Unaware

This morning we're continuing on in our series in the life of Abraham.

This morning we come to a really hard part of Abraham's life.

! Not hard because it is tough on Abraham,

! But hard because of the topics that are set before us.

So if you have a Bible or a bulletin, turn with me to Genesis 18.

And we're studying the life of Abraham.

I'm sure as Matthew has told us,

because where does the first place that Paul looks to

when he needs an example?

An example of faithfulness to God?

An example of a well-ordered life?

A striving after holiness?

He looks to Abraham.

So this morning we look to Abraham in Genesis 18.

Starting in verse 16.

I will bless her.

Oh, excuse me.

Started in 18.

There we go.

Or 1816.

Goodness.

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down towards Sodom.

And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.

And the Lord said,

Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?

And seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,

and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

For I've chosen him that he might command his children and his household after him

to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice,

so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

And then the Lord said,

Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great,

and their sin is very grave,

I will go down and see whether they have done altogether,

and according to the outcry that has come to me.

And if not, I will know.

So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom,

but Abraham still stood before the Lord.

Then Abraham drew near and said,

Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city.

Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?

Far be it from you to do such a thing,

to put the righteous to death with the wicked,

so that the righteous fare as the wicked.

Far be that from you.

Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?

And the Lord said,

If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the city,

I will spare the whole place for their sake.

And Abraham answered and said,

Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord.

I who am but dust and ashes,

suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking.

Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?

And he said,

I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.

Again, he spoke to him and said,

Suppose forty are found there.

And he answered,

For the sake of forty,

I will not do it.

And then he said,

Oh, let not the Lord be angry,

and I will speak.

Suppose thirty are found there.

And he answered,

I will not do it if I find thirty there.

And he said,

Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord.

Suppose twenty are found there.

And he answered,

For the sake of twenty,

I will not destroy it.

And then he said,

Oh, let not the Lord be angry,

and I will speak again but this once.

Suppose ten are found there.

And he answered,

For the sake of ten,

I will not destroy it.

And the Lord went his way,

and he had finished speaking to Abraham,

and Abraham returned to his place.

Let's pray.

Lord, we're thankful for your word.

We ask that you might use it in our lives

to show us your glory,

to show us more of yourself

and more of who you are.

We ask that you might use it in this way.

And Father,

that you might use your spirit

to show us our need of Christ.

And we pray this in his name.

Amen.

During college,

I worked odd jobs.

I worked in construction.

I'm not very skilled in construction,

even to this day.

Well, maybe more skilled than most,

but not compared to my college roommate.

In summer,

during the summers of college,

he worked at NASA

on the Hubble telescope.

I work construction,

and he worked at NASA.

And it was during this time period,

he came to visit me

at my home in North Carolina

from Washington, D.C.

And when he did,

he told me this story

about how he went out

with all his new work friends,

scientists,

engineers,

summer interns,

all went out to eat dinner,

or what he thought.

They were going out

to a restaurant to eat dinner.

In fact,

where they ended up

was at a nightclub.

He was shocked.

That's not his scene.

That's not necessarily

what you think of the scene

for NASA employees.

My friend was out of place.

He might be a good dancer.

I'm not going to give him

that credit publicly.

But he's a rural kid

from South Georgia,

living in Washington, D.C.,

working at NASA,

doing these very important

engineering projects,

and here he is

at a nightclub.

He felt really out of place

until a song came on.

And everyone in the nightclub

set up in a frenzy,

in a terror,

and they all started

doing this coordinated dance.

And my roommate

had no idea

what the song was

and still doesn't know

to this day,

but he knew the dance.

And the dance was

the Father Abraham dance.

I'm sure there are many

in here by Chuckles.

You're familiar

with the song,

you know,

the hit song

surrounding our main character

today where kids

are reminded

of the promises of God.

And that song

has an accompanying dance.

So not only

does the title

betray the great

theological truth

of Abraham

that he is the father

of many nations,

but this dance

helped kids remember

and adults

to this day

remember what the dance is.

And so I didn't learn it

as a kid

so I'm not going

to do it for you

because I can't.

Ha, gotcha.

But here is my friend

as a college student

working at the pinnacle

of engineering

with a bunch

of NASA scientists

doing the

Father Abraham dance.

He's dancing

his heart out

to the promises

that God made

to Abraham

in the midst

of a nightclub,

in the midst

of everything

the world

could display.

Success,

fame,

fortune,

scientific achievement,

opulence

of a nightclub

all while doing

the picture

of the Father Abraham dance.

What a picture

of contrast.

God's promises

against the world

and in many respects

at the same time

in this nightclub.

A picture of contrast.

A similar contrast

occurs to us

when we read

this story today.

Immediately our minds

will bypass

this story

and go straight

to what we know

or what we know of

of Sodom

in chapter 19.

We think of judgment.

We think of the sin

of people of Sodom.

And yes,

we're going to get there.

We're going to do it

next week.

But this week,

we know it's bad.

We know it's so bad

that Sodom and Gomorrah,

that term

has even carried through

to our modern day

of their great sin.

But that's not

the only picture

that we have

in Genesis 18.

And if we go

too quickly

by Genesis 18,

we miss this contrast

that we see.

This contrast

of judgment

against sin

and God's mercy

in the process.

It's a picture

of God's judgment,

yes.

It is not less than that,

but it's so much more.

It's God's promises

on display.

Promises of mercy.

So the story

of Sodom this morning

is a story

of judgment

and mercy.

But it's done

in contrast.

And as we look

at that this morning,

we're going to see this

in two kind of chunks.

They're two conversations.

Really,

they're really

just two more rounds

of the same conversation

that we heard

last week.

But they're very

different topics

and they're very

different takeaways.

Instead of being

about Abraham

and Sarah

and this promise

of a child

or disbelief

or unbelief,

this morning,

it's about

those people

over there.

Those people

down the road.

So this morning,

let's turn our attention

to verse 16

and that first conversation

or that first rounds

of conversation.

As we look at that,

let's look at those characters

and then what they

actually talk about

and then how do we feel

walking away

from overhearing

this conversation.

First,

the characters.

The characters

are the same

in many respects

as what we heard

last week.

Again,

it's another round

of this continuing

conversation.

We've just kind of

shifted topics

and as they do so,

we're met again

with a little bit

of clarity

of who these

shadowy,

otherworldly

figures are.

We know that we

have Abraham

talking or listening

and asking questions

later and we know

that we have the Lord

talking but there

is still some mystery

about who they are

and that's intentional.

So those are the

characters that we

see this morning

and then we get

a little interesting

insight into their

conversation.

Look at verses 17

and following with me.

the Lord said,

shall I hide from

Abraham what I'm

about to do

and continuing in 18

seeing that Abraham

shall surely become

a great and mighty

nation and all the

nations of the earth

shall be blessed

in him.

That's kind of the

start of the content

of this conversation.

they look down

towards Sodom

and 16

and there's this

promise that they're

going to set out

from there

and they're going

to go down.

But then

as those figures

kind of separate

we get the content

of this conversation

and the content

starts with this

promise to Abraham.

It's that promise

that you dance

around to

in the song

Father Abraham

that God

has promised

even against

the backdrop

of God's

justice

towards Sodom

to be faithful

to Abraham

and in doing so

he's going to

make him great.

That's where

we're going.

But you say

how do we know

that this conversation

though is about

judgment

because he hasn't

come out and said

it yet

but we can almost

feel this like

weighty cloud

about what's going

on.

It's ominous

just like these

rain clouds

that we see

come across

the mountains.

We know

that it's coming

we can feel it

but the rain

hasn't fallen yet.

We can feel

something

is casting

a shadow

over it

or as the kids

say

there's a vibe

about it.

There's a vibe

that's not

really good

and we know

that from

that early

conversation

there's this

discussion

among these

characters

that they're

counseling

together.

We have

these shadowy

otherworldly

figures

angelic

than the

Lord

and they're

talking

Abraham

doesn't know

yet.

We see that

from 17.

The Lord

says

he's talking

about Abraham

and Abraham

isn't party

to this.

We see

other relationships

like this

right before

God's about

to do something

big in terms

of justice.

Think about

Abraham

or Jeremiah

we have that

same scene

so that's

what sets

up the

vibe

of judgment.

Now this

backdrop

of judgment

isn't

actually

in the

content

of the

conversation

yet

but it

will be

but we

have this

promise

it's a

reiteration

of the

promises

that we

already

have heard

about

in the

life of

Abraham

promises

that God

is going

to lavish

his love

upon him

not because

Abraham's

that great

in fact

he's at

this point

and in

many points

thereafter

he's kind

of a

knucklehead

Abraham

is loved

by God

is given

these promises

not because

he's smart

not because

he's important

not even

because he

does the

right thing

he's given

these promises

because of

God's love

that should

be an

encouragement

to us

against the

backdrop

of this

world

we can

see the

ominous

judgment

that's

coming

for in

this

world

we see

things

that

aren't

right

we know

that they're

wrong

we know

that they're

sin

we might

feel like

we're in

the modern

day

Sodom

but God

has promised

to lavish

love on

us

the promises

of God

are held

forth to

us

not because

of who

we are

not because

we're smart

not because

we're important

and not

even because

we do

the right

thing

but because

of God

just like

Abraham

now if that

idea sounds

quaint

like a

platitude

like kind

of bless

your heart

I'll pray

for you

kind of

attitude

you could

walk away

from that

and think

that

until

you hear

how God

reiterates

these promises

we have

this promise

from Genesis

17

but here

it seems

very similar

but there's

some reordering

of words

to emphasize

the power

God makes

these promises

and doesn't

say

take that

and walk

away

he says

I'm going

to give

you this

and I'm

going to

bring it

about

and he's

going to

do that

mightily

this promise

comes with

power

how do we

see that

it's because

the reorientation

of this

promise

of 17

what does

he promise

back then

descendants

his family

is going

to be

great

and do

this

do

circumcision

all the

families

of the

earth

would be

blessed

but here

unlike

in chapter

12

he says

all the

nations

of this

earth

are going

to be

blessed

through

you

God

is saying

lest you

be confused

I'm

coming

with

power

not

just

bless

your

heart

I'm

going

to

pray

for

you

but

I

am

going

to

bring

this

about

and so

as we

survey

all this

opulence

of all

these

nations

who are

doing

wrong

things

I'm

going

to

come

with

power

and

I'm

going

to

judge

them

now

you

might

be

saying

smarty

pants

families

nations

that's

kind

of

the

same

thing

it

is

and

it

isn't

especially

in

context

of

this

where

earlier

he's

held up

all

these

kings

especially

that of

Sodom

and said

I'm

going

to

use

Abraham

a

nobody

and

I'm

going

to

display

my

power

but

why

now

what

has

happened

why

is

he

doing

this

right

now

why

is

he

reorienting

this

promise

and

smashing

up

this

other

promise

of

Genesis

17

that

you're

going

to

have

all

these

descendants

and

you're

going

to

give

them

my

sign

that

is

circumcision

he

doesn't

say

that

here

in

terms

of

sign

he

says

something

different

he

says

it

in

verse

19

for

I've

chosen

him

that

he

may

command

his

children

and

his

household

after

him

to

keep

the

way

of

the

Lord

by

doing

righteousness

and

justice

so

that

Lord

may

bring

to

Abraham

what

he

has

promised

him

not

do

the

sign

yes

that

is

a

sign

of

obedience

he's

pulling

forth

and

saying

walk

in

holiness

because

in

contrast

to

Sodom

Abraham's

family

as he

instructs

them

and points

them back

to these

promises

of God

are to

be

faithful

and to

strive

after

holiness

and he's

going to

do it

in these

huge

two

huge

big

promises

to

Abraham

one

that

comes

with

power

to

make

him

rule

over

nations

that

his

family

is

going

to

bless

these

other

families

of the

earth

and

rule

over

these

nations

and

to

give

them

his

family

the

sign

of

circumcision

and

to

walk

in

obedience

that's

a

promise

but

it's

not

even

new

to

Abraham

at

this

point

you

might

be

thinking

I

thought

this

was

about

judgment

it

is

about

judgment

we're

getting

there

but

we're

beginning

where

God

begins

!

He

begins

with

the

promise

and

then

goes

to

judgment

it's

a

preface

of

what

will

to

come

if

we're

thinking

about

where's

the

happy

ending

to

the

story

we're

going to

be

left

wanting

because

the

happiness

and

joy

and

comfort

we've

already

gone

over

it's

God's

power

in

walking

in

holiness

and

then

it

just

goes

bad

from

there

read

with

me

in

verses

20

through

22

then

the

Lord

said

because

the

outcry

against

Sodom

and

Gomorrah

is

great

their

sin

is

very

grave

I

will

go

down

to

see

whether

they

have

done

all

together

according

to

the

outcry

that

has

come

to

me

and

if

not

I

will

know

go

to

verse

22

in

a

second

their

sin

is

great

it's

so

great

that

it

must

be

dealt

with

in

that

moment

just

like

when

the

Lord

said

to

Cain

after

he

asked

where

his

brother

was

and

he

had

murdered

him

what

the

rocks

cry

out

the

blood

is

crying

out

to

me

from

the

ground

the

rocks

cry

out

in

Israel

testifying

the

picture

is

here

that

the

Lord

must

do

something

their

wickedness

had

grown

to

a

level

that

he

can't

do

anything

it

was

required

now

the

time

is

now

but

even

in

that

there's

a

certain

degree

of

forbearance

a

certain

degree

of

patience

because

what

is

the

response

in

verses

21

I

will

go

down

and

see

whether

they

have

done

all

together

according

to

the

outcry

he

already

knows

but

he

says

I'm

going

to

go

down

it's

part

of

his

nature

to

be

slow

to

anger

now

does

God

need

to

see

did

he

not

already

know

of

course

he

did

but

it's

part

of

his

nature

and

if

he

didn't

he

would

cease

to

be

God

if

he

didn't

hold

them

accountable

for

his

sin

and

he

also

wasn't

slow

to

anger

as

we

were

reminded

this

in

his

justice

he

shows

patience

there's

a very

famous

theologian

that said

God

likes

to

wait

until

sinners

are

mature

in

their

crime

Sodom

is

mature

in

their

crime

because

we

know

this

isn't

the

first

place

this

has

happened

and

we'll

see

that

in

a

minute

this

is

a

story

though

that

might

sound

familiar

this

theme

of

great

wickedness

God

judging

and

then

holding

forth

promises

it's

a

story

that we

know

from

the

rest

of

scripture

it's

a

story

that

we

can

see

in

the

image

of

something

called

a

Russian

doll

does

anybody

know

what

those

are

those

wooden

dolls

or

stacking

dolls

those

little

guys

or

they're

gals

most

of

the

time

they

fit

inside

each

other

and

they're

kind

of

egg

shaped

or

almost

figure

eight

shaped

and

you

twist

them

apart

and

there's

one

inside

of

that

times

they

can

all

be

uniform

or

they

can

all

be

kind

of

slightly

different

going

all

the

way

down

to

a

little

baby

and

in

those

stacking

dolls

they're

all

in

the

same

form

even

when

they're

painted

a

little

differently

they're

the

same

design

the

same

style

and

as

you

unlock

them

they

look

the

same

in

the

shape

shape

and

form

this

story

has

variations

but

it's

in

the

same

form

it's

in

the

same

design

it's

in

the

same

shape

of

stories

that

we

know

already

think

of

Noah

what's

held

forth

in

the

flood

God

brings

judgment

universal

destruction

almost

except

for

one

guy

who

holds

who

clings

to

God's

promises

a

picture

of

faithfulness

and

as

he

does

that

we

see

God's

judgment

against

sin

but

we

see

the

reminder

of

the

rainbow

of

God's

deliverance

against

judgment

against

sin

it's

the

same

shape

it's

the

same

design

as

what

we

see

in

this

story

God's

judgment

against

sin

one

man

in

his

faithfulness

Abraham

and

one

person

will

see

in

a

second

his

faithfulness

at

the

same

time

God's

judgment

is

on

display

and

is

preserving

his

people

and

holding

forth

the

promises

that

God

has

made

it's

a

different

scale

yes

but

that

promise

of

redemption

!

His

covenant

to his

people

are

still

there

it's

ominous

because

we

know

what

happens

in the

flood

that's

the

value

in

having

the

same

design

now

critical

come

and

say

hey

look

it's

just

the

same

story

some

editor

came

back

and

added

this

in

changed

the

characters

around

and see

it's

just

the

same

story

but

instead

when the

author

does

this

he's

communicating

the meaning

of the

story

he's

saying

you know

the story

of the

flood

and what

will

come

look what's

about to

happen to

Sodom

look at

Abraham

that's what

he's using

and that's

what he's

communicating

now

you might

be

thinking

why

in the

whole

life

of

Abraham

are

we

focusing

so

much

on

what

this

24

hour

period

after

all

one

commentator

wrote

this

there's

no

other

24

hour

period

in

Abraham's

life

that

is

related

more

fully

than

what's

described

in

Genesis

18

got

it

yeah

a

midday

lunch

with

angels

transitions

into

the

destruction

of a

full

city

the

next

morning

that's

pretty

action

packed

zeroing

in

because

it

mirrors

what

happens

in

Noah

to

communicate

God's

judgment

against

sin

and

his

faithfulness

to

his

promises

even

in

one

man

even

in

one

family

so

what

are

we

to

make

of

this

story

we

can't

bypass

the

signal

back

to

Noah

the

serious

nature

of

sin

that

when

we

sin

it

pervades

all

of

life

whether

it's

all

of

humanity

and

God

destroys

humanity

through

the flood

except for

one

family

or

God

destroys

all

one

city

all

one

town

because

their

sin

is

great

in

that

we

see

that

God

desires

and

demands

holiness

you

might

be

thinking

phew

I

know

that

Sodom

still

exists