Abraham asks: 'What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous people in it?' The opening bid — fifty — is generous. There is no suggestion that Abraham has any count in mind; fifty is the starting point of a negotiation conducted through theological argument. The logic is clear: if the righteous are present, their presence should be sufficient to spare the whole. This is the covenant logic of the remnant — a community can be held together by the righteousness of a minority. Jeremiah 5:1 voices the same principle: if one person can be found who deals honestly, God will forgive the city. The application: the presence of the righteous in a community is not incidental to the community's survival. The intercession of the few for the many is one of the primary ways God holds communities together.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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