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The Peacemaker

It is interesting that when God started our faith, He chose to begin with a Peacemaker. He chose somebody who had a heart for peacemaking and who was able to see both sides. It takes an extraordinary person to negotiate peace with God, and that is where our story begins.

      Genesis 18:20 says, “So the Lord told Abraham, ‘I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.’”

Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the most famous cities in the history of the world for all the wrong reasons. They did everything and were terrible sinners. Things in Sodom and Gomorrah were so bad that it got the attention of God in heaven. In verse 21, God said, “I am going to go down and see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.” God preemptively looked at the city to see if He was going to destroy it. Ultimately, He did. 

Not long ago, there was a classic peace summit between the United States and North Korea. There was a lot of tension revolving around nuclear war or peace. This was basically what happened in Genesis. God was going to bring down nuclear war on Sodom and Gomorrah, but Abraham interceded. Abraham tried to talk God out of destroying the most wicked cities on the wicked planet called Earth.

Here is where the story includes a Peacemaker. “Abraham approached [God] and said, ‘Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?’” (v. 23). Abraham was saying, “God, are You going to kill everybody in Sodom? I mean, surely not everybody there is wicked.” Then Abraham said to the Lord, “Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will You still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?” (v. 24).

We do not know exactly how many people lived in Sodom because it was ultimately destroyed. However, we know it was a massive city. It was two cities joined together. We are talking about thousands and thousands of people.

Abraham was saying to God, “Are You going to kill everybody? I mean, surely they are not all bad apples.” He continued, “Surely You wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, You would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely You wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (v. 25). Here, Abraham was challenging the goodness of God. He was arguing, “Not everybody can be bad.” He was trying to negotiate a peace treaty between the almighty God and the wicked city of Sodom.

What was amazing was God said, “If I find fifty righteous people living in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake” (v. 26). So if there were just fifty good apples among all the rotten ones, God would not judge them. The problem was that Sodom was pretty bad.

Abraham knew this, so he kept going. 

Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”

And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”

Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?”

And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”

“Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?”

The conversation continued—thirty, twenty, and finally ten. And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

We know from the Bible there were not ten righteous people. It reminds us that we must be very careful about the environment and the people we surround ourselves with. A lot of people say, “I am going to be a witness to the unrighteous. I am going to be a good person in the bad bunch.” The Bible says, “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for ‘bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

The reality was everybody in Sodom and Gomorrah was bad. It was so bad that the Lord sent His angels to the city to see it for themselves. All the men of the city came out to assault God’s angels. That’s how bad it was. 

However, Abraham was trying to negotiate peace by finding a position where he could avoid the conflict. As a Peacemaker he wanted to avoid conflict and create a healthy space for people to thrive and become all that God created them to be. God created you to experience His peace and to live in relationship with Him. 

Respond

Who are the Peacemakers in your life? 

Describe a time in your life when God sent a Peacemaker to stand beside you in a difficult season.

Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for being the true Peacemaker and providing restoration of relationship with the Father.