Genesis Chapter Eighteen
Read Genesis 18:1-8 – Abraham Entertains God’s Messengers
v.1 “And the LORD
appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the
heat of the day;”
Abraham has now been in
the
v.2 “And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo,
three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet
them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,”
As Abraham sits three
men appear. Abraham is a hospitable man
as we’re reminded that we should be:
Hebrews 13:2 “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
I Peter 4:9 “9Use hospitality one to another without
grudging.”
But these men are not strangers to Abraham, he recognizes them.
v.3 “And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour
in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:”
Abraham calls one of
the them “MY LORD” and begs or “PRAYS” that he will not go on past his house
but will stop and stay, that Abraham might do Him some service. The language in this
scripture that one of these men was indeed the Son of God, serving as a
messenger to Abraham.
v.4-5 “Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched,
and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5And I will
fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass
on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou
hast said.”
The services that
Abraham proposes to provide to these messengers are those common to that time and
that land. He offers them water to wash
their feet tired from walking as they rest under the shade of a nearby
tree. He also promises a morsel of bread
for them to slack their hunger. But,
though he brought them plain, everyday fare, he did do more than just give them
leftover bread.
v.6-8 “And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah,
and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. 7And Abraham ran unto
the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 8And he
took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and
set it before them; and he stood by them under the
tree, and they did eat.”
Abraham does much more
that just bring a morsel of bread. He
has Sarah make fresh bread of the finest flour, has a young calf prepared, what
we would call a veal and then served them himself. He knows who his visitors are and is sparing
nothing to provide for them. Again we
remember our lessons in hospitality from the beginning of the chapter. Then we are told what business these
messengers have with Abraham.
Read Genesis 18:9-15 – Sarah
Will Conceive
v.9-10 “And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10And
he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and,
lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was
behind him.”
Just as God had
promised Abraham:
Genesis
The time has come for God’s promise to be fulfilled. The Lord asks about Sarah and then tells
Abraham that he will return to them the capability to produce a child. Sarah, curious as any wife would be about
these men that Abraham is entertaining, is listening. The scripture would even imply that she’s
eavesdropping.
v.11 “Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.”
The Holy Spirit,
through the pen of Moses, reminds us again that the birth of Isaac to Abraham
and Sarah was a miracle. Both Abraham
and Sarah are well beyond in age the time in their lives when they could
conceive children. We’re even told that
Sarah’s body had ceased to function in the manner that a woman produces seed. The Holy Spirit even puts the birth of Isaac
to Abraham and Sarah on the same basis as resurrecting someone from the dead:
Romans
v.12 “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself,
saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
When God had told
Abraham before that Sarah would be the mother of nations he laughed:
Genesis
Now when Sarah hears that the time is near she laughs as well. She is skeptical, asking if she would really
enjoy the pleasure of a son at her advanced age. The news that Zacharias and Elisabeth would
bear John the Baptizer was greeted with similar skepticism:
Luke
v.13-14 “And the LORD
said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear
a child, which am old? 14Is any thing too hard for
the LORD? At the time appointed
I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a
son.”
The Lord asks why Sarah
laughed. She obviously was told of God’s
promise and that the time that this promised event was very near:
Genesis
The Lord rebukes Sarah, asking a very simple question; “IS ANY THING TOO
HARD FOR THE LORD?” We know there isn’t.
Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah Lord
GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and
stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”
If necessary God could have brought children to Abraham and Sarah from
the very stones of the earth:
Matthew 3:9 “And think not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able
of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Abraham and Sarah are reassured; “AT THE TIME APPOINTED…” God’s promise
will be fulfilled.
v.15 “Then
Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but
thou didst laugh.”
Like a child caught
doing something that he shouldn’t, Sarah, even in her old age lies and denies
that she laughed. But just as Mother
always knew better when we did that as children so does the Lord.
Read Genesis 18:16-22 – God’s
Plan for
v.16 “And the men rose up from thence, and looked
toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
It is now time for the
messengers to whom Abraham has been providing his hospitality to go on to other
business and they’re going to
v.17-18 “And the LORD
said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing
that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed in him?”
We are about to see a
change in the status of Abraham before God.
He is going to become more of a friend of God than just a servant. The Lord asks his messengers, should he
reveal to Abraham what is about to happen?
Near the end of his ministry, the relationship between Jesus and his
disciples changed in the same manner. Jesus
told his disciples:
“Henceforth I call you not
servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called
you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you.” John 15:15
Just as Jesus ceased to call his disciples servants and to call them
friends because of the things that he had revealed to them; the Lord is ready
now to reveal to Abraham his purpose as a friend. The Lord knows now that Abraham is going to
be faithful; he is going to be able to keep the promises made to him. Abraham has proven himself.
Genesis
Galatians 3:8 “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
v.19 “For I know him, that he will command his
children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that
the LORD may bring upon Abraham that
which he hath spoken of him.”
Oh! that
God could say this about each one of us today.
Abraham has just been paid the highest compliment that any man on earth
could possibly desire. The Lord says “I
KNOW HIM”, “HE
WILL COMMAND” and all his household will “KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD.”
Abraham will not falter or fail.
He will do what God has commanded all fathers to do. Under Moses:
“Only take heed to thyself, and
keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have
seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach
them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;”
Deuteronomy 4:9
“And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when
thou risest up.” Deuteronomy 6:7
Under the law of Christ:
Ephesians 6:4 “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
v.20 “And the LORD
said, Because the cry of
The sin of
Genesis
v.21 “I will go down now, and see whether they have
done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not,
I will know.”
Just as God went down
to see
v.22 “And
the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham
stood yet before the LORD.”
So the two messengers
with the Lord left and went on toward
Read Genesis 18:23-33 –
Abraham Petitions God for
v.23 “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou
also destroy the righteous with the wicked?”
Now knowing that the
Lord was to visit
“And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying, 21Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I
may consume them in a moment. 22And they fell upon their faces, and
said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt
thou be wroth with all the congregation?” Numbers 16:20-22
v.24-25 “Peradventure there be fifty righteous within
the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty
righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to
do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the
righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from
thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
If there are fifty
righteous people in the city Abraham has asked God not to destroy it. He is bargaining with God. Jeremiah in his grief over the city of
“1Run ye to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye
can find a man, if there be any
that executeth judgment, that
seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.” Jeremiah 5:1
He was ready to pardon
v.26 “And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
The Lord agrees to
honor Abraham’s plea. If there are as
many as 50 righteous souls in
Ezekiel
v.27-28 “And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I
have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for lack
of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.”
But Abraham starts to
have second thoughts about his petition to the Lord. He knows the condition of these cities and
fears that God will not find 50 righteous souls in
v.29-30 “And he spake unto him yet again, and said,
Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said,
I will not do it for forty’s sake. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there
shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not
do it, if I find thirty there.”
Abraham continues to
fret and worry. First he asks God to
spare
v.31-32 “And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he
said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet
but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.”
Abraham continues to
worry about his request and the city of
“39And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger
be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee,
but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon
all the ground let there be dew.”
Judges
Abraham asks one last time for God to spare
v.33 “And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had
left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”
Abraham’s pleading for