MAN’S WEAKNESS AND GOD’S PROVISION (the story of Abraham)

After the flood that destroyed all life on the earth except Noah, his wife, their three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives, and the animals that were with them in the ark, the restored earth was populated by the sons of Noah. (Genesis chapter 10) Eventually, there was a great population explosion, and the people all spoke one language. They became afraid that the Lord would again destroy the earth with a flood, even though they knew God had promised Noah He would not. (Genesis 9:17) The people did not believe God’s promise and decided to build a city and erect a tower that would reach up into heaven, in which they could find shelter. However, the Lord confounded their speech, and they were unable to communicate with one another, so they had to stop building. Then the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth and separated them into many individual nations according to their languages. (Genesis 10:32) God’s plan for mankind has always been NATIONALISM, but Satan tries to promote internationalism so that he can have greater control over man’s thoughts and actions.

The Lord called a 75-year old man by the name of Abram out of the land of the Chaldees and instructed him to leave his family and his homeland, and He would make a great nation of him by which all families in the earth would be blessed. Abram obeyed the Lord, took his wife Sarai and left Ur of the Chaldees; however, he also took with them his father Terah and his nephew Lot and went to Haran, a city that was famous for the worship of the moon god whom Terah worshipped.

After awhile Terah died, and Abram journeyed to the land of Canaan. They pitched their tent in Shechem, and there the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “Unto your seed will I give this land.” (Genesis 12:7) Abram built an altar and worshipped the Lord in that place.

There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so Abram went down to Egypt to find food. On the way, he began to think about what the Egyptians might do to them … Sarai was a very beautiful woman, and they might take her and kill him! To protect himself, Abram persuaded Sarai to say she was his sister, and she agreed to do it.

When the princes of the land told the Pharaoh about the beautiful woman who said she was Abram’s sister, they took her by force and placed her in Pharaoh’s house, but spared Abram’s life. Pharaoh gave Abram gifts of men and women slaves and also flocks of sheep, oxen, asses and camels. That night the Lord protected Sarai by sending great plagues throughout Pharaoh’s household. Pharaoh sent for Abram and scolded him severely saying, “What have you done to me? Why did you tell me she was your sister? I might have taken her to be my wife! Now … here’s your wife! Take her and leave us alone!” (Genesis 12:10-20)

Abram left Egypt with Sarai, Lot, and all his flocks. He admitted his wrong actions to the Lord and was back in fellowship with Him again. They journeyed south, and Abram pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai where he had built an altar to the Lord before going to Egypt.

Abram and Lot had many flocks, and when their shepherds had sharp disagreement over pasture land, they were forced to separate. Abram gave Lot his choice of the land that was before them, and Lot chose the beautiful fertile plain of Jordan for himself and pitched his tent just outside the city of Sodom. After Abram and Lot were separated, the Lord said to Abram, “Lift up your eyes, Abram, and look in every direction as far as you can see … all this land will I give to you and to your seed forever. Your seed will be as the dust of the earth that no man can number. Walk through the land and know that I will give it to you.” After hearing that promise from the Lord, Abram moved his tent to Hebron and built an altar to the Lord. (Genesis 13:14-18)

Twelve more years went by, and Sarai had not given Abram any children, so Sarai suggested to Abram that he have a son by her handmaid Hagar. Abram agreed and Ishmael was born. Thirteen years later, when Abram was ninety-nine, the Lord appeared to him and confirmed His promise of a son by Sarai. This time Abram believed God, and circumcision was established as a covenant between the Lord and Abram, and the Lord changed their names to Abraham and Sarah. (Genesis 17:1-27) in the Old Testament, names had special meaning. Abram meant ‘father of high and windy places’ … Abraham meant ‘father of many nations’. Sarai meant contentious, and Sarah means ‘princess’.

Soon after that, Abraham was sitting in the doorway of his tent in the heat of the day, and he saw three men walking down the road in his direction. He ran to meet them and invited them to rest under a tree while he prepared some food for them. They accepted his hospitality, and as they were eating, one of the strangers said, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” Abraham replied, “She’s inside the tent.” Then the man said, “Nine months from now Sarah will bare a son for you.” (then Abraham realized it was actually the Lord to whom he was speaking and that the other two were angels) Sarah was listening behind the tent flap, and when she heard what the Lord said, she laughed inwardly … she knew she was much too old to have a child! The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say she was too old to bare a son? Is anything too hard for the Lord to do?” Sarah come out of the tent and said, “I didn’t laugh!” However, the Lord replied, “Oh, but you did laugh.” Then Sarah was silent.

After eating, the three men got up and proceeded to walk down the road in the direction of Sodom, and Abraham walked a short distance with them. Their eyes were firmly fixed in the direction of Sodom. They stopped for a moment, and the Lord said to the angels, “I won’t hide My plans for Sodom from Abraham, because I have determined that he will be a blessing to the whole earth.” Then He turned to Abraham and said, “We have come here to destroy Sodom and Gomorra because of their grievous sins.” The two angels turned away and walked down the road toward Sodom, and the Lord continued speaking with Abraham.

Abraham feared for the lives of Lot and his family, so he drew close to the Lord and asked, “I know you are a fair judge … suppose there are fifty believers in Sodom … will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” The Lord replied, “If I find fifty there, I will not destroy the city.” Abraham was encouraged to speak again and he said, “I have no right to ask more, but suppose You find forty-five righteous people … will you spare Sodom for forty-five?” The Lord answered, “If there are forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

Abraham kept bargaining with the Lord until He promised not to destroy Sodom if ten righteous people were found in the city. Abraham knew that Lot was a believer, and he assumed that his wife, his two unmarried daughters, his three married daughters and their husbands were also, so when the Lord finished speaking with him, Abraham was content and went into his tent for a good night’s sleep.

Lot was a judge in Sodom, and sat in the city gate daily to handle any legal problems that were brought to him. He was sitting in the gate that day, and when he saw the two strangers walking toward him, he hurried to meet them and said, “Sirs … it will soon be dark. Please come into my house and refresh yourselves before you continue your journey.” They replied, “No, thank you. We will remain in the street all night!” However, Lot persuaded them to stay, and he prepared a great feast for them. Just before they were ready to retire, the men of Sodom, young and old alike, came from every section of the city and surrounded the house and shouted, “Send the two men who came into your house tonight outside!”

Lot knew that the men of Sodom were very wicked in the eyes of the Lord, so he stood outside his door and closed it tightly behind him and said, “Please do not insult my guests! These men have come into my house, and I must protect them! I have two unmarried daughters, and I will send them out to you instead!” They answered angrily, “Stand aside, Lot! You came here to judge us and to criticize our way of life, but now watch and see what we will do!” They shoved Lot aside and were about to force their way into the house, but the angels afflicted them with blindness, and they were unable to find the door. The angels asked Lot, “Do you have any family members in Sodom? If so, find them and take them out of this city, because the Lord has sent us here to destroy it!”

Lot went out at once to warn his married daughters and their husbands. When he found them, he said, “You must leave Sodom at once, because the Lord is going to destroy this city as soon as we have left it.” They just laughed at his words and replied, “That’s very funny! We don’t believe you! Since when have you taken what God says seriously?”

Lot was discouraged by their attitude, so he went home. The angels said to him, “Take your wife and your two unmarried daughters and leave Sodom at once!” Lot hesitated to go, so they took him, his wife and his two unmarried daughters by the hand and set them outside the city and said, “Run for your lives, and don’t look back! Do not remain in this valley, but flee to the mountains!”

Then the Lord rained fire and brimstone from heaven and poured it upon Sodom and the neighboring city of Gomorra and totally destroyed them. Lot’s wife lagged behind, and when she turned to look back at Sodom, the vapor from the fire and brimstone that filled the air like a fog formed a crust over her body, giving it the appearance of a pillar of salt. Lot kept on running, and fled with his two daughters into the mountains above Zoar.

Abraham got up early the next morning, and when he looked across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorra, the sight was like that of a smoking furnace. He became disillusioned and thought the Lord had not kept His promise, so he left the place of blessing and went to the Philistine city of Gerar. Their king, Abimelech, saw how beautiful Sarah was and sent men to capture her. Again, Sarah said she was Abraham’s sister to save his life, and they put her in the king’s house.

That night the Lord spoke to Abimelech in a dream, “You are about to die, because the woman you have taken into your house is the man’s wife!” Abimelech replied, “Lord, … will you destroy this righteous nation because of my actions? She told me she was the man’s sister, and I am innocent. The Lord said, “I know you aren’t responsible, and that’s why I didn’t allow you to take the woman as your wife. Return her to her husband who is a prophet, and he will pray for you. If you do not, you and your people will surely die!”

In the morning Abimelech told his people, and they were frightened. He sent for Abraham and scolded him severely saying, “How have I offended You that made you do this to us?” Abraham replied, “I didn’t know you believed in the Lord, and I was afraid you would take my wife and kill me, so I asked her to say she was my sister.”

Abimelech gave Sarah back to her husband, and after giving sheep, oxen and servants to him said, “My land is before you, Abraham. Choose a place to pitch your tents, and leave me and my people alone!” (Genesis 20:1-18)

After that well-deserved scolding, Abraham took Sarah and went on his way. Even though Abraham had acted badly, the Lord was faithful in giving him a son by Sarah the following year just as He had promised. The son was named Isaac, which means ‘laughter’.

Man’s weakness is never a handicap to the Lord … He will carry out His plans regardless of man’s failure to trust Him completely.

Written By Lois Delnay
2007
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