Genesis 18:16 Commentary and Bible Study

The narrative then changes direction. Abraham knew about Sodom. He grieved, no doubt, that his nephew Lot had gone into Sodom. Lot probably believed in being culturally relevant. He probably didn’t go into Sodom only to make money. No doubt that too was in his heart when he surveyed the scene, and he saw a city, a city in which you could trade your produce. But then he may have said to himself, ‘This city is pagan, and I can be influential, and I can help them.’ In modern language he might have said to himself, ‘I can start a church there. I'm going to go right in and do what they do and trade with them and share their trappings and their culture. We have got to be theologically conservative and culturally relevant.’ So he was in the city, while Abraham remained a tent dweller. Abraham understood the need for separation from that particular society. Even Lot in Sodom was very disappointed the time he spent there at what happened, and his righteous soul was vexed from day to day, we are told by the Apostle Peter. Nevertheless, Sodom had its claws into him, its tentacles around him. The allurement of Sodom in the city and its opportunities was too strong for him. ‘And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’ The wrong way to understand these words is to think that the Lord is musing, or thinking aloud, wondering whether he should disclose his intentions to Abraham. The Lord does not do that. The Lord's mind is determined before the foundation of the world. He is God. He knows all that he will do. This statement is a kind of literary device to draw our attention to the reason why God tells Abraham what is about to do. ‘Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’, and the obvious answer to this question is, ‘No, of course not.’ The Lord has no intention of hiding it, but it just draws our attention to the reason. So what is the reason? God is going to destroy Sodom, but why does he tell Abraham? Why does he tell him in this instance what he is about to do? Surely it will only alarm him, because Abraham's nephew, Lot, is in that city with his family. He should not be there, but he is; he is settled there. Abraham is well aware of that.