- [Narrator] Three men who dared to negotiate with God.
Number one, Abraham.
A day came when God reached out to Abraham
and informed him of His intention
to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah.
However, He didn't do anything just yet
because He felt taking that action
would be wrong if He didn't inform Abraham first
for that was the man He had come to accept as a friend.
But Lot, who was Abraham's nephew, lived in Sodom then.
So Abraham had a strong desire
to talk God out of destroying the city
for the sake of his nephew and his family.
"The Lord said, 'Shall I keep secret from Abraham,
my friend and servant, what I am going to do,
since Abraham is destined
to become a greater and mighty nation
and all the nations of the earth
will be blessed through him?
For I have known, chosen, acknowledged him as my own
and that he may teach and command his children
and the sons of his household after him
to keep the way of the Lord
by doing what is righteous and just
so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham
what He has promised him.'
And the Lord said, 'The outcry of the sin
of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great
and their sin is exceedingly grave.
I will go down now
and see whether they have acted as vilely and wickedly
as the outcry which has come to me indicates,
and if not, I will know.'
Now the two men, angelic beings, turned away
from there and went towards Sodom.
But Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
Abraham approached the Lord
and said, 'Will you really sweep away the righteous,
those who do right, with the wicked, those who do evil?
Suppose there are 50 righteous people within the city,
will you really sweep it away and not spare it
for the sake of the 50 righteous who are in it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to strike the righteous with the wicked
so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike.
Far be it from you.
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right
by executing just and righteous judgment?'
So the Lord said, 'If I find within the city of Sodom
50 righteous people,
then I will spare the entire place for their sake.'
Abraham answered, 'Now behold,
I who am but dust in origin and ashes
have decided to speak to the Lord.
If five of the 50 righteous are lacking,
will you destroy the entire city for lack of five?'
And He said, 'If I find at least 45 righteous people there,
I will not destroy it.'
Abraham spoke to him yet again,
and said, 'Suppose only 40 are found there?'
And He said, 'I will not do it
for the sake of the 40 who are righteous.'
Then Abraham said to Him,
'Oh, may the Lord not be angry, and I will speak,
suppose 30 righteous people are found there?'
And He said, 'I will not do it if I find 30 there.'
And he said, 'Now behold,
I have decided to speak to the Lord again.
Suppose only 20 righteous people are found there?'
And the Lord said,
'I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.'
Then Abraham said, 'Oh, may the Lord not be angry with me
and I will speak only this once.
Suppose 10 righteous people are found there?'
And He said, 'I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.'
As soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham
the Lord departed and Abraham returns to his own place."
Genesis 18:17-33.
We read, "Would you also destroy the righteous
with the wicked?"
In discussing this question, in a sense
Abraham reminded the Lord of His own nature and principles.
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Abraham thought that God, as a righteous Judge,
could not and would not punish the innocent
in the same way as the guilty.
Effective prayer is knowing who God is
and how God works in a particular situation.
Effective prayer doesn't see itself as a passive spectator
in what God does, but effective prayer
acts as if it must actually remind God in prayer.
We might find it remarkable
Abraham even cared about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
He might have just prayed, "Lord
get my nephew, Lot, out of there first," but he didn't.
Abraham's heart was full of sorrow and compassion
even for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We read, "If I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sakes."
God said this because Abraham asked.
When Abraham drew near to the Lord and prayed
according to God's revealed nature and will, God agreed.
The Lord said that he would spare the city
if there were 50 righteous there.
In his first exchange with God,
Abraham established a principle
that God would not destroy the righteous with the wicked.
With that principle established,
it was then just a matter of numbers.
How many righteous people would God spare the city for?
Abraham's intercession was effective
because it was specific.
He talked about specific numbers with God
and not only in broad general terms.
Often our prayers are ineffective
because we really don't ask the Lord to do anything.
Instead, we usually just toss wishes up to Heaven.
Abraham continued his intercession with bold humility.
He was not proud or arrogant before the Lord,
yet he still continued to ask.
Abraham's humility was demonstrated
in that nowhere in his prayer did he ask why
or did he demand that God explain Himself and His actions.
Abraham was a skilled negotiator
and he prevailed upon God
to lower the number of righteous required to spare the city,
first by units of five, then by units of 10,
until the number settled at 10.
It is impossible to miss the persistence
of Abraham in intercession.
Abraham did not stop asking at 40 or 50
and said simply, "Now it's in the Lord's hands,"
or, "The Lord will do what the Lord will do."
Abraham showed us that there are times
when an intercessor must feel that the eternal destiny
of men and women depend on the intercessor's prayer.
We wonder if Abraham
should not have continued the negotiations
because there were only four righteous in the city.
Would God have spared the city for four
if Abraham had asked?
Perhaps Abraham felt Lot would surely
have brought six people beyond his own family to God
in his time in Sodom.
God patiently listened to him
but since his last request of finding at least 10 people
and canceling his plans
to destroy these evil cities fell through,
angels were dispatched to blot it out.
Thankfully, their first task was to rescue Lot's family
before destroying the city.
Judging by this solution from God
it is obvious that Abraham's negotiations with God
came from a place of deep companionship and assurance.
Number two, Moses.
When Moses went up to Mount Sinai on God's request
to pick up the tablet that had the 10 Commandments
that would govern their conducts as a people,
a lot of strange things started to happen.
After he left the people, whether out of anxiety
or the Devil's influence,
the people started to put pressure on Aaron
to make a god for them to worship.
After much pressure, Aaron obliged
and directed them to bring everything made of gold with them
so as to make a golden calf.
Of course, this action made God very angry.
Let's read Exodus 32:1-14 to see what transpired
and how Moses negotiated with God through persuasion
and how he pleaded with him till mercy changed the verdict.
"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed
coming down from the mountain,
they gathered together before Aaron
and said to him, 'Come, make us a god who will go before us.
As for this Moses, the man who brought us up here
from the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has become of him.'
So Aaron replied to them, 'Take off the gold rings
that are in your ears of your wives,
your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.
So all the people took off the gold rings
that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron
and he took the gold from their hands
and fashioned it with an engraving tool
and made it into a molten calf,
and they said, 'This is your god, O Israel,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'
Now when Aaron saw the molten calf,
he built an altar before it
and Aaron made a proclamation
and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.'
So they got up early the next day
and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings.
Then the people sat down to eat and drink
and got up to play shamefully, without moral restraint.
Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go down at once,
for your people, whom you have brought up
from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
They have quickly turned aside
from the way which I have commanded them.
They have made themselves a molten calf
and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it
and said, "This is your god, O Israel,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt."'
The Lord said to Moses, 'I have seen this people
and behold, they are a stiff-necked,
stubborn, rebellious people.
Now therefore, let me alone and do not interfere,
so that my anger may burn against them
and that I may destroy them
and I will make of you your descendants a great nation.'
But Moses appeased and entreated the Lord his God
and said, 'Lord, why does your anger burn
against your people,
whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt
with great power and a mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians say, "With evil intent
their God brought them out to kill them
in the mountains and destroy them
from the face of the earth?"
Turn away from your burning anger
and change your mind about harming your people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Jacob,
your servants to whom you swore an oath by yourself
and said to them, "I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of the heavens
and all this land of which I have spoken
I will give to your descendants
and they shall inherit it forever."'
So the Lord changed His mind
about the harm which He had said He would do to His people."
After this sinful act, Moses stood in the gap
to pray for mercy on behalf of the people.
This demonstrates a true leader
who truly cared about the people he was leading
despite their shortcomings.
It shows a deep seated connection and love
even though they made a wrong decision.
Asking God to change His earlier decision
and punishment, saved them from destruction.
Number three, Hezekiah.
A season came when Hezekiah fell deathly ill
and God sent the prophet Isaiah
to inform him that his sickness would lead to death.
Of course, this news weighed on him at first.
However, he later decided to walk in wisdom and faith
by reasoning with God based on his service over the years.
Here is what happened, in 2 Kings 20.
"In those days when Sennacherib first invaded Judah,
Hezekiah became deathly ill.
The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came
and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord,
"Set your house in order,
for you shall die and not recover."'
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall
and prayed to the Lord
saying, 'Please, O Lord, remember now with compassion
how I have walked before you in faithfulness and truth
and with a whole heart entirely devoted to you,
and have done what is good in your sight.'
And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle courtyard,
the word of the Lord came to him
saying, 'Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people,
"Thus says the Lord, the God of David,
your father, ancestor, I have heard your prayer.
I have seen your tears.
Behold, I am healing you.
On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
I will add 15 years to your life
and save you and this city Jerusalem
from the hand of the king of Assyria
and I will protect this city
for my own sake and my servant David's sake."'
Then Isaiah said, 'Bring a cake of figs,'
and they brought it
and placed it on the painful inflammation and he recovered.
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'What will be the sign
that the Lord will completely heal me
and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord
on the third day?'
Isaiah said, 'This will be the sign to you from the Lord
that He will do the thing that He has spoken.
Shall the shadow indicating the time of day
go forward 10 steps or go backward 10 steps?'
Hezekiah answered,
'It is easy for the shadow to go forward 10 steps.
No, but let the shadow turn backward 10 steps.'
So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord
and He brought the shadow on the steps 10 steps backward
by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz."
Hezekiah used his faithfulness, loyalty,
stewardship, obedience and integrity
as a defense to bargain with God for more years.
The life of Hezekiah is for the most part,
an example of one who is faithful to the Lord
and trusts in Him.
As seen by his courageous changes,
his faith went deeper than the surface level.
Because Hezekiah put his faith in the Lord,
the Lord responded to his prayers, blessed his endeavors
and granted him miraculous victory over his enemies.
When he faced with an impossible situation
surrounded by the dreadful and determined Assyrian Army
Hezekiah did precisely the right thing.
He prayed and God answered.
As the scriptures show,
he convinced God to change his judgment
and add 15 more years to his lifetime.
These men simply show us that if we have faith and are bold,
we can talk with God
till we begin to see supernatural or extraordinary changes.
The idea of reasoning
or negotiating with God seems simply blasphemous.
How do you tell the Creator of Heaven and Earth,
who has the final say
that you still have something important to say or ask
after He has declared His words with finality?
Isaiah 1:18-19.
"'Come now and let us reason together,' saith the Lord,
'though your sin be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow.
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land.'"
Negotiating is all about discussing a subject matter
with the sole aim of reaching an agreement.
Of course, negotiating with other people may be easy
but how do we start to do this with God?
Well, three men did it so well in the Old Testament,
and their lives show us this,
Even though God is the king of absolute authority
He is still much more interested
in a relationship with his children.
One with bold, genuine, passionate
and heartfelt prayer at it's core.
Hebrews 4:14-16.
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not a high priest,
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need."
Let us pray.
Lord, I thank you for the comforting words in this Bible
that assure me that I can come boldly before you.
Thank you, because it doesn't matter
how final, limited or hopeless things around me appear,
I already have great confidence that as I speak with you
you'll make a way where there is no way.
In the name of Jesus,
I draw strength from your Holy Spirit to live boldly
just like Abraham, Moses, or Hezekiah did
and I shall walk with you all these days of my life.
Amen.