Sermon Tone Analysis

Do You Care About Others?

Background Passage

Genesis 18:1-19:38

Lesson Passages

Genesis 18:20-26; 19:12-16

Lesson Passages Outline

#. Open Your Mind to Judgment's Reality (Gen.

18:20-21)

#.

Offer Intercessory Prayers (Gen.

18:22-26)

#.

Observe God's Compassion (Gen.

19:12-16)

Biblical Truth

The Lord encourages His people to pray on behalf of others.

Life Impact

To help you pray regularly for God to meet specific people's spiritual and physical needs

Prepare

I start my classes, like many teachers at Christian institutions, by asking students for prayer requests and then leading them in prayer.

The students always have very specific requests.

We may pray for a relative facing surgery, a friend with unexplained seizures, or a family member who does not have a personal relationship with Christ.

My students have taught me much about praying for specific needs.

They also help me see God at work.

What is the state of your current prayer life?

This lesson challenges adults like Paul and Rachel, who never prayed until Rachel was diagnosed with breast cancer.

They need to pray regularly for their own needs and the needs of others.

The lesson also encourages people like Art, who prays for personal wealth and happiness.

He needs to think more about others and their needs and pray for them in his personal prayer time.

The lesson also strengthens individuals like Yolanda to continue praying regularly for others and to seek to meet their needs.

As you study Abraham's intercession for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, focus on ways you can encourage adult learners to experience the *Life Impact* of this lesson by praying regularly for God to meet specific people's spiritual and physical needs.

As you continue your personal Bible study, prayerfully read the *Background Passage* and respond to the *Study Questions* as well as the questions in the margins for the February 3 lesson in /Explore the Bible: Adult Learner Guide./

The Bible in Context (Gen.

18:1-19:38)

Three visitors appeared to Abraham.

Through them God reaffirmed His promise to give Abraham and Sarah a son.

Sarah laughed wondering if she could become a first-time mother at her age.

God emphasized His promise would be fulfilled, stating nothing was impossible for Him.

Just before the visitors left, Abraham learned God was about to determine the extent of sin in Sodom and Gomorrah and decide what to do with the cities (Gen.

18:1-21).

Abraham began to explore the extent of God's love and mercy.

He asked if God would spare Sodom if 50 righteous people lived there.

When God said He would, Abraham kept lowering the number until he reached 10 righteous people.

When God stated He would spare the city for 10 righteous people, Abraham realized the breadth and depth of God's love and mercy (18:22-33).

When two angels arrived in Sodom, Lot invited them to stay with him.

During the night the men of the city surrounded Lot's house demanding he send out the visitors (thinking they were men) so they could have sexual relations with them.

Lot refused and offered his two virgin daughters to the men.

The angels blinded the men who tried to force their way into the house, thus protecting Lot and his family (19:1-11).

The angels warned Lot to get his family out of Sodom because God would soon destroy the city.

Lot tried to persuade his sons-in-law to leave, but they refused.

As dawn broke, the angels escorted Lot, his wife, and his daughters from Sodom, instructing them to run and not look back.

When Lot's wife looked back, she became a pillar of salt.

From a distance Abraham saw smoke rising and knew God had judged the cities (19:12-29)

Lot and his daughters moved to a cave.

His daughters took turns getting Lot drunk and sleeping with him.

Each became pregnant.

The older daughter gave birth to a son who became the ancestor of the Moabites.

The younger daughter gave birth to a son who became the ancestor of the Ammonites (19:30-38).

Open Your Mind to Judgment's Reality (Gen.

18:20-21)

20 Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.

21 I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me.

If not, I will find out."

*Verse 20.*

One day Abraham looked up and saw three men.

His visitors were not human, but angels.

God spoke to Abraham, apparently through one of these angels.

Once again God promised Abraham and Sarah would have a son and specified in a year's time.

As the angels prepared to leave, Abraham learned about more of God's plans.

*The Lord* informed Abraham of the magnitude of Sodom and Gomorrah's [guh MAHR uhs] sin.

Before the flood, sin had reached an intolerable level (Gen.

6:5).

A similar level of sin existed in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Ezekiel 16:49 describes the sin of Sodom as people selfishly enjoying luxury while ignoring the needs and suffering of the poor.

Those oppressed by the sin of those in these two cities cried out for justice.

[See /Exploration:/ "Outcry~/Cry," p. 114.]

*Verse 21.* God told Abraham He intended to visit the cities to determine the gravity of the problem.

No doubt, God already knew the rampant sin in Sodom and Gomorrah, but He would visit the cities to demonstrate the lengths to which He would go to avoid destructive judgment.

God prefers to save rather than destroy.

He wanted Abraham to know He would not destroy without having investigated thoroughly and considered His options carefully and completely.

Abraham surely heard God's words with great anxiety and interest.

If Sodom's sin warranted destruction, his nephew Lot might well perish.

God stated that if Sodom's sin did not justify its destruction, He would know, implying He would spare the city.

God's statement opened the way for Abraham to intercede for the sparing of Sodom and Gomorrah.

*/And Today./*

We often pray for people who are sick, asking God to restore them to health.

We do not want them to suffer and perhaps die.

We also need to pray for those who have not trusted Christ because their separation from God has far more drastic consequences.

All of us eventually face God's judgment.

Faith in Christ spares Christians the ultimate consequences of their sins, but those who die without having accepted Christ face God's judgment and the eternal consequences.

We can trust God because He acts justly.

We can praise God because He exercises grace and mercy.

Whom are you praying for to receive salvation?

How are you helping them find and accept Christ as Savior?

Offer Intercessory Prayers (Gen.

18:22-26)

22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

23 Abraham stepped forward and said, "Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 What if there are 50 righteous people in the city?

Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it?

25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike.

You could not possibly do that!

Won't the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"

26 The Lord said, "If at Sodom I find 50 righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

*Verse 22.* Abraham's visitors *(the men)* turned to go toward Sodom, but apparently the one through whom *the Lord* spoke stayed behind.

Abraham was *standing before* Him.

/Standing before/ typically refers to being in the presence of a superior such as a king (Ex.

9:10) or God (Lev.

9:5).

The phrase could mean "worshiping" God (Jer.

7:10) or "living before Him" as a servant (2 Kings 5:16).