07/02/20 BIBLICAL EQUATION PUZZLE #5 — Identify the OT passage represented by the sequence: 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, … And identify the very next number in the sequence. Hint: It’s from the first book of the OT.

ANSWER: The passage is Genesis 18:26-33; and the final number is 10. Abraham was begging God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah since there were at least a few “righteous” people who lived there among the many wicked citizens. This scene reminds me of the cynical Greek philosopher Diogenes who went from town to town with his lantern searching for an honest man, but failing to find even one. At first Abraham asked if God would spare the city for the sake of 50 righteous people; and God agreed. Apparently the more Abraham thought about the population, the fewer godly persons he thought he could find. Eventually he proposed that God not inflict judgment if he could find only 10!

10 out of how many? Recent archaeological projects have discovered at least 2 million graves in and around the sites of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. Also it seems that these two cities existed for no more than perhaps 52 years. So they were HUGE cities, even by modern American standards. But God destroyed the cities in any event; obviously there were NOT even 10 righteous people who lived there!?

It’s still the case that about 2/3 of Americans claim to be Christians, committed followers of Jesus Christ. But all around us, churches are failing; and the Christian faith is being discredited, despised and legislated against by government, colleges, businesses, etc. One of George Barna’s surveys revealed that for 66 ungodly behaviors, there is NO statistical difference whatsoever between non-believers and so-called Christians. LET’S GET RIGHT WITH GOD BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!