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The world is a wicked place. People do not fear God, many even our leaders often behave without fear of accountability. Some want to eliminate God altogether in the public life of their country. Terrorism and ethnic violence is widespread and life is no longer considered sacred. When we eliminate God that you don't believe man is made in the image of God life will becomes cheap. Shooting and knife attacks are becoming a common occurrence in many of the major cities of the United Kingdom. I could say more about violence including violence against women, child neglect, abuse, and even infant murder. Pornography is a world-wide multi-million-pound business. Stealing, not just by criminal robbers but employees stealing from their employers and white-collar workers stealing from their shareholders and pension fund stakeholders. The list goes on and on. Lying, envy, covetousness and materialism, consumerism is the religion of most people.

If you know anything at all about the Bible and you can't help but ask the question, why doesn't God judge the world today. It is so wicked why doesn't he do something, what prevents him from judging the world right now. Years ago, I heard someone sarcastically say if God doesn’t judge the world today then he should go back and apologise to all those people in the Old Testament. That's probably a little strong but that has what I want to do today and over the next few episodes is try and answer the question of why doesn’t God judge the world, right now, today. What, if any, is preventing him from doing that.

I think there are a lot of ramifications to this question, but I believe a great many answers can be found in this second half of Genesis chapter 18. As you may recall in the first part of this chapter 3 men visited Abraham one of them was the pre–Incarnate Christ and the other two or Angels but were told in verse 16 

16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.’ 20 Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’

(Gen. 18: 16-21)

 I'm going to pause here but we're going to look at the rest of the chapter as well as theses versus. In the second half of this chapter, two things going on. In the first half in which the Lord gives his intention of what his intention concerning Abraham is. In the second half he will gives his intention with what he plans to do with Sodom. Then beginning in verse 22 we have Abraham’s reaction to that which amounts to an intercessory prayer. However, first I am going to go over the verses I just read and pick it up at verse 16. Which we will do in the next episode.