The Two Angels Came to Sodom at Evening

"And the two angels came to Sodom" (Genesis 19:1). What is written above this matter? "And Abraham drew near and said: Will You indeed sweep away?" Rabbi Pinchas the priest bar Chama said: The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire to condemn any creature, as it is said: "For I do not desire the death of him who dies" (Ezekiel 18:32). And likewise He says: "For You are not a God who delights in wickedness" (Psalms 5:5). And He says: "As I live, says the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33:11). And what does He desire? To justify His creatures, as it is said: "The LORD desires, for the sake of His righteousness" (Isaiah 42:21). Know this, that at the time the creatures sin and provoke Him, and He is angry with them, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He goes back and seeks an advocate for them to plead their merit, and He provides a path before the advocate. And likewise you find in the days of Jeremiah, who said: "Roam about the streets of Jerusalem and look now and know, and seek in its broad places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness, and I will pardon her" (Jeremiah 5:1). And likewise when the Sodomites sinned, He revealed it to Abraham so that he would plead their merit, as it is said: "And the LORD said: Shall I hide?" Immediately Abraham began to plead advocacy on their behalf, as it is said: "And Abraham drew near and said: Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" And "drawing near" refers only to prayer, as it is said: "And it came to pass at the offering of the afternoon sacrifice that Elijah the prophet drew near and said: O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, etc." (I Kings 18:36). "Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" What is its meaning? He said to Him: It is a harsh thing. Does a being of flesh and blood sweep away [indiscriminately]? Perhaps You too will thus sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Just as You judge the wicked, so You judge the righteous? "The blameless and the wicked You destroy?" "Far be it (chalilah) from You to do." It is written "chalalah," as you say: "A whore or a profaned woman (chalalah)" (Leviticus 21:7). Is it not profane (chol) for You? Thus did You do to the generation of the Flood and to the generation of the Dispersion? I am astonished. This is not Your way. "From doing this thing" is not said here, but rather "like this thing" (cf. Genesis 18:25): neither this nor anything like it. "Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?" "Perhaps there are fifty, etc." And the LORD said: "If I find in Sodom." He opened and went down from fifty to ten, for ten have power to end the calamity. Since He did not find [them], "And the LORD went His way when He had finished, etc." What is written afterward? "And the two angels came to Sodom." See the humility of the Holy One, blessed be He. Rabbi Berekhiah said: It is the way of the world that when two people are standing and conversing and one of them wishes to take leave of the other, the lesser one takes permission from the greater. And the Holy One, blessed be He, when He spoke with Abraham and wished to take leave of him, as it were He took permission from Abraham, as it is said: "And the LORD went His way." When? "When He had finished speaking," and afterward, "And Abraham returned to his place" (Genesis 18:33). Immediately, "And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening." And where did the third go? Is it not written, "And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men" (Genesis 18:2)? Rather, it comes to teach you that the three of them were sent on three missions. The one came to bring tidings to Sarah, and he said to her: "I will surely return to you at this season next year, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son" (Genesis 18:10). He performed his mission and departed. The second went to overturn Sodom, as it is said: "And he said to him: Behold, I have granted you favor concerning this matter also, etc." (Genesis 19:21). "We have granted you favor, we overturn" is not said here. And one came to deliver Lot from the midst of the overthrow, and each and every one performed his mission and departed.