Genesis 21:22-34 - Remember our Covenant of Grace!

Genesis 21:22-34

A Covenant with Abimelech

22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

29 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

30 And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

Abraham made a covenant agreement with the very king he had deceived to protect his wife Sarah and his own life if the king had taken her and disposed of him to get and keep her.  God had intervened and prospered Abraham in spite of the deception because He has promised him to be the father of faith to all His true children by that same faith of promise in God’s working.  Now this man of God was approached by this king out of fear of the LORD to agree that Abraham would not turn on him or his children and remember the kindness and forgiveness the king had given him after the deception had almost cost him everything.  Abraham swore in agreement with that covenant promise as a solemn pledge.  Then this man of God had words with the king over some of his servants who took Abraham’s well from him and which the sovereign had no idea had happened.  Abraham then made a covenant with him using sheep and oxen, but kept aside seven ewe lambs specifically given apart from the general agreement to bear witness of the ownership as a type of insurance of the well Abraham had dug was his.  They swore an oath there on that and the place was named Beersheba, meaning “well of the sevenfold oath.”  Since the number seven often indicates perfection, this was to be a solid and unbreakable covenant agreement between the two parties.  After these negotiations, Abraham worshipped the LORD by planting a tree and calling on His name there.  The tree was not an altar of sacrifice, but a place to mark the spot of worship as he called on God’s name (אֵליְהוָֹה yhwh ’êl עוֹלָם ‘ôlâm, the ever-existing and infinitely eternal God) in remembrance of His faithfulness to him in all these occasions, much like the Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:12) “stone of help” that Samuel put in place to commemorate and remember God’s goodness of help.  Abraham had used a tree which would grow just as his trust and worship would also grow over the years as he looked at the tree and recalled all God had done there.  Do we make markers in our lives to remember God’s faithfulness at specific moments and our response of worship and growing trust in Him in our Christian walk as we look back?  It is quite helpful to write the steps of our journey from the events leading up to our salvation and through that conversion to the present time as a testimony to others of God’s work of grace and providence in our journey, as well as a personal reminder of all He has done and will continue to do (Philippians 1:6) to make us more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) in His covenant promised work (Romans 11:27) of sanctification in each of us until His return.  He has promised us a never-ending well to drink from (John 4:13-14) that speaks more of grace of our eternal covenant in Christ’s blood of sacrifice than the temporal covenant of seven ewes of Abraham’s well.  Let us dwell on that as well as we remember our covenant of grace!  This is the example of Abraham’s covenant with a temporal king to Remember our Covenant of Grace with the King of kings!

Genesis 21:1-21 - God Makes us Laugh

Genesis 21:1-21

Isaac Is Born (Hebrews 11:11)

1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart (Galatians 4:21–30)

8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”

14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

God made Sarah laugh at the prospect of the promise to have a child at their old age while she trusted by faith (Hebrews 11:11), and so named their son Isaac meaning, “he laughs.”  When we likewise trust the Lord for what is impossible for man but is possible with God (Job 42:2, Jeremiah 32:17, Mark 10:27), the we can express our joy and wonder with laughter as well in faith for His awesome and unbelievable work.  Abraham was one hundred years old when this miracle child was born and so he obeyed the Lord to circumcise Isaac on the eighth day as a seal of God coven promise to him for the line of promise to bring salvation into the world for all God’s children to come.  This seal was symbolic of the spiritual cleansing of the hearts of men and women (Romans 2:29) who exercised their God-given faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in God’s work and promises fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.  The joy of this immediate promise fulfilled in Isaac at the time made Sarah laugh with reverence and joy unspeakable (1 Peter 1:8) and others who heard were able to join in with her as we do in his descendant according to the flesh.  The child grew and increased in strength as a forerunner of Jesus as we read in Luke 2:40.  The bond woman who had previously given birth to Ishmael saw Isaac with Sarah and scoffed at them; then Sarah had her husband cast out the son of the slave to make way for the son of God’s promise (Galatians 4:28-29, 30-31) to free the people of God by that promise through him and the faith of Abraham.  We are heirs of that faith in God’s Son given as a sacrifice like Isaac almost was by Abraham’s faith to raise him from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17-19) when he would be told to offer his only son of promise to God in trusting obedience.  Yet though the promise was through Isaac, the son of the slave, Ishmael, was to be made a great nation on the earth even if not by promise in eternity because he was also a child of Abraham.  Abraham sent Ishmael and Hagar away from the place of promise into the wilderness where they almost died of thirst and hunger.  God provided for them, however, and told them of the earthly promise to make a great and powerful nation from Ishmael which ended up as the Arabs we now know.  The LORD therefore provided a well of water and they survived and thrived.  He even married an Egyptian wife while living in the wilderness.  We see then that God’s plan includes physical and spiritual prosperity according to His promises.  We who are in Christ inherit the spiritual promises of heaven while the world outside of the promise, especially the descendants of Ishmael, prosper only with life on this earth.  God makes us laugh with joy (Luke 2:10) inexpressible and full of glory in our deliverance from sin and the inheritance of the promise according to the faith like Abraham into Him who died to save us and bequeath the eternal promise of glory in Him to us! 

Genesis 20:1-18 - Sin Lies at our Door

Genesis 20:1-18

Abraham and Abimelech

1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.” 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked.

17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Abraham lied when he failed to trust God in the matter of his wife as they traveled.  He forgot what the LORD said to Cain in Genesis 4:7 to be aware of sin crouching at the door that desires to overtake us if we do not overrule it.  Expediency rarely works the work of God.  Here Abraham and Sarah found themselves in the kingdom of Abimelech and this man who trusted God for eternal heirs by faith failed to trust His sovereign protection to keep his beautiful wife from being taken from him and he killed so that the king could have her as his wife.  Or so he imagined anyway.  Then his reasoning justified the lie instead of ruling over the fear with trust in God’s providence and protection as he told everyone that his Sarah was his sister.  However, God gave the king a dream warning to not take her as a wife since she was married to Abraham, thus exposing the lie.  He begged God to spare his life for wanting to have her as he pleaded his ignorance and his innocent intentions of integrity.  The LORD affirmed the king’s integrity and His intervention to protect both him and her.  He then commanded the king to restore Abraham’s wife to him or suffer the consequences along with his whole family!  When he awoke the next morning, the king told everyone the unveiled truth and fear moved the king to confront Abraham the prophet to find out why he had deceived them and almost cost him his life by nearly sinning with her.  Abraham gave his reasoning that justified his deception with a fear of the ungodly taking Sarah and killing him to have her.  He of course reasoned the lie as a half truth by telling how his wife actually was his half-sister.  He revealed also that they had concocted this story to tell everyone along their journey to protect them both.  The king honored the truth revealed at last and the narrow escape shown to him by God by giving Abraham much riches to make the misplaced desire right before God and man.  It also was a rebuke to Sarah for her part in the lie and to show himself honoring her to forgive her own sin against him.  Then Abraham prayed for the king and he and his household were healed and began having children once more.  The curse was lifted from them by hearing the truth and forgiving the lie.  We learn then that as sin lies at the door of our walk and talk that we must trust God with truth in what we do and say (Ephesians 4:25), not working deception in our own way out of fear.  Do we then have faith to avoid lies to protect ourselves from what might happen, or do we trust the providence of the Lord in our lives?  We are to forgive those who do try to deceive us (Ephesians 4:32) as well to honor God.  Remember, sin lies in wait at the door of our lives but we are to overcome the temptation to protect ourselves from evil with truth and trust in the providence and promises of our Lord. 

Genesis 19:30-38 - Delivery and Return to Sin

Genesis 19:30-38

The Descendants of Lot

30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. 31 Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

34 It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 35 Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

This is the account of how God delivered Lot with his wife and his daughters from sin’s influence all around them and then how they fell back into sin themselves.  We saw how Lot’s wife had disobeyed the LORD by looking back to what they left behind as if to desire to return to live in the midst of that city of abominations.  She refused to be the salt of righteousness and became a statue of salt that was a testament against turning back to sin once delivered from it as a lesson for us (Luke 17:31-32, 1 Corinthians 10:11) to solemnly contemplate and avoid.  The two daughters of Lot then looked back and saw there was no future for their family’s line because they did not wait to find husbands, and so engaged in sinful incest with their father to have children to continue his family name.  They thought and reasoned without trusting God to provide husbands in another city after theirs had been destroyed and along with their own husbands who laughed at God’s judgment on sin.  They then committed their own sin to make the command to be fruitful and multiply in a way that was opposed to God’s plan and way according to His word.  How often we choose our expedient way over the long way of trust in God’s work in His way at His time and suffer the consequences.  The sons Moab and Ammon both became thorns in the side of God’s people because of this decision.  They served false gods and later led Israel away from the LORD as they battled with them over the years, all because they were born of sinful expediency and not of lawful faith and patient waiting.  This also is a lesson for us not to grab for what we think or want to further the kingdom if it is not done according to the scriptures of God’s guardrails of goodness.  This was done by the daughters by getting their father Lot drunk to sleep with him unaware who he was with or even that it happened at all.  This deceit led to the tragic conflict with the descendants of Moab and Ammon through the years afterwards.  Our sinful choices against faith and patience also have consequences; even though God forgives us, we may battle with them for the rest of our lives as this example warns us.  May we be more like Abraham who trusted by faith and asked for strength in times of trouble to help his wavering moments of unbelief and uncertainty of the path ahead, and not take shortcuts such as Lot who chose to live among the heinous sins of Sodom or his daughters who chose impulsively and unwisely in opposition to God’s word.  We can learn much from this delivery and return to sin that we might avoid going back as best we can by considering our steps as ordered by the Lord as found in reading and contemplating (1 Timothy 4:8, 2 Peter 1:3) His word and following His leading in the principles, examples, and commands found there. 

Genesis 19:12-29 - Do Not Look Back!

Genesis 19:12-29

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed (Matt. 11:23, 24; Luke 17:28–32)

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”

18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

21 And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The warning to Lot and his wife with their two daughters was simple, “do not look back,” as they were delivered from the judgment and destruction of God’s wrath on the sin of the Sodomites and their neighboring unrepentant citizens of Gomorrah.  The cry of the righteous echoed up to heaven’s throne and the LORD sent the angels to execute judgment on these places but offered to spare the righteous Lot and his family after finding not even ten righteous people in these cities to answer Abraham’s plea for mercy.  Instead, God saved his nephew and family from our of the abominations of that place and did not spare the rest who refused to flee sin and follow Him.  Such is the continuing call of the gospel throughout the ages from the Garden of Eden until Christ’s return for the final judgment on sin and deliverance for those He has called out and who have followed by repentance and faith in God’s work of deliverance.  Unfortunately for Lot’s son-in-laws, those laughed at the impending righteous judgment of God (Romans 2:4-5) and were left behind.  In the morning, the angels told Lot and his remaining family to immediately flee from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10, Revelation 6:17) as it will be at the termination of all time.  They hesitated and so the LORD gave his messengers the command to drag them out of harm’s way by His mercy deliver them to escape the fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24) to come.  They were set down outside the kill zone of judgment and told to escape for their lives.  They were commanded not to remain in the plain where destruction was imminent and told “do not look back!”  Lot and his family did not escape to higher ground as the angels told them, but begged for mercy and grace with a thankful heart to go to a nearby town instead.  He feared danger in the mountains and asked for leave to go to the town of Zoar instead.  That city was spared from destruction and they were given leave to go there instead.  God in Christ has pulled us out of the fire (1 Corinthians 3:15, Jude 1:23) and given us a place to go in His mercy as well to escape our just sentencing of this corrupted world of our sin because we have repented and trusted in Him and His work to deliver us.  When the fire rained down with brimstone as if Hell came to earth, Lot’s wife famously looked back when she was warned to flee sin and not return to where she had been.  That cost her life as she was turned into a pillar of salt.  Luke 17:31-33 tells us that we are not to be like her and look back to the life of sin we once lived in, nor to try to save ourselves in our own power, but to trust God’s deliverance in His Son and in nothing or nobody else, especially ourselves and our efforts.  We must lose everything we have relied on to be delivered from judgment or face the eternal consequences.  In about 200 AD, Clement of  Alexandria wrote “For God looks closely at the actual inner purpose, as when Lot’s wife was the only one to turn of her own free will toward the wickedness of the world. He left her insensible, giving her the likeness of a pillar of salt and leaving her without the power of forward movement, a statue, yet not one without a useful message but one intended to season and salt the person capable of spiritual perception.”  May we follow Christ to be salt to the earth to turn others to repentance and faith, not turning back to become a useless statue of hardened salt unable to season the world.  We are to run to the Deliverer and follow Him, keeping our eyes on Him and not back on the sin we once lived in. He rescued us even when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) as Lot was also considered righteous (2 Peter 2:7-8) by faith.  Do not look back!

Genesis 19:1-11 - Stand back!

Genesis 19:1-11

Sodom’s Depravity

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”

6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

The depraved sexual immortality of the Sodomites found judgment at the gates when Lot welcomed the avenging angels.  Lot was at the city gates and met the two messengers harboring doom for the abominable behavior of the city where not even ten righteous men could be found (Genesis 18:32) to turn back the impending doom.  Lot had invited the two celestial servants into his home for the night, imploring them not to sleep in the open city plaza where it was not safe for a man.  He then cooked a feast and they almost lay down to sleep when the perverse crowd of men of all ages came knocking on Lot’s door and surrounded the house to prevent escape from their immoral intentions.  The lewd crowd cried out to have Lot hand over the two visitors to their carnal desires, but Lot went out to speak with them as he shut the door behind him.  He even extended his desperate hospitality to offer his two virgin daughters to protect his guests!  Such was the code of honor then.  He told the maddening crowd that he had brought the two men into his house for the reason (Genesis 18:4-5) of hospitality, but perhaps also because he knew in some way they came to judge the unrepentant Sodomites but that he had to protect them from the cosmic crime they wanted to commit against the visitors like so many others.  The wicked crowd told Lot to stand back or stand aside so they could go get the two men for their perverse passions.  They accused Lot of coming to live in Sodom and now being judgmental against their homosexuality, threatened to do worse to him after taking care of the visitors.  How unchanged the situation is today as the gay community is violently opposed to the righteous in their midst, accusing them of judging them for what they do and sometimes even threatening to do something untoward to those set against their immorality to protect others.  In the case of Lot, when the crowd pushed Lot against his door to break it down and do their dirty deeds, the angels grabbed him and pulled him safely inside the house.  Then they used their God-given power to blind all the townsmen at the door to keep them from entering.  This included all of the young and old who sought to commit abominable acts against them and Lot.  When the immoral of this world tell us who follow the Lord to stand back, we let God keep them at bay for judgment and do not react with violence or hate in return.  God’s word will judge the unrepentant (John 3:19, 20-21, 12:48) when they face Him in the end (Hebrews 9:27-28) at the door to judgment leading to either Heaven or the lake of fire.  The gospel message Jesus preached to turn from sin to Him was rejected by the Sodomites and they faced earthly judgment then; how much more weighty the eternal judgment all will face who live according to any sin (Romans 3:23-24), whether so heinous as this example or seemingly innocuous?  Sin lives in each of us from birth, inherited from the first man who rejected and disobeyed God’s word for righteousness.  We all deserve the same end unless we repent, turning from practicing sin as a lifestyle and pursuing righteousness after forgiveness and regeneration of a new heart with right and wrong written (Jeremiah 31:33, 2 Corinthians 3:3) written there to guide us and with God’s Spirit living in us to enable willing obedience.  We cannot fight unrighteousness with hate just as we cannot abide abominable sins by agreeing with what the perpetrators would have us do under threat of being called haters or judging them, but answering instead with this message of hope of a changed life leading to a desire to pursue what pleases the Lord who made us all in His holy image.  Remembering the fate of those continuing in such acts such as these without repentance to life we are to hear the call, Stand back! we are not to fight or hate, but reply with the truth of the need to call sin what it is and to offer forgiveness and deliverance from it and the eternal consequences of refusing Him who calls.

Genesis 18:16-33 - Blessing Nations and Sin’s Penalty

Genesis 18:16-33

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. 17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20 And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Since all the nations would be blessed through faithful Abraham, God revealed what judgment He was about to pass as sin’s penalty on sinful Sodom where the term sodomites originates.  For God knew and chose this man of faith to teach his children and theirs to keep the way of the LORD and do righteousness with justice.  Then the LORD promised to bring Abraham the promises of blessings He had spoken to him.  Their obedient and righteous response was their required participation in keeping the eternal covenant given by sheer grace.  The sin of Sodom and the sister city Gomorrah had gotten to the point where the LORD had to deal with the homosexual activity of immorality and their related idolatry of denying the word of the LORD in many unspeakable ways.  He sent His angels to survey the scene one last time as a chance for repentance, the ones who had just been visiting Abraham.  As God revealed the impending judgment on the cities to Abraham and these angels left this man of God, he had a plea in the form of questions to God for mercy on these poor sinners who were his neighbors.  Abraham asked if God would spare them if certain numbers of them were found righteous who dwelt there.  He reasoned that the righteous should not be made to suffer destruction along with the wicked, for then the punishment would seem unfair.  He knew God was fair and just and also that the sin of the wicked needed to be addressed in judgment.  Therefore, Abraham kept pleading for mercy on behalf of all if just fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, or even merely ten righteous people were found there.  The final number obviously was not found, for there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:23) and judgment on the unrepentant sinners was required by God’s righteous requirements if not repented of and forgiven.  This is not just a judgment on homosexuality (Romans 1:27-28), but on all unrepentant sin; this heinous and abominable (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) sin was the example for others as well as a call to turn from the unrighteousness of sin to follow Him in holiness and willingness to obey His word in all things when God tells us what is acceptable and unacceptable to Him.  We who are in Christ now can see the need to flee from such sins of the flesh (1 Corinthians 6:28) and heart and mind because we are no longer consumed and ruled by them (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 11) and are without excuse if we continue (1 Corinthians 13, 18-20) in them.  God is coming to judge the world in His righteousness (Romans 3:5-6, Acts 17:31), not as we would like to define sin to excuse our it before others and Him.  We should therefore learn from Sodom and Gomorrah’s judgment as a warning of the wrath to come that hold us all accountable, no matter how abominable or seemingly innocuous the sin.  It is our sin nature that we are held accountable for which we have all inherited through the first man (Romans 5:12, 17, 18-19) and see that our only escape from judgment is the grace of Jesus Christ who alone can take away the sin of the world we have inherited and continue to engage in.  We are called and commanded to cease and desist from such sins (Romans 6:1) as if leaning on grace while not turning from them is acceptable.  We are told to stop allowing sin to rule us and serve the holy King of kings instead (Romans 6:12-13, 14) by His grace as we daily put our sin to death and choose instead to live as He created us, male and female in marriage intimacy and in no other form in sexual, mental, and heart morality in how we live in Christ who is our righteousness.  Here then is the account of Abraham blessing nations through his faith and sin’s penalty for living unrepentant lives in rejecting that call.

Genesis 18:1-15 - Do Not Laugh at God’s Promises!

Genesis 18:1-15

The Son of Promise (Hebrews 13:2)

1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Do as you have said.”

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
So he said, “Here, in the tent.”

10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Sarah doubted the LORD because what He told Abraham and she overheard.  The promise of a son as the channel of an eternal heir was given, which was a picture of the promise of the Son of God by faith through Abraham and of a nation on earth through Isaac in the people who would be known as Israel.  Unfortunately, when the incredulous promise of a fleshly heir was told to Abraham at their advanced age well past their child bearing years, and she heard the angelic announcement as Mary (Luke 1:31-32, 34-35, 37-38) would many generations later, but she doubted and laughed at the prospect instead of trusting God’s word to them as her husband had.  In the end she did learn the lesson when she was with child, do not laugh at God’s promises!  At that time, however, Abraham trusted God though initially doubted as he both fell in worship and had a chuckle of incredulity himself (Genesis 17:17) as he heard after being renamed from Abram to Abraham and was reassured of the promise (Genesis 17:19) of the son to come, and then he was asked why his wife had also laughed at God’s messenger.  The LORD God reminded them through His messenger that there is absolutely nothing too difficult for the LORD (Jeremiah 32:17, 33:3) to accomplish because with God nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26, Romans 4:19-20, 21-22).  Sarah denied laughing in disbelief, but Abraham held to the promise as if like the man speaking to Jesus who said in Mark 9:24, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!”  Do we doubt the promise of saving grace in Christ and the hope of our resurrection to life after death given by the same certainty of promise by the same faithful God?  After reading this account from God’s word of trust in the midst of uncertainty and seeming impossibility, may we rather trust Him as we take the Lord at His word and rest fully on the hope (1 Peter 1:13) we have in Him.  His promises of salvation and eternal life are no laughing matter, no matter what the unbelieving (Titus 1:15, Revelation 21:8) say to dissuade and ridicule us in our resolve to trust God with our certain hope spoken to us by God’s word and recorded in scripture to remind us that nothing is impossible with God, even when we fail Him. 

Genesis 17:9-27 - A Covenant and Blessing

Genesis 17:9-27

The Sign of the Covenant (Exodus 12:43—13:2)

9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” 22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael; 27 and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

This covenant given to Abraham was sealed by the circumcision  of the foreskins of all the males as a way to cleanse themselves in response to God’s promises of His covenant with them.  He was commanded to keep this covenant and to pass this on to all his descendants to follow.  This covenant was in the flesh for reminder and seal of an everlasting promise made by the LORD and kept in obedience by man.  Since God had already given Abram (‘exalted father’) a new name, Abraham (‘father of a multitude’), as a sign of him being promised as the father of many nations, now Sarai (‘princess’) was to be given the name Sarah, meaning ‘noblewoman’ or ‘queen’ because she was to be the ruling wife of the new family of God among the nations.  She was also promised a son as heir of these nations in her advanced age as the ‘mother of nations,’ but she found the impossibility of it laughable because she did not have the faith of trust in God’s word that her husband had.  Even Abraham wavered in doubt in sympathy with Sarah as he asked God to let Ishmael be the heir to live through forever instead.  God reinforced the promise of their son to come to be named Isaac (‘he laughs’) and reminded Abraham of the unshakable promise to be accepted by continuing faith.  With this son Isaac God promised to make His everlasting covenant as heir of the faith of Abraham (Romans 9:7-8, Galatians 4:28) as we who are of his faith are heirs in Christ (Galatians 3:29) according to the promise of faith in trusting the work on the cross for all God’s children.  This covenant given through Isaac was a foreshadowing of faith in Christ and His work to give us the promise of eternal life (John 5:24) in an unbreakable covenant in His lifeblood of atoning sacrifice for all who share the faith of faithful Abraham (Galatians 3:9).  As for the other son of the bondwoman signifying bondage to sin (Galatians 4:22-24, 28, 30-31), his descendants would be fruitful in number and worldly wealth with might, but not given this everlasting promise of grace.  We see this in the physical realm in the Arabs versus the Jews, but it points to a greater truth of the true children of God by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ who are set free from the bondage of sin by the same faith of believing Abraham.  We who are in Christ then are the only children of the eternal covenant promise of never ending blessing by this same faith, while all others of both Israel (Isaac’s son Jacob) and other nations apart from faith in the gospel only have worldly blessings of common grace without hope of eternal life.  This then is the eternal covenant of promise forever in God’s presence versus mere blessings of fruitfulness in this life.  We therefore should be laying up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20) until we meet Him there as a response of everlasting thanksgiving. 

Genesis 17:1-8 - God’s Covenant Promise

Genesis 17:1-8

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 

3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 

7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

God made good on His earlier promise to Abram (Genesis 12:2, 13:16, 15:5, 18) to multiply his lineage to father many nations, including Israel and all others to come in a spiritual sense through faith.  It was not just a promise of genetic inheritance but of the spiritual by that faith in God’s promises.  This is why we who are in Christ are there among the nations and Jews with the same faith as Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9).  Here we see that Abram did not seek out salvation or the promise by his own initiative, but it was the LORD God who called him out and chose him to be the father of all in the hope to come of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.  We see how God made a covenant promise based on his obedience of faith and holiness, which we now find the same faith is required, but the holiness of acceptance is found in the righteousness of Christ and not ourselves.  This was intended all along, but the obedience to the Law to follow later in Moses was to demonstrate our complete inability to appease God by our fallen nature of corruption (Romans 3:20-23, 6:23) that never is righteous enough to save us from sin’s penalty.  God promised to multiply Abram exceedingly and abundantly to have many physical offspring and descendants, hinting at those to follow would be by the lineage of faith and not the physical lineage we first see in scripture here.  As we read in the explanation found in Romans (Romans 4:13, 18, 4:20-22, 23-24), our righteousness is obtained through faith as Abraham demonstrated.  These are the true descendants of the promise by faith in God’s work and promise found in the Messiah out of all nations and not just one by physical descendants.  Abram believed God and that was his righteousness and why God bestowed the promise on him.  He established His covenant of grace as a foreshadowing of the sign of circumcision which pointed through the flesh (Romans 4:11, 12) to the spiritual reality of God cleansing the hearts (Romans 2:28-29, Colossians 2:11) of men and women by faith in His work to transform them.  He therefore gives those of the faith like Abraham the everlasting possession of the kingdom of God in Christ that is so much more than a physical country (Hebrews 11:16).  The proof of our covenant is the seal of God’s Spirit in us (Ephesians 1:13-14) which is obtained by God calling us and covenanting with us by His lifeblood on the sacrifice of the cross to make us His spiritual children and people by this trust in His work and word.  This is God’s covenant with all who have the faith of Abraham.