A Compassionate Man and a Merciful God

Genesis 18:16-33

There’s a concept that many people have of God that’s not found in the Bible. People think that God should be only abundantly merciful and forgiving - and never wrathful. As a result, people have no fear or care toward God and live as they like. Similarly, others think that God is only a God of anger and forget his mercy. They always live in fear of making mistakes.

In our passage this evening, we see who the God of the Bible is - he’s both angry and merciful. He will judge, but he will also forgive. In this controversial account, we see him proclaiming that he will survey the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Because they were wicked. Their sins and crime were very grievous. And he’d punish them. But we see how a man - Abraham - pleaded with the Lord to spare the city if there were 10 righteous men. And the Lord mercifully agreed. We see a compassionate man and a merciful God. And the reason for this man’s humble persistence was because his nephew was a resident of one of these cities. From our passage this evening, there are many things we can learn about the nature of sin, the justice and mercy of God, and what it takes not to be punished.

There are three points in this message. Firstly, we’re all prone to wickedness. Secondly, God hates sinners, but shows mercy. Thirdly, God spares sinners because of the righteous.

Firstly, we’re all prone to wickedness. In fact, we’re all prone to the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. To see that, we need to see just how wicked they were. Now, I recognize that it’s not politically correct today to speak of their homosexual sin. And some people here may be offended. But having said that, their sin was more than just homosexuality. The intensity of their sin can be the intensity expressed in any sin. That’s what I hope to show. In verse 20, we’re told that the sins of the cities were very grievous. The word “grievous” literally means “heavy”; placed together with the word “very”, we get a picture of great weight – filled to capacity; like a truck laden with so many rocks, the suspension has lost all bounce. In other words, the wickedness of the city was as full as it was going to get.

Now, what were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? After his conversation with Abraham, the Lord and his angels went to Sodom. There they met Lot, who showed them hospitality because nightfall had come. But the men of the city surrounded Lot’s house. All the men came – young and old – from every corner of the city to demand that Lot give his visitors to them. Their motive was sex – they wanted to have sex with the visitors. Genesis 19:5 tells us that the men of the city wanted to “know them.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations. And in response to that, Lot offered the men his virgin daughters to do with them as they pleased. Now, why would Lot have done that? This shows how society can influence a person. The city was wicked and its wickedness had influenced even this man enough to offer his daughters to them. They refused and threatened to take the visitors out by force, before the Lord struck them with blindness and directed Lot and his family to leave the city before he destroyed it with fire and brimstone from heaven.

So here, we see that the most obvious sin was the sin of homosexuality and rape. Jude 1:7 makes this obvious for us. It says, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Going after strange flesh means going after flesh that is “different” from what is rightfully ours to claim. Jude mentions both “fornication” and “strange flesh.” Sodom’s sin was sexual deviance.

But it wasn’t only sexual deviance. 2 Peter 2:7-9 gives us more insight. “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;).”

This passage is a warning. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as a warning to those who would live ungodly, indirectly telling us that the inhabitants of these cities were ungodly. The word “ungodly” refers to a life characterized by a disregard of God and his laws, a life that is rebellious and concerned only with self. Such an attitude leads to unrestrained living. And this we see in the word “filthy” which refers to unbridled lust – anything that we desire, we do – completely consumed by urges. That’s why these men unashamedly requested to have sex with the visitors, threatening even to break down the door. Folks, ungodliness and unbridled lust can characterize any other sin - greed, anger, unbridled grief, envy. And such rebellion and lust lead to action; the word “wicked” refers to a person who breaks the law to fulfill his desires; they were unlawful. This then was the continual heart attitude and action of the men in Sodom and Gomorrah. They were heavy with sin – the people were rebellious, uncontrolled in their urges, and they acted out of their hearts by breaking the laws of God, leading to their own destruction. The way sin destroys people is very much the same way an Eskimo kills a wolf.

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!

Now, this kind of living – such disregard for God, such lusts, and ultimately the outworking of lust in action – this kind of living is not unique to those in Sodom – it is common to all of us. This kind of life isn’t only relegated to sex – it can be the mode of behavior in any sphere of life – there are some who have no control over their temper – they give themselves over to their anger which results in emotional outbursts or worse things. Countless jobs, marriages, friendships, and lives are lost because men disregard God’s laws, live according to how they feel, and commit sin. In the end, such a life destroys them. And this ability to sin grievously is in each one of us because of our hearts. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And sin stems from the heart – Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” How’s your heart?

And what is God’s attitude towards people with such hearts? He hates sinners but is willing to show them mercy. That’s the second point. In Genesis 18:25, Abraham pleads with God saying, “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Here, he was asking God not to destroy the righteous along with the wicked in his judgment. Surely, the city had righteous people in it - if God were to destroy the city, the righteous would be destroyed as well. So he called God the Judge of all the earth – recognizing that God knows who’s righteous and who is wicked. Meaning, by implication, Abraham admitted that God had the right to judge and destroy the wicked.

And why should he not?! Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” God’s just in his judgment of the wicked when he destroys them. The word “destroy” in verse 23 means to “scrape off;” like scraping hard and dry skin from your foot. It’s a strong word signifying cleansing. What we often forget in today’s modern world is the wrath of God against sinners. But God does hate sinners. As a Judge, he tries us and sees our sins. We’re told that the Lord was going to survey Sodom and Gomorrah, to ascertain if it was true about the extent and gravity of their wickedness. This teaches us that God does not unleash his vengeance. Even if it’s perfectly just for God to do so, he does nothing in haste, but with all judicial calmness. But when he does judge, he’ll do so with all fury. Psalm 11:4-6 says “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Here we see very strong words. God weighs our sins. And he hates those who are wicked – that’s the same word in Genesis 18, meaning lawless. And the extent of his judgment is snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; figuratively or literally, as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It’s right for God to destroy the wicked. Even we have a sense of justice. We read in the news of how the wicked get off - and we are angry. We feel the injustice of insufficient jail time. Therefore, why would we accept a God who doesn’t punish? And yet, while God has all right to do so, God does not always judge immediately – he shows mercy. In our passage, we see two remarkable truths concerning God’s mercy. We firstly see that God is open to the pleas of his people. Abraham pleaded with God a total of 6 times, asking God not to destroy the cities on account of the righteous. God’s merciful to hear the cries of the people. 2 Samuel 22:7 says, “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.”

The second thing we learn is that God’s slow to destroy. His willingness to spare shows this. That’s mercy. He delays judgment, waiting for people to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Now, when God came to Abraham, he said he was going to Sodom because their sins were very heavy. God waits, gives sinners time to repent, and doesn’t destroy them immediately, because he’s patient. And in God’s mercy, he gives a way out. If the wicked wish to escape destruction, there must be a righteous man in their midst.

God will mercifully spare the wicked on account of the righteous. That’s the last point. God would’ve spared Sodom and Gomorrah should there have been only 10 righteous people. From 50, Abraham whittled God down to 10. Abraham knew that there weren’t 50 good people. He was even hoping there’d be 10 people. But there wasn’t. But God’s mercy goes even beyond that. Did you know that God would spare the wicked should there only be 1 righteous? We see this in Jeremiah 5:1, where God threatened to destroy a nation, but if there be found one righteous in it, he would spare. There God says, run around the streets of Jerusalem - look, find out, if you can find a man - someone who is just, someone who is truthful - and I will spare the city. If there’s just one righteous man – just one man who’s just and perfect - I the just God will pardon the nation. It shows what one righteous man can do.

Now, who’s a righteous man? Who are those who’ve done nothing wrong, and have no sin? Scripture firstly makes it abundantly clear that actually, there is no one who’s righteous, except of course, God. Romans 3:10,11 says “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” And all the righteous works people have done are not sufficient in the eyes of God. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” If this is the case, wouldn’t certain destruction be our fate? Wouldn’t we be scraped away like a nasty wart? Will there be any righteous people who would save us from that fate? Are there 50? 45? 40, 30, 20, 10?! Not 10, but there is one.

There’s only one who is righteous – Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who’s done no wrong, only he can save us from our sins. Listen to what 1 John 2:1 says, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Because of him, the wicked need not be destroyed. Because of Christ, those who are unrighteous can be reconciled with God, that God might not be angry anymore. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”

In our account, the compassionate man is Abraham, and the merciful God is God himself. But we see these wonderful characteristics in Jesus Christ who was both a compassionate man and a merciful God. The Bible tells us there’s no salvation in any other but Jesus Christ. God in his wisdom came down as a man - Jesus Christ - to live a perfect life; a life that was not wicked, rebellious, or unbridled in lust. But he was perfectly obedience. And he took the punishment of sinners on him - when he died on the cross. There, he faced the whole weight of God’s anger and hatred for sinners. The destruction that is rightly ours, Christ took – the death that we are supposed to die, Christ took upon himself. The fire and brimstone, the judgment of God, the fate that is ours, he took. Because of Christ taking our judgment, we can be spared.

To the Christians here, it’s another reminder of your salvation. You’re not good. You’re not righteous in and of yourselves. But you have a savior - who has represented you - to rescue you from the judgment of God. So how, in your gratitude for that salvation, have you lived righteously toward God. We know, don’t we, that we will struggle with our sins - some of you even struggle with sexual sins. Maybe even the same kind as Sodom. Thank God you have a righteous man on your side. God spares you to live for him.

To friends who do not believe. You know there’s unbridled rebellion in your life. Whether it’s lust, anger, envy, lying, etc - there’s a just God who has every right to hate you and punish you. And that will happen one day. But he’s merciful. He gives you that chance to call on Jesus Christ - that righteous man - if you’re on his side, you will be spared. I suppose the requirement for you to consider is this - do you acknowledge your sin and misery? Without which, there can never be any salvation. Knowing God’s mercy should lead you to acknowledge your sin. There is no way for you, sinner, to be saved from God’s wrath, hate, and destruction, unless you search for that one righteous man, Christ, and cling onto him for salvation from the wrath to come. And it is simple – admit that your sins are very grievous, that you are ungodly, with sinful urges and actions, deserving destruction; but plead for God’s mercy and it will be given.

1. We Are All Prone to Wickedness

2. God Hates Sinners but Shows Mercy

3. God Spares the Wicked Because of the Righteous