READ: Genesis 18:16
CHALLENGE: Pursue Righteousness
A. THERE IS POWER IN RIGHTEOUSNESS (vv16-19)
Vv16-19 – When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
We cannot overstate how important doing right is. While we cannot control what the world around us is doing, we can control what we’re doing. And each of us has the opportunity to live for God.
Abraham’s heavenly guests get up to leave after eating. You hate to eat and run but they waste no time continuing with their divine mission. That mission is the investigation and subsequent annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s a staggering and sobering story.
These men looked down at Sodom. It typically means look down at a sharp angle so they must be at a height overlooking at the cities in the valley below. I appreciate that Abraham is living outside all this evil. He lives in the heights, staying out of the muck and mire.
God asks, “Should I hide what I’m about to do from Abraham”? To “hide” means to “conceal or cover over”. It actually became a word for forgiveness because sins were “covered” and thus hidden from view. In this case it’s used for concealing information. God is about to reveal to Abraham the end of the line for Sodom and Gomorrah. A city significant to him because his nephew Lot lives there. Abraham has reason to be concerned.
God’s reasoning for giving him this privileged information is because of who Abraham is and who Abraham is becoming.
- The Power of Becoming
v18 – Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,
Why did God tell Abraham? It’s because of who he is and what he’s going to become. It’s not just about where you are now, it’s about where you’re headed. Abraham and Sarah have had no children together but their descendants will become a nation. Abraham has Ishmael but he’s just a boy. Isaac is not yet born but God knew what Abraham would BECOME! He will become something so much larger than himself and there are a couple of great points to make.
It’s not just about who you are today, it’s also about who you’re becoming. When you are on the right path, your potential future impact is SO much greater. However, a positive future is impossible without present righteousness. You cannot do the wrong thing and positively impact your children and the generations that follow. Do right today and you will become greater.
You don’t plant a landscape for what it is at the moment, you plant it for what it will be. We planted blueberries last year and I’m getting some this year, but my expectations are low for these first few years. I planted them for what they will be, not for what they are presently. Abraham isn’t close to a nation today but someday!
Don’t look at people only for who they are at the moment, rather, consider who they are becoming. I don’t know how many people would have put money on Abraham becoming a great nation. He wouldn’t have been a great bet except that God was with him. Perhaps people wouldn’t lay much down on you to have a great future either, yet here you are!
God took a solitary nomad and turned him into a nation. Abraham would not see his many descendants but they would all look back to him. He’s the father of the Jewish nation. The blessing of becoming is a great hope that we have.
You’re not everything today that you’re potentially going to be. You’re in a process, assuming you’re doing the right thing. This is true of the church as well. We have a ministry going but who knows how powerful it will become over time? We have something planted and we hope that it becomes bigger and bigger.
In doing the right thing is the powerful blessing of becoming.
- The Power of Legacy
Nations will be blessed through Abraham. It doesn’t get much better than that. Not only will Abraham impact his own family and his household, he’s going to impact NATIONS. America is one such, a nation with “In God We Trust” on our currency. I think of the rich blessings that have been on USA as we were founded on a strong Christian heritage. European nations used to have a strong Christian heritage. I hear from a man in Pakistan and he’s a Sunday School Teacher there in a part of the world that is over 96% muslim. Yet he’s a blessing there. The faith of Abraham lives on all over the world!
The ultimate nation blesser is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to die on the cross and purchase us a way into heaven by paying the price for our sins. It’s a beautiful thing. To have the hope of heaven – that’s all set up through the legacy of Abraham.
Let’s say you’re impacted by God and you impact someone and they impact dozens of people down the road because of your example. Your legacy has exponential potential. You can lead those in your home and those around you to follow Christ and that impact is eternally profound.
His children would impact the world much as the disciples of Christ would phenomenally impact the Roman Empire. What’s your legacy? It’s your children and those who carry on following God that could make a huge difference.
The 10 Commandments come from his lineage. The Savior of the World comes from his lineage. Living for God is so much bigger than just us! We’re influencers!!
I want the ministry I’m involved in here to far outlive me. I want my life here to impact people far beyond myself. In order for that to happen you have to do the right thing.
- The Power of Character
V19 – “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
God knew Abraham. He had experience with him and he is confident that Abraham will impact his children and household after him. He was going to direct his children to do the right thing!
Who you are could impact people more than what you do. Abraham was tending herds and living by great trees. He prayed. He followed God. His legacy is not in how many sheep he sheared or cattle he raised or in how nice his tents were. He was a person who followed God. His faith and lifestyle play a part. There was cause and effect.
And he’s not just a blessing because his name is Abraham, or that he’s a technical father, or because of DNA. It’s who is is. If it were not for his character, what of significance would have lived on in history? It’s not just a genetic thing; it’s his example of deep and abiding faith that has such an exponential impact.
What of your character do you want passing onto others? Could your faith pass on? If Abraham had not believed that God could fulfill his promises, we would have never heard of him. The effect of righteousness is profound.
We sometimes want outcomes unaffected by behaviors, but that’s impossible. Your choices have consequences and this will always be true. You might think, I acted such and such a way and now I don’t have friends. It’s not fair. Probably is fair. Behavior is linked to outcomes. We know that the behavior of working hard has positive benefits for your life. You reap what you sow! You eat right and exercise and you’ll start looking like it. In this physical world, we’re used to positive actions having positive results and visa versa. Performance counts in the real world.
But then some come to Christianity and talk grace as if behavior doesn’t matter. Grace is what allows us to repent. It should never be what keeps you from repenting. You want a great life? Do great things! Live great and you’ll be great. Be up on the heights or revel in Sodom but those give birth to two completely different destinies.
When Naaman the commander of the armies of Aram was healed from leprosy by Elisha, he knew there was only one real God. He took dirt with him so he could build and alter where he lived on that sacred soil. He had been an idol worshipper but that was all changing. However, he said that he would have to escort the king into the temple of a false god. He asked forgiveness because he would have to bow to keep the king balanced when the king bowed. He said, I won’t be worshipping that idol, but my job forces me to go there. However, he was not involving himself in the practices of that world.
Great point. Sure, your job and life may put you in a worldly environment but you don’t have to participate. Jesus didn’t become a sinner to reach sinners and you don’t need to specialize in particular sins to reach particular sinners either. Just do what’s right and be a light.
Abraham would teach his children and household to stick to the way of the Lord. What is the way of the Lord? It’s righteousness and justice. To do the right thing means that we stick to a standard of righteousness. Your character will shine like a light and people will see it.
Justice is the law and making sure it’s implemented fairly. God wanted justice. He wanted people governed fairly based on the laws. There is a social element to the gospel as well. A community responsibility that we have to help those less fortunate. I’m glad for those in our church who participate in mercy ministries.
James 1:27 – Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Look after orphans and widows. I know we want blessing and I want you to be blessed.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
You want to impact future generations? Start right there!
Ephesians 1:4 – For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
There is power in righteousness!
B. DESTRUCTION IN WICKEDNESS
Vv20-21 – Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.
Their sin is grievous. I’m going to go down and see if it’s as bad as the outcry. To outcry means to “cry out, call”. The basic meaning is to cry for help in time of distress. It’s to cry out with a disturbed heart. There is a cry coming up to God from people in distress because of the horrible things happening in that city. And God heard that.
Who is outcrying it? The outcry isn’t from Sodom and Gomorrah – it’s against them. People were getting abused and hurt as sin had infected the entire populace. I’m assuming that one sin was against travelers who happened to stumble into that city. Innocents who had no one to save them. The two angels went down there and they intended to stay in the square to see what happened. The savage injustice and perversion of the people was staggering.
What bothers us enough to disturb our hearts? We should be concerned by the nonsense, immorality, and violence in this world. We need to understand that these things also pain God’s heart as well.
Sin means to miss the mark. They were going astray and their sin was “grievous” which means heavy, or severe. Their sins were grotesque and time was running out to repent. This is the danger of sin! It can get a bigger and bigger piece of you. It’s like rip currents we’ve heard so much about.
A lot of sins feel good for you but they hurt other people. I could be an alcoholic and it feels great to get that buzz but it wouldn’t feel great for my family. It might benefit me to steal, but if I’m hurting someone else, is there really a benefit in it?
God said he was going down to find out. The angels planned to spend the night in the square and see what happened to them. It wasn’t a safe place to be. In fact, they would be attacked by the men of the city. It was so warped.
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[d] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[e] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Abraham knows right away what’s about to happen. Perhaps God has told him. Perhaps he sees it in their eyes. Hey God? Are you going to wipe out the righteous with the wicked. You’re the righteous judge of all the earth. Wouldn’t you do right?
To sweep away means to sweep into a pile and get rid of. You sweep it into a heap and you remove it. God is sweeping the souls and Abraham asks, will you sweep the righteous away into the same pile with the wicked?
Abraham pleads with God. He’s concerned about Lot.
Vv26-33 – The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” 29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Why bury an entire town? It was infested with evil and thus the danger. Evil continues to spread like rust on a vehicle. Sometimes you think that you as a Christian can go into some twisted place and reform it, but it doesn’t tend to work. You’re better off getting away from it and starting something new.
Look at the importance of righteous people in the land. What if there are 50 righteous people? God said he would spare the entire city for the sake of the righteous. Abraham gets him all the way down to 10. And guess what, there were not even 10.
Abraham pleads for the world and Lot. He prays. This is the heart of Abraham. Wickedness is destructive and that should concern all of us. Look at God’s heart – righteousness matters. You do have a chance of getting a business or family spared. The impact of the righteous is profound. Hold the line.