FBT Daily Devotional: Genesis 18

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Transcript

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We're going to look at Genesis chapter 18. This chapter is titled. Sorry about that. A Son is Promised to Sarah. So starting off, this one, this is a very loaded chapter. There are a lot of different things going on here. So starting with verse one. The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Momdre. So one fun part about this chap these section of the Bible, this section of Genesis, is just how often God is pulling up on Abraham. He's making his presence known. He's speaking with him. He's asking him questions. He's really in true fellowship with the Lord. And he's, you know, there are things that he's sacrificing. There are things that he's asking the Lord for. And he's just building that relationship. Now he's building that relationship in a more physical sense. But when I read through this section of the Bible just personally, it always makes me just emotional. And I think that the general emotion that I'm feeling is just gratitude to be able to have a God like this, to be able to have a God that cares about these subtle details. So, anyway, starting over again, um, the Lord appeared to Abraham near Oak Grove, near the Oak Grove belonged to Mom Dre. One day, Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing by. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. My Lord, he said. I think that part is just really cool because you know you see three separate people, but he understands God as an entity, God as how God is presenting. And, you know, obviously we are, you know, he's part of that, you know, that tripart situation. So Abraham understands that just initially, we don't really have much of an explanation before that, but he under he understands that initially going in. So um now that once again, the chat, the title of this chapter is um a son is promised to Sarah. So I'm gonna jump down and just kind of talk about Sarah. So when we start off towards the end of verse 10, um basically, you know, God is conversing, you know, back and forth with Abraham, and um he is um, you know, he's promised a son to Sarah. Now at this point, Ishmael, um the son of Hagar, has is already around. I guess he's about he's a preteen at this point. So Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself. How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master, my husband, is so old? Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, Can an old woman like me have a baby? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, I did not laugh. But the Lord said, No, you did laugh. So two things I want to mention here. One thing is um the actual meaning of the name Isaac is he laughs or he rejoiced, he who rejoices. So I know we always, it's not maybe not necessarily, well, not maybe it's not necessarily scriptural where we say God has a sense of humor, but this is the first example of something of that sort where um in the chapter beforehand, Abraham laughed. And that's where God would inform him, hey, you're gonna name your son Isaac. And then when he asks him here, uh, well, why did Sarah laugh? I think that's just a kind of a continuation of that. Because we we see a lot of different instances in the Bible of people doubting and their consequences for the fact that they've doubted, whether they be harsher circumstances or whether they just be reprimands. Um, but Abraham laughed the chapter before, and whatever they had he had going on between him and Sarah, she laughed after that as well. So it's it's kind of interesting, you know, just God asking him these questions that he already knows the answer to. He's, you know, he's you know, God at this point is is walking around with him. He's asking where his wife is, like he doesn't know. But that kind of talks about just that intimacy, and just like, you know, as some of us are parents, you know, you'll ask your child a question that you genuinely know the answer to, just to kind of spark that conversation, just to see where their head is at, and just to get to know them a little bit better, or get to know the version of them that they're ready to share with you a little bit better. So, so one, the first thing I mentioned was that um, you know, that Isaac's name means, you know, he laughs, he rejoices. Um, and then one other thing that I wanted to mention, um, you know, when we talk about the fatted calf often, you know, that's a scriptural reference often. I believe this is the first time that that is actually um mentioned. Or while, you know, when you talk about, I think it's Hebrews 13, 2, where, you know, the writer Hebrews is saying, hey, like, you know, some people have entertained angels and they didn't, they didn't know it. Now Abraham knew what what was going on at this point, but that's a great reference back to that, where you know, you just you should be ready, maybe not necessarily physically, but you know, it could it could be a premise, but then within your heart, you should be ready to give. We don't know who that we we could interact with on a regular basis. And then another part of um chapter 18, um, and this is going down to verse 16, Abraham intercedes for Sodom, and this is probably also the first instance of intercession. Um, and the interesting part with this is starting off, um, you know, the Lord is talking to himself. He he's asking, Should I hide my print my plan from Abraham? The Lord asks. For Abraham will certainly become a great nation, a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I've singled him out, so 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. So the at this point, the Lord is having a conversation about Abraham, and we use that phrase often. I hear it in gospel songs a lot about, you know, there being heavenly conversations about us because we're so loved. So at this point, the Lord is kind of wondering, not you know, he loves Abraham at this point, but he's wondering, does he trust Abraham enough at this point to share his plans? Now, obviously, the answer is yes. And the Lord comes and he says, Um, so the Lord told Abraham, I've heard a great outcry from Soder and Gomorrah because their sin is so flagrant. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going down there to see if their actions are as wicked as they've heard. If not, I want to know. So at that point, the two other beings they head towards that direction, but but the Lord stays with Abraham. And they begin, and now obviously Abraham knows that Lot is out that way. So immediately he goes into intercession, trying to negotiate with the Lord about, okay, well, if there's 50 people there that are, you know, are righteous, will you destroy it? And the Lord said, No, you know, okay, I'll, you know, no, if there's 50, okay, well, if there's 45, will you still do it because there's four or five people less? And so on and so on and so on. So this is just a great example of the relationship that is possible for us to have with the Lord, the relationship that He desires to have with us. And then also where revelation, true revelation comes from. Now, obviously, this is like uh I mentioned earlier, this is a very physical sense. They are in the same vicinity. Our situation may be more spiritual, where we're you know, it's it's it's all between us and our in our secret place and uh with with the Lord, but he Abraham has kind of gotten to that point at this at this point with the Lord where he's able to converse with him, he's able to understand the Lord's character and not necessarily challenge, but just inquire, inquire very heavily about, hey, well, you know, you're you're a righteous God, you're not gonna, you're not gonna do this, right? And but when we start off, and Abraham, hey, he might have thought this was his idea, but as we jump back to uh, you know, starting with verse 17, the Lord was thinking on whether or not he should involve Abraham in this process. But I think once again, you know, because one thing we will say is Abraham was was tested. He was he was tested, and this was another test that Abraham passed, and with that we can go to breakout.