“Believe Big and Multiply” Genesis 18:16–33

Genesis 18:16–33 Here’s the story: 3 mysterious men have come down to talk with Abraham. They have two
purposes for their visit:

• ONE, they want to announce to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, that she’s pregnant;
• TWO, they intend to destroy two very wicked cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. S and G were notorious not only
for their moral lasciviousness, but for their cruelty and their oppression of the poor. So the 3 mysterious men
meet with Abraham and Sarah and announce Sarah’s pregnancy. Task 1, the happy part of their journey,
has been completed, and how the turn them self to the task number 2 which is distraction of S and G.

18:16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them
to set them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? .... Real
quick: Who are these mysterious men? Well, at least one of them is God himself, because he speaks in the first
person. We assume the other two are angels. The one that is God says, .... 18 Abraham will surely become a great
and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him… so that
the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him (which is to use him as a blessing).” So they
tell Abraham what they are going to do and then, 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but
Abraham remained standing before the Lord. .... If you remember, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lives in Sodom. So
we assume that he is thinking here about his nephew and his extended family and that he doesn’t want them to be
destroyed. That is why he is still in front of God. So … 23 Then Abraham approached him .... (This word “approach”
in Hebrew is a technical word that means “approaching” the bench as in a court of law. In other words, Abraham is
about to go to court with God) .... and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if
there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake
of the fifty righteous? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating
the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” ... that is
very bold and gutsy (not what is right and what is wrong but what is honorable and what is shameful) ... 26 The Lord
said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then
Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord… 28 what if the number of
the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” In other words, “Well…
what if there are only 45? Surely that 5 wouldn’t make the difference between destruction and salvation?” .... Abraham
is haggling with God… like you’d haggle over the price of bananas at a street fair in Mexico. God plays along. ... “If I
find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” 29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are
found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry…
What if only thirty can be found there?” ... He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham
said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said,
“For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak
just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy
it.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. .... What
happened? I find 2 intriguing questions in this passage:

First: Why is Abraham praying for the city in the first place?

I used to think he was simply doing it for the sake of his nephew Lot: to keep God from destroying the city so Lot
wouldn’t be harmed. But Abraham could have just asked for that directly. He could have said, “Hey God, I know you
need to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, I don’t like them either, but could you give me some time to get Lot out first?
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Then you can destroy those disgusting Canaanites with heavenly rod and get rid of them for good.” That would have
been much easier; and honestly, it would have made sense, because not only were the people of Sodom really
wicked, they had been especially unkind to Abraham personally. They were ones who attacked Abraham and made
war on Abraham. It would make sense.

But instead of doing that, Abraham stood before God and asked for mercy for the whole city. He even
puts himself at risk in doing so. Notice how he keeps saying, “God, don’t be mad.” He knows he is pushing it with
God, putting himself on the line for people who been cruel to him. Why is Abraham doing this? I think He clearly
understood two things:

1. God’s hand of mercy can stretch so far that can reach even the most wicked and God has chosen him to
be a channel that mercy. That is a calling. There is a heavenly anointing and responsibility on his
shoulders. “I have chosen Abraham… so that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through
him.”(vs. 18)
2. And that calling is inseparable from praxis. There is a reason when God said: “Shall I hide from
Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham I’m in the business of going to destroy those wicked
people.” Abraham what are you going to do? Do something about that!

Abraham blessing, anointing and responsibility, is our blessing, anointing and responsibility. We need to allowed
reality that we live among the wicked people and that God is on the way to destroy it to hit us. God is not hiding that
from us.

We maybe need to stop being polite and emotionally controlled and allowed a bad things around us to
raise up our pulse to the level of making us zealous to see that trough US, God can break into that situation
and bring change.
• How can you look poverty and not stand in the gap and plead to God to show his mercy?
• How can we look the rise of nationalism and totalitarianism in world without taking any action, at list on our
knees crying our eyes out in prayer.
• How can you look at the rising rate of divorce and domestic violence, and not ask God for mercy?
• How can you consider the confusion of gender identity and sexual immorality and not cry for mercy?
• How can we not stand in gap and haggling with God.

God said to Abraham, in the light of truth that you being chosen to be blessing to others, and your knowledge
that they are so wicked, and that I’m going to destroy them ..... what you going to do? God shared his plan with
Abraham so that he could ask for them to be blessed instead of destroyed. And Abraham responded well to
that challenge.

Second: Why does Abraham stop haggling at 10?

As far as haggling go, Abraham seems to have been on a roll. He has gotten God down from 50 righteous to
10. So why stop there? Anybody whose haggling knows, when you sense an opening, when you see the weakness
you press as far as you can to get the lowest price. If your friend is selling his 2-year-old Mercedes, which you know
is worth $50,000, and you go to him and say, “Hey, would you take $10,000 for it?” and he says, “I would gladly give
it to you for 10K!” then you should follow up with, “Well, since you were so enthusiastic about that, how about $5K?”
If he says, “$5K sounds great.” “Would you take $1K?” “Yes, of course.” Then you say, “Why don’t you pay me to

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take this car off your hands?” That would be a normal practice. So why didn’t Abraham do that? Why doesn’t he
haggle God down to ONE righteous person?

Well, he recognized that there was not even one in the city righteous enough to have the city spared on
his behave. So he leaves off the negotiation, and Sodom is destroyed. Doesn’t matter how low he goes, there will
not be even one righteous. And as a favor to Abraham, God warns Abraham’s nephew, Lot, so that he and family
can get out. Then He pours out fire and brimstone on Sodom.
This story leaves a question that only the New Testament will answer. Is there no one who is righteous
enough who can plead on behalf of the wicked people of all nations, and stop the wrath of God on our behalf
because of his righteous?

Once a year many Muslims take Ha'd, a trip to Mecca. 1 million Muslims are at one point on the square of the
Temple in Mecca and they all go round a black stone called Kaba. And as they walk in the circle and slowly approach
in hope of touching it. Those are all god-fearing Muslims and as they walk around this stone and ask God for
forgiveness, they have one hope that there is at least one among them who is righteous enough so God can hear his
prayers of forgiveness and, on behalf of his righteous forgive all the sins of all Muslims everywhere.

True is, there is a person who they looking for, only that they will not find him circling around the black
stone in the desert, but on the cross 2000 years ago, not only seeking God for forgiveness, but also buying
our forgiveness with his blood.

Jesus’ righteousness was so pure, his sacrifice so satisfying to God, that on His behalf, even the most
wicked sinners can ask for forgiveness and God will give it to them.

And we, who have been forgiven, now can ask in Jesus name for God to extend his hand of mercy to
every Sodom and Gomorrah of this world and he will be obliged to hear it and to act.
Because his honor is at stake. The One who has been so satisfied with sacrifice of Rightness One will
not embarrass his name, and his Son name, by saying: my hand of mercy is not going that far away. He will
save, he will restore, he will reconcile, he will bless. Judge of all the earth will do right thing. For his name
sake, for his honor.

For us: You and I have been placed in nearly identical situation to Abraham

1. Each of us is placed into a community to pray and stand in gap on their behalf.

God placed you: into that family, it was his sovereign choice; into that community, in that nation, in that
neighborhood, in this moment so that you could ask for blessing and mercy for them.

You say but they are wicked, heart harden, they don’t listen, neither did Sodom. But Abraham knew that was
the reason that God put him there, so he can ask for mercy. It is same with us.
In Acts 17:26, Paul explains that God pre-determined “the allotted periods and the boundaries of people’
dwelling places, so that they might learn to seek God.” In other words, God sovereignly arranges where people
live so they might seek him.

• Do you see your neighbors that way? Are you praying for them to that end?
• Do you see your children that way? That God put them in your hands so they might learn to seek God! When
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 I watch, it seems that many of our parents’ care more about where your kids go to college than where they spend
eternity, and honestly, that’s sad. What good is it if you and your children become leading men and women in
Sodom but lose their souls? It’s not that any of these other things are wrong… just that God should get the priority
right.

God placed you in that family, that community, to pray and give and sacrifice on their behalf! It is our divine
destiny.

That means we owe them our labors and faith and sacrifices on their behalf. They don’t deserve it and we
are not obligated to them personally but we owe it to Jesus. IT IS DEBT OF HONNOR!

ROM14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; ... I am

ready to preach the gospel ...

Paul called himself a “debtor” to all those who have never heard the gospel. Debtor? He’d never even met
most of them. There are two ways you can be a debtor. The first way: somebody loans you money, and so you owe
them. But there’s another way: You are dead broke and hopeless and somebody generously pours out riches upon
you, more than you could ever use in your lifetime, and then says to you, “My only requirement is that you share
this with others whom you encounter who are similarly destitute.” At that point you owe to others, not because
of them, but your benefactor. That’s the kind of debt Paul is talking about.

That’s how we are. We are under similar obligation we own our everything to people outside because our
GREAT BENEFACTOR has given us everything. Your life looks different when you're a debtor. Your obligation to
them trumps your freedom.

2. We can stand in the gap because of the Name of the One who is rightness

The name of honorable person in one’s community opens every door. In the light of that, Jesus name opens
every door of every situation in every culture of every nation.
Unlike Abraham, we know that there is One whose life counts as just and honorable, respectable, and because
of that God is willing to show his mercy and favor to the ones who are coming in that name. A valuable mediator
whom God cannot refuse. He is like having a perfect credit history so there is no bank that can refuse a loan.
When we come to Christ's name, God is obliged to show mercy. This is a promise that was given to Jesus and
the promise that the rest of us at the behest.

Jesus didn’t die so that a group of wobbly Christians could haggle each other with the hope that Jesus would
come and take us away as fast as possible. Or to play church and sing the sentimental love songs.
He died to make it possible for us to boldly go in his name. Until the last man on the last place in the world have
a clear and exciting picture of King of the universe who fought the heavenly battle here on earth 2000 years ago
and won. And now He gives us the grace of the invitation to be on His victory side in all the eternity.
That is why He died! So that people in your home, in your neighborhood, in your schools and jobs, would move
from atheist to missionaries. And he told us that even the gates of hell cannot stop us in that.

And don’t presume upon God by asking him to much we insult Jesus by asking to little. We asking
to little for such a great name.

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 God loves when we pray big prayers, like the salvation of Sodom, on Jesus’ behalf, because in asking
big we are honoring the size of God’s grace demonstrated in Jesus’ sacrifice. Psalm 2:8, “Ask of Me, and I
will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.” Whatever you
ask in my name, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 21:22, God will do.

In the Book of Acts, Jesus ascended to heaven and the disciples closed themselves and 10 days devote
themselves to prayer. Peter then stood up and preached for 10 minutes and 3000 people were saved. And we pray
for 10 minutes, and when we preach what it looks like 10 days and 3 people are saved. Somewhere we put zero in
the wrong place.

The James Fraiser missionary in China said: I used to think that prayer should have the first place and
the preaching of God's Word second place. Now I feel it is more true that prayer should have first and second
and third places, and that preaching is the fourth.

There is this incredible desire and mystery of God to limit himself in his mission by the willingness of his people
to stand in front of him, to haggle with him, to take risk, to fight for the people, to whom they do not owes nothing.

the end

30 ‘I
looked for someone among them who would stand before me in the gap on behalf
of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour
out my wrath on them .... declares the Sovereign LORD.’ Ezekiel 22:30-31

Ezekiel wrote these words at a time when the people went far from God for a long time. And God mysteriously
sought somebody, limited himself, condition himself and his deeds to that person, a man or a woman of faith
who would stand between him and the people and fill the gap of their unbelief and disobedience. If there was
at least one there, God says - who would act justly and pray for the people – they would not be destroyed. But there
was not one in all of Israel.

The Lord save us from that, raise up the generation of righteous ones, who would stand not on their
righteousness but on Christ, a generation that will take responsibility and fill the gap, take a risk before God and with
whom God will be pleased, their intersession prayers good to His ears so he can show kindness to the nations around
us.