The Book of
Genesis 18
33 verses≈ 6 min2 peopleBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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In this chapter
Where we are
- 1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
- 12–24AbrahamThe call and the promiseChapter 18
- 25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
- 37–50JosephGod meant it for good
The Three Visitors
Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.
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When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
Abraham
“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.”
The three visitors
“Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”
Sarah Laughs at the Promise
The three visitors
“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked.
Abraham
“There, in the tent,” he replied.
God
Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”
Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’
Is anything too difficult for the LORD?
Genesis 18:14
God
At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah
But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.”
God
“No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”
Reflect
Too difficult?
Sarah laughed because she knew her body: “I am worn out and my master is old.” She was right about that, and wrong about God. The LORD answered with a question: “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” What have you quietly decided is impossible, even for Him? Write it down, and then write His question underneath it.
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
Mamre and the plain
Abraham’s tent stood by the Oaks of Mamre near Hebron, high in the hill country. To the east the land falls away steeply to the Dead Sea and the plain where Sodom and Gomorrah lay (their exact site is uncertain). From the heights the visitors “looked out over Sodom,” and Abraham walked with them to see them off.
When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.
And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
0:37
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
Question
Quick question
Before He tells Abraham about Sodom, the LORD says why He chose him.
Why does the LORD say He chose Abraham?
Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?
Genesis 18:25
God
So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”
Abraham
Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes— suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?”
God
He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”
Abraham
Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?”
God
He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”
Abraham
Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?”
God
He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”
Abraham
And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?”
God
He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”
Abraham
Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?”
God
And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.
Fifty to ten
Whiteboard
Six times Abraham asks, and six times the LORD says yes: fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten. Abraham stops at ten. God was willing to spare a whole city for ten righteous people. Abraham never ran out of God’s mercy; he only stopped asking.
Pray
Stand before the LORD for others
Abraham “remained standing before the LORD” and prayed for a city that was not his own. He was humble (“I am but dust and ashes”) and bold at the same time, and he kept asking. Bring the LORD one place and a few people who are far from Him. Ask Him, as the Judge who does what is right and loves mercy, to spare them and draw them to Himself.
You’ve experienced
Genesis 18
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A verse to carry with you
Is anything too difficult for the LORD?
Genesis 18:14
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