Shall not the judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?

It's a question Abraham asks in the midst of his intercession for Sodom, on which the Lord would rain fire and brimstone (19:24).  Knowing that “righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2 :7) and his family lived there,  Abraham asks “Will You slay the righteous with the wicked?”  We'll look at Abraham's intercession later. But the title question is a good one, for many feel quite judgemental towards the God of the Old Testament.  

We may not agree exactly on what is right and what is wrong, but being made in the image of God (1:26),  we are moral creatures. We can say “all truth is relative, there is no such thing as right and wrong,”  that is until somebody robs us,  or rapes our daughter! The very fact that we feel judgemental towards the God of the Old Testament indicates something of our inherent moral outrage at things  we think are wrong. “Somebody aught to do something about that!” Of course our judgements tend to be biased, and we  tend to want justice for others,  but mercy for ourselves. This is unrighteous, and Jesus warns  “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”  (Matthew 7:2).  To me this has to be one of the scariest verses in the Bible. It's not that long ago that the Lord convicted me of judging judgemental people, you know those blankety blank judgmental people!

We have already read that God would not judge the sin of the Amorites until it had reached its full measure (Genesis 15:16). But the Lord is not desirous that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Not everyone will repent of course, and God will not always strive with us to woo us, or scare us into the Kingdom (Psalm 103:9).  Here in Genesis we read the Lord saying “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me” (18:21). Ellicott comments “Before He punishes,  God examines with the same care and personal inspection as the most conscientious earthly judge.”

You might be thinking “nobody's going to tell me what to do!”  We can choose that route, and it is a choice. It's a pride filled choice, for we are but creatures of the Creator.  But we need to understand that there is no fence, and we are here to choose. And having chosen,  we influence others to choose. It works both ways. Concerning this, in the  context writing about the sins of Sodom Paul writes “those who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who do them (Romans 1:32).  We need to consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fall, severity; “but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22).

Lord, Your  thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways Your ways.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8, 9). You are indeed the Judge of the whole earth, You are also good (Luke 18:19), and You will  judge with righteous judgement. But You are also a God of mercy Lord, and as for me I want mercy,  not justice in Jesus Name Amen