Our God of Justice and Grace

Genesis 18:16-19:29

To help the children understand that God is just, and that disobedience brings serious consequences

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24, NIV*).

Impartiality is important for elementary aged children, because it provides order and a sense of fairness, that is, everyone receives the same treatment. Children complain immediately if they believe a situation is unfair. This lesson will help them trust that God is just.

Either way, justice demands judgment towards evil. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God showed his great mercy even to the wicked, when he pledged to forgive the city if there were 20 righteous people there. In spite of everything, the cities were very sinful and that demanded judgment.

In truth, God is always just, but life is not always just. Bad decisions, ambition and sin make our society full of injustices. The righteous often suffer as much as the unjust.

Although God spared the lives of Lot and his family, they also suffered. Lot lost his wife, his friends and his possessions.

God is just and merciful. He is merciful with everything and, in many cases, saves the righteous from great difficulties. However, God will finally judge and punish the evil ones.

In this story, we see that the judgment and grace of God act together. The trial is obvious in the destruction of cities that were in complete chaos. People had rejected God, and their behavior was characterized by deviation from God’s ways, e.g. lack of self-control, perversion, violence.

Abraham’s faith marks a huge contrast between him and the people of those cities. Abraham and Lot were faithful to God and interceded for their neighbors. Abraham interceded for the cities, and Lot interceded for the angels who visited him.

This story helps us see how God deals with humanity, showing his grace and mercy to all. He did not destroy the cities immediately; He did it when the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah increased and their sin became extremely severe.

The justice of God demands a response to sinful behavior. Those who continue to reject God’s will suffer the consequences of their sins. But, we can be sure that God will save the righteous.

Mural

Return to Student Activity Sheet #167-C which says “Watch Out” and have the children paste it on the appropriate strip in the mural.

Ask them to look at the figure as you tell them: “God sent these visitors with a special mission. By listening to the biblical story, we will learn more about what they did when visiting two large cities.”

Use this activity as an introduction to the Bible story.

Be an example by keeping your Bible open in the Bible passage. This will help the children know that what they will learn comes from the Word of God. If you wish, ask that some volunteers read the passage before beginning the narration.

Rescued from Sodom

“Welcome!” said Abraham to the foreigners who came to his tent. He did not receive many visitors in the hot land where he lived. “Please, come and rest a moment, and stay for lunch with us.”

The strangers accepted the invitation. However, they were not ordinary travelers. They were messengers of God!

“Within a year or so, you will have the son God promised you,” they told Abraham. But that good news was not the only news that the messengers brought. They were going towards two cities where there was a lot of evil. Abraham walked with them for a while when they continued on their way.

God thought, “Do I tell Abraham what I’m going to do?” Then he said through the angels, “The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is so terrible that I will destroy those cities and all the people who live there.”

Abraham was very worried. His nephew Lot lived in one of those cities. When the messengers continued their journey to Sodom, Abraham prayed, “God, will you kill the good ones along with the bad ones? If there are 50 good and righteous people in Sodom, will you kill them all? Will you not save the city for the love of the 50 righteous? I know you would not treat the good the same as the bad. You are merciful and forgiving! I ask you not to do it! But I know you: the Judge of the whole universe will do what is right.”

“If I find 50 righteous people in the whole city, I will not destroy it,” answered God.

“And if there were only 45 righteous people, will you destroy the whole city because of those other five bad people?” Abraham asked.

“If there are 45 righteous, I will not destroy it,” said God.

“Do not get angry now, my Lord, but maybe there are only 30 good people,” Abraham continued.

“I will not destroy it if I find 30 good people,” God answered once more.

“What if there were 20?” Abraham asked again.

“For those 20 people I will not destroy it,” God answered.

“I will ask for the last time. What would happen if there were only 10 good people in Sodom?” Abraham asked.

“For love of the 10 righteous, I will not destroy it,” concluded God.

Finally, the angels arrived in Sodom. When they reached the city gate, they saw Lot there and approached him. When Lot saw them, he got up and bowed before them.

“I beg you to stay at my house tonight,” said Lot.

“No, we’ll camp on the street,” the visitors replied.

“Stay at my home,” insisted Lot. In the end, they accepted.

The visitors were sad to see what was happening in the city. The perversion and sin of the city was terrible! There were not 10 people in the whole city who loved or obeyed God!

“Do you have more family in this city?” the visitors asked Lot. “Get them out of here because we will destroy this place. The clamor against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great that God has sent us to destroy it.”

Very quickly, Lot went to look for the men his daughters intended to marry and when he found them, he said to them, “Come on, let’s get out of this city because God is going to destroy it.”

But they thought it was a joke.

At dawn, the angels told Lot, “Get up, and take your wife and your daughters so they do not die when the city is destroyed!”

“I’ll go get them,” Lot said.

Since Lot and his family took a long time, the angels took them by the hands and took them out of the city.

“Save yourselves!” the visitors told them, “and do not look back.”

So Lot and his family ran to save their lives. But Lot’s wife looked back, and at that moment, she became a statue of salt.

Very early the next day, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had prayed to God. From there he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the plain, and saw that from all that land arose smoke coming from the burning cities as from a furnace.

God destroyed those wicked cities, but he remembered Abraham’s prayer and rescued his nephew Lot.

Take time to review the Bible story. Remind the children that God destroyed those wicked cities, but he remembered Abraham’s prayer and rescued his nephew Lot.