Chuck Larsen

Peter called Lot “righteous” even though he lived among the wicked and came to a very bitter end. God called Noah Righteous even though he came to a disgraceful end as well. Abraham is another man that God calls righteous. He’s righteous not because he’s perfect (thank you, Lord!), but because he trusted God. Abraham was far from perfect. The story in Genesis chapter 20 is another “perfect” example of Abraham’s imperfections! He lies to Abimelech about Sarah just like he previously did with Pharoah, and lets him take her for his wife. Now, if our God is the God of a “second chance” then Abraham used his up in this episode. But thankfully, God doesn’t relate to us in ways to manipulate our behavior. He wants a relationship with us, not legal obedience. Duguid says, “God continued to be gracious to Abraham. He didn’t come down with a big stick and beat him up for failing again. He didn’t say, ‘That’s it! I’ve had it with you; I’m going to find someone else to fulfill my promises through. You’ve had your chance and you blew it!’ No, God convicted him of his sin—but gently.” ¹

So in spite of Abraham’s second failure in this same way, God intercedes and protects Abimelech from Abraham’s lie. Then he blesses Abimelech and Abimelech responds by blessing Abraham with great wealth. Genesis 20:14 says, “Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.” Clearly we see the truth of Romans 8:28, “God works all things together for good, to those who love Him.” He even uses our sins for His own purposes. God doesn’t love us for what we can do for Him. His love for us is unconditional. Most of you have heard the children’s hymn, “Jesus loves me. This I know for the bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, I am weak but he is strong, Yes, Jesus loves me.” There’s another verse that we don’t sing very often. It says, “Jesus loves me when I’m good, when I do the things that I should. Jesus loves me when I’m bad, even though it makes him sad.” Yes, Jesus Loves me. And you!  Quoting from Oswald Chambers, Hughes says, “It is so common to think that God will love us more if we perform some great work, some external achievement. But the Bible (and here the story of Abraham and Abimelech) focuses on making a great heart. Here God was working in Abraham to create an unusual dependence upon him, because “He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.”²

When we think about the two episodes of Abraham sending his wife off with Pharoah and then with Abimelech you can’t help to wonder what exactly was on his mind. Sarah had colluded with her husband Abraham previously to bring about an heir for Abraham with her handmaid Hagar. But God had rejected Hagar as the mother of Abraham’s son and Ishmael from being the promised seed. Abraham had no seed and after some time, even after the promise that he’d have one, he tried to claim his servant as his heir. God said “No, Eliezer is not the chosen heir.” Then Abraham seems to claim Lot, his blood nephew as his heir and God said no to Lot. Sarah and Abraham collude to bring about the birth if Ishmael, but God also rejects him. Maybe Abraham was putting Sarah in a position to be impregnated by Pharoah or Abimelech because Abraham was unable to do so. But, God (great little phrase, “but God”) said absolutely not and he prevented any intercourse between other men and Sarah. He was about to work his miracle with Sarah and Abraham. They were about the have the son of promise with made them both laugh so hard they named their legitimate son, Laughter.

¹ Iain M. Duguid, Living in the Gap between Promise and Reality: The Gospel according to Abraham, ed. Tremper Longman III and J. Alan Groves, The Gospel according to the Old Testament (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1999), 117.

² R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 290.

Genesis 19:30 begins another sad story in the Bible. You can almost sense that something bad is coming when you read it: “Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.” I’m sure you know the story. His daughters get him drunk and seduce him and Lot’s grandchildren, Moab and Ammon, are also his children. I’d assume that the catastrophe of losing everything that Lot had when he went down to Egypt and everything he gained while there had been destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, he still had plenty of wine!! Lot ended up drunk, living in a cave, being seduced by his own daughters (sounds like something from Deliverance!).

I would argue that Lot was not only seduced by his daughters, but he and his daughters had been seduced by the world and the culture they lived in in Sodom. But there was something wrong with Lot that was passed on to his daughters, I think. I don’t think that the place was the real problem, i.e., Sodom. Don’t forget that Joseph lived in Egypt. Daniel lived in Babylon. Esther lived in Persia. It really wasn’t the place because these three ended up being a great blessing while there. That’s not the case with Lot. I think it was a matter of his heart. Lot got his love for the world, possibly, while living in Egypt. Much like his ancestors under Moses’ leadership, he never quite got his heart out of Egypt. His heart was in the world. Lot had been seduced by the world and everything he owned went up in smoke as God’s angels destroyed his home in Sodom. Leaving Sodom, His wife, who had learned to love the world also, couldn’t help but turn and look back with longing, and she too was lost to him as she became a pillar of salt. Then in the cave, all alone, his honor, dignity, as well as his self respect was lost as well as that of his own daughters. Yep, friendship with the world can be expensive.

The two children, grand children of Lot, Moab and Ammon, did not have healthy histories either. According to Guzik, “Their descendants would become enemies and obstacles for Israel, just like the descendants of Ishmael. Lot’s life ended in ruin (past, present, and future), all because of his love for the world.”¹ Deuteronomy 5:9 is one of many passages that speak to us about God visiting the sins of the father upon their children to the fifth generation. The history of both Moab and Ammon reflect this truth. Boice says, “…when the people were marching from Egypt to Canaan through the desert, the Moabites opposed their march, and Balak, the king of Moab, tried to get the prophet Balaam to curse God’s people (Num. 22–24). In later years, there were many wars between the Jews and these two neighboring kingdoms. In Amos there are prophecies of Ammon’s (Amos 1:13–15) and Moab’s (Amos 2:1–3) destruction.² All this came about because Lot wasn’t satisfied with his “Lot” in life with his uncle Abraham and left home to go out on his own in an unwelcoming world. I think I’ll just stay home!

¹ David Guzik, Genesis, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Ge 19:33–38.

² James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 644.

I love the question that God asks in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Some questions in the bible are worded in such a way as they expect a positive answer! Others are worded in such a way that the answer could be yes or no, but this question is worded in such a way that God expects Abraham to answer it with a resounding “NO, nothing is too hard for God.” In the last chapter God had revealed himself to Abraham with the name “El Shaddai.” That name means “God Almighty.” There is nothing too hard for God. We can’t miss the parallel here with the miraculous birth of Jesus. Hughes notices this and writes, “There was no way that Sarah could give birth apart from God’s power—which was precisely the situation that later faced Mary, the mother of our Lord. Her response to Gabriel’s announcement was, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ (Luke 1:34). And Gabriel’s answer—’the power of the Most High will overshadow you’ (v. 35)—was parallel to what God said to Sarah. But whereas aged, barren Sarah became pregnant by Abraham, young Mary would be with child without ever knowing a man sexually! Why? Because nothing is too hard/wonderful for the Lord!”¹

Even the Prophet Isaiah, prophesying about the coming of the Messiah made an allusion to this question about anything being too hard for God. Guzik catches that and writes, “Hard is the same word for wonderful in Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given … And His name will be called Wonderful. Jesus is our “wonderful” One, and He isn’t too hard or wonderful for God to give unto us.”² When the Angel Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary he appears to be quoting from this verse in a loose way. He says to Mary who asks him how it can happen since she’s still a virgin. He say in Luke 1:37, “ For nothing will be impossible with God.” My favorite Prophet in the Old Testament, Jeremiah, echos the same idea when Jeremiah speaks back to God and says in Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”

Believing that nothing is impossible with God is an easy thing to say but when it involves something that’s readily perceived as impossible by all human standards it become a little more difficult to have faith. You have to admit that when Sarah laughed when she heard the Angel say at 99 years of age she was going to have sexual relations with her 100 year old husband and they were going to conceive a child we can understand it. I’m 75. My wife is 70. We would laugh if we heard that we were yet to conceive and have a child! Ross and Oswalt observes, “The Bible is filled with stories of how God did the impossible, worked miracles, overcame seemingly great odds, and finally conquered death. And God expects the believer today to take him at his word, even though it may seem to be laughable folly.”³The resurrection of the dead and life beyond the grave from all appearances is a laughable suggestion. Yet, that’s what God promises to all believers in Jesus.

¹ R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 258.

² David Guzik, Genesis, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Ge 18:13–15.

³ Allen Ross and John N. Oswalt, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, vol. 1 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 125.

The first couple I married 35 years ago are named “Laden.” When they were expecting, I suggested that they name her “weary” or possibly “heavy.” I once new a man named Meek who was always asked if he had inherited the earth. Donald Grey Barnhouse told of a man he knew by the name of Wrench who divided his acquaintances into two classes: Those who did not make wise cracks about his name and those who did. He was often asked “are you related to Monkey?” God likes to change names. in Genesis 17:4-5 he changes Abram’s name to Abraham. The passage says, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” He also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah. He changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Simon is changed to Peter and Saul in the New Testament is changed to Paul. One of the promises God had given to Abram was that he would make “his name great.” He certainly did that literally. He added a syllable to Abram’s name which is seen both the Greek translation of the Old Testament and in the Hebrew. It’s also obvious in the English. But I don’t think that’s what this is all about.  One of the promises God had given to Abram was that he would make “his name great.” He certainly did that literally. He added a syllable to Abram’s name which is seen both the Greek translation of the Old Testament and in the Hebrew. It’s also obvious in the English. But I don’t think that’s what this is all about.

Can you imagine being named “Abram” which means “father of many” when you didn’t have any children at all? Every time you introduced yourself you’d wait to be asked “how many children do you have?” Whatever response you would come up with, you’d be secretly embarrassed. I suppose that Abraham got used to the smirks on people’s faces when he would answer. Even after Ishmael was born you sure couldn’t call Abram a father of many! But before God changes Abram’s name he introduces himself again to Abram by His own name. He calls Himself “El Shaddai” which means God Almighty. He is able! Then he changes Abram’s name from father of many children, to father of many nations, “Abraham.” He says “I will make you exceedingly fruitful.” Can you imagine what everyone thought when Abram informed them, at 99 years of age, that he didn’t want them to call him “Father of many” but now he wants them to call him “father of many nations.” Everyone must have burst out with laughing. From the human point of view that would seem ridiculous. Of course it would be if God’s name wasn’t “El Shaddai.”

Kent Hughes wraps up his discussion about “El Shaddai” by saying, “Christians, it is the same for us. The way we live is determined by what we think of God. If our God is El-Shaddai, the awesome, mighty God of this account, then our lives will live out the fullness of God’s promises to us. What you truly believe about God is the most important thing in your life. Any thoughts of a God less potent than the God of Abram will shrink your soul and neutralize your faith.”¹

¹ R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 246.

Even the most stupid of us (and I count myself amongst them!) have 20/20 hindsight. After it’s said and done we often see the mistakes we’ve made and wish we could do things over. Most often, I’d do things differently. Well, as Alexander Pope said, “To Err is human.” But to “make matters worse” is another human specialty. I can do that well. This is especially true in how I treat people. Sarai and Abram learned all about making mistakes and then making matters worse. There is an ominous beginning to Chapter 16 of Genesis. If you had never read the story before or heard it told you have a pretty good hunch as to what was going to happen next. Verse 1 says, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.” Yep, we all know what’s coming!

Giving Hagar to Abram to take to bed and bring forth a child into the world was one of the biggest mistakes that Sarai made. But Abraham listened to her! He was just as much to blame for that mistake as Sarai. Adam had once listened to his wife also and made a mistake by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But that didn’t relieve him of his responsibility at all. The story goes on and Sarah gave her maiden, Hagar, to Abram as a sort of surrogate mother. Big mistake! As a side note here it’s interesting to study the idea of surrogate motherhood as it was practiced in the near east in ancient times. Guzik says, “Some believe that the phrase refers only to a symbolic placement of the child on the knees of one who adopts it. Others believe that it refers to the surrogate sitting on the lap of the adoptive mother during both insemination and birth.”¹ Hagar, as soon as she conceived, couldn’t resist the temptation to look down on Sarah with contempt. Sarah makes matters worse by treating Hagar so harshly that she runs away. Notice that neither Abram nor Sarai made any attempt to go after her. Don’t you think that they were having regrets for making the decision to begin with! Another side note here is that Hagar’s son, Ishmael, becomes the father of all the Arab nations that have been Israel’s enemies to this very day. Oh, that we could do some things over again!

God cares about all His children; slave girls and unborn children alike. He intercedes on her behalf at a place named “Beer Lahai Roi.” That means “God sees.” He speaks to her, comforts her, promises her a son and instructs her to name him “Ishmael” which means, “God hears.” God then sends her back to Abram and her mistress Sarai with a story to tell. All three of the members of this cast got the message. God sees all our mistakes and how we often make matters worse in the way we treat others. God hears the cry of the abused and will always intercede on their behalf. All of us should remember that God sees and hears everything we do and say to others! The worst regrets in my life deal with relationships and how i’ve misused or abused them. There are things that i’ve said and done that cannot take back and the consequences continue with me to this day! I know I’m forgiven, but like the drunk who lost his arm in a knife fight and later becomes a Christian. He is forgiven and so am I. But he still lives without an arm!

¹ David Guzik, Genesis, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Ge 16:3–4.

Abraham goes to war with five surrounding nations to save his nephew Lot. When he returns from the battle, I wonder if he had fears of retaliation by some of the other tribes around him. I think he might have been afraid of something like that happening because as Chapter 15 opens we read, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’”¹ Why would God tell Abraham “not to be afraid” if he wasn’t afraid? But God promises to be a “shield” for Abraham. Boice reviews the battle that Abraham had against the four kings and concludes, “He (Abraham) had attacked with a small force, but he had won and recovered the spoils. They must have been furious, and Abram must have been wondering about the consequences of his heroic rescue of his nephew. While he was wondering, God came to him with a promise of protection, precisely the promise he needed.”¹

The image of God as a shield appears eleven times in the Psalms.

3:3 – But thou, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

5:12 – For thou dost bless the righteous, O Lord; thou dost cover him with favor as with a shield.

7:10 – My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

18:2 – the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

28:7 – The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts.

33:20 – Our soul waits for the Lord, for he is our help and shield.

84:11 – For the Lord is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor.

91:4 – He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

115:9 – O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

119:114 – Thou art my hiding place and my shield; I hope in thy word.

144:2 – My rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under him.

God promises to protect Abraham on his journey through life. One translation says, “I will block anything that might hurt you.” God will be present with Abraham and will never desert him even in times of trouble and distress. This image is repeated for us in the Psalms and elsewhere that God is a shield for his people. He will secure us from all evils, always coming between us and harm. If this is the case, and it is, it should silence all perplexing, tormenting fears that Abraham could have. It should silence our fears also. Janzen wrote, “Life continuously leads us beyond what we know and can deal with familiarly. At each stage, with its accompanying anxieties, the word of God comes: “fear not.” Thus the whole of one’s life, and of a community’s life, is a process of learning to trust in the deep assurances of the God who gives life and who calls and promises in the face of what threatens life.”²

¹ James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 528.

²J. Gerald Janzen, Abraham and All the Families of the Earth: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis 12–50, International Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids; Edinburgh: Eerdmans; Handsel Press, 1993), 36.