Why Abraham stopped at 10

For those of you familiar with the book of Genesis, chapter 18 is an interesting chapter in that it puts forward two themes, both of which will find their conclusions in subsequent chapters. After nearly 25 years of dwelling in the land of Canaan, Abraham lifts up his eyes and finds himself in the presence of almighty God. God had come to deliver unto him two messages — first, that within the year his wife, Sarah, would finally bear a son, known to us today as Isaac.

That this was a miracle is evident not only by Sarah’s barren womb, but by her age, her menses having long before having ceased, and thus she laughed at God. But true to his word, in chapter 21 she does indeed conceive and bear her one and only child at some 90 years of age.

The second theme begins in verse 16 as God arises from the meal that Abraham had set before him. That God here is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ is without a doubt, but the presence of three men appearing to Abraham is interesting; yet, whether these suggest the three persons of the Godhead or that the other two are mere angels, I cannot tell. But nonetheless, as God arises from the meal, he momentarily muses about confiding in Abraham that which he was to do next: the destruction of Sodom and her neighboring cities.

As the two men depart and head toward Sodom, the final 11 verses of the chapter are devoted to recording Abraham’s intercession for those he deemed unworthy to be destroyed along with those who obviously deserved such destruction. To this we find Abraham asking, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”

We must stop here for a moment and consider that Abraham at this point seems familiar with the moral climate of the area. Perhaps he had had occasion to visit his nephew there, Lot, or perhaps he had found it necessary to conduct some amount of business there. But for whatever the reason, he certainly is not concluding that God is unjust to destroy those whose wickedness was so vile as to warrant his visit. But he is concerned for those whom he is certain are innocent; for these he asks, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

That the 50 he begins with are a small minority of Sodom’s population is without a doubt, but have you ever wondered why Abraham stopped the negotiations with only 10 souls for God to spare? Why not five? And why not even one?

Travel forward with me in time to about the year 60 A.D. The Apostle Peter is nearing the end of his life and will soon be crucified for Jesus Christ. As he is writing his final epistle, he makes mention of Lot in chapter 2, saying of him that he was a “righteous man.” What I believe he is alluding to here is that when Abraham was interceding for the righteous, it was Lot and his family whom he had in mind.

Exactly how many were in Lot’s party when he parted from Abraham in Genesis 13 and headed for Sodom we cannot tell from out text, but that Abraham started with 5- here is enough to stir our curiosity. But then he stops with 10. The answer, I believe, is found in chapter 19 where Lot is told to tell his family members the time had come to flee the city, for it would soon be destroyed. And then in verse 14 we read, “And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law …”

How many did the angels lead out of the city? Lot, his wife and two daughters. Friends, if Lot had three sons-in-law, the resulting number would have been, at minimum, 10 righteous souls.

What I believe we have here is while Abraham hoped for more, he felt surely Lot would have had a righteous influence on those who were really dear to him. I believe Abraham stopped at 10 because he was confident there were at least 10. That there weren’t even really four is a sad testimony on Lot’s part.

Friend, who among us is so blind that he cannot see our society rapidly going the way of Sodom and Gomorrah? While there may not be anything any of us as individuals can do to turn society around, I think the message here in Lot’s life is that, at the very least, we should have a righteous effect on those who are under our influence.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.

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