“and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6).
2 Peter 2:4-8 references the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as our third historical example of God’s judgment upon the unjust. This begins the first of three sub-studies that will explore some of the significant people and events mentioned here in 2 Peter chapter two. Our journey begins in Genesis 13:12-13 where we are introduced to the great Old Testament patriarch Abram (later to be known as Abraham), and his nephew Lot…
“Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.”
That sets the stage for what follows…
“The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground” (Genesis 18:1-2 NIV).
Our narrative continues in Genesis 18:20-21…
“Then the LORD said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know'” (NIV).
Like many legal cases today, this proceeding began with the investigation of a complaint: “There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true” (GNB). Genesis 18:22 then follows by telling us, “The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD” (NIV).
That marked the opening stage of this investigation. However, Abraham had something to ask his divine Visitor before that inquiry proceeded any further…
“Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?'” (Genesis 18:23-24 NIV).
Abraham’s response to this investigation tells us something important. First, it implies that he was aware of God’s holy character. It also implies that Abraham knew what life was like in Sodom. It seems that Abraham knew enough about God and enough about Sodom to predict what would happen when that investigation ended.
And as we’ll see, he was right to be concerned.