The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
Parallel Translations
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The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
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And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
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And the men rose up from thence, and looked out toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 18:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 21:5 When those days were over, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, brought us on our way until we were out of the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed.
- Acts 15:3 They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.
- Acts 20:38 sorrowing most of all because of the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
- 3 John 1:6 They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God,
- Romans 15:24 whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. And the men rose up from thence. Moses…
16. And the men rose up from thence. Moses again calls those men, whom he had openly declared to be angels. But he gives them the name from the form which they had assumed. We are not, however, to suppose that they were surrounded with human bodies, in the same manner in which Christ clothed himself in our nature, together with our flesh; but God invested them with temporary bodies, in which they might be visible to Abraham, and might speak familiarly with him. Abraham is said to have brought them on the way; not for the sake of performing an office of humanity, as when he had received them at first, but in order to render due honor to the angels. For frivolous is the opinion of some who imagine that they were believed to be prophets, who had been banished, on account of the word. He well knew that they were angels as we shall soon see more clearly. But he follows those in the way, whom he did not dare to detain.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 18:16 And the men rose up from thence,…
Gen 18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Ver. 16. To bring them on the way.] A special piece of courtesy, and much spoken of in Scripture. {3Jn 1:6 Act 20:38; Act 21:5 Rom 15:24 1Co 16:11 Tit 3:13}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A civility usual then and afterwards. See Act 20:38;…
A civility usual then and afterwards. See Act 20:38; 21:5 Rom 15:24; 1Co 16:11.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The messengers from heaven had now despatched one part…
The messengers from heaven had now despatched one part of their business, which was an errand of grace to Abraham and Sarah, and which they delivered first; but now they have before them work of another nature. Sodom is to be destroyed, and they must do it, Gen 19:13. Note, As with the Lord there is mercy, so he is the God to whom vengeance belongs. Pursuant to their commission, we here find, 1. That they looked towards Sodom (Gen 18:16); they set their faces against it in wrath, as God is said to look unto the host of the Egyptians, Exo 14:24. Note, Though God has long seemed to connive at sinners, from which they have inferred that the Lord does not see, does not regard, yet, when the day of his wrath comes, he will look towards them. 2. That they went towards Sodom (Gen 18:22), and accordingly we find two of them at Sodom, Gen 19:1. Whether the third was the Lord, before whom Abraham yet stood, and to whom he drew near (Gen 18:23), as most think, or whether the third left them before they came to Sodom, and the Lord before whom Abraham stood was the shechinah, or that appearance of the divine glory which Abraham had formerly seen and conversed with, is uncertain. However, we have here,
I. The honour Abraham did to his guests: He went with them to bring them on the way, as one that was loth to part with such good company, and was desirous to pay his utmost respects to them. This is a piece of civility proper to be shown to our friends; but it must be done as the apostle directs (Jo3 1:6), after a godly sort.
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II. The honour they did to him; for those that honour God he will honour. God communicated to Abraham his purpose to destroy Sodom, and not only so, but entered into a free conference with him about it. Having taken him, more closely than before, into covenant with himself (ch. 17), he here admits him into more intimate communion with himself than ever, as the man of his counsel. Observe here,
1. God's friendly thoughts concerning Abraham, Gen 18:17-19, where we have his resolution to make known to Abraham his purpose concerning Sodom, with the reasons of it. If Abraham had not brought them on their way, perhaps he would not have been thus favoured; but he that loves to walk with wise men shall be wise, Pro 13:20. See how God is pleased to argue with himself: Shall I hide from Abraham (or, as some read it, Am I concealing from Abraham) that thing which I do? "Can I go about such a thing, and not tell Abraham?" Thus does God, in his counsels, express himself, after the manner of men, with deliberation. But why must Abraham be of the cabinet-council? The Jews suggest that because God had granted the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed therefore he would not destroy those cities which were a part of that land, without his knowledge and consent. But God here gives two other reasons: -
(1.) Abraham must know, for he is a friend and a favourite, and one that God has a particular kindness for and great things in store for. He is to become a great nation; and not only so, but in the Messiah, who is to come from his loins, All nations of the earth shall be blessed. Note, The secret of the Lord is with those that fear him, Psa 25:14; Pro 3:32. Those who by faith live a life of communion with God cannot but know more of his mind than other people, though not with a prophetical, yet with a prudential practical knowledge. They have a better insight than others into what is present (Hos 14:9; Psa 107:43), and a better foresight of what is to come, at least so much as suffices for their guidance and for their comfort.
(2.) Abraham must know, for he will teach his household: I know Abraham very well, that he will command his children and his household after him, Gen 18:19. Consider this, [1.] As a very bright part of Abraham's character and example. He not only prayed with his family, but he taught them as a man of knowledge, nay, he commanded them as a man in authority, and was prophet and king, as well as priest, in his own house. Observe, First, God having made the covenant with him and his seed, and his household being circumcised pursuant to that, he was very careful to teach and rule them well. Those that expect family blessings must make conscience of family duty. If our children be the Lord's, they must be nursed for him; if they wear his livery, they must be trained up in his work. Secondly, Abraham took care not only of his children, but of his household; his servants were catechized servants. Masters of families should instruct and inspect the manners of all under their roof. The poorest servants have precious souls that must be looked after. Thirdly, Abraham made it his care and business to promote practical religion in his family. He did not fill their heads with matters of nice speculation, or doubtful disputation; but he taught them to keep the way of the Lord, and to do judgment and justice, that is, to be serious and devout in the worship of God and to be honest in their dealings with all men. Fourthly, Abraham, herein, had an eye to posterity, and was in care not only that his household with him, but that his household after him, should keep the way of the Lord, that religion might flourish in his family when he was in his grave. Fifthly, His doing this was the fulfilling of the conditions of the promises which God had made him. Those only can expect the benefit of the promises that make conscience of their duty. [2.] As the reason why God would make known to him his purpose concerning Sodom, because he was communicative of his knowledge, and improved it for the benefit of those that were under his charge. Note, To him that hath shall be given, Mat 13:12; Mat 25:29. Those that make a good use of their knowledge shall know more.
2. God's friendly talk with Abraham, in which he makes known to him purpose concerning Sodom, and allows him a liberty of application to him about the matter. (1.) He tells him of the evidence there was against Sodom: The cry of Sodom is great, Gen 18:20. Note, Some sins, and the sins of some sinners, cry aloud to heaven for vengeance. The iniquity of Sodom was crying iniquity, that is, it was so very provoking that it even urged God to punish. (2.) The enquiry he would make upon this evidence: I will go down now and see, Gen 18:21. Not as if there were any thing concerning which God is in doubt, or in the dark; but he is pleased thus to express himself after the manner of men, [1.] To show the incontestable equity of all his judicial proceedings. Men are apt to suggest that his way is not equal; but let them know that his judgments are the result of an eternal counsel, and are never rash or sudden resolves. He never punishes upon report, or common fame, or the information of others, but upon his own certain and infallible knowledge. [2.] To give example to magistrates, and those in authority, with the utmost care and diligence to enquire into the merits of a cause, before they give judgment upon it. [3.] Perhaps the decree is here spoken of as not yet peremptory, that room and encouragement might be given to Abraham to make intercession for them. Thus God looked if there were any to intercede, Isa 59:16.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the men rose up from thence,.... From their…
And the men rose up from thence,.... From their seats at Abraham's table under the tree, all three of them:
and looked toward Sodom; set their faces and steered their course that way, by which it appeared they intended to go thither: the Targum of Jonathan says, that he that brought the news to Sarah went up, to the highest heavens, and two of them looked toward Sodom; but it seems most likely, that, when the two went on their way to Sodom, the third stayed with Abraham:
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and Abraham went with them, to bring them on the way; which was another piece of civility to strangers used in those early times, as well as in later ones, Act 20:38.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Abraham went with them to bring them…
Verse 16. Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.] This was another piece of primitive hospitality - to direct strangers in the way. Public roads did not then exist and guides were essentially necessary in countries where villages were seldom to be met with, and where solitary dwellings did not exist.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain DISCLOSURE OF SODOM'S DOOM. (Gen 18:16-22)
DISCLOSURE OF SODOM'S DOOM. (Gen 18:16-22)
the men rose . . . Abraham went with them--It is customary for a host to escort his guests a little way.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain ABRAHAM’S INTERCESSION FOR SODOM, Gen_18:16-33.
ABRAHAM’S INTERCESSION FOR SODOM, Gen_18:16-33.
16. Rose up — As travellers about to depart.
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Looked toward Sodom — Hebrews, looked on the face of Sodom. Turned their faces in that direction. The promise has been confirmed to Sarah, and now, in Abraham’s future, all is hopeful and bright. But from this message of grace the angels turn to a work of judgment. Their look toward Sodom was the beginning of the working of wrath.
Abraham went with them — Thus showing the courtesy and care of a true host, to see his guests off safely on their way.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16–33. Colloquy of Jehovah with Abraham, &c. (J.)
16–33. Colloquy of Jehovah with Abraham, &c. (J.)
16. looked toward Sodom] The idea is that of directing the gaze from an eminence. A view of the Dead Sea is to be obtained from the hills in the neighbourhood of Hebron: cf. Gen_19:28. The LXX and Lat. add “and Gomorrah” after “Sodom.”
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to bring them on the way] See note on Gen_12:20.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) The men . . . looked toward Sodom.—This…
(16) The men . . . looked toward Sodom.—This visitation of God combined mercy and love for Abraham, and through him for all mankind, with the punishment of men whose wickedness was so universal that there were none left among them to bear witness for God, and labour for a better state of things. There is a strange mingling of the human and the Divine in the narrative. Even after the fuller manifestation of themselves they are still called men, and Abraham continues to discharge the ordinary duties of hospitality by accompanying them as their guide. Their route would lie to the south-east, over the hill-country of Judah, and tradition represents Abraham as having gone with them as far as the village of Caphar-Barucha, whence it is possible through a deep ravine to see the Dead Sea.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And the men rose up from thence, Mamre (vide…
CHAPTER 18:16-22
And the men rose up from thence, Mamre (vide supra, Ver. 1)and looked towards Sodom. Literally, toward the face (Rosenm or towards the plain (Keil), of Sodom, as if intending to proceed thither. And Abraham went with them across the mountains on the east of Hebron, as far as Caphar-barucha, according to tradition, whence a view can be obtained of the Dead Sea solitudinem ac terras Sodomae (vide Keil, in loco )to bring them on the way. Literally, to send them away, or accord them a friendly convoy over a portion of their journey.
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HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 16-33.
Abraham"s intercession for Sodom.
The whole wonderful scene springs out of the theophany. Abraham"s faith has given him a special position with the Lord. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thug which I do?" &c. The true priesthood and mediatorship is friendship with God. The grace of God first gives the likeness and then exalts it. The Lord knew Abraham because Abraham knew the ;Lord. The superior angel, the Lord, remains behind his companions that Abraham might have the opportunity of intercession; so the Lord lingers in his providence that he may reveal his righteousness and mercy. As to the pleading of the patriarch and the answers of the Lord to it, we may take it
I As it bears on the CHARACTER OF GOD.
1. He is open to entreaty.
2. He is unwilling to destroy.
3. He spares for the sake of righteousness.
4. He "does right" as "Judge of the earth," even though to the eyes of the best men there is awful mystery in his doings.
II As it reveals the CHARACTERISTICS OF PATRIARCHAL PIETY.
1. It was bold with the boldness of simplicity and faith.
2. It was full of true humanity while deeply reverential towards God. Abraham was no fanatic.
3. It waited for and humbly accepted Divine judgments and appointments not without reason, not without the exercise of thought and feeling, but all the more so as it prayed and talked with God.
4. The one living principle of the patriarchal religion was that entire confidence in God"s righteousness and love, in separating the wicked and the good, in both his judgments and his mercy, which is the essence of Christianity as well. The right" which the Judge of all the earth will do is not the right of mere blind law, or rough human administration of law, but the right of him who discerneth between the evil and the good, "too wise to err, too good to be unkind. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham…
Gen_18:16-18
And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
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The secret of the Lord with Abraham
God communicates Himself, and the knowledge of His ways and designs, to His faithful ones. There was a special propriety for this mode of dealing with His servant Abraham. Consider this--
I. As ONE OF THE PRIVILEGES OF GODS FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM. Communication of secrets is one of the special privileges of friendship. Where we trust our secrets the intimacy must be very close, and the confidence of love very great. God imparted to His friend Abraham a twofold secret.
1. The secret of loving intercourse.
2. The secret of His purposes.
II. AS DEPENDING UPON HIS DESTINY AND CHARACTER. Abraham was not only a saint, but also a representative man, through whom God intended to convey great blessings to mankind. He was the human foundation upon which Gods most gracious purposes concerning the race were to he erected. The friendship of God with him, therefore, is to be considered--
1. With regard to his destiny. God had known him, that is, determined him for a purpose.
(1) Political. He was to become a great and mighty nation (Gen_18:18).
(2) Religious. Abraham was to be the founder not only of a great but of a holy nation.
2. With regard to his personal character, God knew that Abraham was a righteous man, and that he would be just and upright in the government of his family, bringing them up in the fear and love of Himself. So would they enjoy the benefits of the covenant of grace, and avoid the doom of the wicked. (T. H. Leale)
The friend of God
I. WE ARE TO PONDER THIS MOST INTERESTING SCENE. In it we shall find three leading acts.
1. The condescending visit of God to Abraham.
(1) The Lord appeared to him in the form of a man.
(2) The Lord suffered Himself to be a guest at Abrahams table.
(3) One main object of the visit was to evoke faith in the heart of Sarah; without which the promise could not have been fulfilled.
2. The revelation of the Lords purpose to Abraham (Gen_18:16-22).
3. Abraham interceding for Sodom (Gen_18:23-33).
II. APPLY TO OURSELVES. As Abrahams spiritual seed, we are called to be friends of God.
1. Jesus calls us His friends (see Joh_15:15).
2. Jesus manifests Himself to us as He does not to the world. Certainly, this is an inward and spiritual manifestation; but it is not less real or delightful than that vouchsafed to Abraham.
3. He condescends to be refreshed by us. When we do His will, and offer Him praise, He sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied. He sups with us.
4. He reveals to us His secret. This relates to His second coming, to the destruction of the world, and the final overthrow of the ungodly. The fate of Sodom represents that of all the earth.
5. We are permitted to intercede for others. (The Congregational Pulpit.)
Gods reasons for revealing His intentions to Abraham
1. The importance of his character. He was not only the friend of God, but the father of a great nation, in which God would have a special interest, and through which all other nations should be blessed. Let him be in the secret.
2. The good use he would make of it. Being previously disclosed to him, he would be the more deeply impressed by it: and according to his tried and approved conduct as the head of a family, would be concerned to impart it as a warning to his posterity in all future ages. As the wicked extract ill from good, so the righteous will extract good from ill Sodoms destruction shall turn to Abrahams salvation: the monument of just vengeance against their crimes shall be of perpetual use to him and his posterity, and contribute even to the bringing of that good upon them, which the Lord had spoken concerning them. (A. Fuller.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Gen_18:17. That thing which I do.] Which I purpose…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_18:17. That thing which I do.] Which I purpose doing, or am about to do.
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Gen_18:19. For I know him.] Heb. For I have known him. “It is God’s purpose with regard to Abraham, not His knowledge of the character of Abraham, that is here spoken of.” (Alford.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_18:16-19
THE SECRET OF THE LORD WITH ABRAHAM
We are told that “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him” (Psa_25:14). God communicates Himself, and the knowledge of His ways and designs, to His faithful ones. There was a special propriety for this mode of dealing with His servant Abraham. Consider this—
I. As one of the privileges of God’s friendship with him. Communication of secrets is one of the special privileges of friendship. The secret of a man is not with strangers, or enemies, or indifferent persons, but with those who respect and love him. Where we trust our secrets the intimacy must be very close, and the confidence of love very great. God had made Abraham His friend, and in doing so had yielded to him certain rights. He who is the sovereign Lord of all put Himself under obligations. He imparted to His friend a two-fold secret.
1. The secret of loving intercourse. He had already condescended to visit Abraham, and to partake of his hospitality. He conversed freely with the patriarch as a man with his friend. Though He discovered Himself to be what He really was, the human manner of the interview is carried out to the end. This is the only instance in the Old Testament of such intimate and palpable communion with God. Abraham’s case was only peculiar in its outward form, for it is the privilege of all God’s saints to “enter into the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
2. The secret of His purposes. The Lord had already told Abraham of His loving purpose concerning himself, and the nation of which he was to be the founder. Now the Lord reveals His purposes of judgment upon the wicked. The sin of Sodom had become great. The Divine forbearance was exhausted. The time of judgment had come. In adaptation to our human mode of thought and speech, God is represented as taking counsel with Himself as to what He shall purpose. “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” (Gen_18:17). It seems as if the very thought would be unworthy, that He should conceal His design from His friend. “Strangers and enemies—the world at large—know Me not; and therefore they know not what I do. They know merely what is outwardly presented to their eye, on the stage of public and social life. But they see not behind the scenes. They are not acquainted with the hidden springs, and inmost reasons of My conduct. Hence, it is not wonderful that they should misunderstand Me; that they should put a wrong construction on many of My actions; that many things in My dealings should seem anomalous or even criminal, of which, had they been better acquainted with Me, they might easily have got an explanation. But my friends stand in My counsel. They are familiar with Me, and their fullest sympathy is Mine. They can therefore understand what I do. What may seem strange and startling to others, excites no surprise, and breeds no suspicion, in them; and where the world is loud in its premature criticisms and cavils—My friends, doing Me justice, and reposing in Me an honourable confidence, can intelligently acquit or approve; or at least can patiently wait for further light and information—fearless, as regards My character, of the issue.—(Candlish.)
II. As depending upon his destiny and character. Abraham was not only a saint, but also a representative man, through whom God intended to convey great blessings to mankind. He was the human foundation upon which God’s most gracious purposes concerning the race were to be erected. The friendship of God with him, therefore, is to be considered—
1. With regard to his destiny. God had known him, that is, determined him for a purpose.
(1.) Political. He was to “become a great and mighty nation” (Gen_18:18). The founding of a great nation is an act of God’s Providence, and not an accident of human history. Abraham has, therefore, an interest in humanity considered as such. Therefore this act of retribution on Sodom must not be regarded as a matter of indifference to him. In the thought and purpose of God he has a sublime relation to a noble race, and the knowledge of the Divine purposes concerning that race was, in a measure, due to him. Of such a character as Abraham it was true in a most special and eminent sense, that all that concerned man concerned him.
(2.) Religious. Abraham was to be the founder not only of a great, but also of a holy nation—of a people elect of God. They were chosen to illustrate His Providence, to have the custody of His oracles. The awful scroll of prophecy was in their keeping. God’s salvation was to spring from them. They stood at one end of the ladder along which communications passed from heaven to earth, and blessings came down. “All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him” (Gen_18:18). Hence he is personally and directly concerned with all God’s dealings of mercy and judgment. As a member of the Covenant, these privileges were due to Abraham.
2. With regard to his personal character. God knew that Abraham was a righteous man, and that he would be just and upright in the government of his family, bringing them up in the fear and love of Himself. So would they enjoy the benefits of the Covenant of grace, and avoid the doom of the wicked. “For the transmission from generation to generation of the true knowledge and worship of God, it is essential that they who are to command and teach their children after them should themselves understand the scheme of God’s providence, so as to be well acquainted with what He has done, and is yet to do, on the earth. Abraham is highly commended by God, as one who will assuredly be faithful in this work of the godly training and godly discipline of his household. As the head of a family—as a witness for God to the generation to come—as a teacher of righteousness, he is entrusted with a most important office, and he will not betray his trust.”—(Candlish.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_18:16. The courteous dismissal of friends and brethren who have been entertained as guests, by accompanying them some distance on their way, is a duty frequently enjoined in the New Testament. Thus, 3Jn_1:6 : “Whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. (See also Rom_15:24; 1Co_16:11; Act_20:38.) From Gen_18:22, it would appear that it was only the two angels who now took their leave. He who is called “Jehovah” seems to have remained, and Abraham, after conducting the two some little distance, probably returned into the presence of his Divine guest, when the circumstances afterwards mentioned occurred.—(Bush.)
There is a gracious side to the Divine character, in which appear the purposes of His love and mercy; but there is also a side of it in which we see only His judgments towards the impenitent. Towards Abraham, the look of kindness and love; towards Sodom, the look of fearful indignation and purpose of retribution. The right hand of the Judge implies His left.
Gen_18:17. He is in a position to be trusted. He is not a stranger or an enemy who must be kept at a distance and treated with stern and suspicious reserve. He stands high in the favour and fellowship of God, and it is not unreasonable that God should impart to him an intimate knowledge of His works and ways. (Psa_25:14.) Hence the Lord speaks of His prophets as those who should stand in His counsel, or secret. (Jer_23:18-22; Amo_3:7.) And it is especially with reference to His judgments to be executed on the earth that the Lord thus speaks. To the friend of God, these visitations of vengeance are not, as they appear to other men, mere accidents of fortune, or sudden outbreaks of capricious wrath. To him they have a clear meaning—a distinct and well-defined end. And hence, while others are distracted and overwhelmed, he stands fearless amid the ruin.—(Candlish.)
If we are the friends of God through Christ we are admitted into His confidence. Jesus calls us His friends (St. Joh_15:15.)
1. We are delivered from all slavish fear.
2. We have no longer any suspicion of God. All cold reserve and distrust are gone, and we enter into all the plans and purposes of His grace.
3. We have full confidence in God’s righteousness. The difficulties in the ways and dealings of Providence, which perplex others, all become intelligible to the friend of God. He reveals to His friends what shall be in the end, when a perfect adjustment of these shall be made.
The secret of the Lord concerning judgment is also intended for our admonition. The judgments of the Lord “warn” His servants. (Psa_19:11.)
Gen_18:18. We have in this and the following verse the reasons assigned for the decision to which He comes. The first is, the dignity and importance of His character, and the great things which He had purposed to do for him. It is a reason à fortiori; as if He had said, “Seeing I have determined to bestow upon Abraham the greater favour of making him a great nation, and of blessing in him all other nations, surely I may confer upon him the less, of making him acquainted with My present purpose of destroying Sodom.” Where God has begun to do good to His servants He follows them with still accumulating mercies. The past is a pledge for the future, and they may, like Rachel, name their blessings “Joseph,” saying, “The Lord will yet add another.—(Bush.)
The revelation to Abraham of the Divine purposes of judgment would serve:
1. As a vindication of God’s character in the matter of punishment. God had made known unto him His purposes of grace, and He will now vindicate Himself in regard to His judgments upon the wicked.
2. As a motive to increase the sense of covenant obligation. Abraham would now have stronger reason for fidelity in his household, for he was to be the source of blessing to all mankind. His family was to be the home of salvation where men would find shelter from the terrible judgments of God.
FAMILY RELIGION.—Gen_18:19
I. The light in which Abraham appears in this passage; and how he was qualified for the duty here ascribed to him. He appears a man of knowledge; not, perhaps, in the jargon of language, the refinements of science, or the subtleties of speculation, but in matters of the greatest moment to his own present and everlasting salvation, and that of others, namely, in religion and morality, here termed the “way of the Lord,” “justice and judgment.”—A man of piety. He not only understood the way of the Lord, but he loved, experienced, and practised it. Hence his concern and endeavour to impress it upon others. Without personal religion in the heads of families, we cannot expect they will sincerely and perseveringly endeavour to promote it in their children or servants.—A man of virtue. Justice and judgment were as dear to him, and as much practised by him, as “the way of the Lord.” He did not make his doing his duty to God a reason for neglecting his duty to his neighbour; nor what God had joined together did he put asunder.—A man of authority. “He will command his children and his household after him.” Observe the respect and obedience he enforced, and his great influence over his family. This was owing to his station. They were taught to acknowledge him as appointed by God at the head of the family—to his knowledge and wisdom—his known and approved piety. They knew God was on his side, and if they opposed him, God would resent it.—A man of fidelity. Whatever knowledge, piety, or authority he had, he faithfully employed for His glory who entrusted him with them, and to the end intended—the good of others, and especially of his own family.—A man of diligence. He appears evidently to have been laborious in this duty.
II. The nature of this duty; or his endeavours for the good of his family. He not only prayed with and before his family, but interceded for them as a priest. This the ancient patriarchs and holy men of old did. They were priests in their own houses (Job_1:5). So should every master of a Christian family be. Indeed, every private Christian is a priest unto God. He was a prophet in his family. He instructed them, not in matters of mere speculation, nor doubtful disputation—this were foolish and unprofitable—but in matters of experimental and practical religion and virtue. He taught his family not barely to know these things, but to do them. Now, upon whom must this be inculcated? Upon children (Deu_4:9). If our children be the Lord’s, they must be educated for Him. If they wear His livery, and be called by His name, they must do His work. What hypocrisy is it to dedicate our children to God in baptism, and Promise they shall “renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, and all covetous desires of the same, so that they shall not follow nor be led by them,” and afterwards to take no care that they may fulfil it!—Upon servants. Abraham had born in his house three hundred and eighteen servants (ch. Gen_14:14), “trained,” or, as the Hebrew word means, catechised. Our servants are entrusted to our care, and should be taught and directed by us while in our family. But how must our children and servants be instructed? (Deu_6:6, etc.). By conversation, advice, exhortation, reading, hearing, catechising, etc., and especially by teaching them to “know the Scriptures” (2Ti_3:15.) He was a king in his house, and used authority. He not only recommended these things, and advised and set before them the advantages on the one hand, and the miseries on the other, or the conduct which they might pursue, but he solemnly enjoined and insisted on these things, on pain of incurring his displeasure, as well as that of God. He not only used doctrine, but discipline (Eph_6:4). He not only informed the understanding of his children and domestics by doctrine, and reminded and admonished them, but he persuaded, turned, and subdued the will to God and man, as far as possible, by discipline, rewards, punishments, or corrections, especially with regard to his children.
III. How pleasing it was to God, and the blessed consequences thereof to Abraham and his family. Observe:—The reason why God would hide nothing from Abraham. “For I know him,” etc. Abraham was communicative of his knowledge, and improved it to the good of those under his care, and therefore God resolved to make communications to him. The way to the accomplishment of God’s promises: “That the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.” Family blessings arise from family religion;—temperance, frugality, industry, discretion—peace, quietness, love, harmony—the favour, protection, and care of God; His direction and aid—all necessaries (Psa_37:25; Mat_6:33)—prosperity, as far as will be good for us, and our families. Our prayers are heard—afflictions are sanctified to us, and we are supported under them—we make a comfortable progress together in the ways of God, and receive many spiritual blessings—we shall meet in His presence and kingdom hereafter, and spend an eternity together. The sad reverse when this course is not taken. Hence arise family curses;—intemperance, prodigality, idleness, imprudence—strife, contention, hatred, disturbance—the displeasure of God, and His curse on all we do—not even necessaries, perhaps, but beggary and want—nothing prospers—our prayers are rejected—we are abandoned of God in our afflictions, and hardened by them—we go forward miserably in the ways of the devil—we shall meet at the left hand of the Judge in the great day.—(Rev. J. Benson’s Sermons and Plans.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Gen 18:16 - Gen 18:33.
Genesis
‘BECAUSE OF HIS IMPORTUNITY’
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Gen 18:16 - Gen 18:33.
I
The first verse of this chapter says that ‘the Lord appeared’ unto Abraham, and then proceeds to tell that ‘three men stood over against him,’ thus indicating that these were, collectively, the manifestation of Jehovah. Two of the three subsequently ‘went toward Sodom,’ and are called ‘angels’ in Gen 19:1. One remained with Abraham, and is addressed by him as ‘Lord,’ but the three are similarly addressed in Gen 18:3. The inference is that Jehovah appeared, not only in the one ‘man’ who spake with Abraham, but also in the two who went to Sodom.
In this incident we have, first, God’s communication of His purpose to Abraham. He was called the friend of God, and friends confide in each other. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,’ and it is ever true that they who live in amity and communion with God thereby acquire insight into His purposes. Even in regard to public or so-called ‘political’ events, a man who believes in God and His moral government will often be endowed with a ‘terrible sagacity,’ which forecasts consequences more surely than do godless politicians. In regard to one’s own history, it is still more evidently true that the one way to apprehend God’s purposes in it is to keep in close friendship with Him. Then we shall see the meaning of the else bewildering whirl of events, and be able to say, ‘He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God.’ But the reason assigned for intrusting Abraham with the knowledge of God’s purpose is to be noted. It was because of his place as the medium of blessing to the nations, and as the lawgiver to his descendants. God had ‘known him,’-that is, had lovingly brought him into close relations with Himself, not for his own sake only, but, much more, that he might be a channel of grace to Israel and the world. His ‘commandment’ to his descendants was to lead to their worship of Jehovah and their upright living, and these again to their possession of the blessings promised to Abraham. That purpose would be aided by the knowledge of the judgment on Sodom, its source, and its cause, and therefore Abraham was admitted into the council-chamber of Jehovah. The insight given to God’s friends is given that they may more fully benefit men by leading them into paths of righteousness, on which alone they can be met by God’s blessings.
The strongly figurative representation in Gen 18:20 - Gen 18:21, according to which Jehovah goes down to ascertain whether the facts of Sodom’s sin correspond to the report of it, belongs to the early stage of revelation, and need not surprise us, but should impress on us the gradual character of the divine Revelation, which would have been useless unless it had been accommodated to the mental and spiritual stature of its recipients. Nor should it hide from us the lofty conception of God’s long-suffering justice, which is presented in so childlike a form. He does ‘not judge after . . .the hearing of His ears,’ nor smite without full knowledge of the sin. A later stage of revelation puts the same thought in language less strange to us, when it teaches that ‘the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed,’ and in His balances many a false estimate, both of virtuous and vicious acts, is corrected, and retribution is always exactly adjusted to the deed.
But the main importance of the incident is in the wonderful picture of Abraham’s intercession, which, in like manner, veils, under a strangely sensuous representation, lofty truths for all ages. It is to be noted that the divine purpose expressed in ‘I will go down now, and see,’ is fulfilled in the going of the two {men or angels} towards Sodom; therefore Jehovah was in them. But He was also in the One before whom Abraham stood. The first great truth enshrined in this part of the story is that the friend of God is compassionate even of the sinful and degraded. Abraham did not intercede for Lot, but for the sinners in Sodom. He had perilled his life in warfare for them; he now pleads with God for them. Where had he learned this brave pity? Where but from the God with whom he lived by faith? How much more surely will real communion with Jesus lead us to look on all men, and especially on the vicious and outcast, with His eyes who saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd, torn, panting, scattered, and lying exhausted and defenceless! Indifference to the miseries and impending dangers of Christless men is impossible for any whom He calls ‘not servants, but friends.’
Again, we are taught the boldness of pleading which is permitted to the friend of God, and is compatible with deepest reverence. Abraham is keenly conscious of his audacity, and yet, though he knows himself to be but dust and ashes, that does not stifle his petitions. His was the holy ‘importunity’ which Jesus sent forth for our imitation. The word so rendered in Luk 11:8, which is found in the New Testament there only, literally means ‘shamelessness,’ and is exactly the disposition which Abraham showed here. Not only was he persistent, but he increased his expectations with each partial granting of his prayer. The more God gives, the more does the true suppliant expect and crave; and rightly so, for the gift to be given is infinite, and each degree of possession enlarges capacity so as to fit to receive more, and widens desire. What contented us to-day should not content us to-morrow.
Again, Abraham is bold in appealing to a law to which God is bound to conform. ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ is often quoted with an application foreign to its true meaning. Abraham was not preaching to men trust that the most perplexing acts of God would be capable of full vindication if we knew all, but he was pleading with God that His acts should be plainly accordant with the idea of justice planted by Him in us. The phrase is often used to strengthen the struggling faith that
‘All is right which seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.’
But it means not ‘Such and such a thing must be right because God has done it,’ but ‘Such and such a thing is right, therefore God must do it.’ Of course, our conceptions of right are not the absolute measure of the divine acts, and the very fact which Abraham thought contrary to justice is continually exemplified in Providence, that ‘the righteous should be as the wicked’ in regard to earthly calamities affecting communities. So far Abraham was wrong, but the spirit of his remonstrance was wholly right.
Again, we learn the precious lesson that prayer for others is a real power, and does bring down blessings and avert evils. Abraham did not here pray for Lot, but yet ‘God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow’ {Gen 19:29}, so that there had been unrecorded intercession for him too. The unselfish desires for others, that exhale from human hearts under the influence of the love which Christ plants in us, do come down in blessings on others, as the moisture drawn up by the sun may descend in fructifying rain on far-off pastures of the wilderness. We help one another when we pray for one another.
The last lesson taught is that ‘righteous’ men are indeed the ‘salt of the earth’ not only preserving cities and nations from further corruption, but procuring for them further existence and probation. God holds back His judgments so long as hope of amendment survives, and ‘will not destroy for the ten’s sake.’
Genesis
THE INTERCOURSE OF GOD AND HIS FRIEND
II
We have seen that the fruit of Abraham’s faith was God’s entrance into close covenant relations with him; or, as James puts it, ‘It was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.’ This incident shows us the intercourse of the divine and human friends in its familiarity, mutual confidence, and power. It is a forecast of Christ’s own profound teachings in His parting words in the upper chamber, concerning the sweet and wondrous intercourse between the believing soul and the indwelling God.
1. The friend of God catches a gleam of divine pity and tenderness. Abraham has no relations with the men of Sodom. Their evil ways would repel him; and he would be a stranger among them still more than among the Canaanites, whose iniquity was ‘not yet full.’ But though he has no special bonds with them, he cannot but melt with tender compassion when he hears their doom. Communion with the very Source of all gentle love has softened his heart, and he yearns over the wicked and fated city. Where else than from his heavenly Friend could he have learned this sympathy? It wells up in this chapter like some sudden spring among solemn solitudes-the first instance of that divine charity which is the best sign that we have been with God, and have learned of Him. All that the New Testament teaches of love to God, as necessarily issuing in love to man, and of the true love to man as overleaping all narrow bounds of kindred, country, race, and ignoring all questions of character, and gushing forth in fullest energy towards the sinners in danger of just punishment, is here in germ. The friend of God must be the friend of men; and if they be wicked, and he sees the frightful doom which they do not see, these make his pity the deeper. Abraham does not contest the justice of the doom. He lives too near his friend not to know that sin must mean death. The effect of friendship with God is not to make men wish that there were no judgments for evil-doers, but to touch their hearts with pity, and to stir them to intercession and to effort for their deliverance.
2. The friend of God has absolute trust in the rectitude of His acts. Abraham’s remonstrance, if we may call it so, embodies some thoughts about the government of God in the world which should be pondered.
His first abrupt question, flung out without any reverential preface, assumes that the character of God requires that the fate of the righteous should be distinguished from that of the wicked. The very brusqueness of the question shows that he supposed himself to be appealing to an elementary and indubitable law of God’s dealings. The teachings of the Fall and of the Flood had graven deep on his conscience the truth that the same loving Friend must needs deal out rewards to the good and chastisement to the bad. That was the simple faith of an early time, when problems like those which tortured the writers of the seventy-third Psalm, or of Job and Ecclesiastes, had not yet disturbed the childlike trust of the friend of God, because no facts in his experience had forced them on him. But the belief which was axiomatic to him, and true for his supernaturally shaped life with its special miracles and visible divine guard, is not the ultimate and irrefragable principle which he thought it. In widespread calamities the righteous are blended with the wicked in one bloody ruin; and it is the very misery of such judgments that often the sufferers are not the wrongdoers, but that the fathers eat the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. The whirlwind of temporal judgments makes no distinctions between the dwellings of the righteous and the wicked, but levels them both. No doubt, the fact that the impending destruction was to be a direct Divine interposition of a punitive kind made it more necessary that it should be confined to the actual culprits. No doubt, too, Abraham’s zeal for the honour of God’s government was right. But his first plea belongs to the stage of revelation at which he stood, not to that of the New Testament, which teaches that the eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell were not sinners above all men in Jerusalem. Abraham’s confidence in God’s justice, not Abraham’s conceptions of what that justice required, is to be imitated. A friend of God will hold fast by the faith that ‘His way is perfect,’ and will cherish it even in the presence of facts more perplexing than any which met Abraham’s eyes.
Another assumption in his prayer is that the righteous are sources of blessing and shields for the wicked. Has he there laid hold of a true principle? Certainly, it is indeed the law that ‘every man shall bear his own burden,’ but that law is modified by the operation of this other, of which God’s providence is full. Many a drop of blessing trickles from the wet fleece to the dry ground. Many a stroke of judgment is carried off harmlessly by the lightning conductor. Where God’s friends are inextricably mixed up with evil-doers, it is not rare to see diffused blessings which are destined indeed primarily for the former, but find their way to the latter. Christians are the ‘salt of the earth’ in this sense too, that they save corrupt communities from swift destruction, and for their sakes the angels delay their blow. In the final resort, each soul must reap its own harvest from its own deeds; but the individualism of Christianity is not isolation. We are bound together in mysterious community, and a good man is a fountain of far-flowing good. The truest ‘saviours of society’ are the servants of God.
A third principle is embodied in the solemn question, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ This is not meant in its bearing here, as we so often hear it quoted, to silence man’s questionings as to mysterious divine acts, or to warn us from applying our measures of right and wrong to these. The very opposite thought is conveyed; namely, the confidence that what God does must approve itself as just to men. He is Judge of all the earth, and therefore bound by His very nature, as by His relations to men, to do nothing that cannot be pointed to as inflexibly right. If Abraham had meant, ‘What God does, must needs be right, therefore crush down all questions of how it accords with thy sense of justice,’ he would have been condemning his own prayer as presumptuous, and the thought would have been entirely out of place. But the appeal to God to vindicate His own character by doing what shall be in manifest accord with His name, is bold language indeed, but not too bold, because it is prompted by absolute confidence in Him. God’s punishments must be obviously righteous to have moral effect, or to be worthy of Him.
But true as the principle is, it needs to be guarded. Abraham himself is an instance that men’s conceptions of right do not completely correspond to the reality. His notion of ‘right’ was, in some particulars, as his life shows, imperfect, rudimentary, and far beneath New Testament ideas. Conscience needs education. The best men’s conceptions of what befits divine justice are relative, progressive; and a shifting standard is no standard. It becomes us to be very cautious before we say to God, ‘This is the way. Walk Thou in it,’ or dismiss any doctrine as untrue on the ground of its contradicting our instincts of justice.
3. The friend of God has power with God. ‘Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?’ The divine Friend recognises the obligation of confidence. True friendship is frank, and cannot bear to hide its purposes. That one sentence in its bold attribution of a like feeling to God leads us deep into the Divine heart, and the sweet reality of his amity. Insight into His will ever belongs to those who live near Him. It is the beginning of the long series of disclosures of ‘the secret of the Lord’ to ‘them that fear Him,’ which is crowned by ‘henceforth I call you not servants; but . . .friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.’ So much for the divine side of the communion.
On the human side, we are here taught the great truth, that God’s friends are intercessors, whose voice has a mysterious but most real power with God. If it be true, that, in general terms, the righteous are shields and sources of blessing to the unholy, it is still more distinctly true that they have access to God’s secret place with petitions for others as well as for themselves. The desires which go up to God, like the vapours exhaled to heaven, fall in refreshing rain on spots far away from that whence they rose. In these days we need to keep fast hold of our belief in the efficacy of prayer for others and for ourselves. God knows Himself and the laws of His government a great deal better than any one besides does; and He has abundantly shown us in His Word, and by many experiences, that breath spent in intercession is not wasted. In these old times, when worship was mainly sacrificial, this wonderful instance of pure intercession meets us, an anticipation of later times. And from thence onwards there has never failed proof to those who will look for it, that God’s friends are true priests, and help their brethren by their prayers. Our voices should ‘rise like a fountain night and day’ for men. But there is a secret distrust of the power, and a flagrantly plain neglect of the duty, of intercession nowadays, which need sorely the lesson that God ‘remembered Abraham’ and delivered Lot. Luther, in his rough, strong way, says: ‘If I have a Christian who prays to God for me, I will be of good courage, and be afraid of nothing. If I have one who prays against me, I had rather have the Grand Turk for my enemy.’
The tone of Abraham’s intercession may teach us how familiar the intercourse with the Heavenly Friend may be. The boldest words from a loving heart, jealous of God’s honour, are not irreverent in His eyes. This prayer is abrupt, almost rough. It sounds like remonstrance quite as much as prayer. Abraham appeals to God to take care of His name and honour, as if he had said, If Thou doest this, what will the world say of Thee, but that Thou art unmerciful? But the grand confidence in God’s character, the eager desire that it should be vindicated before the world, the dread that the least film should veil the silvery whiteness or the golden lustre of His name, the sensitiveness for His honour-these are the effects of communion with Him; and for these God accepts the bold prayer as truer reverence than is found in many more guarded and lowly sounding words. Many conventional proprieties of worship may be broken just because the worship is real. ‘The frequent sputter shows that the soul’s depths boil in earnest.’ We may learn, too, that the most loving familiarity never forgets the fathomless gulf between God and it. Abraham remembers that he is ‘dust and ashes’; he knows that he is venturing much in speaking to God. His pertinacious prayers have a recurring burden of lowly recognition of his place. Twice he heralds them with ‘I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord’; twice with ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry.’ Perfect love casts out fear and deepens reverence. We may come with free hearts, from which every weight of trembling and every cloud of doubt has been lifted. But the less the dread, the lower we shall bow before the Loftiness which we love. We do not pray aright until we tell God everything. The ‘boldness’ which we as Christians ought to have, means literally a frank speaking out of all that is in our hearts. Such ‘boldness and access with confidence’ will often make short work of so-called seemly reverence, but it will never transgress by so much as a hair’ s-breadth the limits of lowly, trustful love.
Abraham’s persistency may teach us a lesson. If one might so say, he hangs on God’s skirt like a burr. Each petition granted only encourages him to another. Six times he pleads, and God waits till he has done before He goes away; He cannot leave His friend till that friend has said all his say. What a contrast the fiery fervour and unwearying pertinacity of Abraham’s prayers make to the stiff formalism of the intercessions one is familiar with! The former are like the successive pulses of a volcano driving a hot lava stream before it; the latter, like the slow flow of a glacier, cold and sluggish. Is any part of our public or private worship more hopelessly formal than our prayers for others? This picture from the old world may well shame our languid petitions, and stir us up to a holy boldness and persistence in prayer. Our Saviour Himself teaches that ‘men ought always to pray, and not to faint,’ and Himself recommends to us a holy importunity, which He teaches us to believe is, in mysterious fashion, a power with God. He gives room for such patient continuance in prayer by sometimes delaying the apparent answer, not because He needs to be won over to bless, but because it is good for us to draw near, and to keep near, the Lord. He is ever at the door, ready to open, and if sometimes, like Rhoda to Peter, He does not open immediately, and we have to keep knocking, it is that our desires may increase by delay, and so He may be able to give a blessing, which will be the greater and sweeter for the tarrying.
So the friendship is manifested on both sides: on God’s, by disclosure of His purpose and compliance with His friend’s request; on Abraham’s, by speech which is saved from irreverence by love, and by prayer which is acceptable to God by its very importunity. Jesus Christ has promised us the highest form of such friendship, when He has said, ‘I have called you friends: for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you’; and again, ‘If ye abide in Me, . . .ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Lord reveals his plan regarding Sodom
The Lord reveals his plan regarding Sodom
v. 16. And the men rose up from thence and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. The rising of the Lord and His two companions and their looking over into the direction of Sodom was a signal to Abraham that their mission in his house had been accomplished, and so he, as a thoughtful host, accompanied them for some distance.
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v. 17. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do,
v. 18. seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
v. 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. These words of the Lord were apparently addressed to the angels. The question was whether He should let Abraham know at once that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an act of His avenging justice. He had destined Abraham to be not only the father of a great and mighty nation, the children of Israel, but also the spiritual father of the true Israel of all times. Besides, Abraham not only led a life conforming to the will of the Lord for himself, but the Lord also knew, in prevenient love, and had chosen him for that purpose, that he would teach his children and all his progeny carefully to keep the way of Jehovah, of true piety, to exercise righteousness and judgment, and the Lord could thus fulfill all His promises upon them. Thus the destruction of Sodom and the surrounding country should be before the eyes of the children of Israel always as a monument of God’s avenging justice, as an example of the end of the wicked. In revealing to Abraham the reason for the destruction of the wicked cities, the Lord wanted Abraham to see the justice of the punishment, which no intercession could hope to turn aside.
v. 20. And the Lord said, turning now directly to Abraham, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
v. 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. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were of a nature to cry to heaven for revenge and punishment: "The cry about Sodom and Gomorrah—yea, it is great; and their sin—truly it is very heavy!" The Lord’s purpose, therefore, was to convince Himself whether the inhabitants of these cities, according to the cry that had come to Him, had reached the limit of wickedness or not. It was a case of mercy’s meeting together with righteousness.
v. 22. And the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. As the two angels continued their journey toward Sodom alone, Abraham stood before the Lord, his bold attitude signifying that he had an important matter to communicate. As the friend of God, a designation which is shared by all believers, Jas 2:23, he dared to enter a bold plea in behalf of such children of God as might possibly be found in the doomed cities.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 to see them on their way
to see them on their way
"to send them on their way" or "to say 'Farewell' to them." It was polite to go some distance with guests as they were leaving.
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Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do ... him?
God used this rhetorical question to say that he was going to talk to Abraham about something very important and that it was best for him to do so. AT: "I should not and will not hide from Abraham what I am about to do ... him." or "I should and will tell Abraham what I am about to do ... him" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Should I ... do, since ... him?
"I should not ... do. This is because ... him"
all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him
This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham" (See: Active or Passive)
will be blessed in him
"will be blessed because of Abraham" or "will be blessed because I have blessed Abraham." For translating "in him" see how you translated "through you" in Genesis 12:3.
that he may instruct
"that he will direct" or "so that he will command"
to keep the way of Yahweh ... Yahweh may bring ... he has said
Yahweh is speaking about himself as if he were another person. AT: "to obey what I, Yahweh, require ... I, Yahweh, may bring ... I have said" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
to keep the way of Yahweh
"to obey the commands of Yahweh"
to do righteousness and justice
"by doing righteousness and justice." This tells how to keep the way of Yahweh.
so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what he has said to him
"so that Yahweh may bless Abraham just as he said he would." This refers to the covenant promise to bless Abraham and make him a great nation.
translationWords
Sodom
Abraham
Yahweh
nation
bless
household
righteous
just
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:16-33 God took Abraham into his confidence as his…
18:16-33 God took Abraham into his confidence as his prophet (18:16-21; see 20:7); Abraham, in turn, interceded for Sodom (18:23-32; see Heb 7:23-26). God is able to do whatever he chooses to do; this passage affirms that it will be just and right.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.