John Calvin Commentary Genesis 18:27

"And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes:" — Genesis 18:27 (ASV)

Which am but dust and ashes. Abraham speaks in this way for the sake of obtaining pardon. For what is mortal man when compared with God? He therefore confesses that he is too bold in so familiarly interrogating God, yet he desires that this favor may be granted to him by Divine indulgence.

It should be noted that the nearer Abraham approaches God, the more fully aware he becomes of the miserable and abject condition of men. For it is only the brightness of God's glory that covers men with shame and thoroughly humbles them when they are stripped of their foolish and intoxicated self-confidence.

Whoever, therefore, seems to himself to be something, let him turn his eyes to God, and immediately he will acknowledge that he is nothing. Abraham, indeed, did not forget that he possessed a living soul; but he selects what was most contemptible to empty himself of all dignity.

It may seem, however, that Abraham is merely trifling sophistically with God when, by gradually diminishing the number first asked, he proceeds to his sixth interrogation. I answer that this should rather be considered the language of a perturbed mind. At first, he anxiously labors for the men of Sodom; therefore, he omits nothing that might serve to mitigate his concern.

And as the Lord repeatedly answers him so mildly, we know that he had not been considered importunate or troublesome. But if he was kindly heard when pleading for the inhabitants of Sodom, even to his sixth petition, much more will the Lord listen to the prayers that anyone may pour out for the Church and household of faith.

Moreover, Abraham's humanity also appears in this: although he knows Sodom to be filled with the vilest corruptions, he cannot bring himself to think that all are infected with the contagion of wickedness. Instead, he rather inclines to the equitable supposition that, in such a great multitude, some just persons may be concealed.

For this is a horrible prodigy, that the filth of iniquity should so pervade the whole body as to allow no member to remain pure. We are, however, taught by this example how tyrannically Satan proceeds once the dominion of sin is established. And certainly, since men's propensity to sin and the ease of sinning are so great, it is not surprising that one person should be corrupted by another until the contagion reaches every individual.

For nothing is more dangerous than to live where the public license of crime prevails; indeed, there is no pestilence so destructive as that corruption of morals which is opposed by neither laws, judgments, nor any other remedies.

And although Moses, in the next chapter (Genesis 18:1), explains the most filthy crime that reigned in Sodom, we must nevertheless remember what Ezekiel teaches (Ezekiel 16:48–49): that the men of Sodom did not fall at once into such execrable wickedness. Instead, in the beginning, luxury from the fullness of bread prevailed, and afterwards, pride and cruelty followed.

Eventually, when they were given up to a reprobate mind, they were also driven headlong into brutal lusts. Therefore, if we dread this extreme of inordinate passion, let us cultivate temperance and frugality. Let us always fear lest a superfluity of food should impel us to luxury, lest our minds should be infected with pride on account of our wealth, and lest delicacies should tempt us to give the reins to our lusts.

CHAPTER 19.