Provocative Thoughts for the Morning:
After Abraham stood still before the L-rd (Psalm 46:10), Genesis 18:23 does not merely say that Abraham spoke to the L-rd.
Rather, it says that Abraham DREW NEAR and said…
Genesis has up to this point in several ways established that, not only had G-d given instructions for Abraham to obey, which he did fairly well in many ways, but also another dynamic had germinated and grown between the L-rd and this subtle, Bedouin herdsman.
We are talking about friendship.
Pick up a couple of the subtleties of Genesis 18:22-23 with me.
What does it mean to “stand still before the L-rd”?
Possibly that Abraham was considering what his next statement to his friend the L-rd should be.
The Father hadn’t moved on and he asked himself whether he should share with Abraham the thoughts of his heart and mind, knowing Abraham’s bend toward commanding his legacy toward a posture of righteousness. Would that heart cry for righteousness and that authority to call for the same extend to the place where it interfered with G-d’s plans for the cities on the plain?
G-d’s sharing of his plans with Abraham reveal a dynamic of His nature that we don’t often think about when it comes to reading the Tanakh. Even though he is indeed Sovereign Judge, he is still quite vulnerable and has emotions the depth of which and purity of which we fail to understand, much less be willing to wrap our arms around. This is not some heartless and cruel taskmaster who enjoys roasting the wicked in hellfire and brimstone. G-d , even as Sovereign Judge takes no drunken pleasure in the death of the wicked, as we are so won’t to do.
Rather, every single one of his decisions is made in the context of sobriety.
And Abraham, standing still, was likely pondering what he knew about G-d. This is an illustration of the principle of Psalm 46:10 at work.
Then, he spoke to the one in whom he could trust.
“Shall the Judge of all the Earth do what is just?”
Wait a minute, sparing people is a form of justice?
Yes, it can be. Especially when some of those people can be considered righteous the way the L-rd reckons righteousness, which is a homiletic exhortation for another day.
Abraham made a heart connection with G-d that day, and here is how I arrive at that conclusion, in the spirit of James 4:8.
“Then Abraham DREW NEAR and said…”
Draw near to him and he will draw near in return.
I imagine that drawing near captured something in G-d’s heart. For Abraham, there was plenty of risk. His nephew was living with the wicked. He must have loved him dearly, given the sequence of circumstances that led to this point. He was concerned with all of his legacy. And He knew something about G-d that maybe we have since forgotten. Drawing near To someone that powerful and holy is a scary proposition.
And G-d, in response, fulfilled a win/win both ways. The righteous were spared, and the wicked were destroyed, WITHOUT GLEE OR GLOATING.
If you wish to ask something of Him, are you willing to risk drawing near and considering His nature in order to ask what you need of Him?
He doesn’t promise your interactions with him will be free and easy, but he does promise you will grow and change and be transformed in the process.
Be blessed.
