Genesis 18 (Click on title for audio download link)
"Intimacy & Intercession" • 3.11.10 • Thursday Night Bible Study
Intro
- A few weeks have passed since the events of chapter 17 and Abraham is back under his friend Mamre's trees. It's a regular hot day in the desert, but it's about to take a dramatic turn.
Text
• Genesis 18:1-5 : "Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, 'My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.' They said, 'Do as you have said.'" : The text lets us know that this was an unexpected visit. The sense is that Abraham was sitting there looking one way and when he turned around, there they were!
- There is some conjecture as to whether or not Abraham knew immediately that this was the Lord. I tend to favor that Abraham was immediate in recognizing who his visitors were.
- Abraham offered the usual hospitality that would be rendered.
- God accepted this token of hospitality and sat down.
• Genesis 18:6-12 : "So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, 'Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.' And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. Then they said to him, 'Where is Sarah your wife?' So he said, 'Here, in the tent.' And He said, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.' (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'" : Isn't that the way it goes: The man makes hasty plans and then tells the woman to get it done!? Obviously, this was the way things went in the ancient near east.
- Having guests was welcomed. It was not an intrusion at all and, to render hospitality was and still is in that part of the world, very important.
- Sarah busied herself with the cakes and Abraham took to the animals. Preparations are feverishly underway. The spread that they were about to set up was no small matter.
- It's in the midst of this moment that God restates His promise, I'm convinced, just so Sarah could hear it from Him personally.
- In this time, women were heard and not seen. However, Sarah cannot help being in earshot and in this case, it was the best decision of her life.
- She did not make a sound, but her heart laughed at the thought, and much like Abraham's response, she expressed initial doubt in the power of God.
• Genesis 18:13-16 : "And the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.' But Sarah denied it, saying, 'I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, 'No, but you did laugh!'" : It's interesting to me that God asks Abraham about his wife's response. Sarah did laugh in her heart.
- She had a difficult time believing God. It was not Abraham's fault, per se, but it is his responsibility to lead his wife toward faith in God.
- It is not his responsibility alone. Men and women alike are responsible before the Lord to be responsive to Him. We are all responsible to nurture and grow in our faith.
- But Abraham, the husband is asked. Sarah is not asked. I believe that this points to God's leadership structure within the bounds of marriage.
- I cannot be fully responsible for my wife's faith, but I can be actively aware of the issues that confront her and encourage her to believe God's timely word here.
- Turn with me to Ephesians 5. Just for review, let's take a look at the husbands role in marriage from Paul's instructions.
• Ephesians 5:25-28 : "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish."
- Our role as husbands is to imitate the example of Christ, in that He loved the church. How did He do this? He gave Himself for her in order that she would be set apart.
- We are to give ourselves for our wives so that they will be set apart to the Lord. How do we do that? With the washing of water by the word!
- How important is it to know God's word, to study it, to learn to find wisdom from it, so that we can be of good godly service to our wives!
- In Abraham's case, God gives a direct word for Sarah. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
˚ "Here is the bedrock issue. The only reason for such unbelief is a failure to comprehend the extent of God’s ability to work in and through us."
Bob Deffinbaugh[i]
- "Is anything too hard for me as a human?" Yes. Life is overwhelming at times. Situations that we face, self imposed and those imposed upon us, are often unfathomable in scope.
- We wonder how things came to this. What choices had been made that should have been avoided? What things did we say "yes" to that should have been a "no?"
- For humans, everything is too hard on occasion. But that is not the case for Creator God, the Almighty, All sufficient, All powerful One!
- Here, to Abraham and Sarah, God is promising to bring life from a dead womb. To them, it was an impossibility, but God is the God who makes possible that which we once thought impossible.
- Is your situation too hard for the Lord? That child, that spouse, that job, that lack of job. Which fits in the category "Too hard for the Lord?" None!
- But Sarah, like each of us, laugh in unbelief and God sees us and faithfully calls on us to see our lack of faith, so that when He brings it to pass, we know it wasn't our faith that made it happen!
- Today, there are teachers who laud the ones with the faith to bring things to pass. I'd rather applaud the One that truly brings things to pass!
• Genesis 18:16-21 : "Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the Lord said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.' And the Lord said, 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.'" : One minute there is a great celebration and a wonderful time of fellowship. Bread is being shared, fellowship is taking place.
- Now, these angelic beings, begin to move toward Sodom. God says something out loud that He wants Abraham to understand.
- He has determined to tell Him what He was going to do. Note the principle here: There is an intimacy, a deep relationship that has grown between the Lord and Abraham.
- Intimacy precedes revelation. God says that He has known him. The deeper you avail yourself to a relationship with God, the greater you know His heart and are trusted with His will.
- Where there is intimacy, there is also a level of responsibility. Note these words. "He will surely be a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him."
- He is to actively be a blessing towards the nations that surround him.
- God is telling him that Sodom is under investigation. God has seen what has been happening and his prognosis is that their sin is very grave. Literally, the word is grievous.
- What was the sin that was grievous enough to provoke this response from the Lord? We'll look at that a bit more in detail in chapter 19.
- God has seen what has been happening. He is not immune to the sickening scene in Sodom. He tells Abraham that He's going to go down to look for Himself.
- Why does He tell Abraham this? There are two reasons in my mind: First, there is no hasty judgement with God. He does nothing without fully looking into it Himself.
- Second, I believe that He is awakening Abraham to the gravity of the situation. Abraham knows what God will find when He goes down to Sodom.
- Since the very first mention of Sodom, wickedness has belonged in the same sentence!
- For the first time, Abraham is challenged to think about what he should do with the knowledge that he had regarding Sodom.
- I often think about this as well. We live in a world where salacious information is fed to us on a daily basis. What do we do with that information?
- Our reactions vary from judgement, to anger and rage. How often are we praying for salvation? How often are we listening to the reports and asking the Lord to intervene?
• Genesis 18:22 : "Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord." : This is an amazing verse of scripture. God's angels of destruction are headed toward Sodom.
- Their path will lead them to meet with Lot, which we will look at next week.
- As they are leaving, here is Abraham. I imagine that the joy and excitement of again hearing the news of his son, has given way to the dread of what he knows might happen soon.
- Here he stands still before the Lord. This is a poignant moment. He can certainly take several stances from here.
- He can walk away and revel in his own personal blessings. After all, in just a year, he will have a son that will bring him great joy.
- Abraham could stand there with a look of disgust and satisfaction at God's justice that is finally about to be meted out. He might even say, "Can I help!?"
- I imagine however, that Abraham stood there semi-shocked, afraid to move because of the awesome nature of this moment.
- The God of the Universe, Almighty God is about to act severely in judgement.
- And between Sodom and the Lord, stands Abraham, the intercessor, the go between.
- Abraham stands in the gap between the deserving wicked city and the indignant God!
• Genesis 18:23-25 : "And Abraham came near and said, 'Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' So the Lord said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.'" : Abraham speaks and he speaks from a deep concern. What about those who are like him: righteous, but living in Sodom.
- Should the righteous suffer along with the wicked? "There could be 50 righteous people there. What about them?"
- Abraham calls God the Judge of all the earth. He shall do what is right and treating the righteous in the same manner as those who are wicked would be wrong.
- God agrees. For the sake of 50, God would spare the city. Note, the issue at hand is righteousness, ie. right actions.
- For such a small number, God would have been dissuaded from acting in divine judgement.
- What affect does your presence as a righteous person have on your world? How much do your prayers matter? How much worth is there in your stand for righteousness?
- It makes a world of difference!
- 50 people and God will spare the city. Abraham is not satisfied with this answer.
• Genesis 18:26-33 : "Then Abraham answered and said, 'Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?' So He said, 'If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.' And he spoke to Him yet again and said, 'Suppose there should be forty found there?' So He said, 'I will not do it for the sake of forty.' Then he said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?' So He said, 'I will not do it if I find thirty there.' And he said, 'Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?' So He said, 'I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.' Then he said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?' And He said, 'I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.' So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place." : Abraham is bold enough to ask for five less. Then, it's ten less. Outrageously, he makes it down all the way to ten people. Certainly there are ten righteous in the city?
- God at each turn answers that the new lowest denominator will suffice to cancel His wrath.
- At ten, Abraham stops. He did not go further. Verse 33 tells us that they separated at this point, God going His and Abraham returning to his tent. What an amazing exchange!
- Some commentators believe that Abraham stopped short and want to encourage us not to follow Abraham's example. "He could have asked for just one and the city would have been spared."
- As we look at next week, the number 10 covered Lot's family.
Conclusion
- What is it that we are supposed to take from this passage? First, there is an example of intimacy with the Lord that is stamped all over this chapter.
- God and Abraham were friends. God came to meet Abraham. Abraham ran to meet Him. Abraham served the Lord. God shared His plan with Abraham. Abraham drew near to God.
- Are you understanding that God wants this kind of relationship with each of us? He wants this to be your story as well.
- Second, there is an example of intercession. Abraham stood in the gap for a nation that was facing certain demise.
- He stood there as a righteous man, a friend of God, begging, entreating God on behalf of a group of people who would never know.
- Three points regarding intercession that we can glean from the end of this chapter.
I. Intercession Is Concerned With Righteousness And The Glory Of God.
- My intercession must be based on wanting to see a righteous result take place. It is not to “vanquish my enemies.”
- It is to ask God to bring about righteousness to the given situation, in accordance with the furthering of His glory, His reputation.
- “Shall not the judge of the Earth do right?” Abraham’s concern was for God’s image.
- When I interced on someone's behalf, I want God to be glorified in the situation
II. Intercession Is Coming With Humble Requests For The Justice Of God.
- God is not my cosmic genie who I order around with my demands!
- I am never in a position that God must acquiesce to my demand of Him.
- I must come humbly, requesting, and recognizing that He is Just and whatever outcome takes place, He is acting according to His Justice.
III. Intercession Is Content With Honest Answers And The Will Of God.
- “Ah but God…” Intercession is not arguing with God until I get my way.
- When He answers, whether I like it or not, I will be content that His will is going to be done.
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