20230604 Genesis 18: Will Not the Judge of All the Earth Do Right?
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. 9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” 22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Introduction: Acts 17:28
for
“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
I have been consumed with a certain verse these days:
28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
This verse speaks of God’s sovereignty. God’s omnipotence. God’s omnipresence.
You can’t hide from God. Both believers and unbelievers exist in God. It is impossible to say that you can exist over here and God exists over there
And all that exists in God is under the control of God.
God has promised Abraham that he would have offspring - but in 17:17 Abraham laughs
Now in chapter 18 the Lord does not simply come to Abraham. The Lord appears. This is known as a theophany - an outward external manifestation of the invisible God.
And Abraham knows that it is the Lord
In the Garden, the serpent, the devil, asks the question: Did God actually say?
And so we have to ask ourselves: How does God respond to our lack of faith, how does the Lord respond to our unfaithfulness? To our doubts?
There are three questions that we have to notice in this chapter:
Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?
Let’s look at these questions in a round about way. Let’s deal with these questions in an indirect way.
(1) The Sovereign Lord of Grace Who Gives Faith
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
Genesis 18:11-15
In the Garden of Eden - The Lord gives a promise - you will not die, Adam and Eve choose to disobey, Adam and Eve hide. The Lord asks, Where are you
Sarah is in the tent, listening. Sarah laughs and then denies it.
The Lords asks Where is Sarah? Why did Sarah laugh?
We sin because we are sinners.
We choose to disobey. Not because the devil makes us do it, we choose to do it - we desire to rebel against God - Sarah’s laugh was an affront to God
Because we walk by sight not by faith
Because we do not fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith
The Lord is about to pour out his wrath on Sodom - but with Abraham and Sarah He chooses grace
I hope you notice what this says about the Lord - his grace, his mercy, his patience - but I hope you absolutely see what this says about his sovereignty and power -
The lord is faithful
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
The Lord gives faith
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
(2) The Sovereign Lord Who Judges And Atones
Genesis 18:19-25
We dealt with 3 questions in the first section
Now the Lord begins to move toward Sodom, and he reveals to Abraham his plan
19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
In verse 19 the Lord states that he has “chosen” Abraham. The Lord will enable Abraham to do this
In contrast is the unrighteousness of Sodom
We now see a dialogue between the Lord and Abraham
Abraham asks the Lord essentially one question: will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ( 18:23)
23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
The wickedness of Sodom - Abraham pleads with God
God’s mercy is evident in His willingness to spare the sinful majority for the sake of even ten righteous people. Fewer than ten can be saved individually
Can the Lord be swayed by Abraham?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Of course the Lord wil do right
RC Sproul:
He asked the Lord a rhetorical question: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (v. 25). The question is rhetorical because we all know the answer: of course the Judge of all the earth will always do what is just. He can do nothing else.
The conversation shows us the depth of unrighteousness. There were fewer than 10. God would save them individually.
The Lord would not be just if He did not punish sin, for the essence of justice is that evil gets what it deserves.
Were this all that the Bible had to say about the Lord, we would be in an awful state indeed, for our sin makes us liable to judgment.
If God were only righteous, there would be no hope for us.
But Scripture tells us also that the Lord is merciful (Luke 6:36).
He has provided a way for our sin to be punished and for Him to remain righteous without destroying us.
That way is the cross.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
As the world spirals down, the Lord continues to save those who are His.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost
Jesus gave his followers a mission. to go into the world and preach the gospel
“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Deut. 32:4).
Our Creator is perfectly righteous, and everything He does flows from and confirms this righteousness.
As a consequence of this perfect righteousness and holiness, God can by no means “acquit the wicked” (Ex. 23:7).
All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of the Lord (Rom. 3:23), and the Lord cannot simply overlook this.
Our transgressions constitute cosmic treason against the Most High God, and they violate His justice.
The Lord would not be just if He did not punish sin, for the essence of justice is that evil gets what it deserves.
Were this all that the Bible had to say about the Lord, we would be in an awful state indeed, for our sin makes us liable to judgment.
If God were only righteous, there would be no hope for us.
But Scripture tells us also that the Lord is merciful (Luke 6:36).
He has provided a way for our sin to be punished and for Him to remain righteous without destroying us.
That way is the cross.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.