After promising Abraham and Sarah a child within a year …
Then the LORD said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them …” Gen 18:20-21
… Abraham’s heart [was] attuned to his Lord’s compassion for [all human beings] and he [dared] to intercede for them with bold confidence. # 2571
… Abraham … said: “Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city; would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?” Gen 18:23-24
“… forty-five …” ? … Gen 18:28
“… forty … ? …” Gen 18:29″
“… thirty … ? …” Gen 18:30″
“… twenty … ? …” Gen 18:31
“… ten … ? …” Gen 18:32
“For the sake of those ten,” [God] replied, “I will not destroy it.” Gen 18:32
Remember that there was no Bible yet, no Tradition, no Magisterium.
Abraham and Lot were the best God had so far.
And Lot was living just outside of Sodom.
At this point in history, God was creating conditions in which people could learn to love, to care about each other.
God … created [human beings] out of love [and also] calls [us] to love… # 1604 see also # 356
But in Sodom and Gomorrah, well …
… two angels reached Sodom in the evening, … they … entered [Lot’s] house. … all the townsmen of Sodom, both young and old–all the people to the last man—closed in on the house. They called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out to us that we may … [attack them].” Lot … said, “I beg you, … not to do this wicked thing. They replied, “… We’ll treat you worse than them!” Gen 19:1-9
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to attack the visitors, to be mean, to be bullies.
How the people of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to attack the visitors is less important than the fact that EVERYONE from the town wanted to attack the visitors.
In addition to the immediate pain of such an attack, people who are bullied tend to become bullies. The cruelty of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah was turning other people cruel, making it harder to truly love. God needed to convince even godless people to not be so cruel, so …
As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, Gen 19:15
“Flee for your life! Gen 19:17
[Once Lot was safely in a nearby town] the LORD rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah … Gen 19:24
…[God] condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (to destruction), reducing them to ashes, making them an example for the godless (people) … 2 Peter 2:6
Early the next morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood in the LORD’S presence. Gen 19:27
As [Abraham] looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah … he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace. Gen 19:28