The deeper I got into Covenant, certain passages were turned on their ear. Genesis 18 is one of them.
When I came to the call of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, I thought I already knew the promises that God gives to Abraham. There is the promise for the special Land (“to a Land that I will show you”); the promise of the great nation (“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you”); and the promise of the eventual Savior of the world (“in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”). Each of these promises has specific events which develop them: the command to investigate the Promised Land as its owner [13:14-17 in particular]; the Nation which will come [15:13-16]; and the Blessing for all nations [the offering of Isaac – chapter 22].
It isn’t as easy as that. What about “I will bless those who bless you; I will curse him who curses you”? Perhaps the visit to Egypt where Abraham gets into trouble again because he lies and God has to straighten things out again [20:1-18]; or the Covenant with Abimelech [21:22-32] are the events expanding that promise.
The stickler, though, is “I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.” What event would demonstrate that Abraham himself is a blessing? The only place left is chapter 18, where God “comes calling” and visits Abraham to tell him that the son of promise would be born in a year’s time. But that does not help understand the promise. However there is that little after-thought of a story of Abraham and Jehovah in argument over Sodom and Gomorrah …
That’s it!! The reason for the visit is not so much to talk about the promised child, it is that God has come looking for an intercessor! After all what greater blessing could anyone be than when God searches out that person to be an intercessor, especially for His enemies! It is the very position that Jesus fills even today before the Father, as St Paul declares “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” [Romans 5:10] and “it is Christ Jesus … Who indeed intercedes for us” [Romans 8:34].
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What is amazing is how far over backwards God’s justice will bend! Already in 13:13 is the description, “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against Jehovah.” Now in 18:20-21, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see …” – the sense is that the sin is so great that they deserve annihilation. Yet despite the thousands of people there, if Jehovah finds only “fifty righteous,” it is not that He will spare those few, rather He will spare “all the place for their sakes”! But does not their deeds demand God’s action?? And then, when Abraham is finished, only TEN are required!
There are five cities in the Sodom and Gomorrah territory (14:8), if Lot and his family are four righteous people, then all that is needed is only one person per town (and one for the farmers) and EVERYBODY – all the place – would be saved. Only one! – Jehovah’s justice is bent so far over backwards that it seems like it is about to fall down – because of His Love found in His intercessor. Such mercy is astounding! One can almost hear the cry of anguish from both Jehovah and Abraham when not even one per town can be found.
This sets the backdrop throughout the Bible whenever Jehovah must deliver His justice. In the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) there is a repeat of God looking for one, even just one, to “stand in the gap” [for example, Isaiah 41:28; 50:2; 59:16; 63:5] to prevent the coming terrible judgment on God’s People as they run headlong toward captivity, and God’s amazement that not even one could be found.
This chapter not only vividly reveals the forcefulness of God’s Love and mercy against His justice, it also demonstrates the amazing result when Jehovah’s Soul/Life/”Blood” flows through a human in Covenant with Him.