Sermon - July 28, 2013 - Abraham's Conversation with the Lord - Genesis 18:20-33

In Genesis chapter 18 we find Abraham talking to the Lord and two angels. We will start in verse 20 where the Lord is telling Abraham about the coming judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 18:20-33

“²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. ²¹ I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out.” ²² The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? ²⁵ You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord—even though I am dust and ashes— ²⁸ suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.” ²⁹ Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.” ³¹ Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.” ³² Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose 10 are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.” ³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place.”

Let’s Pray!

The first couple of verses here are setting the stage for a very important conversation and a pretty bleak picture for Sodom and Gomorrah.

Verse 20 – The extent of the sin in Sodom and Gomorrah is crying out to heaven.

Verse 21 – God is going to go verify that the cries heard in heaven are justified.

Verse 22 – The angels of the Lord leave to go witness for themselves and left the Lord standing with Abraham.

In these first verses God spoke and Abraham listened. As we are to listen to God’s Word as we spend time reading it.

One must wonder what is going though Abraham’s mind at this time. Here he has just been told that two cities are going to be judged and probably washed away from the face of the earth. Yet his beloved nephew Lot and his family lived in Sodom. I can imagine he became very concerned for his nephew. What could Abraham do? The angels have already left, the Lord already knew how bad the sin was, and Abraham knew that the angels were going to see that judgment was deserved. Time was limited, and Abraham had to act quickly in effort to save Lot.

The Lord’s words had been spoken, now it was time for man’s words to be spoken.

In verse 23 we see that Abraham steps close to the Lord and shares his concern, in other words he drew near to him, he made an effort to engage the Lord in conversation.

This is a clear reminder that we are supposed to engage the Lord, we need to pray to Him. When we feel something pulling on us or speaking to us, we are supposed to draw near to God and speak to Him. In this example, Abraham is drawing near when something is heavy on his heart but it is something that we should do always. When we pray at meals are we really drawing close to God? If we are saying a quick prayer before you start your day, are you truly engaging our Lord? The answer is probably not. God wants you to engage or connect with Him when you talk, as Abraham is in these verses.

In the following verses we find that Abraham, who is going to be the father of nations, is praying for Sodom to be saved. A godly man is interceding for those who are living in lifestyles that are against God’s Word. Abraham hated the sin so much that he would not live among them, but he still did not wish for any to perish. In his conversation with the Lord, Abraham pleads with Him to not wipe out the righteous with the wicked. Abraham knew God’s character and counted on Him acting accordingly.

Abraham was blessed and has heard the audible words of the Lord, and was even standing in His presence. Today, we have God’s Word – our Bible. Reading this,, studying its teachings, and learning all we can is how we can learn about God’s character, promises, and how we are to live our lives.

Like Abraham’s conversation where he stated that the Lord would not condemn the righteous with the wicked, our Lord wants us to talk to Him. He wants more than just words; He wants to hear that we know His words and that we are engaging him in conversation.

So far we have seen that:

1.      We need to converse with God, AKA Pray.

2.      We need to show God that we know Him and His Words.

The third thing we learn from Abraham’s conversation with the Lord is that we need to be humble and remember who the Lord is and who we are. Abraham shows that he clearly understands this.

Verse 27

“²⁷ Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord—even though I am dust and ashes”

Verse 30

“Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further.”

And again in verse 32

“Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose 10 are found there?”

While Abraham had drawn near to God and was having a conversation with the Lord as any two of us might have, he did not forget who he was.

Abraham understood pretty clearly that He was talking to the Lord God, who is the ultimate authority in the universe. Abraham knew that in comparison to the Lord he was nothing but dust and ashes. After all, his ancestor Adam was formed from dust.

Abraham approached the Lord understanding who was clearly in charge and who was not. He approached God humbly.

If you notice there is nowhere in this prayer that shows Abraham telling God what to do. We don’t find Abraham ‘naming it and claiming it’. No, what we find is a man who is humble pleading with the Lord.

That is what God is looking for in our prayers. He does not want to hear us telling Him what to do, as you might hear some of the ‘prosperity gospel’ people preach. He does not want to hear our demands. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of all that we know, we should be submitting to His will not the other way around.

God wants to hear from us, He wants to hear that we know His Word, and He wants us to approach him humbly.

Now I do want to be clear on something that Abraham demonstrates for us. We are to approach the Lord humbly remembering who He is, but we are also shown that we are to be bold in our prayers.

Yes, you hear me right. We are to approach our Lord both humbly and boldly.

We need to remember who God is in our prayers, but also not be afraid to ask for what is right. In Abraham’s conversation with God, he first asked for Sodom to be saved if there were 50 righteous people. That alone might have been pushing it in some circles, especially if one is being humble. Thankfully Abraham was humble and bold, and continued to ask for a total of 6 times lowering the threshold for destruction of the cities with each request.

Abraham was bold enough in his conversation with the Lord to continue to ask for His grace and mercy even when asking for less and less justification. Many believe that even though Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed Abraham’s intercession was successful. After all, less than 10 righteous people were found in the cities.

Abraham was blessed to have a face to face conversation with the Lord and we are blessed because that conversation is recorded in our Bible and is a wonderful example for us.

It has shown us that:

1.      We need to converse with God, we need to pray.

2.      We need to show God that we know Him and His Words. He wants to hear us ask for the promises He has given us.

3.      We need to approach our Lord Jesus knowing that He is the creator of all, and we are the created. We need to be humble.

4.      Lastly Abraham’s conversation with Lord has shown us that we need to be bold in our requests. It does not mean we boss God around, but we need to not shy away from requesting what is on our heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Pray Constantly”

Our Lord wants to hear from us. Please be in prayer for everything in your life and the life of this church.

If you have yet to say your first prayer accepting Jesus as your Lord, I want to invite you up during our invitational hymn. If you feel the Holy Spirit reaching out to you and believe today is the day that you need to connect with God, please come forward.

Let’s Pray!

 

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Robert