Genesis 18 Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?

Genesis 18

What will God do with wicked people? What will God do with the righteous – those who follow him? What is our destiny?
And why? Why are the wicked judged? Why are the righteous saved? Why does Abraham know the Lord? Why is Sarah part of God’s plan to bless the world? Why are they the righteous and are blessed?

That’s what these chapters are about. This chapter (18) finishes off 17 and introduces the events of 19. Chapter 17, 18 and 19 are very closely linked: they’re all to do with the righteous and the wicked and the destinies of each (that is: what happens to the righteous, what happens to the wicked).

Sarah’s story in vv1-15 re-emphasises God’s promises that he made in chapter 17, promising to be with Abraham and his descendants. Abraham will be the father of a multitude, and they will be God’s people and he will be their God. They will be part of the covenant, protected by God, blessed by God. The alternative is to be outside of the covenant, cut off from God – and as we see in chapter 19, to be out of the covenant protection is to face God’s wrath against sin totally without protection. Sodom and Gomorrah were two terrible cities who faced the right anger of God, and they were defenceless before him, without excuse. You’re either protected by the covenant, or exposed and naked and defenceless.

So we’ll start with Sarah’s story:
1. Is anything too hard for the Lord;
then move on to look at the covenant of grace:
2. Covered by the covenant
and finish by seeing
3. Christ our intercessor

1. Is anything too hard for the LORD? (Sarah’s story)

13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Poor old Sarah. All her life she had been barren. All her life she would have heard women whispering, talking about her behind her back, looking down on her. All her life she would have felt an unworthy wife to Abraham because she couldn’t provide him with a child. You can imagine how she felt. How the women around her would have subtly or not so subtly made her feel like second class, unworthy, an embarrassment to her husband. The sidelong glances, the little verbal digs “my first child – oh sorry Sarah, I hope you don’t mind us mentioning children”, the whispers and sneers – the way women can crush the spirit of another woman.
Sarah was crushed by her burden of feeling useless, not a woman, because she could not bear children, could not be a mother.
And God’s promise to Abraham only added to the pressure! No wonder she started to be bitter! 16:2 “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her”.

We can understand her pain and bitterness, her desperate attempt to get rid of her shame through Hagar. Perhaps Hagar could remove her shame. But that only made things worse!

It’s like Lady Macbeth trying to wash the blood from her hands, blood from the murder of the king, “Out, out damned spot” she cried! Her guilt had stained her hands, and she was trying to wash them clean.
Or Pilate trying to wash his guilt away at condemning Jesus, a man he knew was innocent, to a guilty mans death.

Trying to deal with our guilt, our pain, our sin, our own way will only make things worse. Lady Macbeth commits suicide. Pilate never repented, lost control of Judea, and was recalled to Rome to be punished by the Emperor. Sarah ends up abusing her servant, so harshly that she runs away into the desert to die.

Trying to be our own saviour does not work. “Follow your heart” is foolish and destructive advice. We need a Saviour. We need Christ. Only he can remove the shame that we bear. Only he can lift the burdens we carry from the past, only he can lift them, wash us clean, declare us new, righteous, and set us on the path to life and freedom. Only Christ. Is anything too hard for the Lord.

God visits Abraham for Sarah’s sake. V9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked. “She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied. 10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent.

She, too, is part of this covenant with God. She is covered by his grace. So he meets her where she’s at. “Where is Sarah, your wife”. “Adam and Eve, where are you”. Do you want to be found. He is the God who seeks out those whom he loves.
Sarah, YOU are part of the covenant. Your guilt and shame is covered. You, Sarah, will have a son!

Amazing! Incredible! So incredible Sarah cannot believe it. 12 She laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”

Abraham laughed in disbelief in 17:17.
Sarah laughs in disbelief in v12.
But their laughter of disbelief will be turned to laughter of joy when Isaac arrives. And if we could read the original Hebrew this was written in, we would know that the name “Isaac” means “he laughs”. And that when Sarah says “I did not laugh” in v15 it is an anagram of her son’s name, Isaac. (Anagram is when you rearrange the letters of a word to make a new word). God is rearranging their laughter, from disbelief to joy.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

As we’ve gone through these chapters, we’ve seen God’s covenant (promise) to Abraham come under threat many times. Abraham nearly gave away the land. Abraham disobeys. Abraham doubts. Abraham and Sarah try to help God out by using Hagar. And big problem, Sarah can’t have children, and now is too old anyway. At each stage we think “well, that’s it for the covenant”. But “is anything too hard for the Lord”. Lot turns aside and leaves the land for Abraham. Abraham is not killed for lying to Pharaoh but protected by God. He is victorious in battle. God meets him in his doubts and confirms his promise. And Sarah has baby Isaac in chapter 21, a year after the events in this chapter, just as the Lord had said.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord! Is anything too hard for the Lord? No!

But that does raise the question: how? How does God keep doing this? How can God keep his promise when Abraham so often fails to keep his part of the covenant: to obey God and be blameless?

Well, that leads on to my second point:

2. Covered by the covenant

Because when you think about this story, it’s a little odd. Why did God come and visit Abraham again. Why didn’t he just speak to Sarah back in chapter 17? What’s with the second visit, clearly very soon after the first?

The first hint is found in v1. The LORD appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre.
The oaks of Mamre we’ve seen twice before. In chapter 13, when Lot chooses to abandon Abraham, separating himself from the covenant blessings, and move to Sodom, a wicked city. Not surprisingly, soon afterward Lot needs rescuing as he’s caught up in a war and carried off as a hostage (prisoner). Abraham is living at the oaks of Mamre and off he goes, together with Mamre and his allies to rescue Lot. And now the author says again “the oaks of Mamre” and we think “oh boy, Lot’s in trouble again!”.

And we’re right. V16 Then the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom.

Sodom is their destination. That is where the Lord and his angels were going. So why stop and have big meal with Abraham?

17 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the LORD asked.
The Lord came in order to show Abraham his plan. This was the reason for his visit.
Why? 18 “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. That’s the words of the covenant in 12:2-3 isn’t it. God will show Abraham his plans, reveal who he is, what kind of God he is, because Abraham is part of the covenant.

19 I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.”

Abraham has been singled out in order to do what is right and just. In order to be the Blameless One, the keeper of the covenant. And so the Lord turns to Abraham, the Blameless, and says 20 So the LORD told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.

Whoa! Wait a minute. Abraham isn’t blameless, is he? Well, what did we learn last week from chapter 17? We learned that only the blameless, only the perfect can be in relationship with God.
We were reminded that Abraham was not blameless (he even laughs in disbelief at God’s words – not exactly the reaction of someone blameless – you can’t imagine Jesus ever laughing in disbelief at his Father’s words!).
Abraham was not blameless, but God declared him blameless, righteous. Not because of what Abraham has done, but because of what Jesus Christ will do on the cross. Abraham marked his body with the sign of outward circumcision, pointing towards Jesus whose body is marked eternally for the circumcision of our hearts. Jesus’ body bears the mark of God’s everlasting covenant to rescue people from all nations, that all nations will be blessed through the son of Abraham, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.

Verse 19 “I have singled him out” is actually a bit of a misleading translation. It literally says “I know him”. God called to Abram of the Chaldeans and revealed himself to him. There is an intimacy - a relationship - there. God knew Abraham. Not because of Abraham’s inherent goodness, but despite his evil and sinful heart. God chose him to display his mercy through him.

Abraham is covered by the covenant of grace, his sins are paid for by Christ on the cross – and he is called to respond in belief. Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous.
Trust and obey. That is our portion. Live as if God is God, as if his words are true and life-giving, and rejoice!

Abraham is covered by the covenant. Because of Christ Abraham can be declared righteous, and so in the rest of this chapter play the role of the Christ, the true Blameless One. God now asks Abraham to intercede (mediate, to reconcile) for Sodom.

3. Christ our intercessor

20 So the LORD told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. 21 I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.” 22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? 24 Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?

How will we understand what Jesus is doing for us? Because we’ve seen it before with God’s men standing before God, pleading for sinners to be shown mercy. That’s what’s happening here.

“Abraham, come here. I am going down to see Sodom.”
God “going down to see” (v21) is a frightening thing. We’ve seen it with Noah, we saw it with the tower of Babel. It’s basically that God is no longer overlooking our sin, but is now looking at it, and will therefore judge accordingly. But there’s one last hope for those in Sodom: Abraham.
“What about the righteous?” Abraham asks. “Will you destroy them too? Spare the city for the sake of the righteous.”

Isn’t that what we beg God for when we pray for our town? Spare Notodden O Lord, for the sake of those who have yet to hear your message and turn to you. Spare us Father, have mercy on us.

Abraham prays, intercedes for the wicked city of Sodom. It’s a direct fulfilment of the promise that “in him all the nations will be blessed” Despite the fact that the king of Sodom treated Abraham with ingratitude after Abraham had rescued them (in ch.14) - yet Abraham still prays for them and is assured that if there are just fifty, forty, thirty, twenty… even just TEN righteous in Sodom, the whole city will be spared: God’s mercy on the few will outweigh his anger with the many.

Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?

Can God save the righteous in the midst of judging the wicked?
“Can God save his people?” is really the question Abraham is asking. Is it worth it? Can we trust God? Will we be saved at the final judgement or will we be swept aside by the wrath of God along with everyone else? It’s a question Abraham was asking. It’s a question the Israelites were asking. It’s a question we are asking. Is it worth it? Can God really save us?

And poor old Abraham doesn’t get an answer at the end of this conversation. 32 the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” 33 When the LORD had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way. Conversation’s over, Abraham! And the scene, and chapter, ends with Abraham return[ing] to his tent. Probably chewing his nails, worried about Lot. Will God save him? The next day we read that he rushes out to the hillside overlooking Sodom to see what happens. Can God rescue his people?

The answer is yes. Yes, God can rescue his people. As Lot is delaying leaving Sodom the angels grab his hands and drag him out of the city, for the Lord is merciful (it says in 19:16). And 19:29 ties Lot’s rescue back to this chapter: it was not because of anything Lot did, but because But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe. Lot is saved because God heard Abraham’s prayer for him.

And as we read this chapter, you and I see and understand that we are saved, and will be saved, not because of what we have or haven’t done, but because God the Father hears Jesus’ prayer for us, and has mercy on us.

Is anything too hard for the Lord? No, even sinners can be saved.

Why? Because we are covered by the covenant of grace.

Why? Because Christ is interceding for us.

Let’s celebrate that now as we take communion. We are sinners, saved by his grace. He is right now in the throne room of heaven interceding for us. “My blood covers their sins. My body was broken to bring them life.” Hallelujah!