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Genesis 19:1-3: Prayer being answered.

“The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.’  ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we will spend the night in the square.’  ³ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.” NIV UK

Don’t forget that these two angels were despatched to Sodom in answer to Abraham’s prayers. ‘Abraham, who lived outside Sodom, had more influence than Lot, who lived in the city.’ Warren Wiersbe.  When Abraham had his divine visitation ‘’he was sitting at the entrance to his tent’’ (18:1). But Lot ‘was sitting in the gate-way of the city’’ (19:1) when the ‘’two angels’’ came calling. Like his uncle, he showed kind and generous hospitality to his visitors. But he was not like him in outlook. Lot had some time previously traded his tent for a settled home. As he was in the gate-way, it may indicate that he was a person of influence. But in order to affect ‘Sodom’ you have to be salty salt and bright light. The overall impression we get from Lot’s story indicates he was not. In fact, but for 2 Peter 2:7,8, you might question whether he was a believer.

‘Abraham was a pilgrim and stranger, only passing through this world, but Lot had gradually abandoned his tent and settled down in Sodom. Instead of keeping his eyes on the heavenly city (Heb. 11:10, 14-16), Lot looked toward Sodom and began to walk by sight (Gen. 13:10-11). Then he moved his tent near Sodom (v. 12), and finally he moved into Sodom (14:12). Lot’s location in the gate indicates that he was a man of some authority, for that was where official business was conducted (Ruth 4:1ff.).

Had Lot gone to Sodom because God directed him, his being there would have fulfilled divine purposes. After all, God put Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and Esther in Persia, and their presence turned out to be a blessing. Worldliness is not a matter of physical geography but of heart attitude (1 John 2:15-17). Lot’s heart was in Sodom long before his body arrived there. No doubt he got his first love for the world when he went to Egypt with Abraham (Gen. 13:1, 10), and he never overcame it.’ Warren Wiersbe.

The last sentence is conjecture, but for the rest, I feel there is warning in it that it’s possible to be a worldly kind of Christian – one who lives well away from God’s real purpose for their life. You cannot bless your world in the way God wants you to if you are content to be lukewarm.

PRAYER: Lord, set me ablaze by your Spirit, and keep me burning. ‘Never let my heart go cold…’

Genesis 18:16-33: Standing in the gap.

^“16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.’  ²⁰ Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’  ²² The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’  ²⁶ The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’  ²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’  ‘If I find forty-five there,’ he said, ‘I will not destroy it.’  ²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, ‘What if only forty are found there?’  He said, ‘For the sake of forty, I will not do it.’  ³⁰ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?’  He answered, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’  ³¹ Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’  He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’  ³² Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’  He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’  ³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.” NIV UK

‘History belongs to the intercessors.’ Walter Wink.

Warren Wiersbe points out that earlier on, in chapter 14, Abraham had intervened to rescue Lot; now he interceded for his rescue. In the first place, an intercessor stands in the counsel of the Lord. He, or she, is given insight into what God is doing, or intends to do. So they are able to pray in an especially enlightened way. Abraham knew what was going to happen to Sodom before the people there (including Lot) did. ‘’The LORD confides in those who fear him…’’ Psalm 25:14a. It is interesting to me that the last words in the chapter say: ‘’When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham…’’ You think, ‘But hasn’t Abraham been speaking with God?’ Well yes He has. But the initiative is always with God. ‘When God intends a great mercy for a people, first He sets them a praying.’ Matthew Henry.

With the knowledge he was given, Abraham prayed. He appealed to God’s justice (23-25). When the Lord rescued Lot, however, it was on the basis of His mercy and grace (19: 16 & 18). But God listened to Abraham. Prayer is powerful.

“If they [lost sinners] will not hear you speak, they cannot prevent your praying. Do they jest at your exhortations? They cannot disturb you at your prayers. Are they far away so that you cannot reach them? Your prayers can reach them. Have they declared that they will never listen to you again, nor see your face? Never mind, God has a voice which they must hear. Speak to Him, and He will make them feel. Though they now treat you despitefully, rendering evil for your good, follow them with your prayers. Never let them perish for lack of your supplications” (Charles Spurgeon: Metropolitan Pulpit, vol. 18, 263-64).

‘Undoubtedly he was thinking of Lot and his family as he progressively lowered the number of righteous people that might be needed to save the city. We don’t know why Abraham stopped at ten (verse 32); perhaps he calculated that Lot’s extended family now included ten persons. But Abraham had learned enough; he had learned that God is as concerned with the few as he is with the many, that He desires to save rather than to punish..In fact, there turned out to be only one ‘’righteous’’ person in Sodom – Lot; and God delivered him…God had greater concern and compassion for the righteous than Abraham did. Abraham stopped at ten; God was not willing that even one should perish (see Matthew 18:12-14). Since this is true, let us not tire of interceding on behalf of even one soul; God will not tire of hearing us.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.159.

Genesis 18:9-15: God knows.

^” ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him.  ‘There, in the tent,’ he said.  ¹⁰ Then one of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’  Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?’  ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?” ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’  ¹⁵ Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh.’  But he said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’” NIV UK

God knows everything about us, but still loves us. This is not an excuse for sin, nor should it be a motivation to spiritual complacency. But it should cause us to be grateful that we are deeply loved; that we are engulfed in an unfathomable sea of mercy; that grace is all around us. Sarah’s laughter, and her lying, were known to God. This did not stop Him keeping His promise regarding Isaac. How good is our God.

Genesis 18: 1 – 8: Ready to serve.

“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.  ³ He said, ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. ⁵ Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way – now that you have come to your servant.’  ‘Very well,’ they answered, ‘do as you say.’  ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. ‘Quick,’ he said, ‘get three seahs  of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.’  ⁷ Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.” NIV UK

‘Resting in the afternoon is a normal practice in the East, and don’t forget that Abraham was nearly a hundred years old. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap!’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.28. Wiersbe also makes the point, in his Old Testament Commentary, that few people travelled when the sun was so hot, so Abraham was immediately curious and courteous. ‘Hospitality is the first law of the East, and Abraham faithfully obeyed it.’

God may ‘appear’ to you any ordinary day as you do what you usually do. You may sense Him come close as you sit quietly, or as you contemplate nature. Be alert; be ready. He still ‘visits’ homes. Are you prepared for Him today? Ready to worship; to give Him the reverence He deserves? (2) Will you be quick to respond? (It’s been pointed out that this was an elderly man running around in the heat of the day). Will we be eager to serve Him; to give our absolute best? (3-8). Wiersbe makes the point that although Abraham had 318 servants, He served the Lord personally. He then stood by (8), presumably to be available for further service, if needed.

When asked why he spent so much time doing practical jobs in the church building, one man who had been a works manager, replied, ‘I have a good Master.’

‘All ministry must first be to the Lord, for if we fail to be a blessing to the Lord, we will never be a blessing to others.’ The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.76. (See also Colossians 3:24, 25).

Genesis 17:23-26: Painful obedience.

^“23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, ²⁵ and his son Ishmael was thirteen; ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. ” NIV UK

I simply want to make the point that Abraham fully obeyed God, even though there was pain involved. Doing what God tells you do can be costly. There must be no hiding of this truth. But it’s always the right, and best, way to live. The price of disobedience is far greater and far worse.  Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, wrote to a friend who was perplexed about a painful experience, “I will say what our Heavenly Father said to me long ago, and says to me still very often: ‘See in it a chance to die.’” Warren W. Wiersbe.

As followers of Jesus, we also know that any opportunity to die is equally one to rise again. Good Friday and Easter Sunday go together in Christian history and experience. If ‘it’s Friday’, we know for sure that ‘Sunday’s coming.’

PRAYER: Lord, I need your strength. Help me, please, to obey you fully in every area of my life.

 Genesis 17:18-22: How good of God

^“18 And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!’ ¹⁹ Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.’ ²² When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.” NIVUK

Abraham wanted to re-visit his own ‘plan B’ – a strategy which had already caused him and Sarah much grief. But he just couldn’t see how he could father a child at the age of a hundred, and Sarah at 90. So his prayer was:

‘’If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!’ (18).

It was understandable that Abraham loved his boy, but it was the wrong prayer. How good of God to answer it though:

‘’And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers’’ (20).

What an insight into the power of prayer. I wonder how many of our prayers are ‘wrong’ in a sense – we’re not quite asking the right thing – yet God still graciously, mercifully answers them, and He is able to fulfil His purposes through them.

(Note: The first baby in the Bible to be named before his birth was Ishmael, Gn. 16:11: the second was Isaac.)

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that you can sort out the tangled threads of good prayers interlaced with bad ones. It’s not that we want to ask amiss, but we often do. I marvel that you can still answer prayers that may not be the best, but somehow bring your purposes to pass through them. This is amazing grace.

Genesis 17:15-17: No super-hero.

^“15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’               ¹⁷ Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’” NIV UK

I love the gritty, down-to-earth reality of the Bible stories. These are characters I can identify with. They are flawed, and I can relate to that! They might love God, and be seeking to follow him in faith; they may be living sacrificially. Abraham was doing all of that and more. But in this short passage he could not believe what God was saying to him. On the face of it, that might trouble you. You might think, ‘Well surely if God spoke to you, and you knew it was God, you would have to believe him.’ But Abraham didn’t – and there is something incredibly real about that. Why would any author make that up? If the writer were spinning a yarn, surely he’d want to make him out to be a super-hero? But that’s not what you have here.

Note:

• The definite promise of God: ‘’I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her’’ (16a);
• The disconnect in Abraham’s response. His body was worshipping, but his heart was questioning (17). He was no doubt torn between wanting to believe and being unable to.

I take encouragement in the grace and mercy of God, that He did not write him off.

Genesis 17:9-14: Marked men.

^“9 Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner – those who are not your offspring. ¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’ ?NIV

In any covenant made there was an ‘’As for me’’ (3), and an ‘’As for you’’ (9). In other words, there were two sides. We now discover what Abram’s response was to be. He was to be circumcised, and every male in his household, down through the successive generations was to be too. I remember an Old Testament lecturer saying to my group in college that every time a Jewish man went to the loo he would be reminded who he was – that he belonged to the covenant people of God. That lecturer was not being crude. He was making an accurate point. Warren Wiersbe points out that the surgical procedure of circumcision was fitting since God’s covenant involved Abraham’s ‘’seed.’’

 But we must not think that circumcision saved anyone. Genesis 15:6 says: ‘’Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.’’ That was before he was circumcised. Circumcision was the sign, not the means, of belonging to God. (Romans 4:9-12 is a most important passage to read in this regard, and I suggest you take the time to have a look at it, if you are able). An eight day old baby would not be able to understand what was going on. Later on in life it would have to be explained to him. It was the obedience of the parents that mattered.

Here is another essential text to bear in mind: ‘’A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God’’ (Romans 2:28, 29).

Under the New Testament we are not marked by the external rite of circumcision, but by the internal reality of receiving the Spirit: ‘’Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…’’ (Ephesians 1:13b).

We too are marked men – and women!

PRAYER: Thank you Lord that you have done something, and are doing something, on the inside of my life that is totally transformational. You are changing me from the inside out.

Genesis 17:1-8: God gives the growth

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. ² Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’  ³ Abram fell face down, and God said to him, ⁴ ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.’” NIV UK

‘We say that we depend on the Holy Spirit, but actually we are so wired up with our own devices that if the fire does not fall from heaven, we can turn on a switch and produce false fire of our own.’ Vance Havner.

Jesus said: ‘’…apart from me you can do nothing’’ (John 15:5)

Abraham and Sarah had tried their own plan and failed miserably. But now God keeps saying: ‘’I will.’’ When I first began to read this passage last week, the thought came to me that God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7b). ‘’Abram’’ means ‘’exalted father ‘’, but ‘’Abraham’’ means ‘’father of a multitude.’’ Warren Wiersbe comments that whenever anyone called Abraham by name, he would be reminded of God’s gracious promise to give him many descendants. God gives the growth.

‘’I will…greatly increase your numbers…’’ (2).

‘’I will make you very fruitful…’’ (6a).

‘’By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore’’ (Hebrews 11:11, 12).

‘He turns our weaknesses into His opportunities, so that the glory goes to Him.’

‘Where things impossible by faith shall be made possible, let’s give the glory to Him now.’

I read today that according to some estimates around 100,000 people were converted during the Welsh revival. God gives the growth whether it be small or big – but it can be extremely large.

PRAYER: Lord increase our faith.