Shall Not The Judge of All the Earth do Right?
Notes
Transcript
Call to Worship
Call to Worship
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” a Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.
“When I choose the proper time,
I will judge uprightly.
The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;
I set up its pillars firmly.
Selah
“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’
And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn.
Do not lift up your horn on high;
Do not speak with a stiff neck.’ ”
For exaltation comes neither from the east
Nor from the west nor from the south.
But God is the Judge:
He puts down one,
And exalts another.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
And the wine is red;
It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
Drain and drink down.
But I will declare forever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
“All the horns of the wicked I will also cut off,
But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.”
Intro
Intro
Beginning of Chapter 18, we see Abraham receive a visit from God and 2 angels in the appearance of 3 men
Abraham practices hospitality and provides a meal for his guests.
At some point, it is told that Sarah will have a son
Sarah laughs
God asks why did Sarah laugh, but she denies it.
The first stop on God’s “visit” to Canaan is to eat with Abraham, but that is not the only thing he is here for.
He condescends, allows Abraham to serve him and directly informs Sarah of her inclusion in Abraham’s blessing
As we continue through the rest of the chapter we’ll see the rest of God’s purpose in this “visit”
Body
Body
Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
The Lord and his angels get up from the meal Abraham had provided for them, to continue on their way
Abraham walks them to the “front door” so to speak, to send them on their way.
The Lord, speaking aloud: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
We don’t know if the Lord is talking to the angels or just speaking out loud, but Abraham is intended to overhear this.
God is not asking this as if He really doesn’t know what He should do
Abraham has shown himself to be faithful, so God is giving him more privilege and responsibility.
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Abraham is the faithful and wise steward described in this parable.
Luke 12:48 “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
Abraham, being watchful, unknowingly welcomed His Lord into his home and served him faithfully.
God rewarded this faithfulness with further responsibility.
Abraham was already going to be the father of nations and a blessing to nations, but now God was going to tell him his plan regarding the city of Sodom.
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
After the Lord talks out loud about Abraham, the Angels that are with him depart towards Sodom, but the Lord remains with Abraham standing there.
Having overheard what the Lord said regarding the wickedness and impending doom coming upon the city of Sodom, Abraham approaches God to intercede on their behalf
Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Knowing God’s attributes, Abraham inquires whether God would destroy the righteous along with the wicked.
Surely he wouldn’t.
God would surely spare the city if 50 were righteous.
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”
And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Perhaps Abraham felt confident that there were at least 10 righteous in Sodom
Next week, we’ll see that there were not even 10 righteous.
Conclusion/Application
Conclusion/Application
God is rich in mercy, but He is also the just Judge of all the earth.
God must punish sin, but He is ready to forgive
This has always been the case, but it was not clear until after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus HOW this could happen.
How God could be both the just and the justifier,
The other thing to consider is Abraham
His faithfulness and attentiveness led to greater responsibilities
as believers, we have been given greater responsibilities to intercede on behalf of others.
We are to pray for God to show mercy and grant repentance to those around us.
God’s justice is real.
You can run on for a long time,
but sooner or later, God will cut you down.
Tolerance is not a Christian virtue.
We do not tolerate sin and ungodliness.
We call the sinner to repent while also praying to God to show them mercy and grant them repentance.
