When God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, something interesting happened: "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt" (Genesis 19:29).

God had visited Abraham shortly before, accompanied by two angels (cf. Genesis 18:1-2 with Genesis 19:1). Abraham had fed God and the two angels (Genesis 18:8) and God announced the birth of Abraham's promised son for the following year (verse 10).

At the end of the visit, God told Abraham his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (verses 20-21), followed by a remarkable exchange between God and Abraham, where Abraham asked God, starting with 50 righteous, to spare Sodom — where his nephew Lot lived — if there were only ten righteous people there:

"Then he said, Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there? And He said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place" (Genesis 18:32-33).

But there weren't ten righteous people in Sodom, but only Lot, his wife and their two daughters. The two angels who had accompanied God on his visit to Abraham moved on to Sodom and announced to Lot God's plan to destroy the city. Therefore, Lot and his family were to leave the city (Genesis 19:12-13). There weren't ten righteous people in the city, but nevertheless "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt".

The Bible shows us that God just doesn't stand idly by as sin and godlessness multiply. He warns and admonishes and at some point He acts. But God remains faithful to His own and remembers them and shows Himself gracious. Grace in judgment means forgiveness upon repentance and salvation from death.

God's memory is punctuated by grace: "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:10-12).

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!