GENESIS LESSON 27
Genesis 18:1 "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of
Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;" Genesis
18:2 "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,"
This him was Abraham. These three were in the form of men. These
were messengers from God. These three were associated with the Spirit of
God. The statement "the Lord appeared" lets you know that at least
one of these beings was the Spirit of the Lord. I believe the reason
three appeared was to show that God the Father, God the Word, and God
the Holy Ghost were in agreement with the message that was brought.
Abraham realized who this was, even from a distance, and he ran out,
and kneeled, and worshipped. Abraham humbled himself before these
three.
Genesis 18:3 "And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in
thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: "
Here, again, Abraham called him Lord. He said, if you have judged and
found me okay, don't leave. Abraham realized he was God's servant.
Genesis 18:4 "Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and
wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:" Genesis 18:5 "And
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."
Abraham wanted to serve these. He humbled himself and washed their
feet. He was offering food and whatever they needed. Then he asked is
there something I am doing wrong?
Genesis 18:6 "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." Genesis 18:7 "And 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." Genesis 18:8 "And 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 was like an excited school boy. He gave them the very
best he had. (like a sacrifice).
Genesis 18:9 "And they said unto him, Where [is] Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold, in the tent." Genesis 18:10 "And 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." Genesis 18:11 "Now Abraham and Sarah
[were] old [and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women." Genesis 18:12 "Therefore Sarah
laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have
pleasure, my lord being old also?"
These three brought unusual blessing to Abraham. Now, that Abraham
was old and Sarah had already gone through the change of life she was
to have a son. Sarah was very well aware that changes in her
body had made it impossible in the natural to have a child. She laughed,
because it was so unbelievable. With man, it was impossible.
But through God, all things are possible. Take note that Sarah called
Abraham, lord, but it was not capitalized. He was ruler over her body,
not her spirit.
Genesis 18:13 "And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did
Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?"
Genesis 18:14 "Is 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." Genesis 18:15 "Then Sarah denied, saying, I
laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst
laugh."
The LORD wanted to know why Sarah laughed. He made her body, and
He could restore her youth long enough for her to have a child. He was
disappointed in her doubt. Then Sarah became afraid when she realized
that this was the LORD of heaven. She denied laughing, but she (as we)
couldnot hide anything from the LORD (He knows everything).
Genesis 18:16 "And the men rose up from thence, and looked
toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way."
Genesis 18:17 "And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing
which I do;" Genesis 18:18 "Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed in him?" Genesis 18:19 "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."
Here, the Lord decided to tell Abraham what He was about to do to
Sodom. He spoke the blessing, again, that Abraham would be a mighty
nation. He knew that Abraham would teach his children and grandchildren
the ways of the LORD. He knew, because of the blood covenant Abraham had
already kept. (The circumcision of the men).
Genesis 18:20 "And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;" Genesis
18:21 "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."
The LORD was going to investigate this terrible situation which was
going on. We will find out a little later that this city's iniquity was
homosexuality. The LORD was explaining to Abraham about the sin and
it's consequences.
Genesis 18:22 "And the men turned their faces from thence, and
went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD."
I guess it is time to deal with the two that were with the LORD
when He first came to Abraham. My own personal opinion (I have no
Scripture to back this up) is that the two with the LORD were two very
important angels (ministering spirits carrying out their orders from the
throne). These could even have been Gabriel, and some other angel of
great importance. The word men was loosely used, because they were in
that form. The LORD remained with Abraham to discuss the problem, and
sent the two angel men on to Sodom.
Genesis 18:23 "And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also
destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Genesis 18:24 "Peradventure
there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and
not spare the place for the fifty righteous that [are] therein?"
This was very presumptuous of Abraham to question the LORD. The
number 50 pertains to jubilee. This number indicates setting the
captives free. Abraham was pleading for this city. This LORD, spoken of
here in the next verse, is the Judge of all the earth. This indicated
that this was the same Spirit as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the LORD
of all the earth.
Genesis 18:25 "That 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?"
Abraham was saying, LORD, You are righteous, this is not like You,
You are a perfect Judge. Notice, in the Scripture above, that Judge was
capitalized. this also tells us that this was the LORD, not an angel. I
would be absolutely scared to death to speak to the LORD like this.
Abraham was almost scolding the LORD.
Genesis 18:26 "And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes."
You see, just a very few righteous people can be a blessing to the
masses.
Genesis 18:27 "And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have
taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which [am but] dust and ashes:"
Genesis 18:28 "Peradventure 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]."
Genesis 18:29 "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." Genesis 18:30 "And 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."
Genesis 18:31 "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." Genesis 18:32 "And
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." Genesis 18:33 "And the LORD went his
way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham
returned unto his place."
This was an interesting conversation between Abraham and the LORD. One
thing that really stood out in this was the patience of the LORD. At
least, Abraham humbled himself, and admitted he was but dust and ashes.
Another thing so notable, to me, God was so gracious that if even ten
(represents world government) were righteous, He would spare the
1000's who lived there. The terrible thing in our society today, is
that in our large cities, God would be hard pressed to find even 10
(by His standard) righteous people.
The idea of ten satisfied Abraham, because Abraham's nephew, Lot,
and his family were there, and Abraham figured God would spare the city
from destruction for them. Then the LORD and Abraham went back to
their respective homes. We will see in the next lesson, that not even
all of Lot's family were righteous. God would destroy the city.
For the next lesson study chapter 19 of Genesis.
Notes
Questions 27
1. Where did the Lord appear to Abraham?
2. Whom did Abraham see coming to him?
3. What did Abraham do?
4. Who were these three?
5. Why did Abraham bow down to them?
6. What did Abraham call one of them?
7. What two things did Abraham do for them as they entered his tent.
8. What question did Abraham ask them about himself?
9. What three foods did Abraham set before them?
10. What does the time of life mean?
11. What was Sarah's reaction when the Lord told Abraham that Sarah
would have a son?
12. Why did she think she could not have a child.
13. With men it is impossible, but with God _______ _____ _________.
14. Was Sarah's denying that she laughed accepted by the Lord? Why?
15. What city did the men look toward?
16. Would God conceal His plan from Abraham? Why?
17. Sodom and Gomorrah's sin was _______ _______before God.
18. What was this city's iniquity?
19. Who stayed to talk to Abraham?
20. In Abraham's first remark, how many did he ask the Lord to save it
for?
21. What does this number pertain to?
22. What else, was the LORD called here?
23. Whom do the penman believe the other two men were?
24. How low a number of righteous did Abraham and the Lord finally
settle on?
25. Why was Abraham satisfied with that number?
26. What message stood out in this conversation of Abraham and the
Lord?
27. What is the number ten representative of ?
28. In the next lesson what will we learn about Lot's family?
Notes
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