The story of Abraham
The 18th chapter of Genesis tells us about how “God” with two angels came to Abraham. God announced to Abraham that his wife would have a son within a year. Then He and the angels were on the point of leaving for Sodom and Gomorrah to find whether the cry heard in heaven was justified and if so, punish them.
God is so great that he often let His faithful ones know about His intentions and goals.
Amos 3, 7 (ASV): Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Genesis 18, 17-21 (ASV): And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
What followed was similarly amazing. Reminding God of His righteousness Abraham was able to negotiate with God so that God promised him that if he found in the whole Sodom as few as ten righteous people, He would spare all the city. This story can be found at Genesis 18, 22-33.
However, this was not the end to the story of God’s mercy on Sodom. When the angels came to Sodom, local perverted men nearly raped them. They were let in into Lot’s house, who was to be saved according to God’s decision. The angels urged Lot to take his family and leave the city quickly. Considering it a jest, his sons-in-law refused to leave. The angels had to take Lot, his wife and his daughters by their hands and lead them out of the city. Then they instruct them to flee to the mountains not to be destroyed along with Sodom. However, Lot objected that he was not able to flee to the mountains to avoid destruction, asking them to allow him to hide in a nearby town. God obliged Lot also in this point and spared the town (which had been meant for destruction) because of Lot. You can find the story in the 19th chapter of Genesis.
These are just some of the many stories that exemplify that God is often willing to change His decision at the intercession of His faithful servants (who usually ask Him for mercy). Reading carefully, you’ll understand that God even tries to find somebody who would ask Him for mercy so that He wouldn’t be obliged to punish in applying justice.
Genesis 22, 1-3 (ASV): And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
This is one of the best known Bible stories. I would like to bring two points of it to your attention. As I said before, our good relationship with God has to be based on our love demonstrated in obedience. In this story, Abraham showed what his obedience and faith are like. Let’s look at Abraham’s response. God ordered him something appalling (he wanted him to offer his beloved son as an offering). Abraham neither argued nor shouted nor cried, he even didn’t try to negotiate with God. He wasn’t mulling over for a month about how it was possible that God had wanted him to do something like that, or that it perhaps hadn’t been God at all who had wanted him to do it etc., rather, taking his beloved son Isaac and everything he needed, he set forth early in the morning to fulfil the strange order of God.
In the nick of time, God prevented Abraham from killing his son, giving him a great promise:
Genesis 22, 15-18 (ASV): And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Do you understand what happened? Abraham was willing to give Him his beloved son and this is what God would do some centuries later - send His beloved son Jesus to earth as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
