"And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? See that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 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."
Genesis 18:17-19
Part 1
Today: God Could Trust Abraham!
“The LORD said to himself, ‘Should I tell Abraham what I am going to do now?’” (Genesis 18:17, HSB[1]).
Abraham had just finished entertaining three heavenly guests, the Lord and two of His angels. What a remarkable story of grace and God’s blessing this one is. God has promised Abraham a son, his son, not the handmaid’s boy. He and Sarah will have a boy of their own according to God’s promise. In the next few months, Sarah will become pregnant with this child of promise. At their advanced ages, it was humanly not possible for them to conceive a child. God said he would change that, and Sarah laughed at the impossibility of it. Christ said –
“Is anything 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” (Genesis 18:14).
And miraculously, within the year, she gave birth to Isaac, the son God had promised them.
Following that story is the account of how God’s angels went to Sodom and destroyed that wicked city. Today, we are interested in the almost unnoticed words between those stories. See verses 17-19.
“And the LORD said.”
This phrase is written at least 163 times in the Word of God.[2] Every time the Lord speaks, His words are important. This time here in Genesis, He is asking a question, not because He lacks information, for He knows all. He is not using the question because He is stalling, sort of a verbal pause, to give Him an extra moment to make up His mind about what He will do. And the Lord does not need to think out loud to gather His thoughts. This is one of the times that God explicitly wants those reading His Word to understand precisely what He is thinking, and so He tells us.
“Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?”
Abraham is casually walking with “the men” as they leave his camp and are heading in the direction of Sodom. This was when the Lord asked His question. He wants us to know that Abraham is a man in which He can confide.
“Christ had visited Abraham’s tent, but He did more. He trusted him with His secrets…”[3] (Meyer).
“Shall I Hide from Abraham”
These words make us think of what God said in Amos, about another time of destruction and how God speaks to His servants.
“Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it? ‘For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?’” (Amos 3:6-8, ESV [4]).
“That Thing Which I Do”
God didn’t tell everyone, but He shared with Abraham His plan.
“And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God” (James 2:23).
No wonder God could entrust His plans to Abraham.
Interestingly, that night Jesus was betrayed by Judas, before He went to the cross the next day, here’s what He said to His disciples.
“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15).
And believers, we can rejoice because Jesus has also given to us what the Father has said. It’s in the Word of God, the Bible. We have it to open and glean from every day as we fellowship with Him.
Come back tomorrow as we look at what God plans to do with Abraham.
Quote: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] That is, in the KJV.
[3] F.B. Meyer. Through the Bible Day by Day, the electronic version in eSword. Genesis 18:16-33.
[4] ESV is the English Standard Version of the Bible.