For the Sake of Ten

You know how sometimes, on the surface, things can look simple, and then when you start getting involved, you realize just how complicated and intricate they are? Genesis 18 tells a simple story: a meal, three strangers, and a conversation. Once upon a time, the end, right? 

Nope.

Beneath the surface: the Great Orchestrator of Time gives Credence to His Plan from the Beginning of Creation to the End of All Things. 

I'm gonna need a nap. Whew!

Okay, two clear threads showed up in this chapter to be pulled out of the larger tapestry.

Thread One: God's Appointed Time-Stamp

We start out with Abraham, sitting in the doorway of his tent, resting in the heat of the day, and three travelers show up on the road that winds past his tent. 

Some people have the gift of hospitality, and Abraham is definitely one of them. He runs out to meet them, bows low to the ground, and invites them to sit and rest in the shade of a tree nearby. He brings water for them to wash their travel-stained feet, he tells his wife Sarah to bake a ton of bread (5 gallons of flour, good grief!), he chooses the tenderest morsel of meat from his herd, grabs some curds and milk and provides a protein-and-carb-packed meal for the travelers. 

He stands nearby, like a servant, waiting to fulfill their every possible need. Abraham is the leader of a large contingent of people, a powerful person who has talked with kings (see my earlier blog post about Abram's rescue of Lot and his subsequent interaction with the kings of Salem and Sodom)... and he stands near three strangers, ready to serve them, as they eat a feast he's prepared for them.

It becomes evident fairly quickly, both to us and to Abraham, that these men are no ordinary travelers. Two are angels (Genesis 19:1), and one is the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. How do we know this? One of the men, a total stranger, says: "Where is your wife Sarah?"

I can see Abraham freezing for a moment, as mental cogs and gears click into place. Oh. He knows I have a wife. He knows Sarah's name. Oh. This is not just a random visitor.

What follows is yet another reminder of God's promise to Abraham that he will have a son. Meanwhile, Sarah is eavesdropping from the tent just behind the men. In the last chapter, Abraham laughed in disbelief when the Lord reminded him of His promise to give him a son. In this chapter, it's Sarah who laughs in disbelief. She thinks (doesn't say out loud): Both Abraham and I are waaaay too old. What is this guy saying? There's no way!

The Lord calls her on it. "Why did Sarah laugh?" He goes on: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Is anything too difficult for the One who created an entire universe out of nothing? Is anything too hard for the One who spoke into the void and the expanse of eternity sprang into existence? "I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

This "appointed time" is a bombshell. God had a plan. It's a huge plan. It wasn't just a promise for Abraham and his wife Sarah to have a bouncing baby boy, a lovely little family of three. This was a plan for the salvation and redemption of all mankind, from the beginning of time to the end of it.

Do you think there was any possible way that God would not have designated "the appointed time" for the child of promise, for Isaac, to be born to Abraham and Sarah? No possible way. God orchestrated it.

Thread Two: Preparation for Judgment

Abraham walked with the men as they were leaving Abraham's encampment, so he could continue his gracious hospitality and see them on their way.

Note here: Abraham is a friend of God. "Then the Lord said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ... For I have chosen him.'"

Sometimes I wonder why the Spirit of God speaks to my heart about a certain issue or problem. I wonder what I am supposed to do with a burden. I wonder why the Lord gives pastors and teachers words for me to think about. Why are you speaking to me, Lord?

And here's my answer. God has a purpose for placing us in our exact situation in life, because we are chosen to do exactly the task(s) He has given us to do. Abraham was a "friend of God," and the Lord honored that by giving him a forewarning of his plan for Sodom and Gomorrah.

I think sometimes the Lord clues us in to His plans a little, too, simply for the fact that we are His friends, that we are His servants, and because He has a purpose for us, because "He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight" (Ephesians 1:4). What a forward-thinking, planning God!

"Then the Lord said, 'The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 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.'"

Evil abounded in Sodom and Gomorrah, so much so that the Lord no longer would hold back His hand of judgment. The enemy, by now, had overtaken these cities. He and all his demons had overtaken these two cities, flooded them completely. It feels appropriate that the cities were set in a valley, which collects the floods and is overwhelmed by them at times.

Here, the enemy has come in like a flood, and the Lord decides to act. As it says in Isaiah 59:19: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift a standard against him."

When I wrote my epic fantasy trilogy, Heart of a Dragon, I delighted in the familiar call-backs into medieval-esque literature that I had grown up reading: the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for example. I set my books in a divided kingdom, and every moat of a castle, every link of chainmail, every spear raised in battle, every throne in a stone palace brought me so much joy. 

Naturally, in an epic fantasy that hearkens back to Lord of the Rings, one must have medieval-esque battle scenes, and so I did. One of the battles I wrote took place on the Forgotten Plains of West Ashwynd, where nations met on an enormous stretch of land and faced off with horses, spears, catapults and trebuchets. Platforms were built and standards raised so that the soldiers could see their leader and watch for orders from their military commanders.

In medieval warfare, the sovereign of a nation led into battle with a twenty-foot long narrow flag, what was called a "heraldic standard." Lesser lords had smaller standards, depending on their rank. This large standard could be seen much farther away than smaller standards, and could even be spotted by the enemy.

Each standard sported a badge and specific livery colors, and the servants of the lord or sovereign sported that same badge and livery colors on their uniform as well, so that any servant would be able to recognize their master, no matter how much or little they'd studied literacy. Anyone can recognize colors and symbols.

How this speaks to me! The servants of the Lord recognize their Leader when He raises His standard! There is no confusion; the badge is engraved on our armor! Our livery colors blaze brightly on their own outfit as they do on the standard over their heads.

The Lord will gather His armies, every soldier, every servant, to Himself.

Okay, back to the chapter. Abraham pleaded for the righteous in the city in the clearest example of bartering and haggling present in the Bible. "For the sake of fifty righteous ones, Lord, will you destroy the city?"

For the sake of fifty, I will spare it.

"For the sake of forty-five?"

For forty-five, I will spare it.

"How about forty?"

Same answer.

"Thirty?"

Still the same answer.

"Ahem... what about... you know... twenty?"

Oh, the patience of the Lord. For twenty, I will spare it.

One last try. "Lord, how about ten?" You know, for Lot, his wife, (possibly) two sons, (possibly) two married daughters and their husbands, two unmarried daughters... 

For ten, I will spare it.

And yet, the Lord brought judgment. The next morning, when Abraham returned to the same site where he had pleaded with the Lord for mercy, there was smoke so dense, he couldn't even see the cities.

We know from the next chapter (I'll get to that tomorrow) that the Lord brought out any who would listen to the warning. It turns out that there were a grand total of four people.

Four.

Out of a whole city.

I've often wondered what would have happened if Abraham would have said: "For the sake of four people, Lord..." and what the Lord's response would have been. Did Abraham stop too soon? Or had the Lord pre-ordained His judgment so much so that He knew Abraham would stop at ten?

Either way, it is clear that the Lord had a larger picture in mind. He knew what would happen, and He orchestrated it. 

There was sin that threaded throughout the city so much that the Lord had to intervene. Applying that to today... 2020 is a year of judgment. There are things that are happening that are so far and away more than what has happened in a long time...

The Lord sees the sins of a nation and nations, and He has promised judgment. Are we praying: "But for the sake of ten righteous, Lord?"

Genesis 18:25 gives us Abraham's strongly-worded plea to the Lord: "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?"

Will the Ancient of Days, the Great Judge, do what is right? Of course He will!

Note: Lot, Lot's wife, Lot's daughters were brought out by the hand of God. This is not to say Lot didn't sin, but the Lord had mercy on him anyway. 

Today, the Lord will make a way to cleanse the land, the nation(s). Whether through the fires of judgment or through the living water of revival and spiritual awakening, His name will be glorified and lifted up.

His standard will be raised (Isaiah 59:19). He will draw all people to Him. Every eye will see Him, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10)!

The Lord will make a division between the sinners and the righteous; the sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous (Psalm 1:5). He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32).

Victory is the Lord's; no weapon formed against us, the servants of the Lord, will prosper (Isaiah 54:17)! 

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, the Righteous Judge, for all His plans are perfect!