Abraham Series 10

Passionate Disinterest

Genesis 18:16–33 ESV

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 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.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 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.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 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? 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?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 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.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 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.” 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.” 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.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

INTRODUCTION

Genesis 18 begins

1 THE PURPOSE OF GOD, vv. 16-21

The meal is over. Abraham is the only human to ever enjoy the company of God for a feast before the incarnation of God the Son. During that meal Abraham hears the LORD reaffirm his promise to doubting Sarah. God himself asks the rhetorical question: “Is ANYTHING too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

It is late afternoon, the sun is hanging low in the west, the temperature has dropped enough for travel to be resumed, when the guests get up from the table, ready to begin their journey again, it is on that emotional high that Abraham laces up his shoes, to escort them onward. They leave Abraham’s compound and hit the road that heads east, which brings another magnificent delight - Abraham has just dined with God, now he’s literally WALKING wit God - like Enoch of old.

Verse 16 tells us that, no sooner do the men begin their hike again, “… and they looked downtoward Sodom.” They are in the hill country of Judah, three miles east of Hebron, there is a gap through the hills, where you can see the sparkling turquoise of the Dead Sea, eighteen miles to the south and just to the south of that - the lush green of the western edge of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It is here, gazing down at the desirable land chosen by Abraham’s nephew Lot for himself, that God engages in some self-talk and asks a curious question.

Verse 17: “The LORD said, ‘shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do …?’” I say it’s a curious question because God isn’t a man - you know that. And that means his thought processes are not limited as our human thought processes are. The one true God who keeps the universe suspended and ordered by His sovereign power .... AND at the same time - keeps track of the number of hairs on our heads - collects every tear that drips from your eye as being too precious to fall to the ground and evaporate, so He collects them into a figurative bottle - That God does NOT process information, one piece at a time in an unfolding sequence.

But here He is - with His whole attention absorbed for the moment, as it were - absorbed with Abraham. This is one of the most stunningly revealing passages in all of Scripture: God revealing Himself in relationship to His people.

"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do ...?" God is about to rain judgment down on the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - but before He does that - he wants to take Abraham into his confidence. I hope you catch the magnificent implications of this narrative.

I like the words of author John White here:

"The Lord of far-flung galaxies, the Creator of life and all that exists, the All-powerful, all-knowing, the inscrutable judge of angels, demons and people, is taking the trouble to explain his actions to an individual, and is talking to him without condescension, but in terms he can understand."

Beautiful. But why? WHY this tremendous privilege for Abraham?

Verse 19, "For I have chosen him ..." The Hebrew word translated, 'chosen', is 'yada' - which is literally - "I have KNOWN him" - which is the word that describes that most intimate relationship between 2 humans - Adam knew his wife.

"I am changing the relationship here from merely Creator to creature; from simply Judge to sinner. It is now also intimately loved friend."

do you see what this means for us?! If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - Galatians - ________ tells us that you are Abraham's seed. And the same, Almighty God of Abraham longs for a personal relationship with you.

You are a creature he made. You are a sinner that He has graciously purchased and brought from death to life for Himself. You are His child by adoption - and that supernatural new birth - you get that. But even more - you are called to be God's friend - and take part in what He is doing in this world.

"That cannot be me," you say. "Yes, God has saved me - I believe that Jesus died for my sins - and I have put my trust wholly in the power of His finished work. But you don't know me. You don't know the thoughts I wrestle with, the resentments that rise within - you don't know how rotten I am to the core. Me? Friend of the Holy, God of heaven?!! There is just no way."

If that is how you feel Christian - let me remind you of the words of Jesus to his disciples, in John 15:15, He looks around the room at the 12 he knows better than they know themselves - and he says to them, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you ... FRIENDS .. for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

Do you know when Jesus spoke these words? It was the night before he went to the cross. It was mere hours before - at his time of greatest need, deepest heartache - every last one of them would turn their backs on him and run for the hills in self-preservation. Jesus knows that it is all coming and STILL he says, "You are my FRIENDS."

That is you, Christian - so do you see the implications? Any person is concerned with the individual needs of a friend - no matter how seemingly insignificant: "Cast all your anxiety on him FOR HE CARES FOR YOU."

Another implication of friendship with God has to do with our responsibility to our children. Verse 19, goes on, "... 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 ...". Ahh - do you see the implications for our families here?

Every Christian parent I know loves their children dearly. And I know they all want them to walk in humble relationship with their God. But it is so easy to just take for granted that, somehow - that relationship will happen - - without doing much of anything to train up the child in the way he or she should go.

We make sure that the homework gets done - - push them to get good grades and aim for the honor roll – after all, they need to get good grades to take the path to the right career. We make sure they get onto a sports team – and that they don’t miss their practices or games – we want them to learn to be ‘team players’ and they need physical activity and social interaction

- - and to all of it, I say – “YES” – Kudos to diligent, active parents. But what about the Lord? How are we doing at pointing our kids to the Savior as the supreme delight that God gave us life to enjoy? Are you more likely to let your child sleep off a rough night on a school day or on the Lord’s day?

One day, every one of us who are parents, will stand before God and His question about your parenting will NOT be – “Did you get your kid into medical school?” … as great as that would be. His question will be – “How did you do at training your child in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ? How did you do at teaching them to live as part of the church – invest their time and their talents in the Body of Christ – to a bunch of thankless, weirdos – who, together with them – model to the world that impossible, transforming power of the Good news of Jesus Christ.”

God’s purpose for Abraham is friendship. Gazing down from the hilly perch at Sodom and Gomorrah n the distant luxuriant valley, He hints at a very different purpose for those two cities.

Genesis 18:20–21 “Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 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.””

God is talking about judgment.

As soon as I say that, I recognize that there are many people who say, "I reject that! I don't believe in a God who judges. I believe in a merciful God. I don't believe in a God who condemns - I believe in a God who loves." You’ve heard people express that sentiment. Maybe it’s a view you share. If that’s where you are at in your thinking, let me encourage you to keep thinking it through: You cannot have a God of love, unless He IS a God who judges.

This isn’t an angry divine Policeman - just waiting for a reason to pounce. The text makes it very clear that God’s judgment isn’t like that. Don’t miss the reason He is planning this judgment. Verse 20: Because the OUTCRY against Sodom and Gomorrah is great ...”.

That word, translated: ‘outcry’ - is used throughout the Bible to describe the cries of the oppressed - those who are suffering as the victims of cruelty and violence and injustice. One commentator describes the word’s meaning like this: “(It is) the anguished cry of the oppressed, the agonied plea of the victim for help in the face of some great injustice. In the BIble (it is) suffused with poignancy and pathos, with oral outrage and soul-stirring passion ...” (Sarna).

It’s the word God uses in Genesis 4:10 , after Cain rises up in a fit of selfish anger and murders innocent Abel out in a field where he thinks nobody sees: “And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

It’s the word used when Abraham’s descendants are suffering as slaves in Egypt - a nation not content to steal their labour for nothing - but is also functioning under an official policy of genocide against its people - trying to kill every baby boy. Exodus 3:7, “Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,”

Ezekiel 16:49 explains the reason why Sodom was judged: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.”

This isn’t the whole explanation of the cities’ sins. Genesis 19 will deal with the sexual immorality of the city. But this oppression of the poor and needy is a massive problem in the city. Actually - social immorality and sexual immorality seem to be linked inextricably - when a city or a nation become oppressive.

We can identify, can’t we?

Listen: Can you hear the cries in your imagination? Hear the cry of the child, neglected, hurt and terrified, even beaten by a father who is high or drunk?

Hear the cry of the teenage girl being taken advantage of - treated as a tool for some predator's dastardly pleasure - body defiled and soul scarred.

Hear the cry of the widow, suffering in silence in a place that is supposed to being caring for her - but instead, shoves her off into a corner and treats her like trash.

Hear the cry of the family members of those whose lives have been snuffed out by terrorists - driven by evil ambitions ...

... millions of cries rising every minute of every day from every street, every city and every village at home and around the world ...

... a God who never judges the evils inflicted on the weak and innocent - that is NOT a God of love! It is a God who insulates himself in the safety of His heaven, while allowing this world to follow the law of the jungle - consequence free. Praise God He ISN’T like that. Some of you here this morning, know what it is to be oppressed - harmed - helplessly hurt by those who seem to have the power over you. Take comfort from the character of God. Take comfort from His Word. Hear:

Psalm 34:17 “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”

Now, if you let your eyes run too quickly across the words of this text, you might easily miss another important proof that God’s not just looking to reign down wrath because He’s got an itchy trigger finger.

Look at v. 21 again: “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.”

Don’t let the human language throw you off. God is omniscient - He knows everything. He doesn’t need to commission a study and gather research before deciding what to do.

he knows the innermost secrets that we spend a lifetime trying to hide away where nobody will see. He sees it all from heaven - doesn't need to go anywhere to find out more. This is here for our benefit - God's judgment is controlled by perfect justice - - He doesn't rush to judgment – He judges with a surgical scalpel, not an axe …

… but HE does Judge – BECAUSE He is Just … and merciful. Are you crying out to the LORD for justice in your situation – The Bible says that God hears your cry. So take heart, Christian.

Verse 21 is a huge act of condescension, the Lord emphasizing in a way that our puny brains can understand - that whatever He does - it won’t be aknee-jerk reaction. It will be based on full, first-hand, eyewitness information.

2 THE PASSIONATE PRAYER

So, in v. 22, the two angels turn and begin their descent – down the road toward the plain – where the city of Sodom lies. In God’s Law - when a capital offence is being dealt with – it has to be carried out carefully – The death penalty cannot be exacted unless there are 2 or 3 witnesses. So here go God’s 2 angels – to walk into the very city itself and conduct a first-hand investigation. The careful justice of God is on display.

But in a beautiful picture the narrator tells us, in v. 22, that Abraham, “still stood before the LORD.”

Now put yourself in Abraham's place - right at this moment. After literally DECADES of waiting on the promise of a child and seeing nothing ... this very day you have been told that your long, seemingly endless wait has a deadline - - You have been given a date : One year from now and you will, finally be a father. What is on your mind right now? You would be forgiven if a little consumed with the good news you have just been told. And as for the city of Sodom - you've already given enough to that godless trap of sin. You've gone to war to rescue the sinful city's king and the people and their possessions. And you did so knowing that it was a place that did not honor the true and living God who has called you.

Imagine God telling you that He was going to wipe out Las Vegas - 'sin city' as it is so often called. Especially if you have driven down the strip at night and been accosted by one of the greasy guys handing out pamphlets trying to entice you into places where you would never take your mother – or if you know someone who struggles with gambling addiction or a family that has suffered the consequences.

If God says to you, I’m going to burn down Las Vegas - How many would say - 'It’s about time! Do you need a match?!"

So what is Abraham's response to the news of God's plan: "... the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD (NIV - Abraham remained standing before the LORD). And verse 23, "Then Abraham drew near ..." Stop right there - We just read that Abraham was standing before the LORD - remained standing before the LORD - then we read that he drew near. What's that all about? If he was already before the LORD, what does it mean that he approaches him? Did he start 3 feet away - and then moved up to six inches away? Did he get all up in God's grill? What is the Bible saying here?

The Hebrew word behind our English, "Draw near" is a technical term - a legal term. It means to approach the bench - to come like a lawyer to the judge with a case - Abraham is coming before God the judge as a lawyer representing the potentially innocent people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

He approaches the bench and he questions God: Verse 23, "Will you indeed sweep the righteous with the wicked?"

Genesis 18:24 “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?”

Now, Abraham is acting like a lawyer for the people of Sodom here - but his great concern isn’t those people at all - his GREAT OVERRIDING concern is about God’s name and reputation.

Genesis 18:25 “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?””

See him pleading God’s own character and glory. Abraham is jealous for God’s honor and he’s arguing that if righteous people get caught up in punishment along with the guilty - and they all perish together … well then God’ honour is going to be marred in people’ minds. His reputation is going to suffer. “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

God shows His mercy: Genesis 18:26 “And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.””

An utterly wicked city - but God will spare the whole place if there are 50 citizens who are righteous.

Abraham says, “Thanks, God! I couldn’t ask for more!”

Nope - Abraham engages in a type of bartering that is still well known in that part of the world today (or at a Canadian car dealership) today. If you’ll take 50 - how about

Genesis 18:27–28 “Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 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.””

Well … surely that’s enough.

Nope. Abraham presses further. Genesis 18:29 “Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.””

Bartering may come naturally to the man of faith - but he knows he’s not buying a goat from a salesman. He’s dealing with the Sovereign God. Gathering courage, Abraham steps forward and ...

Genesis 18:30 “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.””

50-45-40 and now 30. Well, he’s come this far. He will press a little further.

Genesis 18:31 “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.””

20 Righteous people and God will spare an entire city. What mercy! Surely that’s enough to satisfy Abraham.

No. Abraham, dust and ashes, has dared to challenge the Judge of all the earth. He knows he’s taking his life in his hands - and asking God for the ridiculous … but he goes on with one more plea.

Genesis 18:32 “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.””

Genesis 18:33 “And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.”

Do you wonder why Abraham stops at 10? I mean he’s come this far …? I’ll tell you why: It’s because in his society, you needed 10 men to make a community. In later Jewish life - you need 10 men in any village to be able to form a synagogue. Ten is the smallest number that a community can be built with - Any less than 10 and you’re just dealing with individuals.

Abraham intercedes for Sodom six times. With every response - every request granted - he gets the courage to come back and try again. F.B. Meyer writes, “It looks at first sight as if he forced God back from point to point, and wrung his petitions from an unwilling hand. But this is a mistake. In point of fact, God was drawing him on.… This was the time of his education. He did not learn the vast extent of God’s righteousness and mercy all at once; he climbed the dizzy heights step by step; and, as he gained each step, he was inspired to dare another.”

Dale Davis puts it: “… Verses 20-21 have glue all over them.” These verses don’t merely communicate information but act as an invitation. It’s as if the Lord is saying to Abraham, ‘Now please talk to me about this situation.’ And he does (v. 22): ‘Abraham went on standing before Yahweh.’

Lloyd Douglas, author of The Robe and other novels, was a university student. He lived in a boarding house. Downstairs on the first floor an elderly and infirm former music teacher lived. They had a daily ritual. Douglas would come down the stairs, open the old man’s door, and ask, ‘Well, what’s the good news?’ The gentleman would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair, and say, ‘That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat, the piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!’ In the middle of everything else, there was something solid.

What God does here is develop Abraham, not only into a man of righteousness - but also into a man of compassion - who pleads for the Lord’s good name - and for His mercy. And in doing that - he becomes a model for us.

Our world is facing judgment – most of you don’t need to be convinced of that. So what do we do, as Christians in this society? Run for the hills - take care of ourselves?

Genesis 18 is telling us that Our appropriate response is to pray – to intercede. Hundreds of years later – God was speaking about the judgment he was about to bring upon His own people – the Israelites. He gives the horribly tragic verdict:

Ezekiel 22:30, “I looked for a man among them who would stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”

Story is told of a young minister who, in his first pastorate, in Philadelphia, was visited one night by a small group from the church. The spokesman for the delegation said this: "You are not a strong preacher. In the usual order of things, you will fail here. But a small group of us have decided to meet every Sunday morning to pray for you. That small, Sunday morning prayer group grew to 1000 prayer warriors - and unerpinned the ministry of J. Wilbur Chapman, who went on to become one of the most powerful preachers and travelling evangelists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

More often than not, making an impact for righteousness in a fallen world entails a good deal of “plodding.” William Carey, acknowledged as the father of modern missions, is well-known for his description of himself as a plodder. Apprenticed as a cobbler and brought to faith by his fellow apprentice John Warr, Carey urged any who would listen to his call to world missions to “expect great things and attempt great things.”

It was his dogged determination and inspired leadership that marked the beginning of a movement that would literally transform church structures and innumerable lives and cultures. In this, Carey the obscure young preacher who came from a remote part of England representing a small and insignificant religious group, would become “God’s extraordinary plodder” who changed the course of history.

Regardless of one’s assessment of Carey’s impact as a missionary and the toll that it took on his family, he stands as a distinguished example of how God can use a small, righteous minority to have a significant impact on a fallen world. His impact can be assessed in terms of (1) the thousands of Indians who came to Christ through his ministry, (2) the establishment of an effective missionary work in India, and (3) the mission organizations he inspired (fourteen in England alone by 1834). As a plodder, Carey realized that a person’s impact for Christ might not be realized for some time.

We must also recall that having an impact does not require having a well-known impact. Few people have heard of Mrs. H. Phillips, a woman who ran a boarding house in Chicago in the mid-nineteenth century and conducted prayer meetings at the First Baptist Church. But one of those who took room and board and was nurtured spiritually in her meetings was a young shoe salesman, a recent convert named Dwight L. Moody.

CONCLUSION

The power of intecessory prayers. When you look back over your life – and the forces God has used to shape you into the believer you are – how many of you look back into the past – or even consider the present - and recognize that you would NOT be here – worshiping or seeking the Lord as you are today – without a praying parent or grandparent? That’s my story. The power of a passionate prayer warrior.

Abraham’s example this morning is – BE THAT PRAYER WARRIOR.

But if we stop here - and the one thing we take away with us from this passage - is that we should follow the example of Abraham and become compassionate pray-ers for others - then I have failed you. This is not just about becoming better followers of Abraham's example - this is Good News - there is Gospel in this passage:

You see friends, in the big picture - WE are the people who needed an intercessor. We are the people of Sodom - the unrighteous. Every last one of is a citizen of Sodom and was born in rebellion against God.

Abraham risked his life for the people he was praying for. He risked his life.

Abraham is going before the Lord God Almighty and arguing with him! It’s terrifying. He risks his life for those people, but Jesus Christ gave his life for the people he was praying for. He gave his life.

As we’re told in Hebrews 7, Jesus was a High Priest who perfectly meets our need. Unlike the other priests who offered many sacrifices, he offered himself once for all for the sins of the people. Here’s the main point. The main point is Abraham discovered the case. Abraham discovered the principle that the righteousness-loving God … “The righteousness of someone else can save me.”

Abraham discovered that principle, but Jesus Christ executed the principle, because what Jesus Christ did was he came to earth. On the night before he died, he gave what’s called the great High Priestly Prayer (John 17). In the midst of that prayer, he said, “Father, I want you to love them even as you love me. I want you to treat them as if they were me.” See, the High Priest legally stands before the bench, but this is what he says.

He says, “For their sake, I sanctify myself. I’m becoming the utterly absolute, only truly righteous person who has ever lived. I’m about to live the life they should have lived and die the death they should have died. I’m about to love you with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind by going to the cross and loving you even as you forsake me.

But in Jesus Christ, you are utterly righteous before God. Jesus Christ becomes the High Priest that cannot be turned down. Why?

Because he is the perfect High Priest. He is the eternal High Priest. He is the one who never goes home. This is why it says in Hebrews 7:23, “Now there have been many of those priests … but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”