Abraham's tactic with God in Genesis 18 is not recommended. Still, the exchange demonstrates much about God, Abraham, and faith.
Although it looks a lot like it, Abraham is not exactly bargaining or bartering with God. He is more involved in the practice of haggling.
Many of us have an immature phase in our spiritual relationship with God where we believe in the concept of bargaining. We offer to do something for God if He would only do something for us. "Just let that cute girl go out with me, and I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life!" Or, "Lord, let me ace this exam, and I'll do whatever you want!"
The problem with bargaining is that we are attempting to set conditions on our devotion to God. If we truly loved the Lord and made Him first in our lives, He doesn't have to do anything else to command our allegiance or obedience. He should have those things already. And to threaten to not do something if God doesn't do something for us is insulting and offensive. We are bargaining with a very weak hand.
And yet, God, in His forebearance, often puts up with our immaturity. Occasionally He may even indulge it, as He does with Abraham's haggling. Abraham isn't bargaining (offering a quid pro quo) so much as he is arguing God into a course of action.
Abraham, upon hearing of God's plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, is concerned that God may punish the righteous along with the evil. Perhaps he is worried about the safety of his nephew Lot. So Abraham strikes up a conversation with the Lord, who has appeared to Abraham in a physical form.
Abraham first suggests that, if 50 righteous persons were found in the city, that it would be certainly unjust of God to destroy them, too. After establishing their mutual concern for God's reputation, Abraham successfully haggles God down to saving the city for the sake of 10 righteous souls. God, it is revealed through this exchange, is willing to let the wicked go unpunished in order to save the innocent. Abraham, it is shown, is a man of mercy and compassion as well.
In the end, however, it will not matter. There are not ten righteous people to be found in Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, the only righteous man in that region is Lot. And rather than letting him be destroyed along with the rest of the city, he is miraculously rescued out of that situation. So the good are still delivered, and the wicked are still punished, and God's character is kept intact. This section of Genesis contains a powerful lesson about God, His mercy, and His justice.
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