Year 1, Day 17: Genesis 18

Genesis 18.  These are two of my favorite Old Testament stories because they are so iconic. Her we have the story where Sarah laughs and the story where God argues with Abraham about whether or not to save Sodom.  So, let’s look at Sarah first.

Sarah Laughs

God promises that Sarah will be pregnant with a child in a year’s time, and Sarah laughs.  Before we jump all over Sarah, let’s face the facts.  If someone came to me today and told me that a woman who was well past her time to produce a child was pregnant, I’d laugh, too.  I’d think that the diagnosis was wrong, the doctors were loony, or that something in the news reporting had gotten horribly screwed up.  So I cannot fault Sarah.  I am sure I would laugh, too.

Yet, God certainly can fault Sarah.  This is now twice that Sarah has not trusted in God’s promises.  First Sarah hatches a scheme in which she tries to bring an offspring to Abraham through Hagar.  That didn’t work out so well.  Now she laughs at God’s promise to produce an heir legitimately through her.  Sarah is not proving herself as a person who is capable of long-term trust and faithfulness.  However, on the grace side of the issue, God does still honor his promise to Abraham.  Not only does He continue to use Sarah but He also teaches her a lesson along the way.

I really enjoy God’s response.  Is anything too hard for the Lord? God reminds us of remnants all throughout the Bible.  Just to name a few, remember Elijah in the cave, the Hebrews in the Babylonian captivity, and Joshua and Caleb out in the exodus.  God can work through many small things.  Is anything too small?  As I said yesterday, if God can work through a barren woman and through an old man, what can’t God do?

God, Abraham, and Sodom

Let’s turn to the conversation about Sodom between God and Abraham.  Here we find the first Biblical example in contrast to Noah’s experience in the flood.  God comes to Abraham and says, “Sodom is an evil place, I need to destroy it.”  Abraham is not even a part of Sodom and he argues with God asking for God to relent!  Here is the heart of a saint for sure! 

Abraham is ultimately arguing for Lot’s sake, but he does argue for the whole town.  Abraham knows that if they are destroyed then their time to repent of their ways and come back to God is over.  Abraham argues God down to saying that if there is only 10 righteous people then God will not destroy the city.

I find much to respect about Abraham in this story.  He could have easily said, “Absolutely, God.  These people are evil indeed.  Smite them and be righteous in doing so.”  He could have taken the position of Noah and not argued with God and just gone about God’s business.  But he doesn’t.  Abraham finds a way to not question God’s righteousness while staying engaged in discussion with God about his wrath. 

A few weeks ago I was in discussion with a pair of friends about people who say “Lord, I’m ready for Jesus to come again and judge the earth.”  My friend made a comment that I wholly endorse.  I can’t quote it exactly, but the friend said that they don’t buy into that manner of thinking.  That way of thinking doesn’t sound like a person whose heart is faithful to God’s calling for the Gospel to go out to sinners.  My friend argued that people who call for Christ’s immediate return are ultimately putting the ease of their struggle above the need for lost sinners to repent.

Of course, that got me thinking.  How low must a Christian have to sink in order to put their own ease ahead of a sinner’s permanent judgment!  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve been there.  I’ve made that comment and had that thought.  But I’ve also grown to see that thought as selfishness.  It is ugly self-centeredness at its worst.

Thoughts against which my friend was arguing certainly aren’t thoughts like this one we get from Abraham in favor of God’s relent from Sodom!  I can understand being worn down by the world and longing to be with Christ.  After all, does not Paul tell us that we would rather be “away from the body and at home in the Lord?”  But at the same time, we should not let our desire to be with the Lord overcome our desire for a fallen world to likewise be saved.  We are first and foremost called by God to go into this world and wrestle with it, argue with and on behalf of it, and always strive to help bring it into relationship with God.  That is precisely what I see Abraham doing in this passage.  He is not prepared to abandon the world to God’s righteous judgment without putting up a case for it!

I find the position of Noah – “Yes, Lord, judge the world and start over with me” – too easy to fall into.  For that matter, is it not also the position of Jonah?  Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh because he doesn’t think they deserve to hear God’s Word proclaimed to them.  No, we are to be like Abraham: accepting of God’s righteous judgment but always on the lookout for a time to argue for the sake of our fallen brothers and sisters of humanity.  That is a very hard line to follow.

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