God doing God (impossible) things

Genesis 18:1–15 (KJV 1900)

Genesis 18:1–15 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. 9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

God, accompanied by two angels, pays Abraham a visit.

Abraham was not unaccustomed to visits with God.

In just the previous chapter, he had discoursed with God regarding the promises that god had made to him.

God had promised Abraham, many years earlier, that He would make a great nation out Abraham and his children.

Time had crept by and, as of yet, God had not fulfilled His promise.

This visit though, was different.

Abraham is sitting in the door of his tent when he sees the three visitors that seem to have come from out of no where.

Abraham rushes to the visitors and bows himself at their feet.

He refers to one of the visitors as “my Lord.”

The english word “Lord” appears several times in our passage.

You would be forgiven for thinking that all three words mean the same thing.

There are actually three Hebrew words being used in this passage, however.

In this instance, Abraham indicates an immediate recognition of who he is kneeling before.

Abraham refers to one of the visitors as “my adonai.”

Adonai is a Hebrew proper noun referring only to God.

Abraham understands that he is kneeling before God, Himself.

Now, we are concerned tonight with examining God doing impossible things, but let’s not miss a very common thing that we see God doing in this passage.

Abraham asks God ad His angels to stay at his home for awhile.

He offers them food and drink.

God agrees.

He sends Abraham to prepare the food and drink for them.

Imagine the thrill of preparing a meal for God and two angels!

Abraham gets to work preparing the meal.

He hastened in to tell Sarah to make some bread.

He runs to the field to pick out a calf.

He hasted to dress it.

Once all of the food is prepared, notice Abraham’s actions.

He places the food before his heavenly guests.

Then he stands by while they eat.

Abraham, one of the richest men on the planet, stands as a servant waiting on his Master.

This is all really cool to see.

Even more amazing is that God and the angels eat the food.

Think about this for a second.

God and two angels eating the food of earth.

God, in the flesh, eating food, who does that remind you of?

There is probably a lot that we could say about the theology of God eating, here.

But, we could also just look at it from a less scientific perspective and just appreciate that God would connect with Abraham in this way.

As the meal starts to wrap up, God moves the conversation into the business of His visit.

This divine visit is more than a social call.

God is the spokesperson for the three visitors.

He asks Abraham where Sarah is.

Abraham answers that she is in the tent.

Culturally, it would not have been appropriate for Sarah to be present as the men ate and conversed.

Sounds strange to us, but it was normal for them.

Something that was also normal for them was that the women would listen in on the men’s conversation if it was interesting.

I don’t know how many of you have ever stayed in a tent, they’re not exactly sound proof.

Now, if you’ve ever listened to a bunch of men, it may not surprise you to learn that a lot of male conversations aren’t all that interesting.

Sarah was listening, though, because these visitors were obviously important to get her aged husband so worked up.

When God speaks, He does so, fully intending for Sarah to hear.

God announces to Abraham and Sarah that the time has come for Him to fulfill His promise.

They will welcome a child into their home.

It will not be the child of a concubine, like Ishmael was.

This will be Abraham’s son by his wife Sarah.

A true and right heir, just as God had always promised.

When Sarah heard this from inside the tent she laughed within herself.

Even though Abraham and Sarah were given good health and long life, they were both well past the age of producing children.

How could she and her husband hope to have joy so late in life.

BTW, this is the second instance of the word “lord.”

When Sarah refers to Abraham as her “lord” it is not the same as the word that Abraham had used for God.

Though it is close, Adon vs. Adonai simply means leader.

God had reiterated His commitment to give Abraham a son in the previous chapter.

Abraham had laughed at this news as well.

Abraham’s laugh was the laugh of a man overjoyed and full of faith that he would receive what had been promised.

Sarah laughed out of disbelief.

You could almost say it was a sneer of doubt.

Considerable sympathy must be shown to Sarah, she had barren for decades.

She had not had the same interactions with God that Abraham had.

While he had been growing in his understanding of God’s plan for his life, it is not clear how much Sarah knew.

Even if Abraham had shared everything God had said, she was still getting it second-hand.

As Sarah laughed to herself at God’s promise, she assumed that she could do so unnoticed.

Sound may travel easily through the tents.

She laughed to herself and made no sound.

Someone had heard, though.

Sitting outside the tent, the Lord had heard Sarah.

He addressed Abraham, with full knowledge that Sarah was listening.

He asked why Sarah had laughed at what He had said.

If you think about this, it is incredibly insulting.

Sarah doubted what God had said.

When we doubt God, we are questioning His veracity and ability.

What is in doubt?

Does God keep His promises?

Can He keep His promises?

God graciously poses a question to the couple intended to challenge and strengthen their faith.

Sarah, you’ve asked whether or not I can give you a child at your age.

You doubt me.

Allow me to answer your question with another question.

Is anything too hard for the LORD?

Here is another use of the word “lord” this time in all caps.

The Hebrew word behind this word is nothing like the previous two instances.

This is the title of Yahweh/Jehovah.

Is anything too hard for YAHWEH?

Is there anything too hard for God to accomplish?

Too wonderful?

Too impossible?

God is powerful enough to do all that He wills.

He already expressed His will for them to have a child of their own.

Can the God who provides be trusted to provide your family with the promised son?

Without waiting for a response, God confirms what He will do.

He will visit their family.

Sarah will have a son.

The Lord shows his mercy by not withdrawing His promise.

Sarah, I’m guessing, rather sheepishly protests that she did not laugh.

The Bible says she as afraid.

God reproves her and confirms that she did, in fact, laugh in doubt of what he had said.

This interchange seems to have had a profound impact on Sarah and her faith.

Though we don’t read more about her response in Genesis, Hebrews 11 gives us a great insight into Sarah’s faith.

Hebrews 11:11 “11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

Just a few chapters later, Sarah did welcome a son.

Isaac was born and became the promised heir that God had spoken of decades earlier.

Sarah learned that God is faithful to keep His promises.

She learned that there is nothing too hard, too wonderful, or too impossible for God.

It’s a lesson that we need to learn this year.

Over the next several weeks, I want to look through the Bible at examples of God doing God things, impossible things.

There still isn’t anything too hard for God.

I wonder what impossible thing are you looking for God to do in your life?

What are you trusting Him to do this year?

Is there a request that weighs on your heart?

A request that others might scoff at as never happening?

Don’t let the impracticality of your request hinder you from looking for God to do the impossible.

Remember, Sarah had it all worked out in her head.

She knew all the reasons why God couldn’t grant them a child.

She was too old.

He was to old.

Physically it could not happen.

Our faith needs to take a step forward this year.

A belief in God’s ability to do the impossible is central to message of the Bible.

Listen to these verses and see if you can identify a unifying theme.

Job 42:2 “2 I know that thou canst do every thing, And that no thought can be withholden from thee.”

Jeremiah 32:17 “17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”

Jeremiah 32:27 “27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

Luke 1:37 “37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Ephesians 3:20 “20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”

Whatever we will face this year, nothing is too hard for God.

Whatever request that you have, nothing is too hard for God.

If we set out to do something great for God, nothing is too hard for Him.