I Have Chosen Him
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text: Genesis 18:16-19
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.
17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
PRAY
Introduction
Last Sunday morning before the service, I was reading ahead in Genesis to start thinking about my next message. I had planned to preach from v. 16 here all the way through the end of chapter 19.
But as I began reading this section, the weightiness of v. 17-19 really hit me hard. There is something really important going on here that I wanted to wrestle with personally and then try to communicate to you.
There is a tension in these verses that I felt, and I want you to feel it too.
On one hand, the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham is certain because it depends on His plan and purpose.
On the other, the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham seems uncertain because it depends on the obedience of Abraham and his descendants.
Another way to state this tension is that God’s promises to Abraham are both conditional and unconditional.
How can His promises be both conditional and unconditional? How can their fulfillment be both certain and uncertain?
Consider the words of v. 18-19:
In v. 18, God says that the fulfillment of His promises to Abraham is certain.
18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
But in v. 19, at the end he says,
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
The words “in order that” in the last phrase indicate a purpose which is tied to the requirement of obedience in the middle of the verse - Abraham and his descendants must obey God in order to experience the fulfillment of His promise.
Do you see the tension here? Do you feel this tension?
On one hand God says that the fulfillment of the promises is certain.
On the other, He says it depends on their obedience.
How can both of these things be true?
I found the same tension this week in my Bible reading in 1 Kings.
In 1 Kings 2:3-4, David is preparing Solomon to take over the throne, and this is what he tells him.
3 And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,
4 and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
David tells Solomon, “Walk in obedience to God so that He can fulfill His promise.” God’s promise was certain on one hand, but on the other, it required obedience. The same tension is here in this covenant as well.
I hope you can feel this tension, and my goal with this message is to resolve that tension by focusing on the center of God’s statement here, which communicates God’s electing grace: “For I have chosen him.” I believe that this phrase is the key to understanding and resolving the tension in this verse.
Context
Last week we looked at ch. 17 and the first half of ch. 18, where twice God gave the promise that Sarah would have a son, and both Abraham and Sarah laughed at His promise, yet God meant what He said, and they realized that by the end of His visit. God also gave to Abraham the sign of circumcision and the command to walk before Him and be blameless — commanding Abraham’s obedience as a necessary human response to God’s promises. So the same tension was present in that section, though it may not be as obvious there.
God’s promises are certain, but there is a required human response of obedience.
We saw Abraham’s response to the three visitors — the LORD and 2 angels — and now this passage begins by telling us what happened next.
After the visit to Abraham and Sarah, after receiving Abraham’s hospitality, eating the meal he had prepared, and confirming the promise of a son for Sarah again, v. 16 tells us,
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.
After the meal, the LORD and the two angels get up to leave, and they go to a place overlooking Sodom. Sodom was in the valley near (or perhaps in) the location where the Dead Sea is now. So they’re somewhere to the west at a higher elevation where you can see that whole area.
v. 16 tells us that Abraham accompanied them as they started off toward Sodom. So as we focus today on v. 17-19, keep in mind that the participants in this conversation are Abraham, the LORD, and the two angels. The four of them are present as God speaks the words of v. 17-19. Only after this in v. 22 do the angels head on to Sodom while Abraham keeps talking to the LORD.
So although these words seem to be God speaking to Himself, it appears from the text that the LORD is speaking audibly, probably in the hearing of Abraham and the two angels. Perhaps He is even speaking directly to the angels, although in the hearing of Abraham. As the passage continues on in v. 20 and following, it’s clear that Abraham is part of this conversation.
But today, we’ll just look at v. 17-19 and the important truths that God reveals here.
God’s 5 Statements (v. 17-19)
God’s 5 Statements (v. 17-19)
In these 3 verses are 5 distinct statements from God. I’ve attempted to summarize them or state them in a shorter or clearer form (you have these 5 statements in your notes).
I will reveal my plans to Abraham. (v. 17; Amos 3:7; John 15:15; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23)
My promises to Abraham will certainly be fulfilled. (v. 18; Genesis 12:2-3)
I have chosen Abraham (v. 19; Amos 3:2; Nehemiah 9:7; Exodus 33:19; Ephesians 1:4-6; Galatians 4:9)
Abraham must lead his family and descendants in obedience to the LORD (v. 19; 1 John 2:4)
If they obey the LORD, the LORD will fulfill His promises (v. 19)
Let me explain each of these 5 statements one by one, and then we’ll explore the connections between these statements.
1. I will reveal my plans to Abraham. (v. 17)
17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
This is a rhetorical question, and no answer is given. A negative response is implied, though: “No, I will not hide from Abraham what I’m about to do.” Or to state it positively, “I will reveal to Abraham what I’m going to do.” And as we read the rest of the chapter, that’s exactly what we find God doing for Abraham. He reveals His plans regarding Sodom and Gomorrah and invites Abraham into a conversation about His plans.
This is another evidence that Abraham is a prophet. God says in Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.”
More than that, this verse together with the following conversation show us that Abraham is God’s friend. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.” God reveals Himself and His plans and purposes to His friends, and that’s what God does for Abraham here.
In fact, Abraham is the only one in Scripture specifically referred to as God’s friend. 2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, and James 2:23 all refer to Abraham as a friend of God.
So the LORD chooses to reveal Himself and His plans to Abraham, and this shows us that Abraham is a prophet and that he is God’s friend.
2. My promises to Abraham will certainly be fulfilled. (v. 18)
18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
In the two promises mentioned here, the three main promises of God’s covenant with Abraham are stated or implied: land, offspring, and universal blessing.
This takes us back of course to God’s initial promise in Genesis 12:2–3 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
God’s statement that he will become a great and powerful nation implies both the land and the offspring — a large number of descendants and the guarantee of a land.
What catches my attention about this verse is that word “surely.” These are not new promises we’re reading, but here God emphasizes the certainty of their fulfillment. These things are sure to happen: Abraham will become a great and powerful nation; all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.
Not “may”, “might”, or “could possibly become”, but “will”. The fulfillment of these promises is not in doubt. God will most certainly keep His promises. Back in chapter 15 we saw that God staked His very life on faithfulness to the promises.
So God’s promises to Abraham will surely be fulfilled.
3. I have chosen Abraham (v. 19)
19 For I have chosen him, …
The Hebrew verb here is the verb usually translated “to know” — “I have known him.” But the BSB and several other English versions opt for the translation “chosen.” I think that’s a good translation.
You may be aware that the Hebrew verb “to know” is sometimes used to indicate a close relationship between people, and can even refer to physical intimacy. It’s not just knowing information about a person but having an experiential knowledge of them.
So when God says here that He has “known” Abraham, He’s not just talking about His general knowledge about all people and things (God knows everything!). Rather, He is indicating that He has chosen to enter into a close relationship with Abraham. He has decided to have Abraham as His friend.
This same verb is used in a very similar way regarding God’s choice of Israel as His people. He says in Amos 3:2, “Only you have I known from all the families of the earth…” Clearly God knows all people and things in some sense, but He’s saying that Israel was the only nation with whom He made His covenant and chose to enter into that special relationship… .
And the same is true of Abraham here. God has chosen him as the one with whom He will make His covenant and through whom He will bring the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head.
In Nehemiah it is even clearer that God chose Abraham, since there the Hebrew uses a verb that clearly means “to choose.” Nehemiah 9:7, “You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.”
In theological terms, we refer to this as election. God chooses to enter into relationship with certain people and not others. It is God’s free choice, based simply on God’s own good pleasure and purpose.
It is God’s right, His prerogative to choose whomever He wants to, to choose when to show mercy and grace and when to withhold them. He does not owe mercy and grace to anyone, and He is not unjust to have mercy on some and not others. In fact He says to Moses, in Exodus 33:19, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Everyone either gets mercy or else justice according to God’s free choice. But no one gets injustice.
For God to treat you with justice would mean punishing you eternally for your sin.
For God to treat you with mercy would mean rescuing you from the punishment you deserve.
God is sovereign, and He has the power and the right to administer justice and show mercy according to His own good will and purposes.
And so God’s choice of Abraham is a choice of gracious election. Abraham did not deserve to be chosen by God. Abraham was an idolater, and even after God called him and gave him promises and did lots of good things for him, Abraham continued to prove himself to be a very flawed and sinful man.
So God didn’t choose Abraham because of anything good in Abraham, but simply because that’s what God wanted to do. God could have picked any one of the millions of people on earth, but He chose Abraham.
4. Abraham must lead his family and descendants in obedience to the LORD (v. 19)
19 … so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, …
To keep the way of the LORD is to obey Him, to live according to God’s character — specifically to live in righteousness and justice mentioned here. This seems to correspond to the summary of the law offered by Jesus in the Gospels: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Living in obedience to the LORD, keeping His way, has everything to do with how we relate to God and other people. Are we living in love? Do we love God, and do we love other people? Are we treating other people the way we want to be treated?
As we’ll see in the next passage, this is exactly the opposite of the way the people of Sodom lived. They rejected God and mistreated people. They were unrighteous and unjust, not loving God or other people.
So Abraham himself must learn God’s ways and live according to God’s character, and then he must teach his sons and everyone else around him to know God and obey Him.
This speaks to the responsibility of Christian parents and fathers especially to teach and train their children in the ways of the LORD. Like Abraham, we need to instruct our children not only with the content of God’s Word but also commanding their obedience to God and His Word.
We do this of course through our words of instruction, through the example of our lives, and as necessary, through appropriate discipline.
5. If they obey the LORD, the LORD will fulfill His promises (v. 19)
19 … in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
Here the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham seems to be called into doubt. God will bring upon Abraham what He has promised to him, if they obey. If they walk in His way and act righteously and justly. And if you know anything about Israel’s history, you know they didn’t do a great job of that most of the time. This seems to call into question the certainty of the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Now that we’ve looked at the general truths expressed in these 5 statements, let’s consider how these statements are connected. There are 3 important words or phrases in v. 19 that show us how these ideas are related to one another.
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
“For” (because) — expresses the cause, ground, or reason for something
“so that” (in order that) — indicates the purpose or intention
“in order that” — indicates the purpose or intention
(the 2nd and 3rd ones are the same word in Hebrew, just translated differently in the BSB)
The way that these statements are structured places the emphasis on that first phrase in v. 19: “For I have chosen him.”
“For” expresses the ground, cause, or reason for what comes before it, in this case, the statements of v. 17-18. God’s choice of Abraham is the cause or reason why God reveals His plans to Abraham and guarantees the certainty of His promises to him.
I will not hide my plans from Abraham because I have chosen him.
I will certainly fulfill my promises to Abraham because I have chosen him.
And then, the purpose statement following “I have chosen him” also indicates that God’s election of Abraham is the reason for what He says next.
I have chosen him “So that” (in order that) “he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just”
God’s purpose in choosing Abraham was that Abraham and his family would know, and trust, and love, and obey God — walk in His ways, do what is right and just.
And the final purpose statement, “in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised,” seems to be connected both to the statement “I have chosen him” as well as “Abraham and his family must obey the LORD.”
God chose Abraham in order to fulfill His promises to Him.
Abraham and his family must obey to receive the fulfillment of the promises.
So what is at the heart of these statements and helps make sense of them all is God’s gracious election of Abraham stated in those words “For I have chosen him.”
God’s gracious election of Abraham is the basis of His revelation to Abraham.
God’s gracious election of Abraham is the ground of the certainty that God’s promises will be fulfilled.
God’s gracious election of Abraham is for the purpose of creating an obedient people.
God’s gracious election of Abraham is for the purpose of guaranteeing the fulfillment of God’s promises.
So at the bottom of all of this — the reason or basis for it all — is God’s free and gracious choice of Abraham. Everything else flows out of that.
And where did God’s free and gracious choice of Abraham come from?
The same place His free and gracious choice of you came from if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.
Paul says this in Ephesians 1:4-6
4 For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence.
Before we existed — before anything else existed besides God — He chose us in Christ. He did not choose us based on anything about us.
And what was His purpose for us in choosing us?
To be holy and blameless in His presence. Sounds a lot like God’s purpose for Abraham and his family. Walking in God’s ways, doing what is right and just.
In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
So God chose us — He predestined us (that is, He destined us beforehand) to be His children by adoption through Jesus Christ.
And what was the basis for this choice? God’s own character and purposes.
“In love” — God’s gracious election reveals God’s amazing love.
“According to the good pleasure of His will” - He did it because He wanted to and it pleased Him to do so. God did not choose us because of any quality in us or action from us, but simply because He wanted to.
And what is His purpose in election? We already saw that one purpose is our holiness and obedience.
But in v. 6 He also says that election is “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”
That means that election and every other gracious act of God in salvation, is designed to draw our attention to the glory of God revealed in His grace so that we marvel at His grace, stand in awe of His grace, and praise His grace — telling others of the greatness and goodness of God.
It’s not ultimately about us, but about God. We get the grace, God gets the glory.
So going back to Genesis 18, one reason God reveals these things to Abraham, and especially the central statement regarding God’s gracious election of Abraham — one reason He does this is so that Abraham would stand in awe of God, and praise Him for His grace.
And out of this worship and praise for God’s grace will flow the obedience necessary for the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Abraham and his descendants didn’t need to obey God in order to get into a relationship with God, to receive His grace. Rather their obedience was to flow out of the grace God had already given them. They were to obey God in response to His gracious choice of them.
For us, obedience is not the means of salvation, but the consequence of it. We don’t obey God in order to receive His grace; we obey Him because we have already received His grace.
If God has set His love on you, if He has known you, chosen you, then you will obey. Obedience is a necessary result of God’s electing grace, and it is a necessary condition for ultimately receiving the fulfillment of God’s promises.
So if you truly know God, you will obey. Not perfectly in this life, but your obedience will be growing. If your life is not characterized by increasing obedience to God, you have reason to doubt whether you truly know God. John says in 1 John 2:4
4 If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
And if you know God, it’s because He knew you first, as Paul expresses in Galatians 4:9.
I hope this relieves some of the tension we felt at the beginning between the certainty and seeming uncertainty of the fulfillment of God’s promises.
On one hand God said the promises are certain because He chose Abraham.
On the other He says that the promises depend on the obedience of Abraham’s family.
But when we understand that the obedience of Abraham and his family is the result of God’s electing grace, it is no longer uncertain. Those whom God has chosen will indeed walk in His ways and so inherit the promises.
And this also points us ultimately to Jesus Christ. Abraham and all of his descendants were sinners. They all fell short of God’s glory and none of them walked in perfect obedience to God. Except for one.
Matthew refers to Jesus Christ as “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And the NT shows us clearly and repeatedly that Jesus, unlike all who came before Him, never sinned. Not once. He always walked in the way of the LORD and did what is right and just. He always did what pleased the Father.
And so the promises belong most fully and ultimately to Him, as the only perfectly obedient son of Abraham. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16
16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.
All of Abraham’s other descendants failed to perfectly obey; only Jesus perfectly kept God’s law and always did what was right and just. He is the true and ultimate heir of the promises, and as Paul tells us a few verses later, everyone who trusts in Him also inherits the promises.
And if you truly trust in Him, you will be growing in obedience. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; but the kind of faith that saves also transforms our lives so that we become more and more like Jesus in this life, and in the life to come we will perfectly reflect His character.
So please don’t misunderstand; we’ve been talking a lot about obedience today, so let me clarify: we are not saved by good works; rather we are saved for good works. God doesn’t save us because we’ve done good things. He saves us so that we can do good things. And if you have truly experienced His grace, you will walk in the good deeds that God prepared beforehand for you.
This passage also has an important application for parents. Consider the important role Abraham had in leading his family, perhaps especially his children, in knowing and obeying God.
It is not only our responsibility to personally follow God and obey Him, but also to do everything we can to help others under our authority to know and follow and obey Him.
We must teach our children about God and His character and commands.
We must show God’s character in the way we live, by personally obeying God.
We must instruct our children that they also must obey Him.
The tension we felt between the absolute certainty of the fulfillment of God’s promises and the required obedience necessary to obtain it is ultimately resolved in Jesus, the perfectly obedient offspring of Abraham. By faith in Him we also are guaranteed the certain fulfillment of God’s promises, and our faith leads us to grow in obedience to our gracious Lord and King, Jesus Christ.
