Genesis 18: A Lot to Lose

We begin chapter 18 with the famous story of the three messengers. One of them tells Avraham that he will return in one year and Sarah will have a child.Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר שׁוֹב אָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ כָּעֵת חַיָּה, וְהִנֵּה־בֵן לְשָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ (בראשית יח:י)English: “He said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.’” (Genesis 18:10)Sarah laughs, and then the Eternal One questions her and Avraham if they believe that the Divine cannot do what He pleases.Hebrew: הֲיִפָּלֵא מֵה׳ דָּבָר? לַמּוֹעֵד אָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ כָּעֵת חַיָּה, וּלְשָׂרָה בֵן (בראשית יח:יד)English: “Is anything too wondrous for ה׳? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:14)Then the dialogue ends and the Divine sends the messengers to Sodom. Avraham walks them out and then tries to dissuade the Divine Presence from destroying Sodom.What is the connection between finding out about Isaac and Sodom being destroyed? The answer lies in the inner monologue transition:Hebrew:וַה׳ אָמָר, הַמְכַסֶּה אֲנִי מֵאַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה?וְאַבְרָהָם הָיֹה יִהְיֶה לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וְעָצוּם, וְנִבְרְכוּ בוֹ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ.כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו, לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת־בָּנָיו וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו, וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ ה׳ לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט—לְמַעַן הָבִיא ה׳ עַל־אַבְרָהָם אֵת אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר עָלָיו (בראשית יח:יז–יט)English: “And ה׳ said, ‘Shall I hide from Avraham what I am about to do, since Avraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? For I have known him, so that he may instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of ה׳ by doing what is just and right, in order that ה׳ may bring about for Avraham what He has promised him.’” (Genesis 18:17–19)Why is the Divine concerned about telling Avraham about Sodom, and why does He ultimately do so? To answer this, we return to the four goals. Avraham has reached the point where the Divine is finally ready to give him and Sarah the son they longed for. Why would Avraham care about Sodom? Lot.Two chapters ago, we saw what Avraham would do to save his nephew. If he intervenes again, he risks his legacy once more. At the same time, the Divine wants Avraham and his descendants to be arbiters of justice and righteousness in the world. How could the Divine remove this opportunity from him to request justice? In the end, the scales tip in Avraham’s favor.Avraham tries to save Sodom by arguing with the Divine to spare the city for the sake of a small group of righteous people—50, 40, 30, 20, 10… and then the conversation ends.Hebrew: וַיֵּלֶךְ ה׳ כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּלָּה לְדַבֵּר אֶל־אַבְרָהָם; וְאַבְרָהָם שָׁב לִמְקֹמוֹ (בראשית יח:לג)English: “And ה׳ departed when He had finished speaking to Avraham, and Avraham returned to his place.” (Genesis 18:33)A careful reading of the text shows that Avraham did not stop at ten. The Divine ends the conversation—not Avraham. Why? Because the next number after ten is one. Lot.Avraham demonstrates that he is a man of righteousness and justice—not by asking for Lot alone, but by challenging the Divine to save as many theoretical righteous people as possible. Yet the Divine does not allow him to reach that final number.We do see an epilogue to the story at the end of chapter 19:Hebrew: וַיְהִי בְּשַׁחֵת הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־עָרֵי הַכִּכָּר, וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים אֶת־אַבְרָהָם, וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת־לוֹט מִתּוֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָה, בַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת־הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר־יָשַׁב בָּהֵן לוֹט (בראשית יט:כט)English: “Thus it was that, when the Almighty destroyed the cities of the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, the Almighty was mindful of Avraham and removed Lot from the midst of the upheaval.” (Genesis 19:29)The Judge of all the earth does indeed carry out justice.