The Bargain in Vain
This passage reflects on the biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, highlighting Abraham’s plea for God to spare the cities if even ten righteous people could be found. Because not even ten were present, the cities were destroyed, serving as a sobering call for readers to examine their own faith, character, and moral choices today.
RENEWLATEST
Stephen
9/12/20262 min read
Smoke rose like a great furnace into the sky. The scene was terrifying. The land was burning, and everything in its path was being consumed—homes, cattle, trees, fields, and the people who lived there. This was not the fire of one or two houses; it was the judgment of God falling upon entire cities.
Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, destroyed, and brought to an end. The cities, the valley, the inhabitants, and even what grew from the ground were swept away. Yet this destruction would not have happened if even ten righteous people had been found there.
The population of those cities may have reached into the thousands. Still, the Lord could not find ten—just ten—righteous people among them.
Abraham stood at the place where he had pleaded with the Lord. The previous evening, he had welcomed heavenly visitors and had heard the troubling news: the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was exceedingly great, and judgment was coming because of their violence and evil way of life.
With reverence and courage, Abraham drew near and spoke to the Lord: “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will You not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?”
It was a humble yet valid question: Would the Lord not show mercy for the sake of the righteous? The Lord, who is compassionate and rich in mercy, answered, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire place for their sake.”
But Abraham was not sure that fifty could be found. So he pleaded again, reducing the number to forty-five. The Lord agreed. Then Abraham asked for forty, and again the Lord said yes.
Still, Abraham continued his intercession. “Suppose thirty are found there?” The Lord answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Abraham pleaded again for twenty, and the Lord agreed once more. Finally, Abraham spoke one last time: “Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again only this once. Suppose ten righteous people shall be found there.”
And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
The bargain was settled at ten. If ten righteous people could be found, the cities would be spared.
But when Abraham looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, he saw smoke rising from the land like the smoke of a furnace. That smoke confirmed a painful truth: even ten righteous people had not been found.
Abraham’s pleading, intercession, and mediation seemed to end in vain. The cities were destroyed because righteousness was absent. Mercy had been offered, but there were not even ten who could stand as witnesses before God.
This account leaves us with a serious question: if God looked among us today, would we be counted among the righteous? Would our lives stand as a testimony of faith, obedience, and holiness?
Today, the Lord Jesus intercedes for us. He stands as our mediator before the Father, calling us not to live carelessly, but to live as those who belong to Him.
Make sure you are counted among the ten.