Strangers from heaven.
Genesis 18. 01/05/05
Heavenly guests come to visit Abraham. They were three in number and appeared as traveling strangers when they came to Abraham. Of the three Angels two were ordinary angels the other angel was Jesus Christ. The identification of Jesus is verified in verse 1 where we are told that the Lord appeared to Abraham.
In our study of the special visit of heavenly guests with Abraham we want to first of all look at THE MINISTRY OF ABRAHAM.
When guests come into our home, it behoves us to be concerned about ministering to their needs. Abraham did just that when guests from heaven visited him. It was the heat of the day that time when few people travel and therefore, they needed to get some shade under the tree and rest and also have their hot and dusty feet washed which was a refreshing experience to travelers in those days. Also it was near mealtime. Abraham had obviously already eaten, but his guests would not have eaten, for they had been traveling at that time. Abraham evidenced he was much concerned about all these needs and went about meeting them.
We see not only the ministry of Abraham but also THE MESSAGES FOR ABRAHAM.
After the heavenly guests had partaken of the meal Abraham furnished them, they gave Abraham two messages. The messages spoke about the son in vs. 9 -- 15 and about the Sodomites in vs. 16 -- 22. They spoke about a blessing, the birth of a son and about a curse, the judgment of the sodomites. Again God gives Abraham a message of assuring him that he and Sarah will have a son. Now one could only wonder if Abraham got tired of hearing messages about his son? Hardly! The more messages about a son the better, as far as Abraham was concerned.
The angel said, "Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I have waxed old shell I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" Sarah’s laughing reaction to the message about the son showed her unbelief to the message and this greatly insulted God, the author of the message. It insulted God by limiting His capability. It would take the power of God to give Abraham and Sarah a son. But she did not think God could do that. She laughed at that possibility. She viewed circumstances stronger than God. She did not believe what God said, which is the same thing as saying God is a liar. Unbelief is a terrible thing, for calling God a liar is a terrible thing. But all unbelief does just that.
The second message God gave Abraham was a message about the destruction of Sodom. Gomorrah was also included in the message of judgment, but Sodom was the chief concern for Abraham, for that is where his nephew Lot lived.
The message about the sodomites was given to Abraham as the heavenly guests left Abraham’s residents and headed for Sodom. "And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" Before important information is given by our government to a person, that person often must be cleared in order to receive the information. A check on the persons character, performance, associations and so forth is done. If everything is okay, then the person is cleared to receive the important information. The same is true regarding divine revelation. God does not illuminate everyone. He will not cast His pearls before the swine. Abraham was examined to see if he was qualified to receive divine revelation and he was. He was cleared in both his public life and his private life. His excellent public life made him a good person to pass on this information to future generations to warn them of the curse of the sins of Sodom. The public needs to know the truth about the destruction of Sodom.
It is popular today to say a persons private life is his own business and should not affect our thinking in regards to his public performance. God does not think that way, however, and neither should we. We are in public what we are in private. If we are corrupt in our private lives, we will sooner or later be corrupt in our public lives.
Many think it is a mark of enlightenment and charity to accept homosexuality today. More and more laws are being passed to give the homosexuals not just equality but favoritism oval moral people. But all of this only increases the burden of homosexuality upon society; and sooner or later society will break down under the load and be ruined.
It is not directly said in God’s message to Abraham that Sodom was going to be destroyed because of its evil. But the implication is so obvious that Abraham said in response, "wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?"
We see not only the ministry of Abraham and the messages for Abraham but also THE MEDIATION BY ABRAHAM.
Abraham was very determined that the righteous in Sodom would be spared. His determination was so great that he worked down the number of needed to spare Sodom from fifty to ten. And though Sodom was destroyed, Abraham still got his prayer answered. He made six request in his prayer. He asked God to spare the city for 50 righteous 45, 40, 30, 20 and ten. In each request, God promised to do as Abraham had requested which is certainly the answer to his prayer. For God delivered Lot from the destruction of Sodom.
Though his prayer was answered, Abraham did not know it at the time, for when Abraham got up early in the next morning to the place where he stood before the Lord and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah to check on the situation, all he saw was smoke.
Prayer does accomplish great things. Lot was delivered, though Abraham did not know it at the time. So keep partying, you may be accomplishing much more through prayer then you realize.
Sometimes people criticize Abraham and wonder why he did not continue to go further instead of quitting with ten. But it is not Abraham that we should criticize in this number; it is Lot that needs to be criticized. Abraham can be justified in quitting at ten, for he was simply expecting that Lot would have at least seem to it that his family was righteous. That would number at least ten.
