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Does God
hear our prayers for mercy on behalf of others?
Abraham
approached him and said, "Will you destroy both innocent
and guilty alike? Suppose you find fifty innocent people there
within the city—will you still destroy it, and not spare it
for their sakes?
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Surely
you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the
guilty. Why, you would be treating the innocent and the guilty
exactly the same! Surely you wouldn't do that! Should not the
Judge of all the earth do what is right?" |
The
Lord responds that he will not destroy the city. Abraham persists,
reducing the number to 45, then 40, 30, 20 and finally ten].
And the Lord said, "Then, for the sake of the ten, I
will not destroy it."
Genesis
18:23-31 NLT
Abraham's
prayer for mercy
In the days before their fiery judgment, the citizens of Sodom
and Gomorrah probably had no idea that their neighbor Abraham
was agonizing with God over their fate. Abraham saw the need
for justice, but he also begged God to show them his mercy.
He asked God to spare the city for just a handful of righteous
people, and God agreed. In addition, God sent his angels to
protect Lot's innocent family and get them out of harm's way.
But as Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction illustrates, there's
a limit to his mercy, for the God of justice will not let
sin go unpunished forever.
Just as he listened to righteous Abraham long ago, God will
listen to your cries for justice and your pleas for mercy.
In the end, God will do what is right.
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