A Friend of God - Genesis 18

Overview

Wrapping up the first 19 chapters of Genesis this evening

We explored covenants last week - do you remember the characteristic of a covenant?

Parties - typically one or two

Duration - not to be changed or altered - they can only be broken

Conditions - what are the conditions and / or promises made

Signs - what signifies that a party is in covenant

What is a common covenant today?

Do you remember the three overarching covenants found in Scripture that each of the other covenants which are established are found in?

Covenant of Works - established in the Garden of Eden, but this covenant was broken

Covenant of Redemption - established within the Godhead; God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit covenant amongst themselves to bring about redemption for man

Covenant of Grace - God covenants with all who will be redeemed; Christ serves as our mediator between God and man; Conditions are based on faith in the completed work of Christ and the covenant continues through obedience to God’s commands; Signs of this covenant are baptism and The Lord’s Supper (communion)

The Abrahamic covenant, established in Gen. 15 - 17 falls under which overarching covenant? The covenant of grace.

Who are the parties? God and Abram

What is the duration? Forever - Gen. 15:13-16. God foretells a time when Abram’s descendents will be in slavery.

Genesis 15:13–16 CSB

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. 14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. 15 But you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

c. What is the promise? To make Abram a father of many nations (God changes his name to Abraham Gen. 17:5)

d. What is the sign? Circumcision (Gen. 17:10-11)

What is the title James gives to Abraham? Look at James 2:23 “23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.”

With that in the back of our minds, let’s look at the encounter between Abraham and his three visitors in Genesis 18. The question, I’d like to ask you as we look at each section, what do friends do?

Divine Encounter

Read Gen. 18:1-15

Genesis 18:1–15 CSB

1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground, 3 and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.” “Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then Abraham took curds and milk, as well as the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree. 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered. 10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” 13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” 15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”

What time of day is this encounter? “Heat of the day” Perhaps noon to 2:00.

Where is Abraham located at this time? Outside the tent.

What was Abraham looking for? He was looking for those who may pass by needing some refreshment and rest.

If Abraham was in his tent getting some rest and refreshment, would he have missed this divine encounter? Would he have missed the blessing from such an encounter?

Scripture tells us that Abraham was at the oaks of Mamre. The name Mamre means “fatness.” He is enjoying the fullness of God’s blessing.

Look, however, at Abraham’s preparation

He is outside his tent in the heat of the day

He is on the lookout for passersby

He and his clan had all been circumcised - most likely a few months before. He was obedient to the Lord’s commands and has prepared himself spiritually for this encounter

Abraham is a picture of a man who is on mission. He is also one who uses hospitality as a means to accomplishing his mission. This is a picture of one who is experiencing Hebrews 13:2 “2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.”

What else can we say about Abraham? He is an humble man. Look at verse 2, he bowed to the ground. Verse 4, may I have a little water - not that he is being stingy, rather he is saying my water is not much, but you’re welcome to it. Verse 5, I will bring a bit of bread - again, Abraham is not being stingy, he is saying my bread’s not much, but you’re welcome to it. Verses 6-8, we see Abraham is a generous man. He has more than a little water or a bit of bread delivered to these men…it’s a big meal.

Since I have been studying church history, I saw this story in one of commentaries which ties in here. It is about Gregory the Great, one of the most revered popes in history.

Genesis Suggestive Comments on the Verses

It was the custom of St. Gregory, when he became Pope, to entertain every evening at his own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of the number of our Lord’s apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with his guests, he saw, to his surprise, not twelve but thirteen seated at his table; and he called to his steward, and said to him, “Did not I command thee to invite twelve? and, behold! there are thirteen.” And the steward told them over, and replied, “Holy Father, there are surely twelve only.” And Gregory held his peace; and, after the meal, he called forth the unbidden guest, and asked him, “Who art thou?” And he replied: “I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve; but my name is ‘The Wonderful,’ and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt ask of God.” Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

We see in verse 1, that God Himself is visiting Abraham. Christ has come to pay his friend a visit. This visit, however, comes with a blessing. What is the promised blessing the Lord makes to Abraham? Next year at this time Sarah will have a son.

What was Sarah’s reaction while she was eavesdropping? She laughed! But as typical with eavesdroppers she denies that she heard or did anything.

Look at the Lord’s questions to Abraham: Why did Sarah laugh? And, “Is anything impossible for the Lord?” The latter question doesn’t come from the vein of, “can God build a stone that He cannot move? Rather, the Lord asks the question as a challenge to Sarah and Abraham’s faith. It’s a question related to their acknowledgment of His divine ability. It’s a question He asks each of us whenever He has us on assignment and we begin to question His ability. Is God’s power limited? “[His] power is [only] limited by His will and by His character. He cannot lie and He cannot be unfaithful to His promises. But He is powerful enough to do all that He wills to do and adequate enough to accomplish all that He intends to accomplish.”

Divine Intercession

Read Genesis 18:16-33

Genesis 18:16–33 CSB

16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. 17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham? 18 Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what he promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. 21 I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to me. If not, I will find out.” 22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are in it? 25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?” 26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord—even though I am dust and ashes—28 suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Then he spoke to him again, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it on account of forty.” 30 Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to my lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of twenty.” 32 Then he said, “Let my lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose ten are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of ten.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

The Lord had come to visit with Abraham and share a blessing with his friend. He also came to share what He was up to regarding Sodom and Gomorrah.

Look at the question the Lord asks in verse 17. “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?” God is always at work as Jesus shares in John’s Gospel. The question isn’t so much a question for the Lord Himself but really was for Abraham. It deals with the whole question of whether God has a strategy and if He will share it with His people and in fact involve them in its outworking.

How does God answer this question? Look at verse 19: For I have chosen (literally means known)…for I have known him so that he will command his children and house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Wow! God answers His own question by declaring the character qualities about Abraham. The answer to God’s original question was and still is, “Yes.” Should I share with Oak Valley what I am about to do? Yes, He still speaks to us about the concerns of His heart, tells us what He proposes to do, and enrolls us as instruments in bringing His purposes to pass. What is on the heart of God? Where do you see Him working? What is keeping us from joining Him?

How did Abraham join God in what God was going to do to Sodom?

He remained in God’s presence v. 22

He approaches the Lord boldly, reverently and not impertinently. v.25

He focuses on God’s character - His righteousness, His goodness, and His justice

He pleads or intercedes on behalf of what amounts to be 10 righteous people

I liked what one of commentaries had to say about this as a reminder of Abraham’s intercession in this passage:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 1: Genesis (A Question of Divine Integrity)

There are many questions about good and evil. There are many problems concerning inequality and iniquity. There is no doubt that often the wicked flourish and the righteous suffer. Some people have allowed their hurts to turn to cynicism which in turn has dragged them into the cold pit of unbelief. They say things like, “If God is good He is not God. If God is God He is not good.” Better to rest on the assurance that the Lord is righteous, that our concepts of righteousness originated with Him, and that we should trust Him to be all that He professes to be even though we might wonder which way He is going at times in much the same way that Abraham worried about His intentions concerning Sodom.

Takeaways

So what are some takeaways from this chapter in Genesis tonight for us?

Keep short accounts with God and have a clean heart before Him

Always be on mission - be looking for those who need rest and refreshment

Be humble and generous - lavish goodness on people through hospitality or other means which will open up doors of opportunity to share

Remember that God is always at work and He wants us / He desires us to join Him. For those who have a clean heart and clean hands before the Lord, He is willing to trust us with His divine strategy

Intercede for those who are headed for destruction - always remembering that their destruction, should it come, hurts the righteous in its wake (Gen. 19).

D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Genesis, vol. 1, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1987), 156.