God’s Response to Unabated Sin and Provision to His Covenant Partners

Bible Passage: Genesis 18:16-33

I. God envisioned a great future for Abraham as a result of His election of him (verse 18)

1. Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation
2. All the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name
God had an expectation for Abraham as a covenant partner (verse 19)
3. He was going to direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD
4. He was going to teach them “right” and “just”
5. Abraham’s teaching the way of the LORD to his children would pave way for God’s blessings on them

II. Verse 16b: “they looked down toward Sodom”

1. Geographically “the trees of Mamre” was on a higher elevation compared to Sodom and Gomorrah
2. It looks like the narrator embeds a theological connotation to the verse “looked down”—it means the LORD was going to “to intervene” in the sin infested region
3. Though Sodom and Gomorrah were looking beautiful from far, God was going to destroy it because of their ugly sinful culture and lifestyle

III. Verse 17: Then the Lord said to Himself, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” but He decided to reveal to Abraham because of his status as a covenant partner—it’s a teaching moment for the covenant partner

1. What was the LORD going to do in Sodom and Gomorrah?

a. Gen 19:24 Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord
b. Gen 19:25 He [the LORD] overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground

2. The LORD was going to destroy the cities as divine judgment due to their sin

IV. The LORD describes to Abraham the status of Sodom where his nephew was living with his family (verse 20)

1. Gen 18:20 “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant
2. What was the sin the LORD was referring to here?—homosexuality (it defies godly order)
3. Gen 19:4 both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom—surrounded the house
4. Gen 19:5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them
5. Gen 19:13 The outcry against this place is so great before the Lord that he has sent us to destroy it”
6. Sexual perversion, depravity, and signs of Godlessness

V. The LORD says to Abraham “I must go down” (Gen 18:21)

1. The language is like Gen 11:1-9 where people turned against God and His plan
2. This is a language of judgment against sin
3. Abraham understood the LORD’s determination to bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah

VI. Abraham began to intercede for Lot and his family

1. Lot and his family were participants in the covenant God made with Abraham
2. By way of God making a covenant with Abraham, Lot became a co-beneficiary and thereby Lot received a status—“righteous”.

a. Gen 15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness
b. The LORD rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (2 Peter 2:7)
c. Gen 18:23 Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
d. Abraham’s intercession before God comes down from 50 to 45, 40, 30, and 10
e. God promises that the righteous would not go through His judgement

i. 18:26 If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake”
ii. 18:28 I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

3. By “righteous” we mean a person’s right standing before God by virtue of the gift (not inherently righteous)
4. Lot was a righteous man by virtue of God’s covenant with Abraham, but he was not living in consistent with his covenant relationship with God (righteous one in the company of unrighteous people)

a. He chose to be in a place where there was no godly influence in his life
b. He chose prosperity over spirituality
c. He tolerated the life in Sodom and Gomorrah (Zoar)
d. As a result, he unintentionally exposed his family to the sinfulness of the city (Gen 19:33-38)

5. Lot, the righteous man, and his family escaped God’s judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire—God honored Abraham’s request
6. The LORD saved Lot from the judgment (Gen 19:29)—this is called “salvation”

VII. Lessons

1. God does not condone (overlook) human sin
2. When sin is unabated God intervenes with appropriate judgment
3. God is faithful to His covenant with His covenant partner(s)
4. Those who are in covenant relationship with God are deemed “righteous” and they need to live a life appropriate to their covenant relationship
5. Continuous exposure to sin has its influence on righteous people (lifestyles, language, etc.)
6. Though Lot left Abraham for material prosperity, Abraham continued to have his love for his family
7. Abraham’s intercession for his nephew foreshadows Jesus’ intercessory ministry

VIII. God has blessed us with Jesus who is our intercessor before the Father

1. Hebrew 7:25 Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them
2. Romans 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us
3. 1 John 2:1-2 if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, 2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world
4. John 17:9 I am praying on behalf of them. I am not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you
5. Rev 5:6 I saw standing in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed

Takeaways:

1. Develop a missional concern for your family and neighbors
2. Avoid exposure to sinful culture and lifestyles