Abraham said. "Please don’t be angry, Lord, and I will speak just once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." Genesis 18:32, GNT

 

How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!” Jonah 4:11, GNT

 

These are two well-known stories in the Bible. We read that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah “is very great” (Genesis 18:20) and that of Nineveh, God said, “I am aware how wicked its people are” (Jonah 1:2). Because of this, God planned to destroy the cities, but he would not do so before giving them a second chance.

 

In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, there was someone who pleaded on their behalf. His name was Abraham, a man full of love for his neighbours. His plea to God was that if they could find fifty innocent people, God should not destroy them. God agreed to spare the whole city because of the fifty people. Abraham went on with his plea until God promised to spare the city if there were only ten innocent people. As the story unfolded, they could not find even ten innocent people, apart from Lot and his family, so the destruction was carried out.

 

In Nineveh, we see a completely different scenario. God sent Jonah as a “missionary” to warn the people of Nineveh of the destruction he planned for the city. Although Jonah was unwilling to warn them and fled to Tarshish, he eventually went to Nineveh. In contrast with Abraham, Jonah did not really want Nineveh to be saved. After the people of Nineveh turned away from their wicked ways, the Lord took pity on them, but Jonah was angry with the Lord.

 

In these two stories, we have God, whom Jonah himself said: “I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.” (Jonah 4:2b) Of the two people involved, one, because he was a man of love, tried his best to avert the destruction of Sodom. The other one was angry because God changed his mind and saved Nineveh.

 

What kind of person am I? How do I look at my neighbour?

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your wonderful love. Please help us to be like Abraham. Amen