Belief, Realization and Progressive Revelation
Belief seems to imply settled
Realization seems to imply it takes a while to get there
Progressive revelation is what is presented over time to help you get to that realization and belief.
Genesis 18
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.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] 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.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
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.
Does Abraham even know who these three men were at this point? Do you know?
Abram was very hospitable - more than I would be
It’s a judgement against me since I often do not put up with sales people who appear at my door and i often just tell them not interested and shew them away. Even still not interested when they have more than one visit or phone call. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be so harsh with them! That’s on me to change!
There’s always time to be courteous.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he said.
How did they know her name or even that he had a wife? Bizarre right? This is sort of our first indication that these men are something more than men. They know things that the typical stranger would not know.
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
OK, now it’s really getting weird as they prophesy that she will have a son!
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
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.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
This shows Sarah’s trial of faith. She’s getting there. This is of course after the Hagar and Ishmael debacle where Sarah and Hagar had it out and Hagar had to run away or get killed.
Imagine lying to God! Anninias and Saphrah did that and died. So how did she get out of it?
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
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.[c] 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.”
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.”
Interesting to see these three men talking as they are headed to Sodom. This is a theophony where this is likely Jesus and two angels or even the trinity right here. In the next chapter it suggests it’s more like Jesus and two angels but we don’t know for sure.
When lawyers ask a question, they only ask questions they already know the answer to. They ask it to prompt you to say what they already know. This speech is given for us and these already know the state of Sodom and even what they will do likely.
Imagine people have entertained angels unaware. Any idea how many angels you may have met in your lifetime? 532? Did you recognize any of them as angels or even the theophany as Abraham has here. How would it have been to have met God!!!! I’m sure Abraham was pleased with himself that he did treat them with hospitality rather than uncourteously! That’s always time to be courteous - you may be entertaining angels unaware.
This talking is for Abraham’s benefit and ours. Of course God didn’t need to come down to go by Abraham’s house or to Sodom. He could have just destroyed Sodom from 30 thousand feet.
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[d] 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[e] 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?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
At this point Abraham knows he’s talking to the Lord and imagine how brave he is to talk to the Lord in this way.
It is neat to know that when you’re saved, you can come before the throne of grace and have a personal relationship with God and don’t need to be fearful when we die and meet God, because he has already taken away our sins as far as the east is from the west and that there is no fear in love so we can jump up and down and hug Jesus and not worry about being instantly toasted! Oh, he loves us! We are joint heirs with Christ!
When people are saved, it’s a similar progressive revelation. It often takes people many times to go to church and be talked to about Jesus before they get saved.
Understanding miracles is the same way. We see here the miracle of how Sarah in her 90s will have a child. We see little miracles throughout the Bible and it gives us more and more confidence so that when we finally see the virgin birth of Jesus it’s not as huge a leap to understand it as it would have been without these other proven miracles. God helps us in that way. There’s other symbolism throughout the OT that also show us more about Jesus like the serpent lifted up in the wilderness was a picture of Christ and other things like the tabernacle and how it also points to Christ. We need these progressive revelations to help us “get” it.
