#10 Genesis 18 & 19 Lesson 1

GENESIS #10 Genesis 18 & 19 3 MEN APPEAR TO ABRAHAM • There is no doubt this was a manifestation of God because He is identified as YHWH • Could this have been Jesus? • Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus ever called YHWH, which is the name of The Father • Adonai is a plural • Enosh = HUMAN men 1 TRINITY: REALITY VS. DOCTRINE DOCTRINE OF “ 3 PERSONS” 3-PART GODHEAD 2 MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD WHAT DID THESE 3 “MEN” REPRESENT 3 ?????????? THE PROPHETS SAW FAR INTO THE FUTURE HOW TO DESCRIBE WHAT THEY SAW?? NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE GOD 4 “…WHERE IS YOUR WIFE, SARAH?” • • • • A rhetorical question Vs. 10: Sarah will give birth to a son in a year! Promises of Yahweh brought about step-by-step Gen 12:2, Gen.15:4, Gen.17:16-21, NOW Gen.18:10 5 COVENANTS BUILT UPON COVENANTS 2ND FLOOR Yeshua’s Covenant 1ST FLOOR FOUNDATION GROUND Moses’ Covenant Abraham’s Covenant Noah’s Covenant 6 A RARE GLIMPSE INTO GOD’S MIND • Yahweh lets Abraham in on His plans for Sodom • Important PRINCIPLES: 1) He does not hide His reasons for judgments 2) He does not hide His reasons for blessing 3) God will reveal through the HEBREW PEOPLE! 7 A MIDDLE EASTERN BARGAINING SESSION • Abraham cares about more than just Himself • We see God’s definition of justice and righteousness • We see God’s mercy in action • We see that REPENTANCE does not play a role thus far in the Torah! • At this point, the wicked remain wicked, and the righteous remain righteous • This indicates that a UNIVERSAL STANDARD 8 for human behavior already exists The Sin of Sodom • The sin was moral in nature • The people of Sodom crossed over some line defined in the 7 Noachide Laws • Sodom was a city, but also a district of 5 cities • PRINCIPLE: God does NOT destroy the righteous along with the wicked 9 GENESIS 19: THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION? • One “man” was YHWH • The other 2 were “malach” messengers • Angels • We learn that angels have the ability to take on human form • Usually, humans don’t realize the “men” they’re talking to are Angels • REASON: Angels in their real form are scary! 10 CHERUBIM ANGEL • Angels are just ONE type of spirit being • A “lower” spirit being, without freewill • They were created to carry out tasks, and transport messages • Cherubim at the “upper” end of spirit beings, protect God’s throne 11 • Cherubs are NOT Angels! YHWH TAKES ON HUMAN FORM • Angel forms were NOT real men • YHWH nor the Angels took possession of an already living human person • YHWH was an apparition of a man, but a flesh and blood apparition 12 YESHUA WAS BORN OF A WOMAN, AND GREW INTO A MAN THERE HAS ONLY BEEN ONE YESHUA! YAH-SHUA = GOD SAVES 13 • 3 PERSONS CONCEPT • CREATES “MOTHER-SHIP WITH SMALLER VESSELS” MENTAL IMAGE • Idea is that the mother-ship (or father-ship) controls the smaller vessels from a distance • The smaller vessels project the power and authority of the mothership • Fine for Sci-Fi, not true understanding of God 14 RSV John 14:9 “Jesus said to him, ……..He who has seen me has seen the Father…..” • We think in 4 dimensions • God is not “in pieces” • God is not the “sum of the parts” • This “structure” is NOT Scriptural • God is ONE …. echad 15 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING GOD’S NAME • God’s name is spelled out in the O.T. over 6000 times! • Yahweh, Yahveh, Yah…. or Jehovah? • God or Lord is substituted for His name • Earliest Bible name for God is El Shaddai • If Yahweh is called “Lord”, and Jesus is called “Lord”, how do we tell who is who? • 99% of the time when we see “LORD” in the O.T., it actually says YHWH! 16