Genesis: Lesson 6
Overview
Genesis 17–19: Grace Repeated, Grace Spurned
Genesis 17–19 once again displays the dominant Genesis pattern of judgment and grace. In Genesis 17, God appears to a ninety-nine-year-old Abram, identifies Himself as God Almighty, and renews His covenant. The renaming of Abram ("exalted father") to Abraham ("father of many") and Sarai to Sarah ("princess") underscores a promise that, by every human calculation, looks impossible: an aged, childless couple becoming the source of nations. Abraham's response is striking—he falls on his face and laughs, then proposes that Ishmael, the son already produced through his and Sarah's own scheme, fulfill the plan. God refuses the substitute. The promised son will come through Sarah, and his name, Isaac, means "he laughs"—a quiet rebuke and a tender mercy embedded in the very name of the child. Abraham's faith, despite his doubts, is then proved by his obedience in circumcision, the physical sign of the covenant. God still uses physical means—water, bread, wine—to convey His covenant promises today.
When we have our plans neatly arranged, we often grip them tightly and try to convince God of their worthiness. But God's will wins, and that is good news. Peace does not come from insisting on our plan but from praying as our Lord prayed in the garden: "If it be your will." Submitting to the One who is wiser, stronger, and more gracious than we are is where rest is found, knowing that "all things work together for those who love the Lord" Romans 8:28.
In Genesis 18, the Lord and two angels visit Abraham, who responds with hospitality. The promise is repeated, Sarah laughs in disbelief inside the tent, and the Lord asks the question that towers over the whole passage: "Is anything too wonderful for the LORD?" Jeremiah echoes this in his prayer: "Nothing is too hard for you" Jeremiah 32:17. When our calculations land on "impossible" or "this will never change," God presses the same question upon us. Our doubt cannot derail His promises. This is also the foundation for prayer. Abraham's intercession for Sodom Genesis 18:22–33 does not change God's mind or wear Him down; rather, God often waits to act in accordance with His will until His people pray. As one writer put it, we too often pray as if we must overcome God's reluctance rather than lay hold of His willingness.
Genesis 19 turns from grace extended to grace spurned. Sodom's wickedness is exposed when the men of the city seek to assault the visiting angels, and the Lord rains judgment on the cities of the plain—yet remembers Abraham and delivers Lot. Scripture from Old Testament to New is consistent that homosexual behavior is contrary to God's design, and the church must not call sin what God has not called sin, nor remove from sin what God calls sinful. To do so is to preach a different gospel. At the same time, the church must proclaim with equal clarity the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ for all who repent. The deepest issue at Sodom, as with every sin, was unrepentance. We come to a holy God not cloaked in our own righteousness but clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That is the consistent message of Genesis: God's grace is greater than our doubt, His promises stand against every contrary appearance, and His judgment falls only where His grace has been finally refused.
Transcript
Good morning. 3s
Thank the Lord for rain today, huh? 4s
Wasn't that a wonderful sound? 6s
I had read about rain in a book, you know, and to actually see it was really something 8s
else. 15s
And it wasn't on the picnic Sunday. 18s
That's right. 20s
Blessing is a bound. 21s
So let's pray, please. 22s
Grace is Heavenly Father, we do indeed. 24s
Thank you for the gift of rain. 26s
Pray, O Lord, that it will nourish your earth. 29s
We ask Father that you will nourish us now through your Word as we open up its pages 32s
because the voice that we hear is your voice. 38s
So blessed we pray this time of study to your glory in Jesus' name. 41s
Amen. 46s
Well, we studied last week, chapters 13 to 16, and there were three words that started 47s
with A that we just used to kind of help focus. 54s
One was actions of armies clashing. 58s
We saw it was God who fought for Abram and one. 62s
We studied about the arrival of a strange priest, Melchizedek, who foreshadowed the priesthood 66s
of the Lord Jesus. 73s
And we talked about the attitude of Abraham and Sarah, not always a picture of dependency 75s
on God. 81s
Was it? 83s
Well, today I'd like to talk with you about chapters 17 to 19, and we're going to see as 84s
we study through this section, that theme that's quite dominant in Genesis of judgment and 91s
So let's start in chapter 17, verse 1, please, of the book of Genesis 17, and we'll start 103s
with verse 1. 111s
And verse 17 opens with a reference to Abram's age. 113s
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty, 119s
walk before me and be blameless. 128s
This reference to age sets the stage for yet another divine appearance where God is going 132s
to repeat His divine promise to Abram. 140s
So going on into verse 2, God says, and I will make my covenant between me and you, and 146s
we'll make you exceedingly numerous. 154s
Then Abram fell on his face and God said to him, as for me, this is my covenant with you. 157s
You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 164s
No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made 168s
you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 175s
God here changes the name of Abram, which means exalted Father, He changes it to Abraham, 182s
which is the Father of many. 191s
He's underscoring, once again, isn't He? 193s
This promise that has been made. 195s
So this isn't new news here. 198s
God is coming back repeating this promise of what He is going to do. 202s
God also changes the name of Sarah. 210s
Verse 15, God said to Abram, as for Sarah, your wife, you shall not call her Sarah, but 213s
Sarah shall be her name. 220s
I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. 223s
I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations. 229s
Kings of peoples shall come from her. 232s
Sarah means princess, and Sarah means princess and mother. 237s
And so the names here are changed to underscore the promises of God. 242s
There's an increasing contradiction, however, between God's claims and Abraham's current condition, 250s
because Abraham and Sarah are still without a child here. 260s
So here you have the claims of God and that contradicts with the condition. 265s
So in verse 17, we see Abraham's reaction. 273s
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, 277s
can a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old? 285s
Can Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child? 289s
Abraham thought this was a hoot, right? 295s
He just laughed here at the promise once again echoed by God to him. 299s
But notice, go over into chapter 21, we're just going to peek ahead for a little bit. 309s
When Abraham and Sarah have the son, 315s
verse 3 of chapter 21 says, 322s
Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son, whom Sarah bore him. 326s
And the name of Isaac means he laughs. 334s
He laughs. Interesting, isn't it? 339s
Here Abraham laughs at the promise of God, 342s
but yet when the promise of God comes true, what is the name that is given? 347s
And that is the name of Isaac. 354s
Okay, back into 17, we'll pick up in verse 17. 358s
The Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, 365s
can a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old? 368s
Can Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child? 372s
And Abraham said to God, oh, that Ishmael might live in your sight. 376s
Now you remember Ishmael? 384s
Remember Abraham and Sarah concocted the plan that there would then be a child 386s
through the servant of Heghar? 390s
So Ishmael is the result of the union between Abraham and Heghar. 393s
So Abraham's got it all worked out in his mind. 399s
So this is how it's going to work out. Ishmael is the one here that is going to be the fulfilling of the promise. 403s
Have you ever noticed in your life that when we have all of our plans all laid out, 412s
you know, all the little ducks are all in a row, that sometimes that just doesn't match up with God's plan 417s
with us and that God's plan wins, right? Because God's God and that God oftentimes can change all of our 424s
best laid plans. And what can be our temptation and our sinfulness, but our temptation and our 436s
sinfulness is to grip all the tighter and to try and convince God, you know, if I could just have 443s
a moment of your time here and convince you about the worthiness here of my plan because I've 449s
worked this plan out here, you see, and God will have none of that. God has a perfect will, and so 455s
peace comes not in our insistence on our plan, but peace comes when we pray the very thing that our 463s
Lord prayed in the garden. If it be your will, Lord. And when we submit then by God's grace to His 474s
will, then we have peace because we realize that there is one much smarter, much more powerful, 482s
much more talented, much more gifted than any of us who's in charge. And we realize once again, 494s
we're not in charge, God's in charge. And we realize again that everything happens for His glory 501s
in our ultimate good, that God will bring good out of all things. Remember the promise. All things 513s
work together for those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose. And so it's in 520s
a submitting to His will that we find peace. It's kind of like the old phrase, if the Lord's will, 526s
Lord wills, and the Creek don't rise. You know, hear the Jenkins of our congregation? 538s
Hertha would quite often say that line. When I say, well, I'll see you, I'll see you whenever to 543s
hertha. And she says, if the Lord wills, and the Creek don't rise. Right? And that is really a glorious 552s
phrase because there's that realizing that the Lord is the one that holds our every beat of the heart, 559s
every blink of the eye, every everything in our life and that what will occur will be according 565s
to His will. And so we can rest in that. Abraham, I've got the plan, relax, God, 572s
God had handled its ishmail. This is going to work out great. And no, God says it's not ishmail. 581s
It's not. It will come from you and Sarah. We submit them to His will. Verse 19, 589s
God said, no, but your wife Sarah shall bear you as son, and you shall name Him Isaac. 602s
I will establish my covenant with Him as an everlasting covenant for His offspring after Him. 607s
As for ishmail, I've heard you. I will bless Him and make Him fruitful and exceedingly numerous. 615s
He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make Him a great nation. But my covenant 620s
I will establish with Isaac whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year. And when he had 626s
finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. We see then that Abraham embraces this promise, 634s
despite all of the contrary evidence to them. And we see that that is proven by His obedience. 647s
Where do we see that? Chapter 17 verse 23. Let's actually back up to 1711, because that sets up 23. 658s
1711, God says to Abraham, you shall circumcise the flesh of your four skins, 672s
and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. So circumcision then was to be 679s
the sign of the covenant. Notice then, verses 23 and following. Then Abraham took his son ishmail 686s
and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money every male among the man of Abraham's 696s
house. And he circumcised the flesh of their four skins that very day, as God had said to him. 702s
Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his four skin. And his son ishmail 709s
was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his four skin. That very day, Abraham and 715s
his son ishmail were circumcised and all the men of his house slaves born in the house and those 722s
bought with money from a foreigner were circumcised with him. That shows here the faith that Abraham 727s
has in the promise. It translates that into an act of obedience. God uses physical means to convey 737s
the covenant and God continues to do that. Think water and bread and wine. The physical means 747s
whereby God is communicating the covenant that he makes with us in the Lord Jesus Christ. 757s
Well God's grace shines forth in in manifold actions. And chapter 18 then describes another appearance to 765s
Abraham. Chapter 18 verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of memory and he sat at the 777s
presence of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. 789s
When he saw them he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground. 797s
So the question is who's the three men? Who's the three men? 805s
Remembering verse 2 here where he looks up and he sees three men go down into verse 22 of chapter 18. 811s
So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 823s
Chapter 19 verse 1. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting in the gateway of 835s
Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. So who 844s
two angels? The Lord and two angels. Now just a little interesting glimpse into 863s
into Old Testament hospitality is what you see next in chapter 18 verse 2 following. 871s
He looked up saw three men standing there when he saw them. He ran from the tent entrance to meet them 880s
bowed down to the ground. He said, my Lord if I find favor with you do not pass by your servant. 884s
Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 893s
Let me bring a little bread that you may refresh yourselves and after that you may pass on 900s
since you have come to your servant. So they said do as you have said. 904s
And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said make ready quickly three measures of choice 912s
flower needed and make cakes. Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tender and good and gave 917s
it to the servant to the servant who hastened to prepare it. Then he took Kurds and milk in the 924s
calf that he had prepared and said it before them and he stood by them under the tree where they 930s
ate. That is a classic picture of Old Testament hospitality. When the strangers show up there they 936s
moved into action, into action and expressed hospitality. Verse 9. They said him where is your wife Sarah 944s
and he said there in the tent then once said I will surely return to you and do season and your 957s
wife Sarah shall have a son. See here's the echo of the promise again. And Sarah was listening at 963s
the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old advanced in years. It had ceased to be 970s
with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself saying after I have grown old and 977s
my husband is old shall I have pleasure. The Lord said to Abraham why did Sarah laugh and say shall I 985s
indeed bear a child now that I am old. Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will 993s
return to you and do season and Sarah shall have a son but Sarah denied saying I did not laugh 1002s
for she was afraid. He said oh yes you did laugh. It's the Lord here. 1010s
You know I mean this is guys I didn't laugh you know I mean really really here. 1021s
He had the expression of hospitality. You have this this exchange here that occurs 1028s
verse 14 of chapter 18 is anything too wonderful for the Lord. I think of Jeremiah 32 let's keep 1037s
our finger here good a Jeremiah good way to find the prophet Jeremiah is go to the book of Psalms 1050s
right in the middle and start working your way to the right. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 1055s
Song of Solomon, Isaiah and then Jeremiah. Jeremiah 32 verse 17. Isaiah or Jeremiah 32 verse 17. 1059s
Here we read all Lord God it is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power 1083s
and by your outstretched arm nothing is too hard for you. Nothing is too wonderful for the Lord. 1089s
Nothing is too hard for him. Our pitiful doubt and unbelief cannot derail his promises. 1100s
And that's helpful isn't it to remind one another that nothing is too wonderful to the Lord. 1110s
As we do all of our human calculations and come up with the word impossible. When we do all of our 1119s
human calculations about a situation or an unresolvable problem and we come up with I guess this is 1125s
the way this is always going to be. When we do all of our human calculations God comes to us through 1131s
the word and asks us the same question and says is anything too wonderful for me? 1137s
Is anything too wonderful? Am I limited in any way? I who created everything and hold life? 1144s
Is anything too wonderful for me and what do we remind it again and again? The answer to that is 1153s
no. And that promise gives us the fuel propels us into submission to his will and trust 1159s
in what God is doing. Seth stood out in his generation, Noah stood out in his generation. Abraham 1170s
now stands out in sharp contrast to those around him. And not far from Abraham's flocks were two 1186s
cities, Sodom and the sister city Gomorrah. We see here this outpouring of grace in 17 and 18. 1198s
And now we're going to see grace and also judgment. Let's go to chapter 18 verse 22. 1211s
So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom. Well Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 1224s
Then we see this dialogue that occurs. In 18 let's pick up in 1237s
let's go back to 16. Then the men sent out from there and they looked towards Sodom and Abraham 1252s
went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do 1261s
seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be 1268s
blessed in him? No, for I've chosen him that he may charge his children and his household after 1273s
him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. So that the Lord may bring about 1279s
for Abraham what he has promised him. Then the Lord said how great is the outcry against Sodom and 1285s
Gomorrah and how very grave they're sinned. I must go down and see what they have done all together 1293s
according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. Picking up in verse 23, 1299s
the Abraham came near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 1309s
Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city, will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it 1315s
for the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing to slay the righteous 1320s
with the wicked so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be it that from you shall not the judge 1325s
of all the earth do what is just. And the Lord said, If I find it Sodom, 50 righteous in the city, 1334s
I will forgive the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered, Let me take it upon myself to speak 1340s
to the Lord, I am Huba dust and ashes. Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy 1346s
the whole city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there. 1353s
Again, he spoke to him, Suppose 40 are found there. He answered, For the sake of 40, I will not do it. 1361s
Then he said, Oh, do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose 30 are found there. He answered, 1367s
I will not do it if I find 30 there. He said, Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, 1373s
suppose 20 are found there. He answered, For the sake of 20, I will not destroy it. Then he said, 1379s
Oh, Lord, do not let the Lord be angry. If I speak just once more, suppose 10 are found there. 1384s
He answered, For the sake of 10, I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had 1390s
finished speaking to Abraham and Abraham returned to his place. It's a fascinating dialogue, 1396s
isn't it? It's a fascinating prayer that is occurring. Here's the truth, I want to lift up. 1403s
When we pray, we are not praying to change God's mind. We're not praying to convince God of something. 1411s
We're not praying to where we finally nag him enough. And he says, If I hear this prayer one more 1420s
time, I'm going to scream. No, it's none of that. We pray because we want God's will to be done. 1427s
Here's the truth that God sometimes waits for our prayers in order to answer in accordance to 1438s
his will. That's an amazing act of God, isn't it? That God has a perfect will. We're not going to 1446s
change his mind here where God says, I was going to go this way, but now you make a good point. 1453s
I'm going to go, I'm going to go another another way here. No, no, God doesn't, God doesn't act 1458s
that way. But God will oftentimes wait to answer the prayer in accordance to his will until his 1464s
people pray. And so we pray then asking for his will to be done. We pray then for others, 1471s
for people, et cetera, for situations. It's been said too often we pray as if we must overcome 1482s
God's reluctance rather than seize on His willingness. That's the true statement, isn't it? The Lord 1492s
urges us then to pray for ourselves and for others. He often waits to act in response to the very 1499s
prayers that He prompts us to pray. God's grace here in which God stays His hands here after this 1506s
intercession of Abraham. God's grace once again manifests, however, is then dismissed. And it moves 1517s
into judgment. Chapter 19. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Locke was sitting in the 1528s
gateway of Sodom. When Locke saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 1536s
He said, please, my Lord, turn aside to Your servant's house and spend the night and wash Your 1544s
feet, then you can rise early and go on Your way. They said, no, we will spend the night in the square. 1549s
But He urged them strongly. So they turned aside to Him and entered His house and He made them a 1557s
feast and baked on 11 bread and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of 1562s
Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house and they called to 1571s
the lot where are the men who came to you tonight, bring them out to us so that we may know them. 1578s
Now, you see sometimes that phrase in Scripture, know them is used in a sexual manner. It's exactly 1588s
how it's being used here. They wanted to commit homosexual acts here with these two men, with these 1595s
two angels. As we look at homosexual behavior, homosexual behavior is totally, totally incompatible 1603s
with God's Word. It's totally incompatible with it. The church must remain steadfast in proclaiming 1617s
God's truth on us. That is countercultural, profoundly countercultural these days to do that. 1629s
But the church must continue to do what the church is called to do and proclaim law and gospel. 1640s
To proclaim that homosexual behavior is sinful, is an administration of the law and the church 1647s
must be clear on her teachings on that. Must say there is a thus saith, the Lord, from Scripture, 1656s
that goes from Old Testament to the New Testament. There is not one positive verse at all with regard 1664s
to homosexual behavior in Scripture, not one verse. The church must also be incredibly clear 1672s
in proclaiming to the repentant that there is forgiveness of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. 1684s
We must understand that the church must never ever desin that which God calls sinful. 1692s
Because to desin something, you then create a different gospel. It's a different gospel 1701s
where we are putting ourselves above the authority of Scripture. It changes the gospel message 1711s
if we say, well, there's no more repentance that is required of this sin. We are now communicating 1719s
a different gospel message. What we see in the call to the church and it is a hard call, 1729s
it is a hard call for individual Christians to hold to because of the pressure that is being put 1737s
on the cultural pressure to say it doesn't matter. That people can love whomever they want to 1746s
love. That is just not scriptural. It actually ties in, you can see the application if you heard 1758s
the sermon this morning, to the different periods of history and how truth is determined. 1768s
It fits into that understanding of one's own reasoning coming up with a truth or truth is relative 1777s
or a post-truth kind of error. The church must be clear on this whatever the cost and the church 1788s
must be clear in communicating forgiveness of sins for the repentant. Must be clear on that. 1801s
What we see here is God's administration of justice, jumping down into verse 24 of 19. 1814s
Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he 1827s
overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew 1832s
on the ground. There was the extension of grace that grace was spurned and now comes judgment. 1840s
The contrast then in these chapters between the grace of those who had received it and his judgment 1854s
upon those that spurned the grace is quite stark, isn't it? Go down to verse 29. 1864s
It was then when God destroyed the cities of the plain. God remembered Abraham and sent 1876s
Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had settled. 1883s
It's a stark contrast between grace received and grace spurned here. The same contrast still 1891s
exists today. Those who reject the grace of God will bear the consequence then of sin. Those who 1902s
receive by the grace of God, the victory that has been won on the cross are delivered. 1913s
We do not lose heart as we continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1922s
We must remain steadfast in the gospel that we proclaim. We must proclaim it to a world as 1928s
fellow sinners with the world because you see in the end the issue with regard to Sodom and 1938s
in the end was not homosexual behavior. It was lack of repentance, you see. 1948s
And that's the way it is with with all sin. In the end as the church talks about 1957s
homosexual behavior, in the end the church must be very clear about this. 1965s
That sin is not being highlighted over others. What is being highlighted is the issue of a belief 1971s
among quarters in the church and certainly in secular society that there is no repentance that 1981s
is needed anymore for that sin. That's the issue. The fundamental issue with regard to all sin is 1988s
is their repentance or a lack of repentance. And we see in the end the terrifying prospect 1998s
of standing before the Lord on judgment they cloaked in our own supposed righteousness and 2008s
cloaked in our own sin instead of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and his forgiveness. 2015s
We proclaim both law and gospel and we are careful in making sure that we don't create a false 2023s
gospel that comes about when we take it into our own hands to determine that which is sinful and 2038s
that which is not sinful. The themes of grace and judgment, grace extended to Abraham, 2048s
incredible grace. Remember Abraham was a moon worshipper here but this grace that comes to this one 2060s
who is righteous, remember scripture says, because of faith, you see, righteous through faith, 2068s
that grace and also that application of the law that shows all of us our sin in our need for repentance 2075s
and then points the person right back to the cross of Jesus Christ where we know that our sin 2085s
has been forgiven and heaven is open to us not based on our righteousness but because the righteousness 2093s
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, judgment, these themes in Genesis, all throughout all these scripture. 2101s
Well, we're going to continue next week chapters 20 to 22. 2111s