Covenant Character

Things that aren’t what they seem

1. A firefly is not a fly – it is a beetle

2. A prairie dog is not a dog – it is a rodent [image above]

3. A horned toad is not a toad – it is a lizard

4. A douglas fir is not a fir – it is a pine [image above]

5. A silkworm is not a worm – it is a caterpillar

6. A peanut is not a nut – it is a legume

7. A funny bone is not a bone – it is the spot where the ulnar nerve touches the humerus

Genesis 18:1-15

Abraham’s hospitality

-It is unclear whether Abram knew who he was greeting at first at the entrance of his tent, but what is clear is that from the beginning Abram welcomes the visitors into his tent and treats them with extreme hospitality.

Abraham goes out to greet the men.......bows with his face to the ground.

-this is a posture of humility and servanthood.

-From the beginning Abraham was showing that he was there to serve and to love these men well.

3 large measures of meal

-This goes beyond just the simple measure of actual meal or flour.

-3 large measure would have been an ephah of flour

1 seah = 3-6Liters

3 seahs = 1 Ephah = 9-18 Liters of flour

one biblical Reference estimated as much as 21 liters

potentially making up to 60 small loaves of bread for each person to consume and them take with them.

-along with a calf, yogurt, milk

Abraham laid out a feast before the Lord and these men.

BUT WE ALSO HAVE SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON

What was "three measures of meal"? There is a principle of Bible study (the law of first mention) that says, "The first time a thing—a word, a phrase—is mentioned in the Bible influences how it should be interpreted throughout." Here, "three measures of meal" is used in the context of a fellowship meal—giving hospitality, in this case, to God—so it has a spiritual connotation.

Abram receives yet even more specific confirmation of God’s promise through a direct word from the Lord.

-looking into Sarah’s comments in verse 12

Genesis 18:12 NLT

So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”

Sarah was shocked at the idea of both of them being physically able to do what was needed for this promise to come to pass. The Lord confronts her doubt as well in a way that shows her he was serious about what he was telling them and in a gentle way of saying you need to trust me.

Abraham intercedes for Sodom

God tells Abraham that he has been hearing an outcry

-Hebrew word Ze - a - qa(h) which is the same word for outcry that was used to describe the outcry of Israel against Egypt.

-This word for outcry is a cry to God because of injustice. There had been such an outcry of injustice against Sodom and Gomorrah.

New Living Translation Chapter 18

I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”

Abraham had rescued a large group of people from this area and so he had a vested interest....there was a certain relational tie he had to them so he pleaded to God for the lives of the righteous....

-Abraham had a heart for these people and knew that God was right in his judgement and still he wanted to save all those he could.

The Angels go to Sodom and find Lot at the entrance of the city gate

-this was not just a location, in the city....those who sat at the city gate were leaders in the structure of the city and so Lot had become influential in the city.

Lot greets them the same way Abraham did...

-went to meet them

-bowed with his face to the ground

-a position of humility

Abraham’s Hospitality runs in the family

-would not allow the Angels to stay in the city square

-Wasn’t safe....and Lot was accustomed to honoring guests as he saw from his Uncle growing up.

-Lot took them home and scripture says pre pared them a feast.

-Including fresh bread made without yeast indicates this was not as leisurely a meal as Abraham had prepared.

-This is a foreshadowing that they will have to leave the city in a hurry. Again this is familiar to us as we can think ahead to the same thing happening in Egypt....the people made bread without yeast because they knew they would have to leave at a moments notice as God told them.

Men of Sodom Coming to the house

-We have to detach our western thinking and western ideas from this next interaction

-The fact that the men of Sodom wanted to interact with these men sexually was not a commentary on the sexual preferences of these men, but it was a further illumination of the out cry that was mentioned before.

-The men of Sodom had seen the reverence that was given to the men at the city gate and they came to show these men who was the boss...

-This move by the men of Sodom was to show power and to lord that power over these men they didn’t know.

-This show of power would have been demeaning to all who would have experienced it. This is not a commentary on the gay lifestyle....this is a commentary on the men in this city who wanted to wield their power.

-This was a stark contrast to the hospitality of Abraham and Lot

The Angels protected Lot and his daughters

-Lot did everything he could to try to protect the men who had come to town

-Once his life was in danger the two angels stepped in and protected Lot and his family from this mob.

Ezekiel 16:48–49 NLT

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.

Genesis 19:30-38 is about provision because we have some kids in the room we will suffice it to say.

-Lot and his daughters world had ended and they were even chased out of the city they fled to in the wake of Sodom and Gomorrah because they were not safe in that city. So they were in a cave not knowing what was going on and even how they were going to continue to survive.

-The Lord’s silence on this issue indicates that it was something that he saw and built on to that family and was faithful to the line of Abraham’s lineage because of his covenant to him.

Application

-God is showing us the stark contrast between covenant and non-covenant character.

Abraham (covenant)

-Married a barren woman (concern for someone other than himself)

-Sacrificed multiple times his only worldly avenue of fulfilling the promise God had for him

-rescued those in danger

-Humility, Graciousness

-Extreme Hospitality

-Interceding for others

Sodom and Gomorrah (non-covenant Character)

-self focused

-power centric

-uncaring about the plight of others

Matthew 5:23 NLT

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you,

Jesus was teaching that it wasn’t just if we had something against someone else, but if we knew THEY had something against us we were to go reconcile with them first.