Genesis 18:1-33 "Yahweh Visits Abraham"

Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Let’s turn in our bibles to Genesis 18. Genesis 18:1-33 tonight… which is an exciting chapter and builds a great case that Jesus is Yahweh…

AND, this chapter poses a great challenge to Jehovah Witnesses. More on that in our study tonight.

But as a recap… we have been taking Genesis chapter by chapter the since chapter 13…

And we’ve focused on the life of Abram… God’s covenant with Abram… God changing his name to Abraham

AND… several moments where Abram got ahead of God… like in the case of having a child with Hagar.

That was NOT God’s plan.

But, despite Abraham acting on his own will… God remained faithful to keeping His covenant…

To give land to Abraham and his descendants… AND

To make Abraham a great nation from a child born of him and Sarah, not Hagar.

A nation from which all the world would be blessed.

And in Genesis 18… we will again read of the Son of Promise… as “Yahweh Visits Abraham”… our message title this evening.

Let’s Pray!

Let’s take a look at our passage now… and in reverence for God’s word, if you’re able, please stand as I read our passage.

Genesis 18:1–33 but just 1-5 now to set the scene… “Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

To open… I want to speak for about 4 minutes on Jehovah’s Witnesses and some of their errors… because Chapter 18 is one of the best ways to refute their key error… which is denying that Jesus is Yahweh God.

And let’s start by establishing “What is the name of God?”

Gen 18:1 begins… “Then the LORD...”… 10x in our passage tonight we will read LORD in ALL Caps.

When you see LORD in all caps in the OT… know this is translation nudge in English that you’re reading the proper name of God.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, however, hold firmly that God’s name is “Jehovah”…

Charlie Campbell with Always Be Ready.com… (a fantastic ministry)… has an article titled “Is God’s name Jehovah?”

Short answer… NO. Which frankly is challenging not just to JW’s, but probably to Christians who just don’t know any better as well.

Charlie cites around 17 dictionaries and encyclopedias… that state Jehovah as a pronunciation is an erroneous and false form of the divine name YAHWEH…

… it is a Latinized mistransliteration… an artificial composite… an inaccurate reconstruction of the name of God in the Old Testament.

Nelson’s Bible Dictionary on “Jehovah” reads: “The divine name Yahweh is usually translated Lord in English versions of the Bible, because it became a practice in late Old Testament Judaism not to pronounce the sacred [or holy] name YHWH, but to say instead “my Lord” (Adonai) – a practice still used today in the synagogue. When the vowels of Adonai were attached to the consonants YHWH in the medieval period, the word Jehovah resulted. Today, many Christians use the word Yahweh, the more original pronunciation, not hesitating to name the divine name since Jesus taught believers to speak in a familiar way to God.”

Now… Jehovah’s Witnesses… not only hold that “Jehovah” is the correct pronunciation… they also believe they have God’s favor alone for consistently calling God by this name…

Christian apologist Ron Rhoades stated, “If the Jehovah’s Witnesses are correct that God must always be called by the name Jehovah, then Jesus was way out of line, for He never used this name when referring to the Father.”

They also hold that God’s name was deliberately and systematically removed from the Bible through human apostate copyists… and satanic influence…

And THEY have restored what was lost by producing their own Bible Translation… called the New World Translation… which JW.org states “restores the divine name in the thousands of places where it existed in the original text”…

But they actually go to far… For ex, in Genesis 18… if you look at V1… we read LORD in all caps… YHVH in Hebrew… which JW’s translate as “Jehovah.”

But in V3 and elsewhere in Chapter 18… where we read “Lord” (lower case “ord”)… in Hebrew that word is translated “Adonay”…

Which depending on the context can refer to God or a human ruler.

In Jewish tradition, when reading the Hebrew text… Jews substitute “Adonai” instead of pronouncing the tetragrammaton.

But, JW’s… their Bible still reads “Jehovah”… even when the Hebrew reads “Adonai”… and I would call that over substitution.

JW’s also claim… their translation is more clear… is more accurate…

But it’s accurate to their twisted teachings… like in John 1:1… they don’t state “the Word was God”… they write “the Word was a god.” (little “g” god… because they deny Jesus’ deity).

And they like their Bible because it’s FREE!

It’s not free… it actually has a great deal of cost… because as they mis-lead… they gain people’s financial resources…

… and their false teaching will cost those misled all eternity… but fear not… for they deny a literal hell.

So… with all that to say on JW’s… NOW… let’s look at our text and why this chapter can be challenging to their false teachings.

In V1… we read that the LORD… Yahweh God appears to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre… which is in Hebron… almost straight south of Jerusalem and west of the Dead Sea.

It was here that Abraham dwelled in Gen 13 after Lot departed and claimed the plains of Jordan heading towards Sodom and Gomorrah.

And straight out of the gates in Chapter 18… we see established that once again Yahweh God is visiting with Abraham.

Abraham was sitting in his tent door… when Yahweh God appeared to him.

And in V2… this appearance is a physical manifestation.

There are “three men” whom in vv 4-5 Abraham feeds, offers shade to, offers water to wash their feet… and one whom he talks with.

Interesting that angels can eat food. Not necessarily for sustenance, but it is possible for them to eat.

In the resurrection, Jesus said we will be “like angels of God in heaven.” (Matt 22:30)

I hear their favorite dessert is ‘angel food cake.’ Easily on their Top 10 list.

Hebrews 13:2 guides… “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”

Abraham will stand in stark contrast in his treatment of the angels versus how they will be treated in Sodom.

Did Abraham recognize this divine presence at this point?

Perhaps so… for in V2 Abraham also “bowed himself to the ground.” Bowed is the usual word for “worship” in Scripture and the first use of this word in the Bible.

Abraham seemingly senses this is a divine encounter… that these are not mere ordinary men.

Not three men whom Abraham saw approaching from a distance… not walking towards him… or riding towards him… Abraham looks up and there they were.

Reminds me of John 20 when post-resurrection… Jesus appears to the disciples. “The doors were shut where the disciples were assembled”… and “Jesus came and stood in the midst…”

And said, “Peace be with you.” Shalom.

These three men… who are they?

Genesis 18 contextually and Gen 19:1 plainly establishes that two of them are angels.

But the other “man”… Abraham dialogues with… and He is consistently referred to in Gen 18 as the LORD… 10x He is referred to as Yahweh God.

He has authority to determine whether Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed for their grave sin.

Now… here’s where things get tricky for JW’s. Who are these three men?

I spoke to a JW once and she said all three were angels. But, that can’t be because… even in their bible translation one of the three is consistently referred to as Jehovah.

But no man may see the face of Yahweh and live.

Exodus 33:20 Yahweh said to Moses… “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.””

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

Jesus declares the Father, for no man may see God.

1 John 4:12 also states, “No one has seen God at any time.”

1 Timothy 6:16 states Jesus… presently in glory… dwells… “... in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see...”

Our present frame cannot handle the glory of God… we need glorified bodies prepared for heaven to behold God.

So… how did Abraham see and talk with and serve the LORD? Yahweh God.

This was an OT theophany. It was an appearance of… NOT Father God… or Abraham would have been vaporized…

But, an appearance of pre-incarnate Christ. And it is not robbery to call Jesus LORD… Yahweh God… for in John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.”

To which Jews took up stones to stone him saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because you being a Man, make Yourself God.” (Jn 10:33)

And all this causes friction for Jehovah’s Witnesses… and they would have to massage away the clarity of just reading through the word… and dismiss clear cross references… and contextual clues that testify that Jesus is Yahweh God.… and the Trinity is One.

And one last observation before we proceed… notice Abraham’s desire for fellowship… and Yahweh and the angels agreement to do so.

In V3 Abraham put forth the request for them to “not pass by”… or to “stop here for awhile”… for food, fellowship and refreshment… and at the end of V5.. they agree… “Do as you have said.”

The heavenly hosts and God of heaven desire fellowship with mankind.

To eat with another in ancient traditions was a significant way one communicated their unity with another.

Jesus was thus criticized for ‘eating with tax collectors and sinners’… of course by Pharisees and religious legalists…

But God’s heart is for there to be no middle wall of separation. Openly He says, “Come… there’s a seat for you at My table.”

vv6-8 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

So, Abraham promises the three visitors a meal… and then rushes inside to ask his wife to cook.

I’m sure no wife here can relate to their husband’s helplessness in the kitchen.

And look… I stand guilty. My wife is so good to me…

For Abraham and Sarah… there were heightened traditional roles… and Abraham asks her to make some fresh baked bread.

He has a young man butcher and prepare veal. And Abraham also brings curds and milk… and stands by as they ate.

vv9-11 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” 10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, [or about this time next year] and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

In Gen 17:1… Abraham was 99 years old. In Gen 17:17 after God promised Abraham a son by Sarah, he fell on his face and laughed… and imagined himself at 100 and Sarah at age 90 having a son.

So she is 10 years younger… though both well beyond the ages to have children… making the reality of a child only possible by a miracle of God.

Clearly… having a son had to be a work of God… for V11 states Sarah was past the age of childbearing.

In modern times… the oldest verified natural birth was by Dawn Brooke… of the UK at age 59 in 1997.

Sarah has her by 31 years.

Two interesting facts about Sarah…

She is the oldest woman recorded in the Bible to have given birth… as we don’t know the ages of other women who struggled with barrenness and than gave birth late in life… like Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah and Elizabeth.

Also, Sarah lived to 127 years old (Gen 23:1), making her the only woman in the Bible whose exact lifespan is recorded.

Here in Gen 18… Abraham is still 99 year old and Yahweh promises to return in a year and Sarah will have a son.

And indeed in Gen 21:5 when Abraham is 100 years old… Isaac, the son of promise, is born.

Abram was 75 years old in Gen 12 when Yahweh first promised, “I will make you a great nation.”

So, twenty five years will pass of him waiting on the Lord.

I remember when I was first called into ministry… every six months God was moving and I got that in my head… that He would move quickly.

Well… when He redirected us to Indiana… we felt called to plant a church. But… after a year and a half… God had not clearly opened a door.

So… we thought we maybe misheard Him and started looking at planting a church or working for a church with Calvary Chapel… anywhere in the U.S.… and it was then we discovered three people requesting a Calvary Chapel in Warsaw, IN.

And in that… God impressed upon me the lesson that I can wait longer.

I’m just glad it wasn’t twenty-five years of waiting like Abraham!

I appreciate the many verses that encourage God’s people to wait on the LORD…

One of my favorites is Isaiah 40:31 “31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

As this news of having a child reaches the ears of Sarah… she… like Abraham in Gen 17:17 laughs…

V12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, [silently, not audibly… note that...] saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And yes… that’s what you think it means… a little biblical TMI if you ask me.

Morris compares the laughter of Abraham and Sarah, and shares this insight: “When Sarah heard this promise, she “laughed within herself,” not a laugh of joy as earlier with Abraham (Gen 17:17), but a cynical laugh, knowing that it was impossible for her and her husband any longer to enjoy the pleasures of sexual relations or of child-bearing. It should be remembered, however, that she did not yet know who these visitors were, and it surely seemed outlandish for a strange man to come and make such a promise to her husband.”

We don’t know if Abraham shared the details Yahweh’s promise back in Gen 17:19 that she would bear a son… name him Isaac… and establish an everlasting covenant.

One would think Abraham would have shared these details, but sometimes guys are bad with details.

When my wife wants to get details out of my… it’s a process. There’s the general feeling or thought that I have at first… and then over the course of hours details hit me like waves.

I don’t remember everything all at once… so my wife has to be patient with me… and as the details trickle out in time… she shakes her head… and sometimes laughs…

Probably more like Sarah than Abraham, but I would need to clarify.

So Sarah laughs hearing with her own ears that she will have son… and the LORD… Yahweh God… responds…

vv13-15 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

God is omniscient… He knows all we say… and all we think. He knows the very motives for why we do this or that… and all will be revealed at the Bema Seat Judgment…

Our works will be judged and rewarded or burned up. How important for us to keep all this in mind… and to remember God knows even that which we think.

Constable holds that Sarah’s laugh “… sprang from a spirit of unbelief, due to long disappointment.” Noting that Abraham’s laugh did not draw such a response from the LORD…

Where God asked a rhetorical question to reveals He knew that Sarah laughed within herself…

And then asked another rhetorical, but marvelous question in V14… “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

The word “hard”, Heb. pala means “to be surpassing or extraordinary; to do something wonderful.”

About 2000 years later… Jesus would answer His own question in Matthew 19:26 “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The LORD can work the most amazing miracles, and these are not too hard for Him. And it will be His will for Sarah to deliver a child at age 90.

And sometimes the miraculous is NOT His will. We saw on Sunday… that as John the Baptist… while sitting in Herod’s prison… questioned Jesus, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

And Jesus performed many miracle that same hour to confirm He was the Messiah, but there would be no miraculous jail break for John.

Which He could have done… three times in Acts there were miraculous releases from prison… twice by an angel and once by an earthquake.

“Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

But just because He can… does not mean it is His will.

And it’s outrageous to say the miracle didn’t come because of a lack of faith. Paul the apostle prayed three times for the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh… and God responded…

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Paul boasted in his infirmities… by def. “bodily infirmity, state of ill health, sickness.”

Tell me Paul lacked faith.

Paul said, 2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God uses miracles and suffering BOTH to shape us to rely on Him and to humble our prideful hearts from robbing Him of glory.

In Paul’s context in 2 Cor 12… he spoke of a vision of Paradise too amazing to describe… and then wrote… 2 Corinthians 12:7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

Suffering kept Paul grounded from becoming prideful. He didn’t like it… he prayed three times for it to be lifted, but he accepted it.

He wrote, “For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool.”

I know that I’ve received the miraculous deliverance from alcoholism and the baptism with the Holy Spirit which transformed me into a witness for Jesus Christ…

And I also have lingering health issues that keep me humble.

And I don’t doubt God… I don’t curse God. I hold to His promises that one day this mortal will put on immortality… a glorified body awaits.

And whether He moves to relieve my bodily aches or if He doesn’t… praise be to the Lord… and press on as He strengthens me.

And this interaction here in vv 13-15… between the LORD, Abraham and Sarah… where Sarah is exposed for laughing… denies laughing being afraid…

… and God not relenting… or enabling her, but calling her out… I take it as firm and lovingly truthful… “No, but you did laugh!”

This interact served a purpose… it fortified Sarah’s strength.

God told her nothing was too hard for Him… and she would have a son in a year.

And Sarah believed the LORD.

And I’m not just speculating about God strengthening her and Sarah believing…

All of this is confirmed in Hebrews 11:11, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

Sarah landed in the Hall of Faith because she believed God that she would conceive.

God can use the waiting… and the trial… and the barrenness… all these things that cause us to feel so many feels…

… frustration… doubt… anger… and as we laugh skeptically at the miracle… and God reassures… all these get burned out of us…

And we land in the place of faith… just as Sarah did… judging God faithful… who promised.

Continuing on… now the narrative shifts and from V16 to the end of Chapter 19… Sodom and Gomorrah come into focus for the evil happening in those cities.

V16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.

So now… the mission of the three men (Yahweh and two angels) broadens.

First to confirm the covenant and reveal a timeline to Abraham and now to Sarah…

And Second… to judge the evil that had come to fullness in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete (Gen 15:16), but for these cities… God’s justice and wrath would soon be upon them.

Just in Chapter 14… Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated by foreign invaders… and then through Abraham rescuing Lot… they were restored.

And yet still… their hearts were hardened to God and soft to evil… to the point that Abraham would not take anything from the king of Sodom…

For gifts from evil men come with strings attached.

We read in V16… they “looked toward Sodom”… and knowing the account… it’s an ominous look.

Like the gray clouds and thunder rolling in before the storm comes.

Sodom was unaware of what was about to come upon them… living life for themselves… feeding their wicked desires… ignoring God from above, but they were at their end… and no doubt they took life for granted thinking they could continue feeding evil without consequence.

But that is not true. The law of sowing and reaping is thus… Galatians 6:7–8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

And Yahweh asks the angels…

vv17-19 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since 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 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.”

Yahweh obviously wants to reveal His intentions to Abraham.

Abraham will become a great nation that is to keep God’s ways… do righteousness and justice.

Thus, how important for Abraham to know that God is just even in destroying the cities of the wicked… thus God will reveal what will befall these cities.

From Abraham will come Messiah who will bless all nations, thus foundationally… it’s important for Abraham to understand that in God’s wrath… He is just.

People still wrestle with this today… when they consider eternal hell…

… but as Paul discussed condemnation in Romans… Paul demonstrated that God is both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26)…

For God indeed poured out His wrath on sin… which is just… BUT also sent His Son to die for mankind’s sin… and that sacrifice satisfied God’s wrath on sin… and in forbearance… God passed over any person’s sin who has faith in Jesus Christ.

Thus God is both just… and the justifier of sinners.

And Abraham is getting a lesson on the justice of God in Chapter 18… as he will be the father of the nation who will bring for the Messiah… who died for sin… propitiating God’s wrath.

And Abraham would pass this account down to his children and they to their children… and even to us today…

Commanding them to walk in God’s ways… doing that which is right and just… V19 in NLT states “Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”

Israel is still waiting for all that God has promised to unfold, but they have not fully kept the way of the LORD.

Namely they rejected His Son, but a day in coming called the Tribulation when the nationally outcry of Israel will be “Save now we pray! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” They will believe in Jesus Christ.

And when Jesus returns… all God has promised them… the full extent of the Land… and all the other covenantal promises… will be fully realized.

And Sodom and Gomorrah have become a proverb and a byword…

They still stand as a testimony today of an evil nation that did not keep God’s ways… to the point that God moved in a fearful way… demonstrating His limit on how much evil He will allow…

These cities still stand as a warning of this fact throughout generations.

Also, Abraham’s family (his nephew Lot)… were in Sodom… and surely he would want to know of what would befall them.

And we’ll see that Abraham steps in and steps up to intercede on behalf of any righteous that might be in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Yahweh continues…

vv20-21 And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 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.”

Sodom and Gomorrah are named specifically… and sometime only Sodom as the chief “city of the plain” (Gen 19:29) that are specially listed in Deuteronomy 29:23 “‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’”

The cities of the plain were five in total… Zoar… would be spared per Lot’s request.

God does not reveal He will destroy, but that the outcry… the lamentations… the cries of distress by the many victims have reached the ears of God.

So, they were now under divine investigation. You never want God’s eyes on you in divine investigation unto judgment.

You want God to see your faith and loyalty to Him. I love the verse in 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

Let God’s eyes fall upon you in favor… be loyal to Him.

Loyal means “complete.” Let your heart be set completely upon God… not divided between Him and the world… or Him and an idol.

So now… the men… the two angels identified in Gen 19:1… leave to conduct the investigation.… and the LORD… Yahweh God remains with Abraham as they talk about the impending destruction on the wicked cities.

vv22-24 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 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?

Abraham no doubt knew of the reputation of these evil cities… and senses their number is up, but he also knows Lot dwells there.

And Lot was righteous.

In speaking about the doom of false teachers… Peter wrote as a comparison how God did not spare angels who sinned… nor the ancient world in Noah’s day…

And 2 Peter 2:6–8 “… and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—”

Peter’s point was 2 Pet 2:9 “… the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment...”

And Lot was righteous… despite his flaws for being drawn to Sodom… and then dwelling in Sodom… and then being in the gate (or holding a position of leadership) in Sodom…

Peter says Lot was righteous… yet oppressed and tormented by the filthy conduct in Sodom.

Psalm 1:1 states, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful...”

Lot did not live as Ps 1 described… and the law of sowing and reaping would be true in his life… as he would lose everything… except two daughters… which ended grossly as well.

But, Abraham intercedes for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah… no doubt for Lot… and optimistically 50 others as well.

And then Abraham pleads with God… citing God’s nature and character…

V25 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?”

Abraham is right is his words. It is far from God to desire to slay anyone.

2 Peter 3:9 testifies, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

But, God cannot be just if He does not judge evil. He would not be holy if He turned a blind eye to evil and did not judge in this lifetime or the next.

Abraham acknowledges God is the “Judge of all the earth”… and He is…

He is not just some local little “g” false god. He is the one true God… Yahweh… and He judges in righteousness.

The rest of this chapter portrays Abraham seemingly negotiating for God’s mercy on the righteous… from 50 people down to even ten (which was the total of Lot, his kids and their spouses)…

And if there were at least ten in Lot’s family… perhaps in the five cities… God might find fifty.

So… Abraham knew how to multiply I guess.

26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” 27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: [that’s humble and true…] 28 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.” 29 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.” 30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: [this sounds like an interaction we read in the book of Job] Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 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.” 32 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.” 33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.”

Abraham humbly approaches the Lord with this intercession… this petition… not to go against the will of God… but to be just and merciful on the righteous.

This was a great step for Abraham… a leader should intercede… should boldly go to God… and ask the hard things, but ask in alignment with the will of God.

And for us… we can ask God confidently if we ask according to His will…

1 John 5:14 declares, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

And the following verse confirms that since we knows he hears us when we ask according to His will… we know He will give us what we ask for.

But, that’s all contingent of being in His will.

(Worship team please come)

And Abraham was… unfortunately… only Lot and a few of his family would be spared… the cities would burn… for there were not even ten righteous.

We’ll see that next time… read ahead.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer before you go, we’d love to pray with you and for you.

Chapter 18 is a great chapter… putting God on display as faithful… personal… just… and willing to commune with us and hear us.

He is a great God… worthy of our worship… worthy of our fear.

May He open many doors for you to proclaim His name as you close out this week.

God bless you as you go!