What was it like for Abraham and Sarah to entertain three guests from heaven?
He accompanies the visitors as they leave (v16)
A normal custom in various countries
In the heights of Mamre looking towards Sodom
God considers sharing His thoughts with Abraham (cf v17 and v22)
Tonight looking at how Abraham reacts to this news
Why did the Lord reveal His plan to Abraham?
God is sovereign and doesn't need to reveal His will to anyone
Sometimes He does make His will known
Abraham was a friend of God
How many people in the bible were called friends of God?
What a title!
You tend to share everything with a friend and open your heart to them
Abraham was called in a special way
God spoke to Abraham
God brought Abraham out of times of back sliding
God knew him in a personal way
God had made a covenant with this man
Abraham needed to know that not every nation would be blessed indiscriminately
God is inflexible with injustice
The wicked shall perish
If people live with grave sin and violence in their heart, God will judge
Abraham was to teach his children (v19)
He had a vast household
He would teach those within his family, his servants, his grand children
Sodom would be a vivid reminder to the family that God takes sin seriously
There was the story of Noah and the covenant of the rainbow but perhaps Abraham's family needed to know something of the fear of God
There is a danger if only the love of God is spoken about, that people will lose sight of the awfulness of sin and God's holiness and judgement against sin
God revealed His will to the prophets of the Old Testament
Now we have the final revelation in the person of Jesus Christ
We do not need to know the mind of God in terms of fresh revelation
There will be a final reckoning and judgement
How do we understand and judge present events
It is for God to know - there are secret things hidden from us
God is a God who takes sin very seriously
He is long suffering, but there will come a time when the wrath of God is poured out
"Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight..." - Jer 15:1
"Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness..." - Ezk 14:14
Even if holy men were living in that city, God's hand of judgment would still come
Does this only apply to the Old Testament?
Consider the New Testament: Jesus spoke of unquenchable fire, where the worm does not die
All men who reject Jesus will suffer the judgement of God
However, Jesus does give hope to every man, woman and child
Both Old and New Testament speak of the Holiness of God
Summary:
Because God chose to
Because Abraham was God's friend
Because Abraham was the founder of the faith
Because God wanted Abraham to understand more of His ways to pass onto his children
So Abraham would understand something of the Holiness of God
How did Abraham react
How do we react to news about the decrees of God?
That it will simply happen
A cold heart responds like this - a heart that is unmoved
Abraham understood that it was God's intention to destroy this city and he pleaded with God
Many today might say this is horrific
The openness and rebellion is being seen in the heart of man
There might be different reasons for this - instead of saying the real reason is their sin
The world says the judgement of God is unacceptable
Abraham didn't question this
Abraham asks how the righteous could be destroyed along with the wicked, not that the wicked would be judged
v20 - There was an outcry [that came up to God]
Think of all that is happening in our world - god see's everything
Abraham's concern: "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" - 18:23
Collateral damage
Lot was a godly man but the city had given themselves over to rebellion
Abraham hadn't understood the extent of this
There were even 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 or even 10 righteous people
He is concerned for the honour of God - that He would punish the wicked but save the righteousness
How concerned are we for the glory of God?
Abraham comes away persuaded that God is just
He is able to ask question after question
God listens to him patiently
God is just, good and kind
We need to understand everything about God
Lessons for Prayer
There are many lessons to learn
Sanding in the gap
"So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." - Ezk 22:30
There was not one single man willing to pray and intercede
Are we interceding and 'standing in the gap' for our land, our nation, our world
Paul interceded for the nation of Israel (Romans 10:1)
Abraham makes six requests in his prayer
He persists in his prayer
Jesus encouraged His disciples always to pray: to persevere
Boldness in prayer - we can never change the mind of God
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent." - Numbers 23:19
Humility in prayer: v27, v30, v32
There will be judgement for those that reject Jesus Christ
Will God be merciful to me?
Only if you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation
No-one who has believed in Christ would ever go to hell
