So As By Fire

Genesis 18-19

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Sir Winston Churchill spoke those words to the British House of Commons on August 20, 1940. He reviewed the first year of the war and then paid special tribute to the brave Royal Air Force fighter pilots who were "turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and their devotion."

The citizens of Great Britain knew what the Royal Air Force was doing for them, but the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain did not know that three persons—Abraham, Lot, and Jesus Christ—stood between them and total destruction.

Abraham, the friend of God (Gen. 18)

Abraham is given this special title in 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; and James 2:23; and he is the only person in the Bible to have it. Jesus called Lazarus His friend (John 11:11), and He calls "friends" all who believe on Him and obey Him (15:13-15). As His friends, we can share His love and fellowship, and we can know His will. "If we are beset by an unseen foe," wrote Vance Havner, "we are also befriended by an Unseen Friend. Great is our adversary but greater is our Ally."

Friendship involves ministry; and in this chapter you will find Abraham ministering in three different areas: to the Lord (Gen. 18:1-8), to his home (vv. 9-15), and to a lost world (vv. 16-33).

He ministered to the Lord (vv. 1-8). All ministry must first be to the Lord; for if we fail to be a blessing to the Lord, we will never be a blessing to others. This was true of the Jewish priests (Ex. 28:1, 3-4, 41; 29:1) and of God's servants in the early church (Acts 13:1-2). "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men... for you serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:23-24, nkjv).

Abraham was taking his daily rest during the heat of the day when he saw three strangers approaching. Few people ever traveled when the sun was so hot, so Abraham was immediately both curious and courteous. Hospitality is the first law of the East, and Abraham faithfully obeyed it.

The three strangers were the Lord Jesus Christ and two of His angels (Gen. 18:1, 22; 19:1). There was nothing about their appearance that told Abraham who they were; but as he fellowshipped with them, he learned that he was entertaining royal visitors. His ministry to the Lord was so acceptable that we ought to follow his example today.

To begin with, he served the Lord personally. Remember, Abraham was ninety-nine years old and a wealthy sheikh, and he could have entrusted this task to his chief steward or one of his more than 300 servants (14:14). Instead, he decided to minister to his Lord personally.

He also ministered immediately. Abraham could have ignored them by pretending to be asleep, or he could have asked them to sit down and wait until he had finished his siesta. But Abraham was a man of faith, and faith does not delay when it comes to serving the Lord.

This chapter emphasizes that Abraham ministered to the Lord speedily. He ran to meet the visitors (18:2) and hastened to tell Sarah to bake some bread (v. 6). He ran to get a tender calf and saw to it that the young man hastened to dress the meat (v. 7). Keep in mind that this is an old man running around in the heat of the day! Only after he had served his guests did Abraham stand still (v. 8).

Abraham served the Lord generously and gave Him the best that he had. Sarah baked bread from "fine meal" (v. 6), and the meat was "tender and good" (v. 7). No leftovers or second-rate fare for such important guests! What a contrast to the priests in Malachi's day, who did not give God their best (Mal. 1:6-14).

Abraham's service was marked with humility. He bowed to his guests (Gen. 18:2), called himself a servant (vv. 3, 5), and called the feast only "a morsel of bread." He served the three visitors and then stood near to be available if needed. He interrupted a comfortable afternoon nap to become a servant to three strangers; but because of that service, he received tremendous blessings for himself and his wife.

Finally, he served the Lord cooperatively and involved the ministries of others. Sarah baked the bread; a young man dressed the meat; and no doubt other servants brought Abraham the butter and milk. "I would rather put ten men to work than do the work of ten men," said evangelist D.L. Moody; and he was right.

Over the years, I have studied the biographies of great Christians; and I have learned that dedicated servants of God encourage and inspire others to serve the Lord. D.L. Moody was used of God to enlist and assist a host of workers, including F.B. Meyer, G. Campbell Morgan, and R.A. Torrey. Paul Rader had a similar ministry in his generation, helping give birth to ministries still with us today. When we serve ourselves or our own ministries, our work perishes; but when we serve the Lord, He gives lasting and abundant fruit (John 12:20-28).

Before leaving this section, I should say a word about the importance of Christian hospitality. In this day of convenient motels and hotels, we rarely think about what it means to entertain strangers (Heb. 13:1-2); but hospitality is an important part of Christian ministry (Rom. 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9). In fact, "given to hospitality" is one of the requirements for leadership in the local church (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8). By lovingly serving others, we serve Jesus Christ our Lord (Matt. 25:34-40), and we promote the spread of God's truth (3 John 5-8).

He ministered to his wife (vv. 9-15). Because Abraham was faithful to the Lord, he became a channel of blessing to his wife and eventually to his family (v. 19). Sarah had an important role to play in the working out of God's plan of salvation for the world, and she did her part (Heb. 11:11; 1 Peter 3:1-7; Rom. 4:18-21). Sarah was now eighty-nine years old; yet she was still a desirable woman with charm and beauty (Gen. 20), partly because her husband loved her and treated her like the princess that she was.

The Lord had come all the way from heaven to give Abraham and Sarah an announcement: At that same time next year, Sarah would give birth to the promised son! The news was so incredible that Sarah laughed and questioned whether such a thing could happen to two elderly people. Abraham's laughter had been born out of joyful faith (17:17); but Sarah's laughter was marked by unbelief, even though she tried to deny it.

Of course, whenever we doubt God, we are questioning both His veracity and His ability. Does He keep His promises? Does He have the power to do what He says He will do? The answer to both questions is yes! (See Rom. 4:20-21.)

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14) Of course not! If you need proof, then listen to Job (42:2), Jeremiah (32:17 and 27), the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:37), and the Apostle Paul (Eph. 3:20-21). If God makes a promise, you can be sure He has the power to fulfill it; and He will remain faithful even if we are faithless (2 Tim. 2:13). Sarah eventually repented and, with her husband, trusted God; and He gave them the promised son.

The husband who ministers to the Lord will find himself ministering to the members of his own family, especially his wife. He will be a source of blessing in the home. When we study Genesis 19, we will see the contrast in Lot, a worldly man who had no spiritual influence in his own home.

He ministered to a lost world (vv. 16-33). Abraham belonged to that select company of God's people known as intercessors, individuals like Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Jeremiah, the apostles, and our Lord Himself. In fact, our Lord's ministry today in heaven is a ministry of intercession (Rom. 8:34); so we are never more like our Lord than when we are interceding for others. It is not enough for us to be a blessing to our Lord and our home; we must also seek to win a lost world and bring sinners to the Savior.

Charles Spurgeon said: "If they [lost sinners] will not hear you speak, they cannot prevent your praying. Do they jest at your exhortations? They cannot disturb you at your prayers. Are they far away so that you cannot reach them? Your prayers can reach them. Have they declared that they will never listen to you again, nor see your face? Never mind, God has a voice which they must hear. Speak to Him, and He will make them feel. Though they now treat you despitefully, rendering evil for your good, follow them with your prayers. Never let them perish for lack of your supplications" (Metropolitan Pulpit, vol. 18, 263-264).

The Lord and the two angels left Abraham's camp and started toward Sodom, but the Lord lingered while the angels went on (Gen. 18:16, 22; 19:1). In the first half of the chapter, Abraham is running here and there; but in the last half, he is standing reverently before the Lord and interceding for Lot and the other people in Sodom. Blessed are the balanced!

An intercessor must know the Lord personally and be obedient to His will. He must be close enough to the Lord to learn His "secrets" and know what to pray about (Amos 3:7; Ps. 25:14). The Lord's words "I know him" (Gen. 18:19) mean "I have chosen him, and he is My intimate friend" (John 15:15). Abraham knew more about Sodom's future than the citizens themselves, including Lot. It is the separated believer who shares God's secrets.

Sarah and the servants helped Abraham when he prepared a meal for the three visitors; but when it came to the ministry of intercession, Abraham had to serve alone. Abraham drew near to the Lord (James 4:8), and the Hebrew word means "to come to court to argue a case." Abraham was burdened for Lot and Lot's family, as well as for the lost sinners in the five cities of the plain; and he had to share that burden with the Lord.

Abraham's prayer was based not on the mercy of God but on the justice of God. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25; see Deut. 32:4) A just and holy God could not destroy righteous believers with wicked unbelievers; and Lot was a believer (2 Peter 2:6-9), even though his actions and words seemed to belie the fact.

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were exceedingly wicked (Gen. 13:13) because the men of these cities were given over to sexual practices that were contrary to nature (19:5; Jude 7; Rom. 1:27). The words "sodomy" and "sodomize" are synonyms for these homosexual practices. The men did not try to hide their sin (Isa. 3:9), nor would they repent (Jer. 23:14). The sudden destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is used in Scripture as an example of God's righteous judgment on sinners (Isa. 1:9; 3:9; Lam. 4:6; Zeph. 2:9; 2 Peter 2:6ff), and Jesus used it as a warning for people in the end times (Luke 17:28-32).

But why would Abraham want God to spare such wicked people? Far better that they should be wiped off the face of the earth! Of course, Abraham's first concern was for Lot and his family. In fact, Abraham had already rescued the people of Sodom solely because of Lot (Gen. 14:12-16), though none of the citizens seemed to appreciate what he had done for them. They all went right back into the old way of life and did not heed the warning of God.

But even apart from Lot's situation (and he should not have been in Sodom in the first place), Abraham did not want to see all those people die and be lost forever. God is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9), and He "will have all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:4). "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezek. 33:11). The issue is not what kind of sins people commit, though some sins are certainly worse than others, but that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23) and beyond that death is an eternal hell. Intercessors must have compassionate hearts and a deep concern for the salvation of the lost, no matter what their sins may be. (See 9:1-3; 10:1.)

We must not get the idea that Abraham argued with the Lord, because he did not. He was very humble before the Lord as he presented his case (Gen. 18:27, 30-32). Abraham was sure that there were at least ten believers in the city.

Never underestimate the importance of even a small number of believers. As few as ten people would have saved a whole city from destruction! If Lot had won only his own family to faith in the Lord, judgment would have been averted. Your personal witness today is important to God, no matter how insignificant you may feel.