Gênesis 18

Gênesis 18

Morgan - Gen. 18.32. This is one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible in its revelation of the possibilities open to the man of faith in communion with God. Abraham is seen as concerned for the honour of his God. To him it seemed that if in the judgment of the wicked, the righteous should be involved, justice would be violated; and in that view he was right. His conviction was the direct result of his knowledge of God. Under stress of this concern he talked to his God, and was answered. Accepting his suggestion as to a number, God declared that if fifty were found in Sodom He would spare the city. Encouraged by this assurance, Abraham applied his principle to forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and in every case the Divine response ratified his conviction. Then once more he ventured, suggested ten, and being again answered, stopped there. The statement is illuminated by the sequel. Abraham stopped at ten, but God carried out the principle in that He delivered the one, as He compelled Lot to leave before the judgment fell upon the city. The lesson for us is patent. God is not only, as we sometimes say, better than our fears; He is better than our hopes. If we are concerned for His honour, He is ever willing to commune with us, and to lead us as far as our faith will travel, ever giving us assurance of His faithfulness to the highest things we think of Him. Then we may know, that when we dare go no further in suggestion, He will go beyond our daring. Genesis 18:33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place. And the: Ge 18:16,22 32:26 and Abraham: Ge 31:55 Genesis 18 Resources - Multiple sermons and commentaries JEHOVAH ENDS THE "NEGOTIATION" As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD (Jehovah = Yahweh; Lxx = kurios) departed, and Abraham returned to his place - While the LORD did not tell Abraham that He would spare the cities, He did answer Abraham's prayer by rescuing Lot and his daughters. So while his intercession did not result in the sparing of the cities, it did bring about the rescue of his nephew and two nieces. In Ge 19:29 we read "that God remembered Abraham [WHAT DID HE REMEMBER? SURELY HIS INTERCESSION!] and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow." In a similar way, we may or may not see the answers to our prayers today, but we can be sure God will answer them according to His will. For that reason alone we should pray without ceasing! Life Application Study Bible note (borrow) - Did Abraham change God’s mind? Of course not. The more likely answer is that God changed Abraham’s mind. Abraham knew that God is just and that he punishes sin, but he may have wondered about God’s mercy. Abraham seemed to be probing God’s mind to see how merciful he really was. He left his conversation with God convinced that God was both kind and fair. Our prayers won’t change God’s mind, but they may change ours just as Abraham’s prayer changed his. Prayer helps us better understand the mind of God. Skip Heitzig - It sounds like they're arguing; it sounds like Abraham is backing God into a corner. Until you get to verse thirty-three. And in verse thirty-three, it doesn't say, 'And when Abraham was finished and had done what he wanted.' It says, 'When God was finished,' when the Lord had finished. So what we understand here is that God all the while had in His perfect will to be merciful by separating the righteous, that would be Lot and family, away from them and then destroying the wicked. It was God's plan all along. But God wanted Abraham to be a part of the process. So God initiates the conversation, leads him through it, and when God is done with Abraham asking what God wanted him to ask, it was done. It was finished. The Lord is the one leading it; the Lord is the one who wanted to show mercy all along but wanted Abraham to be involved in prayer as part of the process. Therein lies the beauty of prayer. Prayer isn't getting my will done in heaven but God's will done on earth. And God has His perfect plan. And so in prayer God invites me to tap into His program, to become at one with Him. And to pray for things and then, when you see things happen according to the will of God, many of which have been included in your prayers and in my prayers, there's a great satisfaction of laboring together with the Lord. THOUGHT - I believe all Christians are called at some point to intercede for others. In fact, one of the things that I have loved for years, and I just got my copy again this year, a beautiful prayer journal. And one of the reasons I've always loved [inaudible] prayer journal, is it gives me people groups every day of the year to pray for. And there's a write-up of their needs. Like the slave trade is sort of the focus this month in different parts of the world and praying for specific governments. Then the days of the week are broken up to pray for family and for media and for government and for business, etcetera. And I love having that little time in the morning; it's a regiment time, where I can intercede for other people and be a part of God's great plan. I encourage you to get some kind of plan of persevering for others in prayer. ED COMMENT - To encourage you to pray for people you do not know and will never see down here take a few moments and read Praying for People from Every Tribe, Tongue, People and Nation. You will see many of them in heaven forever and to think you had a small but real part in it!