Can a righteous person save a city? (Jer 5:1)

When faced with the overwhelming problems and needs of this world, as they come to us through news media, mission organisations or charities, we may feel utterly helpless. What difference can our contributions make? I’ll never forget the words spoken by a representative of a mission who said that the actions of one individual may feel like nothing amid all the world’s needs, but it can mean everything to that one person reached or helped. The exhortation at the beginning of Jeremiah 5 to look for a godly person and the Lord will pardon the city raises the issue: what difference do our lives make in the world? And what is the logic of such a statement; can the merit of one person outweigh the wickedness of others?

The search for a righteous person for whose sake God may pardon is reminiscent of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham tries to work out how many righteous persons may be acceptable for God to save the city (Gen 18:23-33). God reveals His intentions about Sodom to Abraham using it as a teaching opportunity. Since the patriarch was given a key role in God’s plans and had to train his descendants in His ways (Gen 18:17-19), it was important for him to reflect on issues of justice and the difference that godliness makes in a wicked world. John Walton, who engages this question is worth quoting at length.

In this chapter we discover another way in which Abraham’s family will serve as a channel of grace: Their presence as a righteous minority in a wicked world will still God’s hand of destruction. But the issue is not necessarily simply a question of “acquit or destroy” – more subtly, it may involve the question of “now or later.” When does God decide that no more time will be given for reform?

If there were fifty righteous, would God spare the city for a time to see if that righteous minority could have an impact in the city and turn it around? What opportunity will be given for the minority to bring about change? How small can the minority be and still be allowed to have an impact? This is an important issue for Abraham to explore because his family is to be that righteous minority among the nations, with Sodom standing as a representative microcosm. (Genesis, NIVAC, [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001], 482-483)

To return to Jeremiah, the issue then is not that the merit from the righteous offsets the wickedness of the wicked in the city, so that they are forgiven for the sake of the godly. Rather, the question is, is there enough of a godly influence to help bring the city to repentance, so that, given time, it could be spared? The answer is that the people are so steeped in sin, so set in their evil ways that they absolutely refuse to accept correction (Jer 5:3), just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham’s time. Yet, Jeremiah and others must keep going, doing the right thing, warning, challenging, and hoping that something may be saved from the disaster.

More positively, Abraham’s story shows us of what is possible. A negligible and unimportant family – humanly speaking, vulnerable in a foreign land, comes to shine as a beacon of light, so that others note the blessing it has, and desiring it themselves, can receive some of its benefits (e.g. Gen 21:22-23; 26:28-29; 30:27). We can take heart that in God’s economy, even the small and seemingly insignificant have a part to play and can make a difference. We cannot take responsibility for others’ actions and there are times when our efforts bear little fruit, no matter how hard we try. Yet, God called us to this purpose to make a difference in the world as a godly minority, challenging wickedness, awakening the desire for God by the life we lead and mediating its blessings through faithful service to the Lord.

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