Abraham awoke and saw the destruction in the valley. God had remembered Abraham and saved Lot from the devastation.
We are reminded of Abrahams’s intercession for Lot and his family (Genesis 18:20-33) when Abraham…went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah. From Mamre, Abraham could see the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace (Isaiah 9:18; Exodus 19:18; Revelation 9:2). Apparently, Abraham’s intercession had not saved the city since there were not 10 righteous souls in the cities. It appears Lot was the only one.
God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow of the cities in which Lot lived. God saved Lot because he was found righteous, and because of Abraham’s intercession. But since ten righteous men were not found, the city was destroyed. This supports a general principle that a pretty small righteous influence is sufficient for God to spare judgement. This principle shows up many times, such as in the story of Jonah, and God desiring to preserve Nineveh. We saw it earlier in Genesis when God put off judging the Amorites because their iniquity was not yet full (Genesis 15:16).
Biblical Text
27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. 29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
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