Okay, you can turn in your Bibles
to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18. Remember,
the larger section is 18.1 to 19.38, and it's the overthrow
of Sodom and Gomorrah. And here, specifically in chapter
18, the Lord appears to Abraham and gives him the promise, again,
concerning Isaac. The specific focus or target
is Sarah. We saw that last week. And then
secondly, the Lord reveals his plan to destroy Sodom in verses
16 to 21. And then finally, Abraham intercedes
for Sodom in verses 22 to 33. So I'll pick up reading in verse
1 of Genesis 18. 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. 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 and said, my lord, if I have now found favor in
your sight, do not pass on by your servant. Please let a little
water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under
the tree. And I will bring a morsel of
bread that you may refresh your hearts. After that, you may pass
by in as much as you have come to your servant. They said, Do
as you have said. So Abraham hurried into the tent
to Sarah and said, Quickly make ready three measures of fine
meal. Knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd,
took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he
hastened to prepare it. 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. Then they said to
him, Where is Sarah your wife? So he said, Here in the tent. 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. Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have
grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the
Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I
surely bear a child, since I am old? 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. But Sarah denied it, saying,
I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And he said, no, but
you did laugh. Then the men rose from there
and looked towards Sodom. And Abraham went with them to
send them on the way. And the Lord said, shall I hide
from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall surely become
a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him. 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. And the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 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. Then the men turned away from
there and went towards Sodom. But Abraham still stood before
the Lord. And Abraham came near and said,
would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there
were 50 righteous within the city. Would you also destroy
the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous that were in
it? 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? So the Lord said, if I
find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I will spare all
the place for their sakes. Then Abraham answered and said,
indeed now, I who imbut dust and ashes have taken it upon
myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose there were five less
than the 50 righteous. Would you destroy all of the
city for lack of five? So he said, if I find there 45,
I will not destroy it. And he spoke to him yet again
and said, suppose there should be 40 found there. So he said,
I will not do it for the sake of 40. Then he said, let not
the Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose 30 should be found
there. So he said, I will not do it
if I find 30 there. And he said, indeed now, I have
taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 should
be found there. So he said, I will not destroy
it for the sake of 20. 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. So the Lord went his way as soon
as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned
to his place. As I quoted last week, Gordon
Wenham says, no other 24-hour period in Abraham's life is related
more fully than that described in Genesis 18 and 19. A midday
lunch with three angels that ended with the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah early the next morning. So again, this
whole section holds together, chapter 18 and 19. And if you
look at the first part of chapter 18, verses 1 to 15, the promise
of Isaac links with chapter 17, where the promise of Isaac is
given there. And then the rest of chapter
18, obviously dealing with the overthrow of Sodom, definitely
connects with chapter 19. So you see the cohesiveness and
the narrative, you see how the author is putting these things
together, and now it comes time to look at this instance concerning
Sodom. So we looked at the promise concerning
Isaac tonight, the evaluation on Sodom by the Lord in verses
16 to 21, and then secondly the intercession for Sodom by Abraham
in verses 23 to 33. But notice in the first place,
there is this evaluation on Sodom, but there's a bit of soliloquy,
or the Lord speaking. He doesn't tell us who he's speaking
to, he simply says that the Lord said. And he reflects upon Abraham,
and then he reflects upon Sodom. But if you look first at verse
16, it tells us, the men rose from there and looked towards
Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. So we have the men that are indicated
in verse 2, the three men. But remember in verse 1, we saw
the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre. These
two men, according to verse 16, head towards Sodom, and yet Abraham
is still in the presence of the Lord, and he is speaking to him.
I mentioned last week that some see the Trinity in this particular
chapter, these three men being the persons of the Godhead. But
chapter 19, verse 1 tells us that they were angels, and then
again in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 13, we learn as well
that they were angels. So it's probably the angel of
the Lord that is the Lord. Again, most of the older commentators
refer to that as the second person of the Trinity, and then two
angelic beings that go and investigate the crime and the sin of Sodom. So the men move towards Sodom,
and then that introduces us to the Lord's reflection upon Abraham. Notice in verses 17 to 19, He
is unwilling to hide things from Abraham. Verse 17, and the Lord
said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? It's obviously
a rhetorical question. The answer is no. He's not going
to hide what he's doing. He's going to tell Abraham what
is happening. And the reason for that is indicated
in terms of Abraham as a man. Abraham was the friend of God. Typically, we tell our friends
those things that affect us. Now God isn't affected, but a
lot of what we find in this particular chapter is both anthropomorphic
and anthropopathic. But God does include Abraham
in these things. 2 Chronicles 20 verse 7, Isaiah
41 verse 8, and James 2.23 all highlight
that Abraham was, in fact, the friend of God. He sustained a
special relationship with the Lord, so the Lord says, shall
I hide from Abraham what I am doing? But as well, Abraham was
a prophet of God. If you turn over to just one
chapter in Genesis 20, In verse 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,
I know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. Amos 3, 7, God says, surely the
Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His
servants, the prophets. And so it is fitting and appropriate
that Abraham is included in the divine plan with reference to
the judgment and overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now notice
as well in verse 18, the Lord's covenantal purpose for Abraham. Verse 18, since Abraham shall
surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him. This is a reiteration of
God's purpose and plan for Abraham as already specified in Genesis
chapter 12 verses 1 to 3. This provides the rationale or
another reason for God's disclosure of what he's going to do to Sodom
to Abraham at this particular juncture. And then notice as
well in verse 19, the Lord's intimate knowledge of Abraham.
So these three things, his unwillingness to hide it, the covenantal purpose
for Abraham, and then his intimate knowledge of Abraham in verse
19. Notice, he had been chosen by
God. I have known him or I have chosen
him even. And then as well, Abraham had
proven faithful in family religion. Notice what it says in verse
19, 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. So the idea is this. Abraham
is the father of this nation. It's going to be a great nation.
Abraham is ultimately going to be father of all of the nations,
or rather all the nations of the earth will be blessed in
him. So the rationale seems to be this. God is going to tell
Abraham what he's going to do on Sodom and Gomorrah so that
there's not a naturalistic understanding of what happens to Sodom and
Gomorrah. In other words, Abraham needs divine revelation to underscore
that the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and those cities on
the plain were attributable to God himself, so that Abraham
could teach his family, so that Abraham could, by extension,
teach the entirety of the nation of Israel that both good and
bad come from the hand of a gracious Lord. And then notice in verse
19, 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. In
other words, this would be absolutely crucial in the pedagogy of Israel,
to learn what God thinks concerning sin. The Lord Most High spoke
the seventh commandment. This would be a vital piece of
data in the context of Israel's family life to instruct your
children on what God does to those who break that particular
commandment. It wasn't a naturalistic order,
a naturalistic thing. that overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and the cities on the plain. It was rather the wrath and fury
of God Most High. So God tells Abraham so that
Abraham would in turn tell Israel so that all the nations of the
earth would know that there is a God in heaven and that he is
righteous and holy and pure. John Calvin said, although the
Lord proclaims aloud that adversity is the rod of his anger, scarcely
anyone hearkens to it, because through the depraved imaginations
of our flesh we ascribe the suffering to some other cause. So this
divine revelation underscores to Abraham that what happens
in terms of Sodom comes from Yahweh of Israel. that it's punishment
upon sin and sinners. And this is crucial information
for the families in Israel to instruct their children on, because
as God says with reference to Abraham, 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. Now, note God's
reflection upon Sodom in verses 20 and 21. Now, it's not just
Sodom and Gomorrah. Go back to Genesis 14. Genesis
chapter 14. Remember there was this sort
of battle between the Eastern and the Kings from the East came
to the Kings in Canaan. And the Kings in Canaan are described
or named in verse 2. that they made war with Bera,
king of Sodom, Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah,
Shemeber, king of Zebelim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. So it's all of those cities except
for Zoar. Zoar does not come under the
condemnation of God, at least in terms of the overthrow of
the cities on the plain, because that's where Lot flees to. He
goes to Zoar. So Sodom is the most notoriously
wicked of the group, but it's not just Sodom, and it's not
just Gomorrah. It's these others as well, Admah,
Zebalim, and Zoar. In fact, Deuteronomy 29.23 highlights
the same thing. You can look at that later. But
the sins cry out to the Lord. Notice that in verse 20. The
Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is
great, and because their sin is very grave. Now we know that
the sin of Cain cried out via the blood of righteous Abel from
the ground. As well, there might be the intimation
of the fullness of the guilt. You see that in Genesis 15, 16.
You see that in Jesus' indictment of Jerusalem in Matthew 23, 32. So, the fullness of the guilt
had arisen. These cities on the plain had
filled up the measure of that guilt, and now the Lord God is
going to come in judgment. Matthew Poole describes it this
way. He says, sins are said to cry when they are gross, and
manifest, and impudent, and such as highly provoke God to anger. So you see, this is, as it were,
the tipping point with reference to our God. The Lord said, because
the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because
their sin is very grave. We've seen a previous reference
to Sodom. You go back to Genesis chapter
13. Genesis chapter 13, remember Lot pitched his tent even as
far as Sodom. And in Genesis 13.13 it says,
but the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the
Lord. Turn over to Genesis 19 verses
4 and 5. Genesis 19, verses 4 and 5. We'll
see this more next week, but notice in verse 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. And they called the 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. This is gang rape. That is precisely
what they wanted to engage in in Sodom. Now turn to Ezekiel
chapter 16 for just a moment. Ezekiel 16. Some of you may perhaps
know how liberals or those who reject the Bible's teaching on
sodomy, for instance, try to wriggle out of the clear emphasis
in Genesis 19. They highlight that the sin of
Sodom was inhospitality. That the sin of Sodom was inhospitality. Now again, I don't argue that
gang rape, it certainly falls under the rubric of inhospitality. But that's not what's in view
in terms of the overthrow of these cities on the play. They
were wicked and wretched. But notice specifically in Ezekiel
the prophet at chapter 16 verses 48 to 50. As I live, says the
Lord God, neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have
done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the
iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride,
fullness of food, and abundance of idleness. Neither did she
strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, and they were haughty
and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away
as I saw fit. Most likely, the reference of
the abomination there is the sin of sodomy. It wasn't that
that was the only problem in this city or in these cities
on the plain. That was certainly the most abominable
of the lot, but they were also guilty of pride. They were guilty
of indulgence. They were guilty of idleness. They were guilty of inhospitality. So to suggest, though, that that
is the sin for which God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah is not consistent
with what we find there in Genesis 19, 4 and 5. And then by way
of remedy, Lot gives his virgin daughters to those would-be rapists
to try and appease them in that particular manner. But then we
have the clear statement in Jude 7, and you can turn there. Again,
just so you understand, those who try to finagle their way
out of what the Bible clearly teaches with reference to sodomy,
they have some hurdles that they need to overcome. And in Jude
7, we read. Basically, what this section
deals with here is the damnable outcome of apostates. Specifically,
unbelieving Israel in verse 5b, fallen angels in verse 6, and
then Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 7. as Sodom and Gomorrah and
the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh,
are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal
fire." So that is the grave sin that has come up before Yahweh
according to Genesis 18 at verse 20. Because their sin is very
grave. Now notice the Lord visits That
city, the Lord visits those regions. Verses 21 and 22. 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. Then the men turned away from there and went towards Sodom,
but Abraham still stood before the Lord. So first of all, the
language is anthropomorphic. There's no movement in God. He
doesn't go from one place to another. It's spoken in or written
in the manner of man. The language as well is reminiscent
of the time before the flood. God looked down upon the world
prior to the flood, and he saw the wickedness therein. The language
is also reminiscent of Babel. If you turn back to chapter 11
at verse 5, but the Lord came down to see the city and the
tower which the sons of men had built. So perhaps what we are
seeing here is the consistency that we will find later in terms
of God's law with reference to government, with reference to
adjudication, with reference to the laws of evidence and the
rules of due process. The Lord God establishes this
by His own activity. Before He sends forth the decisive
death blow upon these cities of the plain, He goes and He
investigates. He confirms to make sure that,
in fact, they are guilty of those things that have come before
them. Now, we need to realize, again, this is highly charged,
anthropomorphic and anthropopathic language. God knows all things. The fact that he enters into
this dialogue with Abraham and Abraham starts from 50 and he
barters his way down to 10, that just shows us something of God's
patience, something of God's kindness, and something of the
fact that God knows that men don't know. And so God is willing
to deal with His creatures, His friends, in a way that is helpful
for them at that particular time. But He's underscoring the reality
that He's going to investigate before He decisively judges them. And in verse 22, it says, then
the men turned away from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham
still stood before the Lord. So he had three men. Now, it
seems to be that two of them left, because two angels appear
in Sodom at chapter 19, verse 1. The one that is remaining
is identified here as the Lord. Now, Gordon Wenham makes this
observation. He cites those who seek, quote,
the variation in description of the visitors and the, excuse
me, alternation of singular and plural address as proof of the
composite nature of the narrative. I should explain what he means
by that. Sometimes people come to Pat, well not sometimes, it's
very consistent, that apart from sort of conservative Bible commentators
and conservative Bible scholars, most people approach the text
as if it really wasn't written by Moses, as if it really wasn't
written by Moses under the inspiration of the Spirit, that it was basically
a whole bunch of people got together and sort of put these things
together, and the text reflects that because you have plurals
and singulars confused, you have the mention of one and then the
mention of three, and so they suggest that this chapter evidences
a compositeness to it. In other words, the person that
put it together wasn't bright enough to see the differences
between the singular and the plural and the three and the
one. I thought Wenham was interesting in what he says. I need to still
process it through a Trinitarian grid, but he said, I see these
confusions as deliberate. They express the difficulty of
human comprehension of the divine world. I think there's some truth
to that. There's a sense where as God,
Creator, comes to reveal himself to man, the creature, there's
always going to be a disparity or a disconnect. There's not
a one-for-one transfer. same-ness in terms of the human
approach to divine things. And so some of that may reflect
the inability of man to fully comprehend the divine world. So that's the evaluation on Sodom
by the Lord. Their sin is very grave. God
is purposing to investigate them, to confirm that that sin is in
fact grave, and then He is going to bring judgment to bear upon
them as a result of their wickedness and lawlessness. Now note the
intercession for Sodom by Abraham. Now we won't go through each
of the gradations, why he goes from five and then up to ten. I don't know. I just don't know.
But note in the first place the general question in verse 23.
Abraham came near and said, beautiful language, he came near and said. The language is that of intercessory
prayer. The language is that of creature
coming to creator, asking creator for mercy on behalf of other
creatures. Abraham comes near to Yahweh
in this spirit or disposition of entreaty. And he says in verse
23, would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose
there were 50 righteous within the city. Would you also destroy
the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous that were in
it? Now, why does he do this? We
might ask the question, why does Abraham care about these cities
on the plain? They are Canaanites, and later
Israel is going to be told to dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 7 hasn't yet been
given, but remember that Abraham has intimate knowledge of these
kings, these men, these leaders, and these cities on the plain,
if you go back to Genesis chapter 14. Obviously, Lot is in Sodom,
and Abraham is concerned about Lot. But he starts with 50. That's certainly far more than
Lot and his family. And then he ends with 10, which
is still more than Lot and Lot's family. So he certainly has a
vested interest in the safety and the happiness of his nephew
Lot. But he's also concerned about
the righteous within these cities. Abraham assumes that there are
righteous among those in these godless cities. Back in Genesis
chapter 14, notice in verse 13. Then one who had escaped came
and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees
of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner,
and they were allies with Abram. Now when Abram heard that his
brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen
trained servants, who were born in his own house, and went in
pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against
them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued
them as far as Hobot, which is north of Damascus. So he brought
back all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his
goods as well as the women and the people. So Abram was instrumental
in saving or freeing or helping these cities that have been taken
captive by Cainer Laomer and his band of unmerry men. And
so he perhaps had an affinity for that. He thought there would
be righteous men among them. I think this is very, on the
one hand, it's very interesting that Abraham does this on behalf
of Canaanites. But on the other hand, God lets
him. God lets him. God goes with him all the way
down from 50 all the way to 10. The Lord is incredibly gracious
entering into communion with Abraham on this particular topic
of the Lord sparing these cities from his wrath and his fury and
his curse. So he loved his fellow man and
didn't want the righteous to suffer with the wicked. Notice
that Abraham is not saying, please, let's all just love together
and let's all live happily ever after. Abraham does not object
to the execution of judgment against the wicked. Abraham is
not a pacifist. Abraham is not a hippie. Abraham
is not anti-death penalty. Abraham is not anti-penology. Abraham is not against the judgment
of Yahweh poured out upon the enemies of Yahweh. But rather,
Abraham believes, or Abraham assumes, or Abraham would like
to think, there are righteous men in these cities on the plain.
And Abraham calls out to God to spare those persons. Now, the principle behind this,
or should I say in front of this, is going to be embodied ultimately
in Exodus 23. Deuteronomy 25 and Proverbs 17.
You can turn to Exodus 23. Remember from last week. when Abraham thought he was exercising
hospitality to three men, and he put on a banquet fit for a
king. He took the finest wheat and
he took the best of the flock and he presented it to these
three men. There's stuff that happens in Genesis that foreshadows
things that will come later in the law. And perhaps what we
see here is Abraham foreshadowing this principle embodied in the
law in Exodus 23.6. You shall not pervert the judgment
of your poor in his dispute. Keep yourself far from a false
matter. Do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not
justify the wicked. Deuteronomy 25.1. Deuteronomy
25.1, this is the principle at play that Abraham invokes with
God Most High. Exodus 25.1, if there is a dispute
between men and they come to court, that the judges may judge
them and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. That
is a good thing. They're supposed to justify the
righteous and they're supposed to condemn the wicked. The alternative
is stated negatively in Proverbs 17. Proverbs 17 verse 15, he
who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, both
of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. So he has this in
his head, in his heart, and in his mind, and he's asking God
with reference to the potential righteous ones in these cities
on the plain. So the Lord goes with him, and
the Lord enables, or allows him rather, to ask these specific
things. Now, of course, his methodology.
He begins with 50, he moves to 45, he goes to 40, 30, 20, and
10. Along the way, he expresses his
humility before God. He himself is blown away at the
reality that he is talking this way to God Almighty. And I think
that is a great indicator, on the one hand, of His humility
and of His recognition of who He is before a holy God, but
it also demonstrates for us the kindness and the mercy, the goodness
and the grace of God. He is patient with His creatures,
He is good to us, and He listens to the prayers of His people.
It's a great encouragement to pray, brethren, here in Genesis
18, and specifically to pray as intercessors, because that
is specifically what Abraham is doing. He is intercessing
with God on behalf of persons that are potentially going to
be destroyed by God. He is seeking God's mercy on
behalf of others. Notice that humility in verse
27. Indeed now, I who am but dust
and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. He repeats that sentiment in
verse 30. He says, let not the Lord be
angry and I will speak. You get that, right? You perhaps
have had that scenario where, honey, don't get mad, but I'm
gonna ask you again, we're really gonna have meatloaf tonight?
You know, I'm going to venture yet again to ask this question.
There's that trepidation. There's that fear. That's what
marks Abraham. Now, not the same kind, obviously.
Meatloaf and the judgment of Sodom are certainly disparate
things, but you get the point. He senses. He understands. He's
in the presence of God Most High. And he doesn't take this with
frivolity. He doesn't take this with any
levity, but he sees the seriousness of it. And I think as well, he's
appreciative of the fact that Yahweh is hearing him and that
Yahweh is dialoguing with him and Yahweh is affirming every
step of the way. Yes, if there are 50, I'll spare
it. Yes, if there are 45, I'll spare
it. Yes, if there's 40. I'll spare
it. Yes, if there's 30, I'll spare
it. You see, the principle holds
true. The Lord doesn't say, Abraham,
you don't know what you're talking about. I operate on a different
level. Abraham's logic was impeccable. Abraham, however, didn't know
that there weren't 10 righteous in the cities on the plain. Abraham
didn't know how bad it was, and God knows that Abraham doesn't
know how bad it is, so he allows him, he permits him, he gives
him the opportunity to vent his heart in prayer at the throne
of grace. This is not, or this is rather
a great encouragement to the people of God. Then notice verses
31 and 32, Indeed now I have taken it upon myself to speak
to the Lord. Verse 32, Let not the Lord be
angry, and I will speak but once more. Suppose ten should be found
there. There's that trepidation that
is consistent with those who are at the throne of grace. When
we understand who God is and we understand who we are, there
ought to be fear, there ought to be trembling, there ought
to be confidence, and certainly a passage like that should promote
that in our hearts. God didn't shut Abraham down,
God didn't send him packing, God didn't say, look, I know
what's best and I know what's in this city. He allows him to
pray, he allows him and encourages him to come to the throne of
grace with these particular So the Lord upholds the principle
of righteousness throughout. Yes, if there are these righteous
persons in these cities, then the Lord says, I will spare the
cities. Note Abraham's theological argument. There's two theological arguments
in Genesis 18. There is in the section concerning
the promise of Isaac, and there is in the intercession of Abraham. Remember the theological argument
in chapter 18 at verse 13. And the Lord said to Abraham,
why did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I surely bear a child since
I am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Divine omnipotence should silence Sarah and keep her from
ever laughing again with reference to the promises of God Almighty.
Abraham now formalizes another theological argument, the reality
of divine justice, the reality that God is not capricious, that
God is not arbitrary, and that God doesn't just wake up and
on a whim pour out wrath upon some unsuspecting souls on the
cities and the plain. Brethren, we need to understand
the consistency and the justness of God's judgment. You will witness
to people sometimes, and you will say to them, I want to tell
you about Jesus. And they might know some inkling
of the Bible. And they might say something
like, oh, I would never worship the God of the Bible. He ordered
genocide in the Old Testament. Well, yeah, he ordered the destruction
of the Canaanites from the land of Canaan. But it wasn't because
he was capricious. It wasn't because he was arbitrary.
It was because they were wicked, and they had filled up the measure
of guilt. Leviticus 18 highlights the various things that the Canaanites
were guilty of, so that when we get to Deuteronomy 7 and the
mandate for holy war, this is the just expression of the righteousness
and judgment of God. Now, when we continue in the
Old Testament, you get to the book of Judges, and you will
see that Israel behaves like Sodom. Israel conducts themselves
like Sodom when it comes to vile, perverse sin. You get to the
latter chapters of the book of Judges and you will see depicted
there the new Sodom. But it's actually Israel. So
what happens in Israel's history from that point on? The Lord
God treats them as he treated the Canaanites before them. If
they sin in the land, then the land will vomit them out of its
mouth. And that's precisely what happens
to both the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. So
while some may say, well, he commanded genocide against those
nice, peace-loving, innocent, wonderful Canaanites in the Old
Testament, you need to tell them, first of all, they weren't what
you've just suggested. They were vile, guilty, wretched
sinners that deserve the wrath and fury of God. Again, I know
that nobody wants to hear that, but that's the reality of the
situation. But when Israel acts like Sodom,
Or when Israel acts like Canaanites, they meet the same end. They're
dispossessed from their land. They end up in Babylon. They
suffer the repercussions of the broken covenant that they have
engaged in. So the Lord God Most High is
just, and Abraham confesses that in verse 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." Again, I
don't think Abraham is cheekily challenging God. I don't think
that the surrounding context would bear the thought that Abraham
is really asking God, aren't you going to do what's right?
Abraham's afraid to even voice the question because he knows
the God with whom he has to do. He is simply stating a theological
maxa. He is stating an axiom of Christianity. He is saying that the judge of
all the earth will most certainly do right. God doesn't rebuff
him. God affirms the logic. God says,
if I find 10 righteous, then I won't overthrow the cities
of the plain. Now notice verse 33. Verse 33,
so the Lord went his way, again, anthropomorphic, it's not like
God left the throne, he comes down to the terebinth trees at
Mamre, he chills with Abraham for a while, and now he's gonna
go back up. This is for us, this is in the
manner of man. This is describing to us, by
way of analogy, how God interacts with Abraham. Verse 33, so the
Lord went his way as soon as he had finished speaking with
Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. We know that the
Lord investigated the city. 21 and 22, the two men go to
Sodom. confirm and affirm, again, it may foreshadow later redemptive
history in terms of the law, the necessity of two or three
witnesses in Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 19. You've got two
men, we know our angels according to 19.1, are the men or the angelic
beings that go and investigate and determine that the cities
of the plain are in fact guilty. So the Lord involves Abraham
and he He listens to Abraham's intercession and he agrees with
Abraham's logic. He doesn't rebuff that. He doesn't
say, oh no, you're wrong. I'm free to do whatever I want
and I kill the righteous right along with the wicked because
I'm God. It's not what he does. God is consistent. God is not
arbitrary and God is not capricious. Pagans think that. I think at
times Christians think that, and we're not supposed to think
that. God is holy. He is not one that breaks laws. He is not one that breaks rules. He doesn't say, okay, I'm going
to operate this way completely contrary to what I am. No, He is consistent with His
own holy will. Now, in terms of some practical
observations, the first thing we ought to appreciate or understand
is what Calvin refers to as the contagion of sin. You've got
these five cities of the plain, you've got these five Canaanite
cities, and there aren't ten righteous in it? Many of the
commentators suggest we're talking about 10 or 50 down to 10 in
the five cities, not just Sodom. Remember, there are five cities
involved here. It's not just Sodom, it's not
just Gomorrah, but as Jude reminds us, the cities of the plain.
Deuteronomy 29, 23 highlights the very same thing. Again, Lot's
not able to save Sodom, but God does spare Zoar so that Lot has
a place to flee, according to Genesis 19. But in these five
cities, there weren't 10? That's a pretty pathetic situation,
isn't it? John Calvin says, certainly,
seeing the propensity of men to sin and the facility for sinning
are so great, it is not surprising that one should be corrupted
by another, till the contagion reached every individual. For
nothing is more dangerous than to live where the public license
of crime prevails. Yea, there is no pestilence so
destructive as that corruption of morals which is opposed neither
by laws, nor judgments, nor any other remedies. It's a terrible
thing to live where sin or crime is not punished. Because typically
what happens is the contagion of sin. It affects people. Doesn't Paul tell us this? Bad
morals corrupt. If you hang out in Sodom, eventually
you might become like the Sodomites. You see the difference in terms
of family religion between Abraham and Lot. Abraham commanded his
children to fear God. Subsequent to Sodom, Lot's daughters
give themselves to him. They certainly got some influence
of the city that they were brought up in. Now again, it may have
been, we'll get to that section later on in Genesis 19, but the
bare surface reading is a terrible thing. Lot's daughters are corrupted
to the point where they get him drunk so that he'll lay with
them so that they will have issue. There's a fundamental difference
between Abraham and Lot. Now, Lot, according to Peter,
was a righteous man. His soul was vexed day by day,
living in Sodom. But even with Lot, when we get
to Genesis 19, he engages in the hospitality. That's consistent
with what Abraham does. But then he offers to these Sodomites
his daughters. I mean, that's just terrible.
So this contagion of evil certainly permeated and affected the cities
on the plain. Secondly, we ought to appreciate
the just judgment of God. Verse 25, as I said, is axiomatic. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Brethren, that needs to be a
showstopper text in the hearts of each and every one of us.
We may not be able to fully understand or contemplate or explain everything
that God does, but we know that everything God does is just,
it's right, it's good. it will redound for His glory,
and it will be for the good of His people. Again, we see, you
know, part of the puzzle, we see a piece here, we see a piece
there, and we don't know how it's all gonna work together.
That's why axioms in Christianity, that's why theology proper, that's
why understanding divine omnipotence in verse 14, and divine justice
in verse 25, is absolutely crucial for the stability of God's people.
We may not be able to fully understand or explain some calamitous event,
but we do know that God will bring glory to himself and good
to his people. I mean, this is the stuff of
Romans chapter 8. We know that God causes all things
to work together for good, to those who love God, to those
who are the called according to his purpose. Now, the good
there doesn't necessarily mean cars and boats and houses. It's ultimately realized in the
eschaton. Whatever misery we suffer on
this earth will ultimately be undone, rectified, remedied in
the age to come. But that principle holds. The
Lord God does what is just. Now, thirdly, we ought to appreciate
the intercession of Abraham. It's really an amazing thing.
And again, he's not interceding for reprobates. He's not interceding
for sodomites. He's not saying, Lord God, I
want you to just forgive and forget the horrible perversity
that's engaged in those cities in the plain. No, he's concerned
about the righteous within these cities on the plain. But they're
Canaanites. Now, the other examples that
we have in Scripture in the Old Testament of intercession are
men interceding for Israel. Moses for Israel in Exodus 32
to 34. Remember the incident of the
golden calf. The Lord's ready to wipe everybody
out. Moses intercedes for them. Samuel, you can turn to 1 Samuel
chapter 23. I think getting a view of all
the people that intercede hopefully will promote in us a desire to
intercede. I think I said 23, I meant 1
Samuel 12. 1 Samuel 12. Moreover, as for me, far be it
from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for
you. But I will teach you the good
and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve
Him in truth with all your heart, for consider what great things
He has done for you." It's a beautiful statement. Samuel's not going
to cease to pray for Israel. There's a great heritage or a
legacy of intercessors in our Bibles. And I think as God's
people, we ought to be intercessors as well. Certainly, we pray for
ourselves. I think we all probably have
self-intercession down, right along with, you know, selfies
and Facebook and all that. But we need an intercede for
others, husbands for wives, wives for husbands, friends for friends,
brethren for brethren, parents for children, children for parents,
bringing others to the throne of grace and fetching blessing
for them from God. Isaiah for Israel in Isaiah 63
and 64. That's just a few isolated specimens. I mean, a few specimen places. This is riddled throughout the
Bible. But in Isaiah 63 and 64, the
prophet intercedes for the nation of Israel. Verse 1, chapter 64,
O that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that
the mountains might shake at your presence. He goes down,
verse 6, we're all like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses
are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf and our
iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And there is none
or no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take
hold of you. That's the implication. That's what God's people should
be doing. Right? Isn't that what's inferred
or implied from the prophet's statement? He's bemoaning and
lamenting the situation in Israel at the time. Verse 6, very clear. I'm sure we've all cited this
in our presentation of the gospel before. All our righteousnesses
are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf, and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no
one who calls on your name. Implication? Everybody should
be calling on your name. No one who stirs himself up to
take hold of you, like we should be doing. For you have hidden
your face from us and have consumed us because of our iniquities. Drop down to verse 9. Do not
be furious, O Lord, nor remember iniquity forever. He is interceding. Turn to the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah chapter 14. And again, These examples, intercession
specifically for the covenant people, Abraham interceding for
non-covenant people, Canaanites, righteous Canaanites living in
the cities on the plain. Jeremiah chapter 14. I should
highlight that in Jeremiah 7, the first temple sermon of the
prophet, God tells him, don't pray for this people. Now, when
God tells you that, you can stop praying for Canada. When God
tells you that, you can stop praying for sinners. God's not
going to tell you that. This was a case-specific situation
with reference to Jerusalem and Judah that was facing impending
judgment via Babylon. Nevertheless, we see Jeremiah
intercede on behalf of the people. Notice in Jeremiah 14 at verse
7. O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it for
Your namesake. For our backslidings are many,
we have sinned against You. O the hope of Israel, His Savior
in time of trouble, why should You be like a stranger in the
land, and like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
Why should You be like a man astonished, like a mighty one
who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us. Turn over to
Jeremiah 15, verse 1. Again, a specific situation facing
the impending destruction of Jerusalem via Babylon in 587
and 86. Jeremiah 15, 1, 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 and let them go forth. You see, nevertheless, Jeremiah
is interceding for them. Turn to the prophet Daniel, Daniel
chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. Notice in verse 13, as it is
written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon
us, yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God,
that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth. Notice
the language that the prophet uses. He doesn't say, you wretches,
you terrible people. He's not like the Democrats in
America, lecturing everybody on morality while they stand
on a pile of dead babies. Daniel locates himself among
the guilty. Daniel takes his place alongside
of his brethren and calls to Yahweh for mercy. Therefore,
the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us.
For the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which he does,
though we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God,
who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty
hand and made yourself a name as it is this day, we have sinned,
we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all your
righteousness, I pray, let your anger and your fury be turned
away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain, because for
our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and
your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now, therefore,
our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications,
and for the Lord's sake, cause your face to shine on your sanctuary,
which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and
hear, Open your eyes and see your desolations in the city
which is called by your name. Now notice the reason for his
petition. For we do not present our supplications
before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of your great
mercies. That's why we intercede. We're
not interceding because we have a lot to offer. We're not interceding
because we're really good. We're not interceding because,
boy, you should listen to us. We've got our act together. We
come to God because God is merciful. We come to God because He's going
to listen to Abraham. Go from 50 to 10. We come to
God because He has great mercies. Verse 19, O LORD, hear! O LORD,
forgive! O LORD, listen and act! Do not
delay for your own sake, my God, for your city and your people
are called by your name. Notice in Ezekiel the prophet,
Ezekiel 22. Ezekiel 22, the Lord, through
the prophet, complains that there were no intercessors, there were
no prayers, there were none that actually spoke to God with reference
to the sins of the nation. In Ezekiel 22, 28, her prophets
plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions
and divining lies for them, saying, thus says the Lord God. When
the Lord had not spoken, the people of the land have used
oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy,
and they wrongfully oppressed the stranger. 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. And the whole nation, the covenant
people, no one took the encouragement from Abraham before God in Genesis
18 and actually prayed with reference to the situation in Jerusalem?
If you want a particularly terrifying chapter in God's Word, read Ezekiel
6 someday. Ezekiel chapter 6 is most terrifying,
I'm sorry, Ezekiel chapter 9, with reference to God's judgment
upon Jerusalem. You can look at that later, Ezekiel
chapter 9. One other place in the Old Testament,
Habakkuk the prophet, chapter 3, verse 2. Habakkuk the prophet,
chapter 3, verse 2. Pick up reading in verse 1. A
prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shigionoth. O Lord, I have
heard your speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive your work in the
midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make
it known in wrath, remember mercy. See, that's intercession. In
wrath, remember mercy. It is an acknowledgment that
God's wrath is fitting and it is appropriate but we are pleading
with Him to show mercy. Now, when we turn to the New
Testament, we are called to be intercessors by our Lord in the
prayer that He gives us in Matthew 6. In Matthew 6.9, He says, In
this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed
be Your name. Your kingdom come. Now, notice
this next one. Your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. So yeah, we pray for ourselves,
we pray for our spouses, we pray for our children, we pray for
our brothers and sisters in the context of the local church,
but we pray for the earth. We pray for Canada, we pray for
the U.S., we pray for China, we pray for the nations in the
Middle East, we pray that people will stop murdering babies, and
we pray that people will stop murdering the elderly and the
infirm. We pray that God Most High will pour out His Spirit,
that in His wrath He would remember mercy and send forth His Spirit
to revive the hearts of His people and to awaken those who are dead
in their trespasses and sins. And then we have an example or
an encouragement or exhortation by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy
2. 1 Timothy 2, verse 1, Therefore I exhort first of all. Now remember
the context. In context, chapters 2 and 3
fall under what Paul says in 3.14. Look at what Paul says
in 3.14. These things I write to you,
though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed,
I write. so that you may know how you
ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
Now, work backwards with me. So, when he deals with the qualifications
of deacons, that's what we must do when it comes to deacons in
our church. Going backwards, he deals with
qualifications for elders. That's what we must do when it
comes to elders in the context of the church. Working backwards,
he deals with women in the church. Women are supposed to be modest.
Women are supposed to do certain things. That's how we're supposed
to function in the context of the church. Verses 1 to 6, or
1 to 4 properly, are about prayer. And this is where it begins.
Notice in 2.1, Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
It's the first order of business for the church. Yes? qualified
elders, yes, qualified deacons, yes, proper conduct among women,
yes, godliness among all the persons, yes, regulated principle
of worship, all that, yes, faithful preaching, but praying. Praying
is, in fact, a backbone of the church. Intercession is absolutely
crucial. It's not a, oh, you know, a handful
of people like to get together once in a while and pray. The
whole church ought to be getting together, often, frequently,
continually, and praying together. And here, specifically, he says,
I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks be made for what? For the covenant community,
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. I think
the language and the context demands the interpretation of
all kinds of men. I don't know that Paul wants
us to get the Chilliwack phone book, start with A and end with
Z. I don't think that's what's in
view here, but in terms of everybody, or ransom for all in verse six,
it's all kinds of men. The context, I think, is pretty
specific that way. But the emphasis is, is that
we pray for all men, for kings and all who are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God our Savior. Now notice, who desires all men to be saved?
Again, it's not universalism, it's all kinds of men to be saved.
See, you see that connection. Pray for kings and all who are
in authority. And then in verse 4, who desires
all men, all kinds of men, kings and all who are in authority
to be saved. I may not know how to pray for Justin Trudeau specifically,
but I do know how to pray that God save him. I may not know
how to pray for local governments specifically, but I do know I
can pray that God would save them. There is a close connection
in the passage that would suggest the intercessory prayers of the
church for all men, specifically kings and those who are in authority,
ought to at least include a petition for their salvation. That's faithful
intercession on the part of God's people. Now, I actually think
that Paul had Jeremiah in mind when he wrote that. Maybe he
didn't, but he certainly conceptually parallels Jeremiah 29.7. Jeremiah
29.7. This is instruction to the exiles in Babylon. which incidentally, so is 2911. But in 2905 of the prophet Jeremiah,
God gives them instructions on how they're supposed to dwell
in Babylon as a captive people. build houses and dwell in them,
plant gardens and eat their fruit, take wives and beget sons and
daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters
to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, that
you may be increased there and not diminished. Now notice verse
7. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you
to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it. For
in its peace you will have peace. Isn't that Paul's argument? Pray
for kings and all who are in authority that we may lead quiet
and peaceable lives. In other words, if we pray for
the body politic that we are involved in, and they stop murdering
babies and they get converted, then we benefit as a result of
that. So the impetus for intercessory
prayer is first, the glory of God. Secondly, the good of others. And thirdly, there are corollary
benefits for the people of God that are offering those things
up. So I think Abraham sets forth a great paradigm, a great example
of intercession on behalf of persons who desperately need
it. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you
for this continual theme that runs through with reference to
godly men praying for people that they know, people that they
are under. I pray that you would stir us
up to pray, stir us up to be intercessors, stir us up to think
in terms of the bigger picture, and to call upon you to exercise
mercy and to show your kindness and your goodness toward sinners.
Go with us now, we pray. Watch over us in the remainder
of this week. Bless all of our brothers and sisters and keep
your people. And we pray through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
