Genesis 18:20-19:30 The Importance of Intercessory Prayer

 

Genesis 18:20-19:30 The Importance of Intercessory Prayer

In Genesis 18:20, God tells Abraham that He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  Because his nephew Lot and family live in Sodom, Abraham pleads with the Lord to spare the city if even 10 righteous people are living there.  The Lord does not become angry with Abraham and agrees, but there are less than 10 people living right lives in the very wicked city of Sodom.

The Bible never says that God spared Lot because of Lot's righteousness but clearly states He does so because "God remembered Abraham:" and his cries for Lot, not necessarily for Lot himself.  

This is a wonderful example of God's mercy as well as showing the importance of intercessory prayer.  

Like Sodom and Gomorrah, this world is living in extreme cases of rebellion and God's judgments will soon be coming in a larger scale than those cities experienced.

Jesus says in Matthew 10 that it will be worse for the cities that reject the disciples of Jesus than for the people in Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:14-15 - "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.")  I think we can easily apply this warning to people of today who refuse to follow the ways of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 17, Jesus tells His disciples that the last days will be as the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30 - "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.) If you read the rest of Luke 17, you will clearly see Jesus is telling all of us that His return will be at the end of the age, but His faithful followers who heed His instructions will be kept safe as Noah and Lot were (they were not "raptured" off the planet) (Luke 17: 31-37 "In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back... I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. wo women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." And they answered and said unto Him, "Where, Lord?" And He said unto them, "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.) This means taken to slaughter, again, not "raptured."  You can read more on that subject here: https://thankful-julie.blogspot.com/2026/01/luke-17-22-where-eagles-gather.html

So let me again remind the theme of this blog is intercessory prayer. Considering the fact that more of God's judgements are soon coming to this world in ways we have never seen before, this story in Genesis is another good reminder to always be faithful in praying for the safety and salvation of those we love! 

(Genesis 18:20-23, 32) And the Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 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."

And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" 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."

(Genesis 19:12-17 & 27-29) [Angels have arrived at Lot's house in Sodom.] And the men said unto Lot, "Hast thou here any besides... bring them out of this place: 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."

And Lot went out, and spake... "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city..."

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."

And while he lingered, the men 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. 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."

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.