Please read Genesis Chapter 18 before you begin or blog.
The chapter begins by stating that Abraham was visited by the Lord. He noticed three men standing nearby from the entrance of his tent. The first thing Abraham did was to run out to greet them by bowing to them to show respect. However, he does not stop there; he showed humility by serving them, washing their feet, preparing a meal and inviting them to rest in the shade for the hottest part of the day.
In verse 3, Abraham addressed the men as “Lord.” The Hebrew word for “Lord” here is “Adonay” showing that Abraham probably recognized that these men were sent by the God. Since he had encountered God before he was likely sensitive to realizing when God showed up to meet with him. Therefore, understanding that God sent these men, he treated them the way he would treat God as if He came to visit.
Evidently the main reason these men came was to inform Abraham and Sarah that she would be pregnant with Isaac round this time next year. Since the Bible only mentions Sarah’s skeptical nature, not Abraham’s. So it seems that Abraham showed the spiritual leaders honor by accepting the prophetic word of these men as if the Lord spoke.
After the meal however, the men looked out toward
While Abraham escorted the men down the road, the Lord asked a question. He asked “Should I hide my plan from Abraham (v17-19)?” It is not clear if God is speaking to a divine counsel in heaven or the men He sent to Abraham. Since the Bible doesn’t make it clear then we know that is not important to the story. What is important is that God was going to reveal something important to Abraham that would teach him something about God.
The plans God revealed to Abraham was the He was going to judge
- If you have ever encountered God in a significant way? Please share your story.
- What can we learn from Abraham’s encounter with God that we can put to use in our own lives (v3-15)?
- Why do you think that Abraham was so uncomfortable with God’s judgment and what do you think God taught him (v16-33)?
- Did God hold to the promise He made to Abraham? Why or why not (v16-33)?
Please choose at least one question to respond to. Don’t forget, you can interact with me as well as you can with others. Have fun and enjoy the discussion.
In verses 16-33 God did hold to the promise that he made to Abraham because there were no innocent people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
ReplyDeleteHe was true to his promises and for the generations to come after. But why is it always the women that defiles his word, first eve and now ol boy’s wife, she just had to look back… after the angles were too very clear about not looking back. I wonder if it made a noise or if it hurt at all, to be turned into a pillar of salt. You know? Was it like they were in mid conversation and ZIP! Or was it a slow toe too head transformation with total awareness, like in the 90’s hit movie Terminator 2, you know? The T2000 (that’s the new terminator not Arnold) ended up in liquid nitrogen and began to freeze toe to head cool to see but would be plenty scary to go through, even if it did not hurt I would be screaming like a collage foot ball coach on the super dooper looper…. And did he just leave his wife there in the wilderness? He must have had to walk backwards in the sand with sandals on carrying all their stuff and it was most likely as he was mid dune too just to find her as a pillar of salt or maybe she had point (was in the front) … no!! because the man’s leader so he had to walk backwards and see her, well if her and him were quarrelling as wife’s do with their husbands, than that was one he finally got the last word in….. And salt, yeah! Salt was a valuable spice then, it would almost be like she was turned to solid silver or even maybe gold. Hate to say it ladies but I would say it was just another blessing for obedience, If he kept her…. Please know, I am just having fun here, you can have fun with the word too but it is the word I do take it very serious. Hopefully I made a few people smile. If you know me, you know my imagination is one to run on the beach with, like rocky when he’s training (SMILES) but the most shocking thing about this story was the man’s daughters, they got him drunk and raped him to keep the family name alive. I could not believe my ears/eyes. Whoa! SICK, CRAZY! And most people don’t remember this part of the story. But had they not done that the promise to inherit the land would not be fulfilled. Hope all are well be blessed.-X
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