We shall continue with
the study of the Book of Genesis this week.
(1) How long since the birth of Ishmael did God choose to appear to Abraham again? Why did it take so long?
(2) Before changing Abram’s name, God chose to address Himself as “God Almighty” (El Shaddai). Why?
(3) In confirming the covenant again with Abraham, of what did God exhort him before reiterating His covenant? How did Abraham fall short of this exhortation after he was credited with righteousness?
(4) Why did God choose to change his name from Abram to Abraham (i.e. from Exalted Father to Father of Many)?
(5) Why did God not change his name before? What might be the lesson conveyed by the timing?
(6) God emphasizes that it is an “everlasting covenant”. In what way is it everlasting? How do you understand this as an everlasting covenant?
(7) This covenant is conditional on Abraham’s acceptance by performing circumcision on himself and all his descendants.
a. Why did God make it conditional?
b. Of all things, why did God choose circumcision as a sign?
c. What might it take for Abraham and his descendants to obey this command?
d. Why was non-compliance such a serious breach?
(8) What spiritual significance is there to include “foreigners” in his household prophetically? (Read Rom. 4:9-12.)
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
After Abraham took Hagar as his second wife, there was a period of silence of 13 years before God appeared again to him. It must have been a period of spiritual dryness in a desert for Abraham. On the one hand, he knew God is a faithful God in whom he trusted; on the other hand, he knew that the taking of Hagar as his second wife, as much as it was arranged by Sarah, was a faithless act. This period of silence must have been long and unbearable. It would be for those who love God, and for Abraham it would not be any different.
Then God chose to break His silence after thirteen years. One would think that in order to convict Abraham of his folly, God would discipline him with some kind of misfortune, or at least, bring him words of rebuke. Surprisingly, God’s reappearance was marked by an even greater blessing — the giving of a new name to him.
In essence, Abraham’s name had been changed when he received his call to leave his homeland, and as he obeyed out of faith (chapter 12). His act of faith was in response to God’s promise of making him a great nation and a channel of blessing to all peoples on earth (Gen. 12:2-3). This is the meaning of his new name, Abraham. But with an actual name change, God made this promise irrevocable.
One would think that such a gracious act should have followed some remarkable act of faith by Abraham, so that it would be a sign of delight or reward from God. However, the opposite was true. It followed the commission of one of the most horrible mistakes of Abraham. This is how gracious our God is. Unlike our human fathers, our Heavenly Father often deals with our follies with added grace. Yes, a disciplinary action would have left a scar in Abraham’s life to remind him of his mistake. But, an act of grace will leave in the hearts of those who, like Abraham, love the Lord, an even deeper knowledge of how gracious, forgiving and loving our Heavenly Father is.
Yes, discipline will induce a holy fear (which might be necessary at times), but grace is meant to lead to a loving obedience.
(1) Why did God change the name of Sarai as well? (Note: The exact meaning of her name change is unclear, except that both names appear to be variants of the word, princess.)
(2) Did God not intend that His promise of a son would come through Sarah from the beginning? Why did Abraham laugh then?
(3) Even with God’s clear confirmation of a son through Sarah, why did Abraham still bring forward the name of Ishmael? What does it tell us about this “father of faith” whose conversation with the Lord was carried out “facedown”?
(4) In v. 20, God said, “I have heard you.” What had God heard from Abraham?
(5) What blessings would Ishmael receive? How did his blessings compare to those of Isaac in this passage?
(6) Whom did Abraham circumcise? What did this action confer upon them?
(7) Did Abraham circumcise Ishmael too? What is the significance of Ishmael’s circumcision?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
The name of Abraham clearly conveys the message that God intends to bless all peoples on earth, and Abraham is only the instrument.
We all know that the descendants of Ishmael, who are the Arabs, have become historically the enemies of Israel for thousands of years until even today. The fact that most of the people in the Arab countries are Muslims and are in general, hostile to both Jews and Christians, has caused us to view them with fear and suspicion. But, do we know that, in obedience to the command of God, “Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day” (Gen. 17:26)?
God makes it clear that, “Any uncircumcised male [in Abraham’s household] who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant” (Gen. 17:14). The fact that Abraham circumcised Ishmael confirmed that he was not cut off from his people, and that he was part of the covenant. Yes, in God’s providence, the blessing through Abraham would continue through the line of Isaac, but anyone within Abraham’s household would be blessed as well, if he was circumcised as mandated by God.
Of course, as Paul explains in Romans 4:9-12, the true spiritual descendants of Abraham are those whose hearts and not their flesh are circumcised. So, if anyone, be it a Jew, an Arab or any Gentile, would repent and believe in Jesus Christ, they would become the People of God as his or her heart is circumcised. This spiritual truth was made plain already, through the circumcision of Ishmael.
For that matter, anyone, be it a Jew, an Arab or any nominal Christian, whose heart is not circumcised, he or she remains outside of the covenant of God.
(1) After the last appearance, God followed up with another appearance to Abraham. From the contents of this passage, what was the purpose of God's appearance? To whom was this appearance directed and why?
(2) What lesson can you learn from this?
(3) Judging from the way Abraham acted towards these strangers, one would have thought that he knew who they might be. Read Hebrews 13:2 to see how the Scripture interprets this incident. What lesson can you draw from this interpretation? (Note: If Abraham knew it was God, he would have brought an offering, but he brought refreshments instead.)
(4) Neither the angels nor God needs to eat. Why would they accept Abraham’s reception?
(5) Did God know that Sarah was listening? Can you blame Sarah for laughing?
(6) Why did God choose to confront Sarah’s laugh and not Abraham’s (Gen. 17:17)?
(7) What did Sarah’s lie signify? Why did God choose to confront her lie as well?
(8) This is the first time that this rhetorical question appears, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”.
a. What did it mean to Abraham?
b. What did it mean to Sarah?
c. What does it mean to you?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
As we reflect on this very first affirmation by God in the Bible, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”, I invite you to meditate on the lyrics of the following song written by Watchman Nee:
God Makes No Mistakes
He makes no mistakes, for He is God
He’ll never, He delights in grace.
He’ll never, because He has promised.
With a God like Him, whom should I fear.
Is there any mountain you can’t scale?
Is there any deep water you can’t swim over?
Our God specializes
In things impossible!
He makes iron float on water;
He splits the sea into dry land.
He makes the sun stay in the sky;
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
He sets the ocean’s boundary with soft sand;
Roaring waves cannot trespass.
He is your God, for you
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
His loving heart knows your troubles
He has promised to care for you;
Our God is full of compassion
Toward His helpless people.
Our God cannot deny Himself
He cannot forget His promises;
All His promises are in Christ
They are all Yes, Yes and Yes.
Our God cannot be unfaithful
His gracious covenant stands forever;
He will honor His promises
In answer to our cry of faith.
By faith, in joy we shall sing:
He makes no mistakes, He has promised;
He’ll never, He delights in grace.
He’ll never, for He is God!
(1) What was the other purpose of this visit of the Lord and the angels?
(2) How significant is this rhetorical question by God, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”? Why did God feel obliged to share the destruction of Sodom with Abraham? What does blessing other nations through him have to do with disclosing this particular plan? Can you think of more than one reason?
(3) As much as the covenant is one of blessing, v. 19 clarifies Abraham’s role in the fulfillment of this promise. What did his role entail?
(4) What can Christian parents learn from this role of Abraham?
(5) Did God not “know” how great and grievous the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were? Why did He have to “go down and see”?
(6) What can you learn about God from this?
(7) According to the Masoretic text, v. 22 should read, “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham” which is more in tune with v. 23 which follows by saying, “Then, Abraham approached Him…”.
a. Why didn’t the Lord go with the angels, but stood there instead? What was He waiting for?
b. Did He get what He was waiting for?
(8) Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah. Consider these questions:
a. Why did Abraham start with 50 righteous people?
b. Why did he stop at 10?
c. Who lived in Sodom, other than the Sodomites? (see Gen. 19:29)
(9) How should we emulate Abraham when we are faced with increasing immorality and godlessness in our city?
(10) What can we say about Lot, given that he had a large and wealthy household, when there were not even 10 righteous in their midst?
(11) What is the main message to you today?
I am not sure about the city in which you live. Chances are it is not unlike San Francisco or Vancouver. The increase in immorality, crime, drug and godlessness is alarming. Even worse is that it has degenerated from immorality into amorality. Immoral people, while continuing with their evil deeds, know that they are wrong, and there is at least a sense of guilt. But amoral people do not have a sense of right or wrong. While they do as they please, they do not have a sense of guilt. In fact, they take pride in their immorality. In both cities that I have just mentioned, homosexual behavior is a case in point. That’s why they call it “gay pride”.
As we read the story of Lot and Sodom, we understand that this is nothing new. However, how Abraham responded to God’s impending judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah of their sins is markedly different from how most of us would. While the righteous heart of Lot grieved over the sins of his city (2 Pet. 2:8), Abraham did more than that — he interceded on behalf of the city, not once, not twice but six times.
When God finished sharing his impending judgment on Sodom with Abraham, the Bible says, “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” (Gen. 18:22, Masoretic text) Why did He stand there? What was He waiting for?
The Bible makes clear that God does not delight in punishing even the wicked (Ezek. 18:23), He was waiting for someone to intercede on their behalf. Abraham did not disappoint God, “Then, Abraham approached Him…” (Gen. 18:23). He knew the heart of God.
(1) By describing Lot as sitting (presumably safely) in the gateway of the extremely immoral city, what might we know about Lot? (Refer to Prov. 31:23.)
(2) Based on the ensuing event and apart from hospitality, what might be the reason that Lot insisted “strongly” to have the angels enter his house?
(3) Do you appreciate what Lot did to these two strangers? Why?
(4) The angels went to see how “great and grievous” the sins of the city were (18:20).
a. What did they find out?
b. How did their sins compare to our city today? Are we (or ours) there yet?
(5) Lot sought to protect the strangers because “they have come under the protection of (his) roof”
a. What does it say about Lot?
b. What does his offer of his two virgin daughters say about Lot?
c. What has choosing, moving closer to and eventually living in Sodom done to Lot and his family, spiritually speaking?
(6) As much as Lot did grieve over the sins of the city (2 Pet. 2:8), what did Abraham do about the city (see Gen. 18) that presumably Lot did not do?
(7) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
The Bible describes the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah as “great and grievous” (Gen. 18:20). Some Evangelicals defend that their judgment by God has nothing to do with their homosexual behavior, but their violence. But, the story itself is plain for all to see.
But what about the claim that scientific research has now confirmed that homosexuality biologically is determined at birth; that homosexual persons are as psychologically healthy as heterosexuals; that there is a genetic component to sexual orientation, and that science has established that sexual orientation cannot change?
Stanton L. Jones, the provost and professor of psychology at Wheaton College, has written an extensive essay on the above in which he points out “representative samples of homosexual persons are difficult to gather…because homosexuality is a statistically uncommon phenomenon” with 1.8% (of adults in the United States, Canada and Europe) being bisexual men and women, 1.1% being gay men, and 0.6% being lesbians. This infrequency makes it hard to find participants for research studies, leading researchers to study easy-to-access group of persons…”. Jones concludes in his essay that, “The contributions of science to this area, however, remain sketchy, limited and puzzling.”
For a full version of his article, you can visit www.christianethics.org.
(1) Why did the angels extend the rescue to Lot’s sons-in-law (who could be Sodomites)?
(2) Why did they take it as a joke?
(3) The angels were urging Lot to leave, obviously with a sense of urgency. Why did Lot hesitate (19:16)? What did he hesitate about? Should he not fear for his life? What did leaving Sodom mean to him?
(4) Apart from urging them to flee, the angels also said that they should not look back? Why?
(5) Why then did Lot’s wife look back? Why was she turned into a pillar of salt? What is the lesson here?
(6) Why did Lot refuse to flee to the mountains and prefer to flee to a “town”? What difference did a town make, versus the mountains? What was the result of his decision?
(7) Why would the angels grant his wish?
(8) I am sure, the very next morning, that both Abraham and Lot saw the smoke that came from the totally destroyed cities.
a. What might Abraham be thinking?
b. What about Lot?
(9) Given the spiritual insensitivity of Lot, why did God choose to bring him out of the city of Sodom?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
I have no idea what Lot told his sons-in-law apart from, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
Did he appear to be a religious zealot to them? Had he cautioned them against the immorality of the city? Did he live a life that was set apart for the Lord? We do not really know the answers. I suspect even if Lot did, with the sinful culture of the city, it would not be surprising that his sons-in-law or for that matter, any of the Sodomites would have taken his words as a joke, because this is exactly the case with the people of our age.
When Christians take the Lord’s return seriously, the world regards us as fundamentalists or religious zealots. However, some of these people find the Mayan’s doom’s day prediction far more interesting or even credible. At the same time, movies that fantasize about Doom’s Day often become a box-office hit. Somehow, people do not take Doom’s Day necessarily as a joke, but they would take the Christian End-time belief as a joke. While they find the Mayan’s prediction mythically curious, and the movie’s Doom’s Day speculations credible because they realize the self-destructive power of human beings, they disregard the biblical End-time prophecy, because it is foretold by the Bible.
Why do they take this Biblical message so negatively? Because the message of the End-time is one of accountability and God’s judgment. The world takes the Mayan’s Doom’s Day with curiosity and light-heartedness; it takes the movies’ Doom’s Day scenarios with seriousness which echoes all kinds of global effort to promote world peace and environmental protection to avoid the possibility of its happening. Yet the message of the End-time is one of certainty and the only way to prepare for it is repentance and belief in the One whose return is imminent.
(1) Did Lot not choose to stay in the little town of Zoar? Why then would they leave for the mountains? What might they be afraid of?
(2) What “custom all over the earth” did his daughter refer to?
(3) Had this righteous person, Lot, exerted influence on the city he lived in, or vice-versa?
(4) What about his influence on the daughters?
(5) What important lesson may we learn from Lot?
(6) Like Noah, Lot was drunk with wine. How similar were their weaknesses?
(7) Again, what far reaching impact did such a weakness have?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
The life of Lot is the story of a believer who thinks he can love God and the world at the same time.
Lot had followed his uncle, Abraham, all the way from Ur. He shared part of his journey of faith. Abraham must have told him and his household about his continued encounters with God, how God called him and the promise He had made to him. Lot also witnessed how God blessed Abraham and made him wealthy. He also shared in his great wealth too. Peter also testified that Lot was a righteous person (2 Pet. 2:8). His grieving over the sins of Sodom proved that he exhibited godly character as well.
Yet, his heart leaned toward the world. As a nephew in the ancient Oriental culture, he did not defer the right to choose to his uncle and dared to take the more prosperous land from him instead. But the most attractive part of the land seemed to be the Paris of Palestine of the time, the city of Sodom. He saw it, he moved near to it, and eventually he lived in it, fully aware of its immorality and its potential influence on his family and himself. His great wealth in Sodom probably earned him a seat at the city’s gate, but it also cost him the life of his wife. Her looking back against the command of the angels and Lot’s initial hesitation to leave indicated their love of the city and their wealth tied to the city. The immoral deeds of the two daughters finally showed that, instead of influencing the city with his godliness, he and his family were influenced by the city instead.
If the Apostle John were alive then, he could have told Lot ― “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 Jn. 2:15)