Sodom and a Gracious God

So, we've been back in Genesis, and I've not posted. That's sad to me, because I love Genesis. The whole Abraham story is really compelling to me - what's God going to do? how can He possibly make nations from Abe and Sarah? what is Abraham thinking? Very fun. Jackson taught on Sodom and Gomorrah this week. Not my favorite part of the story, but an important one. He asked, "Is God just?" That's a big question when we come to Sodom, and it seems to be the question behind Abraham's probing of God's judgement on Sodom. If there are ten righteous people in the city, then God will not destroy it. There aren't even ten. The city is so perverse that they transgress basically every rule of hospitality on the books as a city within a few hours of the angels' visit. In fact, the story shows that the one righteous man in the city, Lot, has compromised and can't make the decision to leave a city under judgement. The angels have to drag him and his family out. It's a sad, sick place that foreshadows the ideas behind something like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Seriously. When the whole city is out for gang rape on guests, you know it's a sick place.

In this story, God shows Himself to be patient, slow to judge, and merciful to both Sodom (waited to judge) and to Lot (by taking him out of the city). This is where the story hit home for me. First, God is faithful and merciful. He is not out to get me or anybody else. Sometimes I want justice against others, but I'm not always ready to take it on myself. He does judge - when a whole city's culture gets to the place that Sodom had reached, you have to - but he doesn't like to judge; he'd prefer that the city repented. Praise God for His patience. Second, if God is merciful, then I can be also. I've been learning that over the last few years - I've found that with studying and degrees, I can get a critical attitude that is out to judge others' moral, spiritual, and intellectual failures (or what I perceive to be failures). But, that's not who God calls us to be, and that's not who He is. He's gracious to us, which is a good thing. Third, in the end, He did judge. He is in control, even when it appears that chaos has taken over. As we talked about in the History class last week, the Ancient of Days rules over and has power to destroy even the most vicious and arrogant of the beasts. Thank you, Lord!