Genesis Chapter 18 – John Karmelich

1. My title this section is, “A study of three types of people:

a) The “truly saved” (Abraham);
The “barely saved” (Lot);
And the “un-saved” (The people of Sodom). “

b) Most of Chapter 18 reads of another encounter of Abraham and the Lord prior to Isaac being born. It speaks highly of Abraham as he spends time with God. Further he gets further understanding from God about prayerfully interceding on the behalf of others.

2. The first part of Chapter 18 is about three “men” visiting Abraham.

a) Most commentators believe these “men” were the Lord God and two angels.

b) God himself speaks to Abraham in this section of the text, so the assumption is he is one of the three “men”.

c) The word “angel” is not used in Chapter 18. The “angel assumption” is because the first verse of Chapter 19 states two angels are going to Sodom. The connection is that two of these three were just visiting Abraham.

d) Jewish commentaries believe that God was not one of the three “men” and God is an “outside speaker” in this chapter. Most of the Evangelical Christian commentaries believe that God-as-a man (Jesus in a preincarnate state) is one of the “three men” in focus.

e) This section leaves more questions than answers. For example, how did Abraham know one of the three “men” was the Lord, or at least were sent by God (i.e., angels)? Why were there three “men”? Wasn’t it sufficient for the Lord to come by himself? Why the necessity of the other two? Further, these three guys actually eat food. Do angels eat and digest food? Is there a waste disposal system in heaven? J

3. The next section of Chapter 18 is the famous story of Abraham “haggling” with God.

a) God tells Abraham he is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham asks God if he will destroy Sodom if there are 50 righteous people in that city. God says no. Abraham asks the same question of 45 people, then 40 and works his way down to 10 people before Abraham quits.

b) This leads to ponder more questions: Why didn’t God just tell Abraham “10 people” to begin with, assuming “10” was God’s final answer? Why did God put up with this conversation in the first place? God could have said, “I’m God, shut up and let me go and do my thing at Sodom”. J God does not have to justify his actions to Abraham or anyone else for that matter. A question to ponder is the purpose of this section.

c) The main thing to see is that God wanted to show Abraham and show us that God does not judge the righteous people with the wicked. Even the “barely saved” Lot must be spared before any judgment can begin.

4. The more we read of Lot, the more we read of a “waste of a life”. Lot was a literal person, but he is also a word-picture of the kind of person who believes in God, but doesn’t do much about it.

a) There will be many people “barely saved” in heaven, but without much reward.

i) Paul said, “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. If it (his works for God) is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
(1^st Corinthians 3:12-13,15, NIV).

b) We read in Chapter 19 that the angels can’t even begin to wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah until after Lot and his family are safely out of town.

c) It’s not like “Hey Lot, you’ve got 20 minutes until it starts raining brimstone. My advice is to start running now or you will be buried alive in this soon to be disaster area”. J
It is more like, “We angels are not allowed to do our job until you get out of town, so will you please get moving so we can get moving? We are “on the clock”, you know!” J

d) The main point about Lot is not that, “He was rescued because he was a good man.”
He was only rescued because he believed in the God of Abraham. Other than that, Lot doesn’t have much of an eternal resume. J

5. The third main “character(s)” in this section are the residents of the City of Sodom.

a) This place was called “evil” as far back as Chapter 13.

b) It is the first recorded specific-location of judgment in the bible where that location is destroyed for its wickedness.

c) A question to ponder is why Sodom and Gomorrah gets destroyed. Chapter 18 is about God discussing the destruction of Sodom with Abraham. The actual event occurs in Chapter 19. Here’s a verse to ponder prior to Chapter 19:

i) Sodom is destroyed as an example of future judgment.

ii) This mostly refers to everlasting judgment, but I can also think of a few locations throughout history which I am convinced were also judged by God. We’ll get to that when we discuss those verses.

iii) “If he (God) condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
(2^nd Peter 2:6 NIV)

6. OK, enough introductory comments and bad jokes. Let’s start into Chapter 18.

7. Chapter 18, Verse 1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

a) “The great trees of Mamre” appears to be Abraham’s home in what-is-today-Israel. It was mentioned back in Chapter 13 when Abraham first came into that land, and it was the location of Abraham when he heard of Lot’s capture back in the episode of the “war of 4 kings versus 5 kings”.

b) We also know that this event was not long after the events of Chapter 17.

i) In Chapter 17, we had Abraham being told by God himself of the future blessings of Abraham and his family and the requirement of circumcism.

ii) In the last part of Chapter 17, we read of Abraham immediately obeying God and circumcising his son Ishmael and everyone in his household.

iii) Now in Chapter 18, we are going to get the story of God “confirming” the promise of a future child. The angels say in effect, “We’ll be back in a year, when, at that time, your son Isaac will be born.”

iv) Prior to this announcement, we have the story of Abraham spending time with these three “men”.

c) Unto the big mystery: Who are these three men?

i) I discussed this in my introduction. The most logical argument is that they were angels sent by God, based on the first verse of Chapter 19. Remember the original text did not have chapter breaks.

ii) Abraham refers to one of the three as “Lord”. Further, by Verse 10, it says the “LORD” spoke. This refers to “Jehovah” himself, who apparently is one of the three men. The other two, we assume are angels. (There are Jewish commentaries that see this text as three angels and then God speaking. I disagree with that interpretation, but it can be read that way.)

iii) This means that God and angels can come in bodily form.

a) The Book of Hebrews gives us a clue about this: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2 NIV)

b) We also read of these three eating food. One of the interesting things to notice about the 4 gospel stories is that whenever you read of Jesus’ appearing in his reincarnate state, he is always eating. It is to show the literalness of Jesus in his new-body form.

c) I suspect if God and angels can suddenly appear in bodily form, they can just as easily disappear out of bodily form. They don’t have to worry about digesting their food.

d) That sounds like a good plan for us in heaven. It sounds like we can eat what we want and not worry about gaining weight! J

iv) I, along with most Evangelical commentators believe that the one speaking in Verse 10 is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Here is my basis for this:

a) Jesus said, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father”. (John 6:46).

b) God the Father said to Moses, “But," he said, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Exodus 33:20, NIV)

c) If no one has ever seen the Father, and the “man” speaking to Abraham says that he is LORD “Jehovah”, that would make this person Jesus.

v) The next big question is why three guys? Isn’t God sufficient by himself?

a) Why was it necessary for three “men” to show up?

b) Although I can’t prove it, my best guess is based on this scripture:

(1) One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15 NIV)

(2) What that Scripture means is that God set up a principal that it takes two witnesses for some sort of testimony to be held true.

(3) The town of Sodom was about to be destroyed. “Two witnesses” show up prior to the judgment.

(4) Prior to the “big” judgment, which is discussed through the bulk of The Book of Revelation, there is a story of “two witnesses” to the nation of Israel spoken of in Chapter 11. I see that as a “parallel” to these two angels coming to Sodom before its destruction.

8. Verse 3: (Abraham is talking) He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. ⁵ Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant." "Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

a) Whenever you read the word “lord” in lower-case in most English Bibles, this word can be translated “sir” as well as a reference to the Lord God.

b) The fact that Abraham calls himself a “servant” (end of Verse 5) to these guys indicates that Abraham somehow knew they were sent by God. The only reason we know it is God himself is because verse 10 says, “Then the LORD said”, referring to Jehovah.

i) I pondered if Abraham believed God sent these guys, why would he want them to “rest their feet” or give them some food? Do angels in bodily form require nourishment and recuperation time? J

9. Verse 6: So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."

a) Verse 6 is special in Middle East cultures, both in the Jewish and Muslim world.

i) The term “three seahs of fine flour”, also translated “three measures of fine meal” (KJV) is a reference to a “fellowship offering” or a “welcome offering” in that culture. It is a gesture of being welcomed into that home.

ii) This idea is hard to translate to our American culture. The best I can explain it is when we entertain guests, we might say, “Can I get you something to drink?”
It is a way of greeting our guests and making them feel welcome.

iii) In Middle East culture, offering guests bread made from 3 “seah’s (measures) of fine flour is a symbolic gesture that the guests are welcome.

b) I say this because Jesus himself refers to this “welcome offering” in a different context:

i) Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." (Matthew 13:33 NKJV)

ii) In this context, remember that leaven is a negative substance. Leaven (yeast) is associated with sin. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven (age of Christian believers) will have “sin” mixed in with the “welcome offering of 3 measures of meal.” It refers to false believers being mixed in with believers.

10. Verse 7: Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

a) Essentially Abraham told his guests, “You guys kick back here in the shade. I’m going to have one of my servant’s kill, skin and BBQ a calf. J In the meantime, here, have some milk and curds (butter or cheese).

b) I noticed that this meal was not “kosher”. Jews never mix meat products with dairy products in their meals. It is based on a scripture that says, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.” (Exodus 23:19, et.al.) In order to avoid that possibility, Jews never mix dairy and meat in the same meal.

i) I asked an Orthodox Jewish friend about this one. He looked up some explanations for me on this:

a) One possibility is the fact that this offering by Abraham pre-dates the kosher rule given by Moses.

b) The other is that the angels were “non-Jewish” and therefore exempt.

c) The other is that it takes several hours to kill, skin and cook the meat. Therefore they ate “dairy” and “meat” at separate feedings.

d) The actual answer is not that important for the Christian reader. I just thought it was an interesting bit of trivia to throw into this lesson. J

c) Let’s look at this in the bigger-picture of Genesis:

i) Chapter 17 had God describing future blessings to Abraham.

ii) God then tells Abraham of his requirement of circumcism.

iii) Abraham then obeys God’s commandment and circumcises his son as well as all the other men of his household.

iv) Now the next thing we read about is Abraham just “spending time” with God and these “men” who were sent from God.

v) (You can see this next sermon coming! J). That is a good pattern for us to follow. First God calls us into obedience. Then we act in obedience. Finally, God just wants to “spend time” with him. That too is a form of worship. To spend time simply conversing with God. Yes we properly prepare for him, like Abraham did with this meal offering, but it is also about just spending time with the Lord himself.

11. Verse 9: "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. ¹⁰ Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

a) Think about the “why” question: Why would these angels ask where is Sarah?

b) I don’t think they were unaware of her actual location. I think this statement is made as a reminder to Abraham about the promise of a future son. To paraphrase: “Hey Abraham, you are going to have a child through Sarah, not Hagar nor any other woman. She’s in there. I want her to overhear this message. You’re going to have a child in a year. That means its time to put on some romantic music and get down to business!” J

12. Verse 10 (cont.) Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

a) The key word here is “laughed”. This is the second reference to laughter in 2 chapters.

i) Back in Chapter 17, Verse 17, Abraham laughed when God told him then he was going to have a son. It was the first mention of laughter in the bible. One gets the impression that Abraham laughed at time out of a sense of joy.

ii) Here in Chapter 18, we have Sarah laughing. Her laughter appears to be one of sarcasm and doubt. A paraphrase of her laugh might be “Yeah right”.

iii) The ramifications of that laugh are discussed in the next set of verses.

13. Verse 13: Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

a) First of all, here is your memory half-a verse for the week:

i) “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

ii) We would all probably live a lot longer if we can remember and act upon that verse. One of the great mistakes all believers make is worrying. Worrying is the opposite of faith. Remember the saying, “If you are going to worry, why pray? If you are going to pray, why worry?”

iii) As my wife likes to say when I’m worried, “John, do you think God is big enough he can handle this situation?” This means, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

iv) What is interesting is the angels and/or The Lord take the time and trouble in Verse 15 (coming up) to point out Sarah laughed in doubt, but didn’t punish her any further than to scold her.

b) Now back to the text itself. God himself said to Abraham, not to Sarah, that God laughed.

i) It is almost as if God is reminding that it is Abraham’s “ministry” to keep his wife’s faith strong in the Lord. This is a good reminder verse for husbands and fathers that one of our primary ministry duties is to pray for, encourage and build up our family’s faith.

14. Vs. 15: Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

a) If you were doing a movie of this scene, you would have Sarah “invisible” to the camera. She is inside the tent eavesdropping while Abraham is on the “porch” talking to God.

b) The text says Sarah laughed and then denied it. Notice there is no mention of Sarah “confessing her sin” or God punishing her for this action, other than to rebuke her lie.

i) Notice there is no further punishment by God for her laughing, nor for her lying about it. God made a promise of Sarah having a son, and it was unconditional. That means Sarah was going to have a son no matter what she did, assuming she took the necessary actions with Abraham.

ii) When God makes unconditional promises to us, they stand true despite our actions. It doesn’t excuse those actions, but it doesn’t prevent God from going through with what he promised for us.

15. Verse 16: When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

a) Let me paraphrase this section: “I, God have a decision to make. I am going to destroy Sodom. Do I tell Abraham I am going to do this or not? Abraham will be blessed as the household of the Messiah and their family will be righteous before me. Do I let them know about the judgment on the world or not?”

i) Let me start by saying God does not ponder decisions. J If God is perfect, then God knows all things and God knew in advance what was going to happen.

ii) This text is written for Abraham’s sake and for our sake.

iii) It is a “colorful” way of showing that God is going to reveal to Abraham his plans for destroying the wicked. God wants Abraham and us to know that He reveals his plans for us.

a) “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7, NKJV

b) So what is the purpose of this “decision”? I believe that God wanted Abraham and us to understand that God separates the “saved” from the “unsaved”.

i) God wants us to understand there is a judgment day for those who turn from God.

ii) It is not for us to mock and say, “You’ll get yours”. It is for us to realize the eternal consequences of turning away from God. It is for us to see people not as sinful, but as hurting people who also need God. Further, it is given as a sense of comfort. There are a lot of unjust things that happen in the world. I can “sleep nights” knowing that there is an eternal judgment for those who turn from God.

c) There is another principal that is important in this text. Notice Verse 19 again:

i) “For I (God) have chosen him (Abraham), so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD…” (Genesis 18:19, NIV)

ii) What this means is that God gave Abraham this revelation about the future and about future judgment so that he could teach his children about the ways of God.

iii) This gets back to the fact the primary ministry of all family men is to raise their children in the Lord. This is a priority over any other ministerial work that we are called to do. This responsibility falls on the man.

a) How does one do that practically? Here are a few examples:

b) Let your children see you go to church, pray regularly and read your bible. They will remember how you act as much as anything you say to them.

c) Lead them in prayer. Study the bible with them. Don’t ask them if they want to, just lead them.

d) Allistar Begg once said, “The greatest day in my childhood is the day when I told my father, “I’m not going to church and you can’t make me”. His father replied, “Watch me”!

iv) This is why in the New Testament, one of the requirements to be an elder in the church is to raise up a Godly family. (Ref.: 1^st Timothy 3:4).

a) If you can’t be trusted in raising your family in the Lord, how can you be trusted for other Christian service?

v) Of course, for single moms, or for wives with unbelieving husbands, this job, unfortunately now falls on you. I’m convinced that our rewards in heaven are heavily determined how we raise our children as much as any “outside work”.

16. Verse 20: Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

a) Does this mean God was unaware of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? Of course not!

b) This is about God revealing his plans to Abraham. Remember that Abraham’s nephew Lot is living in Sodom. Abraham is telling God that he is aware of the outcry of the sins of these locations.

c) Further, we will read of the one “man”, who I believe is The LORD himself, (Jesus in a preincarnate state) staying to “haggle” with Abraham while the “two witnesses” then go to Sodom and Gomorrah to see how bad things are. As to the two men, we’ll discuss them more in Chapter 19. Meanwhile, we still have more of Chapter 18 to finish.

d) Let’s talk about “God hearing the outcry”.

i) Does that mean someone was praying while suffering? Not necessarily. If God who is perfect in judgment and love, hears the pain of those who are suffering whether or not they are in formal prayer.

a) “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.” (Psalm 68:5, NIV)

e) These verses are good to remember when we read or hear of innocent people being hurt.

i) God is a God-of-justice as well as a God of love. God hears the cries of those who are hurting, and the innocent who have suffered. Yes God still wants us to pray on their behalf, but even without our prayer, God is aware of their fate and desires to do something about it. We pray for them and help others as God desires to work through us to alleviate such situations.

17. Verse 22: The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

a) From here to the end of the chapter, we have the famous story of Abraham “haggling” with God. Notice God simply answers each of Abraham’s questions without any further commentary or discussion.

b) This is a case where God is working “on Abraham’s level”. God is trying to teach Abraham a lesson about how God separates the evil from the good. It is almost as if God is saying “I’m only going to give you one-word answers. I want you to continue asking questions until you understand what I’m trying to do”

i) Note that God will often “work on our level”. God knows a lot more than he reveals to us in our prayers. God will often answer our prayers directly and succinctly even though there may be a lot more.

c) Why did Abraham “start” with 50 people?

i) I can’t prove this, but I suspect Abraham was thinking about Lot. Maybe Abraham hasn’t seen Lot since he rescued him. Remember