|
Genesis Chapter 18 "The Covenant Renewed." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Genesis 18:1 "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;" The word "Mamre" in the Hebrew means "oaks", and Abraham was sitting at his tent door, among the oaks, and the Lord God appeared to him in the heat of the day. Genesis 18:2 "And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground," Abraham knew who he was approaching, for in the Hebrew text the three men are referred to as "Elohim" or "two angels". We will see in Genesis 19:1 where these two men are correctly identified as angels. They will be the two that came to Lot, Abraham's nephew, in Sodom. The third person is the Divine Presence of God. Abraham knew Him and tithed and sacrificed to God, and it was through God that promises, and blessings had come into his life, and would continue to come even to our generation. Genesis 18:3 "And said, "My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray Thee, from Thy servant:" I thank God for the Massorah Hebrew text, for it locks in the sacred name of God. "My Lord" in the Hebrew text is correctly translated "Yahoveh", and not "Adonai". The word "Massorah" means, "to deliver something into the hand of another, with trust". That means a perfect copy. When the Kenite scribes took over the duties of the scribes [I Chronicles 2:55], and became the Sopherim or translators of the Holy Text, things started to change. In the case of the altering of "Yehoveh" to "Adonai"; what these Kenites have done is strip God of His Divinity, and made God an ordinary man with authority. This mistranslation has happened in one hundred and thirty four [134] places in the Old Testament alone. It is not Adonai, for God is Yahoveh. On the next page is given a copy of one of the pages out of the original Massoretic text, which is a reduced facsimile of MS [manuscript] in the British Museum Library. So we see that one of these three was God Himself, along with two of His angels. Genesis 18:4 "Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:" Abraham is trying to be a good host, and offer them comfort under his oak trees. Genesis 18:5 "And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant." And they said, "So do, as thou hast said." Yahoveh has said, "that is good, go and get it done". Genesis 18:6 "And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth." Genesis 18:7 "And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetch a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it." Genesis 18:8 "And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." Though we cannot understand what is taking place fully with our reasoning, but we know that human beings can live of Angel food [manna] as was written in Psalm 78:25. We also know that Jesus Christ ate regular food after his resurrection, and while in His resurrected body [Luke 24:30, 43, and Acts 10:41] It is this same line of thinking that questions how the angels could impregnate women, as we saw in Genesis 6:1-5. But then, who said they did not have a body? Many people confuse the Holy Spirit, and the spirits of Satan's realm, with the fallen angels, and yes even God and his angels. Don't let it be a mystery to you that God and these two angels could eat of the meat and bread of man, for man partook of the manna in the wilderness for forty years, and it sustained them. We are made in the image, or pattern after the Almighty God, and those two that were with Him. It is the same body of man of the second earth age, and the second heavenly age. It will not be the same body that we are going to be in in the third earth age, nor was it the same body that existed in the first earth age. Peter wrote and outlined very carefully that there were three earth ages, in II Peter 3, in God's overall plan. God and His angels then ate what was set before them. If there is any mystery in our minds as to this possibility, it comes from the false traditions that have been passed on through time and years. Abraham knew exactly who these men were that was with God, and the Massorah documents it. Don't let anyone take away from the wisdom of God. The mystery concerning the angels was brought out on a local television program, and through this program it came to light that even the local clergy are in the dark as to the correctness of the Massorah. Can it be no wonder that there is so much confusion about Angels, their existence, and what they are made of, for the Christian world today is allowing the Kenite world [of Satan] to do their translating. This is not taking God down to man's level, but only understanding a little more of the person of God, who is our creator. Genesis 18:9 "And they said unto him, "Where is Sarah thy wife?" And he said, "Behold, in the tent." Genesis 18:10 "And He said, "I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son." And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him." So we see that in the following year Sarah will bare Isaac. The "time of life" is the regular nine month carrying time for pregnancy. Genesis 18:11 "Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women." Sarah was well passed the change of life stage for a woman bearing a child. Even in her child bearing age she was barren, and could not conceive. This is why she allowed Hagar to bear a son to Abraham. This also explains how Rebekah, a grand-daughter of Abraham's brother, would be old enough to marry Isaac, Abraham's son. Genesis 18:12 "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" "My lord also" is in reference to Abraham. This laughter is for joy. Genesis 18:13 "And the Lord said unto Abraham, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" This is a quite sobering thing, it is like the Lord asking Abraham if He had the faith to accept this as fact; that He and Sarah would bear a son. Keeping in mind that Abraham is over one hundred and Sarah has been childless, and is ninety nine years old. To accept this as fact with faith, is real faith. Genesis 18:14 "Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." This is a promise which has a definite appointed time, and you can feel the excitement that Sarah must have felt. Genesis 18:15 "Then Sarah denied, saying, "I laughed not"; for she was afraid. And He said, "Nay; but thou didst laugh." Sarah was old, and though the task seemed even more impossible then winning a lottery, it was the joy of knowing this would definitely come to pass. Sarah had accepted this fact as a young woman, and in the course of many years, she had grown weary of the faith that it would come to pass. God had His appointed times so that in those times, man can not boast of anything that are of God. This child, Isaac, will be a miracle and everyone will know that He was from God. Sarah had faith, and could see the working of the Almighty God, and she was excited; wouldn't you be? Nothing is impossible for God! When you pray for something in your life, are you ready to accept and receive it when it comes? It may take time, and happen in ways that you never expected, however, that faith must continue even into old age, or a time of death. How it is answered is up to our Lord, at His appointed time. Genesis 18:16 "And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way." Abraham walked with God and these angels [men] just a ways towards Sodom, after they were finished with their meal. Abraham was thankful for the visit, and wanted to visit a while longer. We are made in God's image, and He is always with us. He is a personal God, and not a force off in some distant location. Genesis 18:17 "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;" The Lord God is about to blow Sodom off the map, and He was very much aware of the sin and filth that was being carried on with the Nephilim and other offspring of the fallen angels, and men and women. When God looks down at the compromising of the so called Christians of today, with Sodomy and all the other filthy and violent acts, we can be assured that the time of this earth age is coming to a close. If you are in this sort of activity, or mind set, it is time to repent, and get right with the Lord. If you ever wondered what Jesus thought of Sodomy, turn to Luke 17:32; He stated "Remember Lots wife", as His reaction to that type of sin. Does God hate Sodomites? He destroys them, and any illusion of compromise with God will end in the destruction of that soul, if not repented. The wickedness and evil that is increasing today in this final generation is far worse then what Sodom and Gomorrah were doing, and all the signs for the end days are either history to us, or taking place before our eyes on the nightly news, and around us. Genesis 18:18 "Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" This is God Speaking, and He is saying that I know that I can trust him. Genesis 18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him." God know that Abraham would see that his family would be brought up in the ways of the Lord, and obey Me. The generations to follow Abraham would follow after God's laws. God knew of Abraham's love and faith, but how about your love and faith for the Heavenly Father. Genesis 18:20 "And the Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;" "The cry" in the Hebrew text is "Prosopopoeia", and it means "all human activity and actions". God is saying that the activity and actions of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is sinful, and is very grievous to Him. Genesis 18:21 "I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know." Of course those those that cry out unto the Lord, include those that have been murdered, for their souls cry out from the grave. They are not in the grave, for the soul the died returned immediately to by with the Father [Ecclesiastes 12:7], and gave account of the activity that is going on there. Genesis 18:22 "And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord." The Lord stayed there with Abraham, and talked, while the two men [angels] continued on to Sodom. Genesis 18:23 "And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Abraham is concerned for his nephew Lot, who is living down there in Sodom. Though Lot's family has grown attached to Sodom, Lot was still a righteous man. Genesis 18:24 "Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt Thou destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?" This is Abraham dealing with the Lord, would you do that? Genesis 18:25 "That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from Thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham is telling God that I know that you would not slay the righteous with the wicked. Abraham is speaking up to defend Lot. "Shall not the Judge of the earth do right"; the earth is the inhabitants of the earth, and Abraham is telling God that as Judge of the righteous, He would not allow this. Genesis 18:26 "And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." Genesis 18:27 "And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:" Abraham is speaking and showing his submission to the Lord God, Yahoveh [here again is one of the 134 places of mistranslation from the Massorah, using the word "Adonai", which removes the deity from God and places God as a plain ruler over man]. Genesis 18:28 "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five?" And He said, "If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it." Abraham knows Sodom and the type of city it was, and now he starts to doubt that there is even fifty righteous in the city. So God tells Abraham that if there is forty five righteous in the city He will save the city, and not destroy it. Forty five in Biblical numerics is "preservation" Joshua 14]. Genesis 18:29 "And he spake unto Him yet again, and said, "Peradventure there shall be forty found there." And He said, "I will not do it for forty's sake." Abraham is horse trading with God, for Abraham knows of the filth and sodomy that exists there in Sodom, and that righteous Lot still lives there. In Biblical numerics forty is "trials and probation". Genesis 18:30 "And he said unto Him, "Oh lit not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there." And He said, "I will not destroy it for twenty's sake." Abraham is full of doubt about the number of righteous men in Sodom, however, God knew what He would find there. Thirty in Biblical numerics stands for "salvation", and God's salvation is extended to all men in all times, when their hearts are right with the Lord Jehovah. Genesis 18:31 "And he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there." And He said, "I will not destroy it for ten's sake." Twenty in Biblical numerics is "redemption", and redemption is the path to salvation. It is Christ that did the redemptive act, so that each of could have salvation by our own choosing. Genesis 18:32 "And he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there." And He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake." Abraham's knowledge of Sodom is so strong, that he has bartered with God all the way down from fifty to ten righteous souls in all of Sodom and Gomorrah, and at the same time he knows that Lot is still there. Ten in Biblical numerics stands for "law and responsibility". Genesis 18:33 "And the Lord went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place." So God left Abraham, having given to Abraham the assurance that if just ten righteous men lived in Sodom and Gomorrah he would not destroy the cities. However we will see that with this assurance of God's faithfulness to the righteous, Lot's life would be spared.
Home .~
Plough .~ Seeds .~ Vine .~ Potter .~ Seasons .~ Sonshine .~ Rain .~ Field |