Genesis 18

CHAPTER 18THEME: God reaffirms His promise; God announces the coming destruction of Sodom and GomorrahUntil you get to the New Testament, you may wonder why the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Genesis are included in the Bible. They seem rather detached from the story of Abraham. They deal with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Chapter 18 is a rather lengthy chapter in which God tells Abraham about the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham intercedes on behalf of the cities of the plain. This is an illustration, I think, of the blessed Christian life, of life in fellowship with God. But in chapter 19, down in Sodom and Gomorrah with Lot, we will see what I would call the blasted lifeall because of a decision that was made. Unfortunately, we have both kinds among Christians todaythose living a blessed life and those living a blasted life. There are those who have really made shipwreck of their lives; they have gotten entirely out of the will of God. I would not suggest even for a moment that they have lost their salvation, but they sure have lost everything else. As Paul says, they are saved, “…yet so as by fire”(1Co_3:15).

Genesis 18:1

GOD REAFFIRMS HIS PROMISEAbraham is living down there in Mamre, and he’s an old man, by the way.

Genesis 18:2

Notice the hospitality that Abraham extends. The little story that I told in the previous chapter has a basis of fact, at least, although I don’t think it ever took place. The point is that this man Abraham is a very gracious, hospitable man.

Genesis 18:3

It seems very strange to us to tell a visiting stranger to wash his feet and come in. We wouldn’t quite say that today, but this is probably the oldest custom that is known. Remember that in the Upper Room our Lord washed the disciples’ feetand there is a tremendous spiritual message there. Here Abraham says, “Wash your feet.” It was a token of real hospitality when someone came into a home to have him take off his shoes and wash his feet. In that day they did not take off their hat, but they did take off their shoes. Today we have reversed it.

When you come to visit somebody, you leaves your shoes on and take off your hat. I’m not sure which is right. I like the idea, myself, of taking off my shoes. I like to go barefooted in the summertime. I wish it were possible more often. When I am out in the Hawaiian Islands, I put my shoes away and wear thongs or go barefooted as much as possible.

I don’t put my shoes back on the whole time I am there. I love to go barefooted. I think this was a great custom. It sure would make you feel at home to take off your shoes, wash your feet, and rest yourself under the shade of a tree. Abraham is really entertaining these men royally.

Genesis 18:5

Isn’t this a marvelous way of entertaining? Abraham has prepared a sumptuous meal. He took a little calf, a servant killed and prepared it, and the chef probably barbecued it. They had veal steaks or veal roast, I imagine, and all the trimmings that went with it. “And he took butter, and milk"my, it was a real feast! Abraham entertains these three guests. Then we find that these guests are royal guests. In the New Testament it is suggested to us that “…some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb_13:2). That was Abrahamhe didn’t know whom he was really entertaining.

Genesis 18:9

It was not proper in that dayand even in the East todayfor the wife to come out and be the one to entertain, especially since there were three male guests there. But now they ask and make inquiry about Sarah.

Genesis 18:10

I think Sarah had her ear to the keyhole and had been listening in. Both Abraham and Sarah now discover that they are entertaining angels unaware.

Genesis 18:11

That is, Sarah asks, “Is it possible that I will have a son?“and she laughs. Now what kind of laughter is this? I think this is the laughter which says that it is just too good to be truethat’s all. Again, I’m sure that most of us have had experiences like this. God has been so good to us on a certain occasion that we just laughed. Something happened that was just too good to be true, and that was the way Sarah laughed. She is saying, “This is something just too good to be true. It just can’t happen to me!”

Genesis 18:13

Sarah is frightened by the Lord’s question and is certainly rather evasive, but she cannot avoid the truth.

Genesis 18:16

Abraham didn’t have a front gate, so he walked out with them a little farther than the front gate to bid them goodbye. And as they walked out from where Abraham lived, they could look down to Sodom and Gomorrah. When I was in that land, it was amazing to me how far you could see on a clear day. I could see from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. And from the ruins of old Samaria, I could see Jerusalem, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sea of Galilee. I could see Mt. Hermon from most anyplaceit’s tremendous. Abraham walked out a ways with these guests, and down below there, they saw Sodom and Gomorrah. They were the great resorts of that day, and they must have been very delightful and beautiful places to be.

Genesis 18:17

GOD ANNOUNCES THE COMING DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAHUp to this point, the Lord has not revealed to Abraham what He is going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah: He is going to destroy them. “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” Notice now the reason that God is not going to hide it from Abraham.

Genesis 18:18

Abraham is going to have a tremendous influence. He is going to influence multitudes of people, including the succeeding generations. That is true right now today. As I write and as you read this book, Abraham is influencing uswe cannot avoid it.

Genesis 18:19

God says, “I’d better not hide it from Abraham because he will get a wrong impression of Me.” Notice by the way, that this man Abraham had discipline in his household.

Genesis 18:20

In other words, God is saying to Abraham, “I know the situation there, but I’m going down to investigate.” God never does anything hurriedly or hastily. It is a good thing that God told Abraham He was going to destroy these cities, because otherwise Abraham would have gotten a wrong impression of God. He would have thought that God was rather dictatorial and vindictive and that He was One who apparently showed no mercy for or consideration of those who were His. Abraham would really have had a distorted and warped view of God, and so God lets him know what He is going to do. Abraham now has time to turn this over in his mind. It is also a good thing that God told him because he did have a wrong idea of God and of Sodom and Gomorrahhe was wrong about many things.

This is one of the reasons that God is telling us as much as He is. There are a lot of things that He does not tell us, but He has told us enough so that though a man be a fool and a wayfaring man, he needn’t err therein.

Genesis 18:22

Abraham is now waiting before the Lord.

Genesis 18:23

What is the first thing that enters Abraham’s mind? The first thing that enters his mind, of course, is Lot. He had rescued Lot once, and now Lot is again in danger down there. I think that Abraham had wondered many times about Lot and his relationship to God, but at least he believes that Lot is a saved man. He is asking God, “What about the righteous?” I believe that Abraham would have told you that he thought there were many people in the city of Sodom who were saved. He could not understand why God would destroy the righteous with the wicked. What a picture we have here!

Genesis 18:24

Abraham begins with fifty. He says to the Lord, “Lord, suppose there are fifty righteous down there in Sodom. Would You destroy the city if there were fifty righteous?”

Genesis 18:25

That is still a question that many people ask: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And there is an answer to it. The rest of the Bible testifies to the fact that the Judge of all the earth always does right. Whatever God does is right, and if you don’t think He is right, the trouble is not with God, but the trouble is with you and your thinking. You are thinking wrong; you do not have all the facts; you do not know all of the details. If you did, you would know that the Judge of all the earth does right. We are wrong; He is right.

Genesis 18:26

And Abraham thinks this over.

Genesis 18:27

In other words, Abraham says, “If there are forty-five righteous left, would You destroy the city for forty-five?” And God tells him, “If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.” This makes the man a little bit bolder, and he says to the Lord, “Suppose there are forty?” The very interesting thing is that God says, “I will not destroy it for forty.” And Abraham keeps on bringing the number down. He says, “How about thirty?” God says, “If there are thirty there, I still won’t do it.” Abraham says, “Suppose there are twenty there?” God says, “I’ll not destroy it.” Abraham is overwhelmed now, and he takes another plunge: “Suppose there are ten righteous there. Would You destroy it if there are ten?” And God says, “If there are ten righteous in the city, I will not destroy it.”

Genesis 18:33

Now the question arises: Why didn’t Abraham come on down below ten? I’ll tell you why: At this point he is afraid that Lot is lost, and this disturbs him a great deal; so he is not going to come down any further. But he could have come down to one. He could have said, “Lord, if there is one in that city who is righteous, would You destroy the city?” Do you know what God would have said? He would have said, “If there is one who is righteous in that city, I am going to get him out of that city, because I would not destroy a righteous man with the city.” How do I know that is the way it would have been? Because that is the way it worked out.

There was one righteous man thereAbraham didn’t believe it, but God knew himand that one was Lot. God said to Lot, “Get out of the city. I cannot destroy it until you are out.” Do you know that the Great Tribulation period cannot come as long as the church is in the world? It just cannot come, my friend, because Christ bore our judgment, and the great tribulation is part of the judgment that is coming. This is the reason that the church cannot go through it. This is a glorious picture of that truth. We are going to see that Sodom and Gomorrah are a picture of the worldand what a picture! What a condition the world is in todayit is very much like Sodom and Gomorrah. That does not mean that the Lord is going to come tomorrow. I do not knowand no one else knowswhen He will come. But He could come tomorrow, and it certainly would be in keeping with the carrying out of the picture which is before us here in Genesis.