Sermon Tone Analysis

The First Place Favor Is Used

NOAH

It’s interesting to me that this is the first place favor is used and this example of favor is in relation to the pre-incarnate form of Jesus.

What’s even more interesting is that Jesus was showing up to deliver a promise while on His way to investigate the need for judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

You couldn’t have any more of a stark contrast between having favor and not having favor.

Before we read this story, I want to stress this fact: Everyone is loved unconditionally by the Lord but not everyone enjoys the favor of God.

The favor of God is conditional.

It appears that Abraham was just enjoying the shade of the terebinth trees (some say oak trees but literally means a very large tree with the emphasis on its size meaning good shade) during the heat of the day when he happened to look up and notice three men standing nearby.

Verse 1 clearly states it was the Lord and obviously Abraham recognized Him, and he bowed low to the ground.

He immediately said, “If I have found favor, please do not pass by Your servant.”

This is an important phrase.

He then requested that they rest a bit with him in the shade with some water to wash their feet and some food to refresh them.

He then requested that they rest a bit with him in the shade with some water to wash their feet and some food to refresh them.

Lord is “YHWH” in the Hebrew.

Listen to this definition, “the name of the one true God, with a focus on sure existence and His relationship to His covenant persons and people.”

Mamre is a place name that means “grazing land” and was the main area of habitation for Abraham and his family.

It was named after an Amorite who helped Abraham defeat Chedorlaomer ().

It was famous for these trees.

Just east of her is where Abraham purchased a cave, Machpelah) for a family burial plot (two miles north of Hebron).

He, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and on were buried there.

Some say that Mamre was later renamed Hebron.

Prior to the Israelites dwelling in Canaan, it was occupied by the tribe of Anak, the giants.

After the conquest, it was given to Caleb ().

It became a city of refuge.

It became the capital of David during the 7 years he ruled only Judah.

The Edomites captured Hebron after the Babylonian invasion and it was recaptured by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C.

It isn’t mentioned in the NT; although, Herod the Great erected pretentious structures there.

Interestingly, Herod was part Edomite.

And Edomite came from Esau’s lineage who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

This area was of great significance to Abraham and was rich in history for him and the Lord.

After Abraham left Egypt, he and his nephew Lot went south to as far as Bethel.

There at Bethel, strife broke out between Abraham and Lot’s herdsmen because the land couldn’t support both of them because they were very wealthy.

Abraham encouraged Lot to pick what land he wanted and he’d take the remainder.

This is important because it indicated trust on Abraham’s part that whatever land God showed Abraham would be his and his children’s; therefore, he had no need to worry about it or take first choice.

Lot chose Sodom and Gomorrah.

After this separation, God then told Abraham to look north, south, east, and west for all of that land would be his and his descendants forever.

Abraham walked the length of the land and then settled at Mamre in the trees, which are in Hebron ().

All of his descendants lived in Hebron pre-conquest of Canaan.

Hebron means “league” or “confederacy.”

League is “a covenant or compact made between persons, parties, states, etc., for the promotion or maintenance of common interests or for mutual assistance or service.”

A confederacy is “an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose.”

For Abraham Hebron, specifically the trees of Mamre, represent his history with God.

The word “bowed” means “to fall prostrate…as a position of submission to a human superior.”

He didn’t simple bow at his hips to greet or show someone honor.

He literally fell at the feet of the Lord as an act of submission, again, because he recognized who was there.

We know this because he called Him, Lord, which is Adonai in the Hebrew.

Adonai is “Lord, Master, i.e. the title of the true God with a focus on the authority and majesty of a ruler…yet also implying a relationship based in promise, covenant, or other relational factors.”

In this scene, we see Abraham recognized His master in the context of relationship based in promise, covenant, and other relational factors meaning God wasn’t a Master to followed from a slave/master relationship but a God who chose Abraham as a partner in His plans and One who would promote Abraham’s best interests in return.

IT’S IN THIS TYPE OF CONFEDERACY THAT FAVOR IS FOUND.

The Definition of Favor

Favor is “hen” (pronounced kane) in the Hebrew.

It’s “acts which display one’s fondness or compassion for another; acts of kindness displaying one’s pleasure with an object, which benefit the object of pleasure; an object which gains a favorable response; to be pleased.”

It’s acceptance and preference sometimes over another.

This is an important part of the definition because it reveals that not everything has the favor of God.

One of the most important ways that favor works is in how others perceive you.

When you have the favor of God, people are drawn to you and WANT to help you.

This perception is orchestrated by Father and often tied to His assignment for you.

The best example of this is Esther.

Xerxes looked upon her with favor and because of that favor, she was able to thwart Haman’s evil plans.

When God finds favor with someone, He looks at him or her with appreciation and acceptance.

I believe a relationship of trust is one of the conditions of favor.

In this series, we’re going to dig into the favor of God and how one finds it.

But notice that God looks at him or her with appreciation meaning that they are doing the things that make Him appreciative.

They are children who are living their lives to make Him happy not out of legalism but out of adoration and love for Him.

They aren’t children that grieve Him by rebellion and sin.

They are actively pursuing Him and His will.

These are all things that He appreciates and this causes Him to extend His favor to them.

Favor, here, is rason and means “pleasure, will, wish, i.e. a strong desire which implies a choice; acceptance, favor, i.e. a state of condition of approval.”

“Lord, how wonderfully you bless the righteous, Your favor wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy.”

TPT

Here we see favor tied to righteousness.

It is CHOOSING to put God first that opens the door of His favor in your life.

Now, even though is the first place the Hebrew word “hen” is translated favor, the first place it is used in the Bible is actually .

Grace is “hen.”

Noah found favor because he kept his bloodline pure and “WALKED WITH GOD” when everyone else wasn’t.

Notice here and in that favor is tied with “finding.”

Both Noah and Abraham “found favor.”

Found is “masa” and means “discover, uncover, find, find out, i.e. learn the LOCATION of an object…achieve a state, implying a discovery or unfolding process.”

This reveals that finding God’s favor is a discovery process.

You learn what He likes and what makes Him happy and then as you intentionally do those things, He shows His appreciation by giving you His favor.

Now, quickly, we are in the “age of grace” or the “age of favor” in which God is offering everyone the free gift of salvation.

But living a LIFE OF TANGIBLE FAVOR is conditional for the believer.

And with it comes access to God, His plans, and His presence that others might not enjoy.

Back to .

It was God’s favor that caused the Lord and his two angels to NOT pass Abraham by.

They stopped and waited for him to see them.

The only reason he saw and discerned is because he had a history with God.

He knew what His friend’s presence felt like and when he felt Him, he looked up and there He was.

Again, FAVOR IS IN FRIENDSHIP, IN A RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST.

We see that once Abraham spotted the Lord, he then quickly prepared a nice meal for them and stood by them as they ate.

After this act of hospitality and serving the Lord his best, the Lord then prophesied to His friend.

Gen 18:9-

Sarah did not laugh out loud (lol).

She laughed INWARDLY!

And the Lord knew it.

That freaked her out.

Abraham had already done his lol-ing in so he was cool with the prophecy.

:D And now here is the responsibility that comes with the favor of the Lord.

Genesis 18:16

The Lord of the universe said, “I have known him,” implying an intimacy.