Genesis 18:27 Commentary and Bible Study

Abraham has a great sense of awe. There is a holy nervousness about him as he comes to ask: ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry.’ He says this to excuse his persistence, but also to excuse the fact that the creature should ever presume to ask the Creator to change his mind or alter his course, based on the request of a man. Certainly, the Lord does not answer because he is impressed by our standing. We are dust and ashes, and he bends his ear to hear us. It is only by his grace that he hears us at all, and he condescends to our nothingness because he has set his love upon us. All that we have to appeal to, when we present our petitions, lies in him and not in us.‘Dust and ashes’ – Abraham comes with humility. We need to use these same methods to humble ourselves when Satan tries to make our heads swell. Abraham’s technique is to remember his failings, his weaknesses, that he is a feeble old man. Dust – perhaps he was thinking of Genesis 3:19: ‘dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ He is less and less aware of his glory. What do we feel when you pray? The more Abraham prays, the more unworthy he feels, and the happier to be answered.Several times in the Bible, the incident that is about to take place is referred to. Christ compares the destruction of Sodom to the Day of Judgment (Luke 17:29). Paul refers to those in Sodom ‘receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet’ (Romans 1:27). Peter and Jude make this a warning to the world concerning ungodliness throughout history (2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7).