How Many Righteous Does It Take?

“Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” Ezekiel 14:20

They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If you apply this to churches, then a congregation is only as strong as its weakest member. But sometimes God blesses the weak links for the sake of the righteous ones.

How many righteous does it take for God to show mercy?

There are several times in the Bible when the number of righteous people dwindled down to single digits.

Sodom and Gomorrah had fewer than ten righteous people. Only eight souls were saved through the flood. After the Israelites’ escape from Egypt, only two of the twelve men sent to spy out the land of Canaan had faith that God was going to give it to them. And twice Moses had to intercede for the entire nation to be spared when their sin aroused God’s anger.

When you read about such moments in biblical history, you can bet God was getting ready to hand down some judgment. Sometimes the righteous were punished with the wicked, but other times God spared some who were not so righteous for the sake of those who were.

When Abraham bargained with God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if just ten righteous people could be found, they couldn’t even find that many. God sent angels to bring out Lot and any of his family that would come. Lot was about the only righteous person there, yet God offered escape to his children as well. If they had all been righteous themselves, it might have added up to ten, but even though some (possibly all) of them were not righteous, they had an opportunity because of their father’s goodness.

But there comes a point when you can no longer ride on your parents’ spiritual coattails. Much later in their history, God’s people had gone so far into sin that in Ezekiel 14 God expressed His frustration with His people by repeating four times that even if righteous Noah, Daniel, and Job had still been alive, He would spare them but not their children.

This makes me wonder about Noah’s family. Were his sons and their wives saved because they were righteous, or because Noah was?

As a mother, I feel like if God is pleased with me and wants to reward me, I surely do want Him to spare my children. Imagine being spared but having to watch your children be punished, like Lot had to do. As a daughter, I wonder how many times I have been spared in some way because of my parents’ righteousness and prayers.

How many righteous does it take for God to spare a nation? It doesn’t seem to take very many, but when you start getting down into single digits, that’s pretty grim.

Yet no matter how bad it got, there was always talk of a remnant.

Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Ezekiel 14:22

I wonder if those of the remnant were the righteous, or was it just that God wanted to keep His promises to righteous Abraham and so spared some of his descendants.

How many righteous does it take to have a faithful congregation? “Where two or three are gathered” in Jesus’s name, he is there with them (Matthew 18:20). No matter how few righteous there are– even if it’s only a remnant’s worth– God will use them and bless them.

But the main reason God preserved a remnant in Israel was so the Messiah could come through Abraham’s seed as promised, because ultimately, we are all weak links. “There is none righteous, no, not one,” (Romans 3:10). Yet God is willing to spare the whole world if we’ll submit to Christ; He accepts the righteousness of the only truly righteous Man as payment for the sins of everyone else!

How many righteous does it take? Thankfully, only ONE!

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

by Christie Cole Atkins

Heavenly Father, history proves over and over that it is not in man to direct his own steps wisely. We thank You for the mercy and grace You have shown us in allowing Your righteous Son to bear the weight of our sin so that we can be made righteous through His obedience. Forgive our sins, Father, and help us to do what is right even when no one else does. Strengthen us by the power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’s name, Amen.