Genesis 18:9

This passage of scripture is dealing with the situation when Abraham had received the Lord and other heavenly visitors into his home. It is interesting that it says in Genesis 18:1, “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre.” And then it says about Abraham in Genesis 18:2, “And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him.” In Genesis 18:3 Abraham spoke to them and said, “My Lord.” After Abraham prepared a feast for the Lord and the other heavenly visitors, the Bible says in Genesis 18:9-14, “And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Sarah had never had a child. She was barren, and she was now ninety years old. Of course, from a human standpoint it did not appear that Abraham and Sarah could ever have a child. It was too late. They were too old. But God makes a way when there is no way. God Himself says in Genesis 18:14, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?”

The Bible says in Genesis 18:15-22, “Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.”

There was a tremendous difference between the reason that the Lord visited Abraham and the reason that He visited Sodom and Gomorrah. God visited Abraham and Sarah in order to bless them because they had faith in Him. Yes, Abraham and Sarah had weaknesses and failures, but they had faith in the Lord. A sinful person plus faith equals a righteous person. This is in direct contrast to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had sins, terrible sins; but the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had no faith. The Lord said concerning the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, “Their sin is very grievous.” If you do not trust in the Lord and find forgiveness for your sins, then you will eventually pay the penalty for your own sins. Jesus died to pay the penalty for you, but if you reject Him, there remains only judgment for you. God is a holy and just judge, and so He must punish sin. God often gives a very long time for someone to repent, but eventually His judgment must come. God’s just and holy judgment came to Sodom and Gomorrah, and how terrible that judgment was. Even today if you go to the place where Sodom and Gomorrah once stood, you will find nothing but desert and rocks.

When Abraham learned that God would bring judgment upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham was concerned about his nephew, Lot, because Lot lived in Sodom. The Bible says in Genesis 18:23-33, “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”

Genesis 18:23-33 shows us the importance of praying for others. There are some things that God is going to do no matter what man does. The coming of Christ was a good example of that. But there are other things that God does that depend upon the actions of man. That is why prayer is important. God answers prayer. God does certain things because He is asked to do them by His children. “Pray without ceasing.” It is no wonder that we are told to pray. The course of world events has been changed by the prayers of just one righteous person. James 5:16b, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Abraham’s prayers were intercessory prayers. He prayed for others. That is what we should also do.

The Bible says in Genesis 19:1-11, “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.”

When the people of Sodom knocked on Lot’s door and said, “bring them out unto us, that we may know them,” they were talking about sexual perversion. They had become so degraded and so obsessed with sexual excesses that as soon as visitors appeared in their town they wanted to practice their excesses on them. When a culture starts practicing permissive sexual perversions, that culture can quickly descend to depths of corruption and self-destruction. This happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s commandment to the human race is: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Judgment will come to cultures that disobey God’s will and descend into all forms of sexual license.

The entire world is heading for judgment. But God has a way of protecting His children when judgment for the unrighteous does come. Taking Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah has a symbolism to the rapture of the believers that will take place just before the judgment of the Great Tribulation on the earth. Eventually this age in which we live will end, and will be followed by the period of the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is the time when the antichrist will rule on the earth, and will be a time when God’s judgment finally comes against those who reject Him and His truth. For example, just one day in the Great Tribulation is described in Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” But before the judgment of the Great Tribulation comes, God will take His children away from the earth. It says in First Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

The Bible says in Genesis 19:12-23, “And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.”

The reason that the Lord took Lot out of Sodom is because the Lord did not want Lot to be “consumed in the iniquity of the city.” Why did the Lord save Lot from the judgment that was to come upon Sodom and Gomorrah? One reason that the Lord saved Lot was because Abraham had prayed for Lot. In Genesis 18:32 Abraham prayed, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there.” Another reason that the Lord saved Lot is given in Genesis 19:19 where Lot said to the Lord, “Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life.” The Lord was merciful to Lot. Lot did nothing to deserve to be saved from the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like Lot, believers today also need the mercy of the Lord. We need the mercy of the Lord each day that we are upon this earth. We rely upon His mercy. The day we are saved by Jesus, we are saved by His mercy. Every day afterwards we still must rely upon His mercy. There never comes a day when a believer can think that he or she no longer needs the mercy of the Lord. It is by the mercy of the Lord that we are able to walk in fellowship with Him. It says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

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