And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing"? (Gen 18,17)
Abraham's prayer for Sodom brings us to a special question. Who loved Sodom more - Abraham or God?
Many religious questions seem to have a quick, first-order answer (= after all, it's obvious!), so we would say, well, who else but God. But if we think deeper, it was actually Abraham who tried to move God to grace, to give Sodom a chance yet. Could it be, then, that man's love for the man here exceeded the love of God?
There is a hidden mystery here. When God decided to reveal His purpose to Abraham, He knew full well how he would react. After all, God knew him perfectly - whereas Abraham knew God only in part, yet in a way that no one else on earth did. So when God told Abraham of His intention to bring Sodom to judgment, God knew that Abraham would intercede on her behalf.
"And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave" (Gen. 18:20) In a culture where sexual perversion and promiscuity breed, violence increases rapidly. Abraham certainly knew something about this, and he did not have close contact with Sodom. His heart was stirred, however, for Lot's sake, but not only for his sake (he began his prayer for the fifty people), and he tried to obtain more grace for Sodom. Was his heart moved in him? But what caused it? Was it not because the reflection of God's love was manifested in Abraham? Would Abraham have pleaded for Sodom, would he have cared for them, if he had not known God? Wouldn't he have had a rather quick, schematic condemnation for them?
God could have acted alone and directly, but He allowed that His actions on earth would be influenced by His people on earth. Of course, a believer himself cannot change the course of history regadless God. That is why we have seen that Abraham perceived when his plea was about to end. Yet his prayer for Sodom reveals a mystery: God's dealings with the world are no longer separately sovereign, but are co-formed with His people on earth. The key to this is a prayer.
