If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
- “When the Levee Breaks”, by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie (with some help from Led Zeppelin)

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.”

²² The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ 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 the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
- Genesis 18:20-26

As I’ve been re-reading the Old Testament, it strikes me that I’m spending more and more time re-evaluating preconceptions and inaccurate lessons taught by others, and replacing it with what the Bible actually says.

For example, I’ve been taught that the reason why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was due to sexual immorality running rampant in the cities.  That idea neatly separated me from them.  I’m not like them, so I’m safe.  I’ve had to re-evaluate that stance, based on a recent article about Richard Stearns’ new book, The Hole in Our Gospel.  (I haven’t read it yet, but it’s quickly moving to the top of my list.)  In his book, Stearns quotes Ezekiel 16:49:

⁴⁹ ” ‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

The LORD goes on to say that Sodom did do detestable things before Him.  However, such things are the outgrowth of a hardened heart, that has refused to listen to the Holy Spirit, and seek to live a Godly life.  The immorality that they do is only the symptom of a deeper sickness that we all suffer from: a life lived for self, rather than a life lived for God.

In light of this, I read Genesis 18:16-33.  Abraham is having a conversation with God, discussing the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham is not debating whether God should or should not obliterate Sodom and Gomorrah; it’s understood that they are wicked places, and deserve it.  What Abraham is wondering is, what would it take to stay God’s hand?  He produces a series of hypothetical situations.  If, out of the whole two cities (twin cities?), what if there were 50 people whom God counted as righteous.  Would that be enough to escape God’s judgement?

Yes.  They would be spared if God could find 50 righteous people.

Then, Abraham proceeds to talk God down, in some kind of bargaining session.  45?  40? 30? 20? 10?  (The passage doesn’t explicitly state as much, but I do wonder if the conversation progressed further…7?…5?…1?)

What is it about the presence of righteous people that would stay God’s hand?  It’s not that God is necessarily impressed with how good these people are.  Ultimately, our only source of Godliness is God himself, through Jesus Christ.  For those who have a relationship with Christ, then righteous actions should be the natural output.  What does that look like?

³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
- Matthew 25:36-40

So, what does all this have to do with “When the Levee Breaks”?  It’s about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.  You can read about the effects at the last link, but suffice to say that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.  I’ve never been in a flood situation (by the grace of God), but the idea of people working to shore up levees to protect their homes bears a resemblance to the righteous people that God was looking for in Sodom and Gomorrah.  God was looking for people who were bringing His hope and His mercy in a desperate situation.  He was looking for those who were fair in their business practices, and merciful to others.  They may have not realized it at the time, but they were the levee holding back God’s wrath.

I need to continually ask myself–what kind of levee am I?  Am I living the kind of life that produces hope in a situation that is more desperate that I realize?

And, just because I can’t get the song out of my head, and I feel the need to share it…