Abraham Intervenes
Gen 18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Lot had pitched his tent towards Sodom and now he was in Sodom. Abraham accompanies the three men to a place overlooking the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The ruins of these cities are now under the Dead Sea at the end of the Jordan River.
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Gen 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
The LORD said, shall I hide from Abraham what I plan to do? For he shall become a great and mighty nation, a nation of faith, and all nations shall be blessed by him, through Jesus.
The LORD reminded Abraham of his covenant promises to him. We, as Christians are under the blood, the covenant promises of the new covenant.
John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
He knew Abraham to be a faithful man, who would command his children to follow God's commands. The LORD will keep his promises to him. The LORD does not keep his people in darkness, he reveals his plans and his promises. We must follow him and by his revealed will we may come to him in prayer.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Luke 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Gen 18:20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
God heard the cry, the sin, the foul living, now he tells Abraham he is going to examine them personally.
Gen 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Gen 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Gen 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Gen 18:26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
Abraham inquires of the LORD, if he will destroy them. Will the LORD destroy the righteous too? He was concerned for his nephew, Lot. Abraham grew close to the LORD, to hear and to speak to him. He was an intercessor.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Surely He would not destroy the righteous with the ungodly? Abraham reminds God of his justice. We may intercede for those under the blood of Christ in this way, appealing to God's justice. We are to pray according to God's nature and will. Reminding him of His word, His justice, His healing, etc.
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Gen 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
Gen 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
Abraham humbles himself before God; nothing but dust and ashes.
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
God gives grace to the humble. Abraham prays specific requests.
1 Cor 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
1 Cor 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1 Cor 14:16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
Gen 18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
Gen 18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
Gen 18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
He would not destroy the city for even ten righteous. There were many children in Sodom, were they condemned with their parents? The people were idoloters and fornicators.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
A righteous parent is important to a child.
1 Cor 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
Gen 18:33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
The LORD left and Abraham returned to his place and two angels walked towards Sodom to bring out righteous Lot, from the cities that were to be destroyed.
How does Abraham compare to the prophet Jonah?
3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Jonah 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
Jonah 4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Jonah 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Abraham was a willing intercessor; Jonah was reluctant, it is God who wills and accomplishes his will.
How about Elijah in the cave?
1 Ki 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
1 Ki 19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1 Ki 19:14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Ki 19:15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
1 Ki 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Elijah thought he was the last man of faith, but God had 7000 others. Do not lose faith, keep going and together we make a difference.What can we learn from Abraham in this story?
Abraham shows us that a person of faith in the Lord's promises may know the will of God and intercede for those that God places on his heart. The Holy Spirit will show us who to pray for.
The LORD reminded Abraham of his covenant promises to him; so we should be reminded of our covenant promises and who we are in Jesus Christ. We pray to the LORD based on his character and his promises in the Bible. If we have a concern we should pray about it. Avoid broad prayers, for example: save all the people in the world. We should know that is not going to happen. Pray for those we know about that God places in your heart.
It is the presence of righteous people in a nation that keeps God from destroying the nation. He may remove the righteous before destroying the nation. This doesn't mean that good people will always escape persecution and death from the enemy. We should be over comers in our response to problems, in our faith and in our prayers of intercession. Be faithful and obey God, you are not alone. Pray and God will accomplish his will.
No comments:
Post a Comment