Read: Genesis 18
The first
fifteen verses of Genesis 18 give us a detailed description of the Lord
appearing to Abraham. Abraham was
sitting at the door of his tent during the heat of the day when he saw three
men standing in front of him (v. 1-2).
When he saw them he ran to them and bowed before them saying, “O Lord…do
not pass by your servant”. There is
little reason to doubt that Abraham recognizes that one of his visitors is the
pre-incarnate Christ. Abraham spared no
expense in providing these visitors with a lavish feast. He does not eat with the visitors but rather
like a servant, he waits on them (v. 8).
One of the visitors questions, “Where is Sarah, your wife” (v. 9)? The fact that they knew Sarah’s name
indicates that they were not ordinary visitors and that their visit had
something to do with her, as the dialogue continues this will be
confirmed. Sarah was in the tent but
within hearing range. She heard all that
the visitors said and when they gave a promise to return about the same time
the next year and that she would have a son (v. 10), Sarah laughed to herself
(v. 12). Sarah was old and advanced in
years, her monthly menstrual cycles had stopped so there would be no way that
she could become pregnant. The visitor’s
response was, “is anything too hard for the Lord” (v. 14)? Sarah then denies laughing (v. 15) but the
visitor, who could not see her, had the ability to discern her inner laugh
which proved that he was no mere man and says, “No, but you did laugh” (v.
15).
The primary
reason for the visitors’ visit was to make the announcement that Sarah would
have a baby which would fulfill the covenant promise. But the Lord gives Abraham another message
from these visitors, in the next section of the chapter he learns of the
potential destruction of Sodom. God
discloses to Abraham what He is about to do to Sodom so that He may teach
Abraham’s descendants to keep the way of the Lord and do righteousness, so that
the Lord can bring to them what He had promised them (v. 19).
Sodom and
Gomorrah were evil, wicked cities (v. 20). Abraham understood that God was
going to destroy these cities and he knew that his nephew Lot and his family
lived there. Abraham’s response was to
intercede for these cities. He appeals to the nature and character of God,
“Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked (v. 23)…shall not the
Judge of all the entire earth do what is just” (v. 25)? Abraham engages with
God and presents various scenarios of hypothetical numbers gradually reducing
the number of righteous from 50 down to 10 (v. 26-32). Abraham was not merely haggling with God, he
knew God’s character and that God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the
wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).
In this
chapter we see that God was teaching Abraham many things before making him into
a great nation. God was teaching Abraham
about the nature of sin and wickedness and about His holiness and the necessity
of judging sin. God was showing Abraham
that His judgments are just and He was teaching Abraham to fear God.
Prayer and Journaling
1. “Is anything too hard for the Lord (v.
14)?” What is one prayer request where
you have not received an answer yet?
First, ask the Lord whether or not you are praying according to His will
in this particular situation. Then, ask
the Lord to show you any changes that are needed to your prayer strategy – what
are you missing in praying for this situation?
Then, pray what the Lord shows you and commit to continuing to seek His
strategy on this issue.
2. God
revealed the coming judgement of Sodom to Abraham. The secrets of the Lord are with those who
fear Him. Abraham had chosen to live a
life of communion with God, walking with God and therefore He was given
foresight into what was to come. As we
get closer and closer to the end times the importance of hearing God becomes
even more important, so does foresight.
Ask the Lord to grow you in hearing His voice. Pray that you would hear with clarity and
that the Lord would give you insight for you and your family in the times to
come.
3. Intercessory
prayer is most effective when we have a deep realization of God’s
judgment. It is hard to pray for the
lost when we don’t have an understanding of their eternal punishment. Pray that you would grow in an healthy fear
of the Lord and that the Lord would place an urgency in your heart about the
end times. Pray that you would stand
firm and that you would learn to love prayer and praying for the lost.
