of course be judged fit for heaven.
Sometimes also there are what are called "types" or symbolism in the scripture. One example of this is the passover lamb which is an actual historical celebration in Israel but also is a "type" or symbol of Jesus being our sacrifice/"passover lamb". What this passage in Genesis 18 may symbolize is something which gets more in depth. I believe the symbolism here is speaking of the final judgement upon the whole earth as I have stated in this post.
This does not take away from the fact that the plain and obvious meaning of this text is that it is an actual historical event which took place.
A second concept which I see in this passage is the justice and judgment of God. The scripture teaches that the Lord withholds judgment with the hope that some when given more time will come to repentance. This is expressed in many ways throughout the scripture and in my view is the best explanation for why God allows evil to continue on this earth. As long as their is a witness in the form of righteous persons there is hope that they will persuade some of the unrighteous to repent. However, sometimes the process is reversed and the evil spreads and corrupts the righteous. The Lord in His wisdom knows when to withold destruction of evil in hopes of repentance of some and when on the other hand to destroy the evil before it spreads even further. The final outcome of this is found in the Judgment of the whole earth at the time of the second return of Christ. One other passage worth mentioning on this subject is the parable of the tares and the wheat which Jesus teaches . Jesus says in response to tares(destructive weeds) being planted by satan amongst the wheat that we need to wait to pull out the tares until both the whaet and tares have grown lest some of the wheat be pulled out along with the tares and be lost.
The focus of the story in genesis 18 in my view is not upon the Lord reigning judgement unrighteously upon righteous people. But rather upon the possibility that in the process of destroying the evil, there may be some righteous whose opportunity for good upon this earth will be cut short. the righteous will of course be judged fit for heaven.
Sometimes also there are what are called "types" or symbolism in the scripture. One example of this is the passover lamb which is an actual historical celebration in Israel but also is a "type" or symbol of Jesus being our sacrifice/"passover lamb". What this passage in Genesis 18 may symbolize is something which gets more in depth. I believe the symbolism here is speaking of the final judgement upon the whole earth as I have stated in this post.
This does not take away from the fact that the plain and obvious meaning of this text is that it is an actual historical event which took place.
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God doesnt change his mind about ANYTHING right....so what is the meaning when Abraham I guess reasoned with God?
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I'm not so sure God's mind can't be changed. There are more scriptures saying God changed God's mind or regretted something than there are to support the idea that God never changes God's mind. This has been discussed recently in the Theology forum.
Abraham negotiated with God in this passage. Whether Abraham's negotiations changed God's mind or not, we can't say.
Abraham negotiated with God in this passage. Whether Abraham's negotiations changed God's mind or not, we can't say.
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