From our point of view many thousands of years later it is hard to comprehend the evil that existed in Sodom.

In Genesis 18, the Lord and Abraham have a conversation about the fate of Sodom and there are things not stated, which are understood when you pay attention to what they both said to each other.

First, the Lord informs Abraham that he is going to destroy Sodom, a city in which Abraham’s nephew lived.  Abraham is familiar with  Sodom, and we notice that he does not complain about this course of action.  In fact he says to the Lord, ‘Surely you will not destroy the righteous along with the wicked.’

It is obvious that the city is wicked.  Obvious to God, and obvious to Abraham.  The Lord’s justice is not in question at all in the need to destroy the wicked in this situation.

But Abraham wants to save his nephew hence the question above and his intercession for the city.  And surprisingly, the Lord agrees with Abraham.  For the sake of good people, he will actually spare wicked people.  So we see that good people have an effect in the world around us, we really are the salt of the earth that Jesus spoke of in the sermon on the mount.

Abraham negotiates with the Lord to save the city if there are fifty good people, then forty, then thirty, then twenty and eventually down to ten.

Ultimately there were not even ten good people and the city was destroyed.  The few that were good were removed, just like with Noah and the flood.  Abraham does not complain about any of this.

People in today’s modern world are not familiar with the level of wickedness that existed in Sodom, or perhaps they would agree that it deserved to be punished.

Imagine a modern scenario, the scene of some of the modern world’s most horrible atrocities, Nazi Germany.  There are not many people who disagree that the leaders of Nazi Germany met a fair end at the Nuremberg war trials.  The reason is that we are somewhat familiar with how wicked they were.

But if we look at Abraham, someone who did know how wicked Sodom was, it makes sense why he did not complain when God needed to remove it.  It doesn’t mean the Lord rejoiced in what happened, but justice is also a form of love for the others that are being treated unjustly.

Imagine an Abraham-like character saying to the Magistrates at Nuremberg… ‘If we find ten good Nazi’s would you spare them all?’

The magistrate would most likely answer that the wicked should be punished, but if anyone was not wicked they would be spared.

And that is what happened at Sodom.