Promise and Intercession- Gen. 18
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We begin our chapter this evening on the heels of chapter 17. God provided the sign of the covenant through circumcision. Abraham, though 99 years old, obeys the LORD immediately and is circumcised, along with all of his household (17:23-27).
Abraham is fulfilling God’s expectation that he “walk before [God] and be blameless,” and we will see that fulfilled in this chapter. We will also see how the LORD works with the unbelief of His people, graciously and patiently. Finally, we will see a type of Christ in Abraham’s intercession for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our focus from this chapter, then, can be summarized by this statement,
The LORD fulfills His will, in the midst of our doubts, to display His work in our lives and in the lives of others.
God is working to bring glory to His name as He saves and sanctifies His people, but this takes place in the realm of human existence, that is, the world. They observe our faults and our successes, and God uses them simultaneously to grow His people and condemn the world in the final judgment (for example, see 1 Pet. 2:12, 15).
The Lord fulfills His will, in the midst of our doubts, to display His work in our lives and in the lives of others.
I. The LORD fulfills His will- 18:1-10
I. The LORD fulfills His will- 18:1-10
The first part of this chapter displays the Lord’s continued promise, though as of yet unfulfilled. He promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation (12:1-3) and that he would have a son (15:4-5) and that it would be through Sarai herself would bear a child (17:16).
But, at 99, Abraham is still sonless (at least with respect to Sarai). Have you ever been a place where you read a promise of God, let’s use Matt. 28:20, and you tell yourself, “God is with me. He promised never to leave me.” Now, there are times when the presence of the LORD feels incredibly close. A particular sermon, a direct answer to prayer, or a beautiful sight in creation, all of these and many more can make us feel closer to the LORD.
But then a tragedy strikes. Our life is in turmoil, and we desire to feel the presence of the LORD but we cannot. Has God not kept His promise? Perhaps we doubt His Word, and in some cases, we walk away from the faith. We struggle when we cannot see the fulfilment of His promises.
We have to imagine Abraham and Sarah were at this point. They believed God, but yet they had unbelief. The LORD, however, is always faithful, always keeps His promise, even when things seem impossible.
Abraham, living up to the expectation of God revealed in 17:1, graciously hosts the three visitors. This was a part of ANE culture, something that continues into the NT and that is expected of Christians (e.g., see 1 Tim. 3:2). During the course of this elaborate (and gracious) meal, God reveals the coming fulfilment of His promise (10).
Sarah listens in, hears about the promise, and the author interjects a pertinent point: Abraham and Sarah cannot physically have children. It is humanly impossible. Sarah responds to the Lord’s statement by laughing. Abraham responded in a similar way in 17:17. Now, we are reading back into the situation and know that the LORD will fulfill His promise. But they did not. They had to believe or disbelieve.
The Lord is gracious and patient; longsuffering is the word that I love to describe God. God does not excuse her sin of unbelief, in fact He addresses it. But He does not beat Sarah down, He simply asks a question, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” The expected answer is absolutely not.
We can take much encouragement from this interchange. We will deal with Sarah’s doubt in a moment. But the Lord is gracious! We rejoice in this for ourselves, that He is patient with us, but we need to rejoice in this for others, too. We all know Christians that are not nearly as mature as they should be. However, the Lord, who shows us grace and patience, is showing the same to others.
The Lord fulfills His will.
II. In the Midst of Our Doubts- 18:11-15
II. In the Midst of Our Doubts- 18:11-15
God’s will is fulfilled. There is nothing that can stop Him. He sits in the heavens, the psalmist tells us in 115:3, and does whatever He pleases. But this takes place in human lives, including our sins and our doubts.
We mentioned this briefly in our examining of the Lord’s fulfilling of His will, but God’s work takes place in our lives, with our successes and failures. This can be discouraging and it can be hard. I would imagine Sarah was shocked when this man (from their knowledge, though at this point it seems that they would know this was not a normal man) told her what she was thinking.
But the Lord knows our thoughts. He works with us anyway. He began a good work in Abraham and Sarah’s life (cf. Phil. 1:6), and God would bring it to completion, even in the midst of sins and imperfections (thank God for 1 John 1:9!). I say this, because at times we can become so hard on ourselves (and I would argue this is not nearly as frequent as we are too easy on ourselves) that, whenever we fail, it takes us a long time to get back up. While we should mourn sin, confess it, and repent of it, we must also realize that the LORD works His will out within human doubt, sin, and failure. This can be wonderfully seen in the death of Jesus (cf. Acts 2:23-24).
Sarah’s doubt, as with Abraham, did not prohibit the Lord’s will. God simply informed Sarah that He would fulfill His promise (14). What a gloriously patient and good God we serve!
The Lord fulfills His will, in the midst of our doubts, to display His work in our lives and in the lives of others.
III. To Display His Work- 18:16-32
III. To Display His Work- 18:16-32
God displays His work in both believers and unbelievers’ lives. That is where His beauty and creation and glory are displayed. For example, Psalm 19:1 provides the theater, as John Calvin calls it, of God’s glory. But who observes this? Both believers and unbelievers (cf. Rom. 1:20).
The same is true of God’s work with His individual children. He displays His work in believers and unbelievers’ lives. Abraham is a believer, and God remarks on the incredible character of this aged man (19).
Now, there are several issues here in this passage that I want to offer a brief remark before we look at God’s displaying of His work. First, God, in this inter-dialogue, says that He will go down and see whether the area is as wicked as He thought. This does not imply that God’s knowledge is not perfect; it is an anthropomorphic way of showing Abraham (who will question God’s righteousness) that He truly knows the truth of the situation.
Second, when dealing with prayer and intercession (praying on behalf of others), we must be careful that in our pursuits we are not dishonoring to God. Abraham does not demean God, Abraham simply engages in continual prayer.
Now, back to God displaying His work in ours and others’ lives. God’s work in Abraham’s life is evidence by his prayer on behalf of the righteous. Believers love one another and pray for one another. That is an evidence of God’s work in our lives. Jesus says as much in John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The Lord displays His work in believers’ lives as they love and care for one another. When Peter was imprisoned in Acts 14, the church prayed for Peter. When Paul had fiscal needs, the church at Philippi provided for them (Phil. 4:18). In some cases, we pray, in other cases, we love, in some cases we sit and listen, and in other cases we take Scripture to our brothers and sisters.
God is at work, though differently in the Old Covenant as opposed to the New (cf. Rom. 8:28-29), with believers.
But He also displays His work to unbelievers. In the case of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, He will display His righteous wrath. God’s wrath in punishing evil is His work. Petrus van Mastricht, a Dutch theologian from the 17th Century, comments about God’s wrath,
“…his wrath, like himself, is infinite (Ps. 90:7, 11), in its intensiveness, like a consuming fire (Heb. 12:18), and extensiveness, reaching to all evils whether corporeal or spiritual, to life, to death, to persons, families, kingdoms (Jer. 18:9), continuing eternally, an unquenchable fire (John 3:36).”—Petrus van Mastricht
We see God’s work displayed in believers’ and unbelievers’ lives and to believers’ and unbelievers’ lives. What an encouragement to go back and see Abraham, that great man of faith, struggle with believing. What an encouragement to see Abraham display great faith.
The Lord fulfills His will, in the midst of our doubts, to display His work in our lives and in the lives of others.
Applications
Regularly read and meditate on the Word of God—it increases our faith
Honestly acknowledge your struggles and doubts to the Lord, confessing and repenting from sin
Record God’s work in your own life, as well as others, as an encouragement for your spiritual growth