Genesis 18 - Abraham - The Great Negotiator

 In the heat of the day while Abraham was sitting in his tent door by the terebinth trees of Mamre (one of Abram's allies in Warring Nations - Genesis 14), the Lord appeared to him. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw three men nearby. He left his tent door and ran to meet them and bowed himself to the ground. My Study Bibles suggest that these three visitors are the Lord and two angels appearing as "men". Abraham shows great hospitality by offering water for the washing of their feet and grants them rest under the trees. He also offered to feed them as well. The visitors agreed to accept Abraham's hospitality. So he hurried to the tent and told Sarah to quickly make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes. Abraham ran to the herd and took a tender and good calf and gave it to a young man to prepare quickly. Abraham took butter, milk and the calf which was prepared and set it before them. He stood nearby as they ate under the tree. Keep in mind that the Bible does tell us to show hospitality because we may be unknowingly entertaining angels (Hebrews 13:2). Have you ever experienced a situation when you thought an angel was in your midst in human form?

They asked Abraham where Sarah was and he informed them that she was in the tent. The main visitor of the three (assumed to be the Lord), said that He would return according to the time of life next year and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was standing in the tent door which was behind Abraham, listening. Remember that both Abraham and Sarah were well advanced in age, with Sarah being past childbearing years. Sarah laughed within herself, saying "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" Based on this question, it sounds like Abraham and Sarah's "love life" is pretty much non-existent. Could it have been due to their ages since she mentioned that they both were old? Regardless of the reason, Sarah remembered those moments as pleasurable. Now, here is where God uses their help to manifest the promise of many descendants and they both get to experience pleasure. The Lord (one of the three visitors) asked Abraham why did Sarah laugh, saying "Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?" Notice that the Lord asked Abraham and not Sarah why she laughed. Sarah laughed within herself, so it wasn't even outward laughter. So, why does God ask Abraham? Could this signify that the man is responsible for his household? That the man is the head of the family? Even with this being the case, as we journey on through the Bible, we will see where some women had to "woman up" because a man failed to "man up" and take on his responsibility. The Lord (most important of the three visitors) said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Sarah denied laughing saying, "I did not laugh" because she was scared. He said, "No, but you did laugh!" Now, the Lord talks to Sarah instead of Abraham after she spoke up, lying. We must remember that we can't hide anything from God, even those things that are in our innermost thoughts.

The men rose to leave and looked towards Sodom. Abraham went with them a distance to send them on their way. The Lord questioned whether He should hide from Abraham what He was planning to do. He reflected on the promises made to Abraham of becoming a mighty nation and making him a blessing. God and Abraham truly had a personal relationship. Abraham learned of God's righteousness and justice so that he could teach his descendants and God would take them to the land He promised.

Sodom and Gomorrah were so extremely wicked that there was an outcry against them. God had to handle this outrageous sinfulness. The two men (angels) went on toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord and the negotiations began. So, the Lord obviously did tell Abraham about the plans to destroy Sodom. Abraham asked the Lord if He would destroy the righteous along with the wicked. Abraham asked, "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city, would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?" Then Abraham is real bold, basically saying far be it from You (the Lord) to do such a thing to destroy the righteous with the wicked! Abraham asked, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" It almost sounds like Abraham is possibly accusing God of planning to do wrong (scary boldness). God said that if He found fifty righteous within Sodom that He would spare the city for their sakes. So Abraham comes back at the Lord, slightly mellowed, realizing that he is dust and ashes and has taken it upon himself to speak to the Lord. He says, "Suppose there were five less than the fifty, would You destroy the city for lack of five?" God said that He would not destroy the city if forty-five righteous were found there. So, Abraham says, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" God agreed not to destroy it for the sake of forty. So now possibly realizing that he was starting to anger God, Abraham asked, "Suppose thirty should be found there?" Again, God agreed not to destroy the city for the sake of thirty. Then Abraham comes back and says, "Supposed twenty should be found there?" God agrees to the twenty. Again realizing that he was possibly making God angry, Abraham still is bold enough to ask, "Suppose ten should be found there?" God agreed not to destroy Sodom if ten were found. Afterwards, the Lord went His way and Abraham returned to his place. Wow! Abraham negotiated with God from fifty righteous down to ten righteous! How boldly have you ever approached God? Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can boldly approach God's throne of grace. Would you be able to approach God as boldly as Abraham and negotiate with Him for something you really want for you or a loved one?

Our next stop is Genesis 19.

To God Be The Glory!