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By James L. Thornton Isaiah 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. (KJV) I Knew That This Scripture Was In The Bible, In Fact There Are Other Scriptures Which Call Abraham God’s Friend, But The Significance Of This Fact Only Came To Me Recently. To Think That Any Mortal Man Could Possibly Befriend Almighty God. God! Who Inhabits Eternity,
I Am Mortal,
I Need A Friend,
I Often Feel Lonely,
Therefore, I Need Near To Me A Faithful Friend. I Need A Friend To Speak To Me At Those Times, With Wisdom, And, With Both Sympathy, And Encouragement. . ******************************************************************************* For, “A Friend Loveth At All Times,…” (Proverbs 17:17) Solomon Realized The Value Of A Trusted Friend, Because He Wrote Much About Real Friendship. Proverbs 18:24 "..: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." (KJV) Proverbs 27:6. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. (KJV) Proverbs 27:9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. (KJV) Proverbs 27:17. Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. (KJV) So The Principal Fruit Of Friendship Is To Bring Out The Best In Your Friend. No One Can Open Up The Heart But A True Friend. A True Friend Is One To Whom You May Share Griefs, Joys, Fears, Hopes, Suspicions, Counsels, And Whatsoever Else That Lies Upon The Heart To Oppress It. John Oliver Hobbs Wrote These Words, “Oh, The Comfort, The Inexpressible Comfort Of Feeling Safe With A Person: Having Neither To Weigh Thoughts Nor To Measure Words, But Pour Them All Right Out Just As They Are, Chaff And Grain Together, Knowing That A Faithful Friend Will Take And Sift Them, Keep What Is Worth Keeping, And With The Breath Of Kindness Blow The Rest Away.” Prayer Is The Talk Of A Man With His Friend.Robert Louis Stevenson Wrote These Words Sometime During His Long Fight With Tuberculosis, “So Long As We Are Loved By Others, I Would Almost Say We Are Indispensable; No Man Is Useless While He Has A Friend.
So Every Man Needs The Help Of A Friend.
For All The Reasons I Have Mentioned I Need A Friend,
We Need A Friend Because Of The Human Characteristics In Us.Because Of Human Weaknesses, We Are Capable Of Being Sad, Of Being Lonely, And Of Being Helpless. But Surely Not God! Revelations Chapter Four Tells Of Twenty Four Elders Which Are Before Him At All Times. The Same Chapter Mentions Four Beasts God Has Created To Give Him Honor Twenty Four Hours A Day. Revelations 5:11-14 Says There Is Available At All Times Over One Hundred Million Angels To Give Him Glory And Honor. Yet It Stands Out In More Than One Scripture That Almighty God Endeavored To Get A True Friend, And He Got One In Abraham. Of No Mortal Man, But Of Abraham Alone, Does Almighty God Ever Speak, And Say, “He Was My Friend.” God Uses Many Gracious, Beautiful And Endearing, Names In Speaking Of Patriarchs, Of Prophets, Of Leaders, But It Is Of Abraham Alone That God Testifies To Israel, “Thou Art The Seed Of Abraham, My Friend.” Now I Wanted To Be Able To Put My Finger On Something In Abraham’s Life And Say, “Here, And Here, And Here, That Great Man Proved Himself To Be The Friend Of God.” Only A Few Short Chapters Tell Of Such A Long Life. One Hundred Seventy Five Years. I Wanted To Find Enough To Satisfy Me Why Isaiah, James, And Second Chronicles, Unite In Calling Abraham What They Call No Other Man, “The Friend Of God.” Since The Fall Of Adam And Eve God Has Been Looking For A Man With Mind Enough, And Heart Enough, To Be Made The Father Of A Family Into Which He Could Send His Son. God Had Promised His Son To Adam And Eve, But Generation After Generation Had To Pass Before The Fullness Of Time Came. Two Thousand Five Hundred Years Had To Pass Before God Found A Man With All The Qualifications For This Supreme Office. A Believing, Obedient, Heavenly-Minded Man. Abraham Had The Heart To Choose, And To Prefer, And To Venture For God, And For The Will, And The Call Of God, Above And Before, Everything Else In This World. We Will Touch On Only Three Of The Great Events Which Helped Persuade God To Call Abraham His Friend. 1. The First Of These Events Might Well Be The Most Important Event In Abraham’s Life, Some Say In The Entire Old Testament. In Genesis Chapter 15 Abraham Was Having A Sleepless Night,
Fear Of The Return Of The Armies (Gen. 14:1-16),
All These Things, And More, Weighed Heavily Upon His Mind In The Night Hours. Then He Became Aware Of A Presence With Him In His Tent, And His Heart Quickened. Then A Sense Of Relief Flooded Over Him As He Recognized The Familiar Voice. Genesis 15:1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (KJV) God Knew The Apprehensions Of Abraham’s Heart, And He Visited Him In The Night To Let Him Know That He Was Watching Over Him. God Also Wanted Abraham To Know That He Did Not Make The Wrong Decision By Not Accepting The Offer Of The King Of Sodom. “I Am… Thy Exceeding Great Reward.” “All The Wealth Of Sodom Is Nothing In Comparison To The Riches Of My Grace.” Here We Have Abraham, Apprehensive Of Danger, Disappointed In Hope, Anxious About The Promise, Because The Years Are Passing, And He And Sarah Are Old, And They Have No Child To Leave Their Possessions To. He Wonders If God’s Promise Will Be Fulfilled. That’s The Reason God Came To His Tent That Night, To Be A Solace For His Heavy Heart. “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Happy As The Birth Of An Heir In Sarah’s Tent Would Make Him, Jehovah Wanted Abraham To Understand That It Would Not Be His Recompense For The Trials He Had Passed Through,
Though Abraham Was Quite Rich (Genesis 13:2),
God’s Saints Are Prone To Seek Their Happiness In God’s Gifts, Rather Than The Giver. God Told Abraham To Come Out Of The Tent And Look Up Towards The Heavens, And Count The Stars. I Feel God Miraculously Quickened His Vision To Penetrate The Depth Of Space And Gaze Upon The Vastness Of The Stellar World, Since The Stars Visible To The Naked Eye Would Not Represent An Innumerable Multitude. Only Five Thousand Can Actually Be Seen With The Naked Eye. Genesis 15:6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (KJV) This Is The Fourth Time That God Has Come To Abraham, And This Time Reaffirming His Promises. But This Time, After Looking Into The Heavens At The Innumerable Multitude Of Stars, Abraham’s Faith Grasped Hold Of The Promises God Had Been Making To Him, And His Faith Came To Full Fruit. Genesis 15:6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (KJV) It Was Faith In The Personal, Revealed, Covenant Jehovah;
Genesis 15:6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (KJV) In Other Words It Was At This Instant That Abraham’s Heart Laid Hold On God, And God Put It Into His Account. I Feel That Every True Christian Can Look Back To A Particular Experience, A Particular Event, Or A Particular Time, When Your Faith Brought You To A Full And True Realization Of God, And You, Along With Abraham, Believed In The Lord; And He Counted It To You Righteousness. On This Incident, In The Life Of Abraham, The Entire Old Testament Rests. The Jewish Nation, The Kings And Prophets, The Psalms And Words Of Wisdom, The Law And Commandments, None Of This Would Have Existed In The Manner In Which We Are So Familiar, If It Were Not For Abraham Believing In The Lord. All This Sprang From Abraham, Because, “... he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3) (KJV) O Yes, God Would Have Fulfilled His Promise To Eve And Brought Forth A Redeemer, But It Would Have Come Through A Different Family, And Maybe Another Nation. All The Familiar Names, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Would Have Been Different, As These Would Have Never Lived If Abram Had Not “Believed In The Lord.” So It Is Simply Astonishing To See How The History Of The World Was Affected By One Man’s Belief In God. No Wonder Abraham Is Called The Father Of Faith. No Wonder God Gave Him Such High Honor By Calling Him His Friend. The Apostle Paul Tells Us That This Incident In The Life Of Abraham Also Plays A Significant Part In Our Own Salvation. Romans 4:23. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Romans 5:1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Paul Tells Us That The Same Faith Which Imputed Abraham, Also Imputes Those Who Believe On The Lord Jesus Christ. Faith Grows By Use. Faith Is The Gift Of God, But It Is Given According To Laws. Romans 12:3b. .., according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (KJV) Sometimes It Springs Up Suddenly, Like Nathaniel, Or Paul, And The Philippian Jailer. But Usually It Is Like The Growth Of A Seed, Hardly To Be Traced, A Gradual Growth, From Efforts To Live By Faith. Do Not Despise The Training Which Prepares The Soul To Believe. It May Seem To Be Labor In Vain Yet The Holy Spirit May Be Working Unseen To Prepare The Soul For Life And Peace. Jesus Called Twelve Men To Be With Him. Each Of These Twelve Had A Measure Of Faith, Some More Than Others. Day By Day, For Three And One-Half Years, Jesus Worked And Labored With Them, Teaching, And Showing Them The Things Concerning The Kingdom Of God. At Times It Would Have Seemed Like His Training Of Them Was A Fruitless Endeavor. Like The Time When Peter Was Sinking In The Waves. Matthew 14:31. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (KJV) This Was After Two Years Of Following Jesus. Then There Would Be Times When They Reached Great Heights Of Faith. Luke 10:17. And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. (KJV) Only To Fall Back Into The Depths Of Unbelief, Like When A Distraught Father Brought His Afflicted Son To Them To Be Healed, And They Could Not Help. At This Jesus Showed His Humanity In His Dealings With Them. Mark 9:19. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. (KJV) This Continued For Three And One Half Years, Their Faith Up And Down, But All The Time There Was Something Taking Place In Them. A Germ Of Faith Was Growing. They Witnessed The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, And The Ascension Of Our Lord, Then They Experienced The Infilling Of The Holy Spirit, And Somewhere, At Sometime, That Small Germ Of Faith Became A Mountain, Filling Their Lives Completely. And So It Is With Our Own Lives,
Genesis 15:6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (KJV) 2. In The Second Incident God Appeared And Asked Of Abraham A Service; A Kind Of Service, And An Amount Of Service, And A Degree Of Service That He Has Never Needed To Ask The Like Again Of Any Other Man. Genesis 22:1. And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. The Ordeal Through Which Abraham Passed At This Time Was Expressly Created For Him By God. After All That Had Preceded It Might Have Been Anticipated That, Not Only Were The Patriarch’s Trials Over, But That The Need For Such Discipline In His Case No Longer Existed. It Shows That Neither Length Of Years,
We Also Learn That Temptations Come At Unexpected Times, And In Unforeseen Ways. Genesis 22:2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (KJV) Abraham Was Commanded To Take The Only Son Of Sarah, The Only Legitimate Offspring He Possessed, The Only Heir Of The Promise, “Whom Thou Lovest,” This Was Calculated To Excite The Parental Affection Of The Patriarch To The Highest Pitch. What It Must Have Cost The Patriarch To Submit To The Divine Command!
The Only Gleam Of Hope Was In The Thought That God, Who First Gave Isaac, Could Also Restore Him From Death. Genesis 22:3a. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, ... (KJV) Abraham Always Did This After A Divine Communication. We Must Not Think That Abraham Went About Doing This With Stoic, In-human, Indifference Towards Isaac Like The Heathen Of His Day, But He Had All Feeling Of Affection Towards His Son As Any Man. Genesis 22:3b. ..., and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (KJV) Abraham Went About Making Preparations For The Journey To The Place, And Task, To Which God Had Directed Him, By Gathering Wood, And Taking A Small Vessel With Fire. All This He Placed Upon His Ass, And Chose Two Young Men To Go With Him To Lead And Care For The Ass. Isaac Joined In The Preparations, No Doubt With Excitement Of Accompanying His Aged Father To The Land Of Moriah To Offer A Sacrifice To God. (Elohim) This Verse (Genesis 22:3) Represents The Calm Deliberation And Unflinching Heroism With Which Abraham Proceeded To Execute The Divine Command, But It Does Not Reveal The Deep Emotions Which Must Have Been Rolling Up Inside Him. Genesis 22:4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. (KJV) Sometime During The Third Day Abraham Saw The Mountain To Which God Was Directing Him. He Recognized The Mount By Divine Revelation. Tradition Says That The Mount Was The Same On Which Adam, Able, And Noah Had Offered Sacrifice. Genesis 22:5a. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; ... (KJV) Abraham Charged His Young Men To Wait With The Ass, Partly Because The Beast Required Watching, Though Chiefly Because The Contemplated Sacrifice Was Too Solemn For Any Eyes But God’s To Witness. The Next Statement Is One Which Expressed His All Conquering Faith. Genesis 22:5b. ...; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (KJV) This Was The Voice Of Abraham’s All Conquering Faith.
Genesis 22:6a. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; ... (KJV) Eighteen Hundred Years Later The Wood Was Laid Upon The Shoulder Of Abraham’s Greater Son To Carry To The Place Of Sacrifice. John 19:17. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (KJV) Genesis 22:6b. ..; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; ... (KJV) Abraham Carried The Knife And The Small Pot Of Fire, And They Started Up The Mountain. Genesis 22:6c. ...; and they went both of them together. (KJV) Silent Prayers Ascend From The Father,
A Little While Later Isaac Was The One Who Broke The Silence. Genesis 22:7a. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, ... (KJV) During The Progress Of The Journey, After Leaving The Young Men, Solitude Inviting Him To Give Expression To Thoughts Which Had Been Rising In His Bosom, But Which The Presence Of Companions Had Constrained Him To Suppress, Isaac Called Out To His Father. Genesis 22:7b. .., and said, My father: .. (KJV) In This We See A Term Of Reverence And Endearment That Must Have Cut To The Heart Of Abraham. As Used By Isaac It Signified A Desire To Ask His Father A Question. Genesis 22:7c. ..: and he said, Here am I, my son. (KJV) Abraham Answered Isaac Reassuringly, As Though Isaac Was Groping For Him In A Dark Room. “Here Am I My Son.” Genesis 22:7d. ... And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (KJV) Abraham’s Heart Must Have Stood Still At That Sudden Question, The Lad’s Eyes Full Upon His Face, Signs Of Half Awakened Fear In His Eyes. As We Read, The Heart Cries Out With Pain, So Vivid And Heart Breaking Is It All, Although The Hearts That Suffered Have Been Still For Thirty Seven Hundred Years. Think What It Meant To Isaac! Human Sacrifice Was Commonly Practiced In Those Days, And With That Background To His Thoughts, His Was No Idle Question Shot At Random Out Of Simple Curiosity. Life Is Sweet, And He Was Young, And Still Looking Out On That Wonderful Future Which Hid, And Held, So Much That His Heart Coveted. A Little While And He Too Would Set Sail, And Win The Land Where Dreams Come True. Suddenly, As An Arrow Burying Itself In His Breast, Came The Cold, Awful Truth! And Yet The Lad Went On. There Are No Hot Reproaches, No Wild Outcry, But In Tense And Utter Silence He Climbed On And On. In That Age A Father’s Right To Do As He Would With His Son Was As Unquestioned As His Right To Do What He Would With His Slave, Or His Ass. Yet The Father’s Heart Was Sorest. Genesis 22:8a. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: ... (KJV) In This Gentle Answer To His Son, Abraham’s Heroic Faith Still Clings To Divine Promises. Though Isaac’s Heart Was Trembling, Yet, Surely, It Is To Abraham That One’s Heart Reaches Out To First. Was Ever Man So Agonized And Tortured? Isaac, The Light Of His Whole Life, And He Must Dash It Out, And Henceforth Grope In Gross Darkness. The Boy, His Boy, Who Filled His Heart With Hope And Happiness. Had Not God Said That “In Isaac” He Would Certainly Be Blessed,
The Trial Of The True Heart Is Often Stretched Out To It’s Extremity, That The Revelation Which Rewards Faithfulness May Be The More Abundant And Wonderful. It Was So Long Now Since He Had Set Forth From Haran To Inherit The Land God Had Surely Promised To Him From Time To Time. His Whole Life Had Slipped Away Since Then And Even Yet He Owned No Foot Of It, Not Even So Much As Would Allow Him To Bury His Dead. (Genesis 23:4, Acts 7:5) But Still His Heart Believed On,
What A Wild Tumult Of Emotions,
Genesis 22:8c. ..: so they went both of them together. (KJV) No Wonder That Abraham Was Called “The Father Of The Faithful”! God Counted Him As His Friend. No Wonder That A Faith So Remarkable, And An Obedience So Complete, Were “Counted Unto Him For Righteousness.” Once On A Day The Prince Of All Believers Climbed A Hill, Yet More Steep, With A Cross, Yet Heavier, Pressing Hard Upon His Heart, Into A Darkness Even More Gross And Black. For God Had Promised Him That He Would Save The World; And He Was Going To His Death, With Not One Soul In The World That Understood, Or, That Believed: Yet He Went On Unfalteringly. Where God Led Him, There He Would Follow. John 4:34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (KJV) Because Of That Undaunted Faith Of His, And That Perfect Obedience, Tested To The Uttermost, He Has Destroyed Our Enemies, And Won For Us Our Salvation. In All Of History, Perhaps, No Act Of Any Man Comes Nearer To His Than This Uttermost Sacrifice Of Abraham. Who Gave His Very All To God, Climbing That Hill Into Utter Darkness, With His Hopes All Shattered, And God’s Promises Seemingly Broken, And His Sore, Lacerated, Heart Pained All But Past Bearing. “So They Went Both Of Them Together.” But The Father’s Heart Was Sorest In The Common Sorrow. Maybe Today It Has Come Your Turn To Climb The Hill Of Sacrifice, That Long Hill That Strains The Heart And Tires So Cruelly. Something Has Happened; And The Life That Used To Be So Sunny Has Of A Sudden Become Gray. No Doubt You Are Trying To Meet It Bravely Enough, Perhaps By Simply Leaving Yourself In God’s Hands. Life Was So Happy Until This Fell Suddenly Out Of The Sky; And Now Everything Is So Different.
Yet At Least You Are Not Alone. Your Father Is Beside You; And The Father’s Heart Is The Sorest. However Lonely Is The Road, You Have One Sure Companion; However Personal The Sorrow, One Other Heart Is Bearing It Along With You, For It Is His, Yet More That Yours, So You “Both Go Together” Up The Hill Of Sorrow, But The Father’s Heart Is Sorest. Can I See Another’s Woe,
Think Not Thou Canst Sigh A Sigh,
O ! He Gives To Us His Joy,
That Is The Teaching Of The Testaments. The Man Of Sorrows, One Tired And Aged Before His Time By The Keenness Of His Sympathy, By Ever Entering Into Other People’s Troubles, By Giving Himself Without Limit For Their Relief, Whom The Gospels Tell Us Is God’s Very Image And His Express Likeness, Says To You, “Behold, I Go Before Thee.” God Is Not Sitting Back On A Dazzling Throne In Glory, Untouched By The Woes And Miseries Of This Uneasy Earth. But God Is In The Thick Darkness At The Very Heart Of The World’s Sorrows, Bowed By A Cross That Even He Could Hardly Carry, So Grieved, So Wounded, So Heartbroken, There It Is That We See God Clearest, There That We Understand What He Is Really Like. Darkness Wraps The Cross, But If One Looks Intently There Emerges From The Darkness The Dim Outline Of Another Crucified Sufferer, The Father, Sharing Golgotha With His Son. So It Was Not Christ Only Who Climbed The Grim, Stony Hill Of Sacrifice, And Not Christ Only Who Went Down Deeper And Deeper Through The Darkness, But “They Went Both Of Them Together,” The Father And He; And The Father’s Heart Was Sorest. Only At Such A Price, And Such A Cost, Was Our Salvation Won. So It Was With Abraham, As He And His Son Climbed The Hill Together, When Hope’s Last Dogged Spark Was Winking Itself Out, That Daring Faith Was Justified. To Abraham Himself, Indeed, It Could Not Be. He Must Go to His Grave A Homeless Wanderer, Must “Die In Faith, Not Having Received The Promises,” Still Trusting To The Very End. But The Boy Would Enter Into All That His Father’s Faith Had Won For Him. Genesis 22:9a. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, ... (KJV) Reaching The Top Of Mount Moriah Abraham Built An Altar. It Is Doubtful That Isaac Was Permitted To Help In Building The Altar. Genesis 22:9b. .., and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (KJV) After The Altar Was Built Abraham Carefully Arranged The Wood On The Top Of It.
We Must Remember That Isaac Was a Full Grown Lad At This Time, And Without His Consent Abraham Could Never Have Succeeded In Binding Him. The Feelings Of The Patriarch Throughout This Transaction Are Simply Inconceivable. Genesis 22:10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (KJV) Who Even In The Last Moment Offers No Resistance, There Was No Outcry, But Behaves Like A Type Of Him Who Was Led Like A Lamb To The Slaughter. In Perfect Sincerity,
He Accounted That, Though Isaac Should Be Slain, God Was Able To Raise Him Up Again From The Dead. (Hebrews 11:19) Hence, Though Prepared To Plunge The Knife Into His Son’s Breast, And Reduce His Beloved Form To Ashes, He “Staggered Not At The Promise.” (Romans 4:20) Genesis 22:11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. (KJV) At The Last Instant! The God Of Redemption Interposes For The Deliverance Of Both Isaac And Abraham. The Repetition Of The Call Denotes Urgency, As Contrasted With Verse One. Causing Abraham To Stop The Decent Of The Knife, Instantly. Genesis 22:12. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (KJV) The Trial Is Over And Abraham Had Passed The Test. The Sacrifice Was Now Complete As Far As Abraham Could Offer It.
Genesis 22:13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (KJV) God Had Indeed Provided A Sacrifice, A Ram! As He Would Do In The Dim Future, God Provided A Substitute, A Sacrifice In The Stead For Us, His Son. (John 1:29) Abraham Was Glad To Have His Son Spared; So Would The Father Have Been, But He Gave Up His “Only-Begotten, Well Beloved Son” For Us. (Romans 8:32) Genesis 22:15. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
Once Again Jehovah Renews His Covenant With Abraham, And A Solemn Oath Is A Guarantee Of Their Fulfillment. I Feel Sure That Isaac Listened Intently At The Voice Of The Lord. Hebrews 6:13. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Genesis 22:19. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. (KJV) “Together” In The Beginning Of The Journey, “Together” In The End, In Trial And In Blessing. 3. We Have Already Said That Part Of The Service Of A Friend Is To Call Out The Finer Feelings Of The Heart. In This Third Incident In Abraham’s Life He Discovered And Brought Out Of The Heart Of God, Something No Man Had Ever Known For The First Two Thousand Five Hundred Years Of Man’s Existence. Abraham’s So Pressing Intercession For Sodom Was The Part Of A True Friend Of God. I Hope We Can Grasp The Full Significance Of This Experience. Genesis Chapter Eighteen Contains One Of The Most Fantastic Experiences In The Whole History Of Man. As Far As Can Be Determined This Is The First Intercessory Prayer Ever Prayed. And God’s Heart, Which Was So Full Of Answers To Intercessory Prayer, Would Never Have Been Discovered Had It Not Been For Abraham’s So Friendly Service Performed That Day Both To God And To The Doomed Cities Of Sodom And Gomorrah. I Feel That God Has Always Wanted To Give Grace And Extend Mercy, But, Till Abraham, No One Had Ever Asked For Mercy, Or Given God The Opportunity To Give Grace. Abraham Was The Opportune Friend Of The Hearer Of Prayer When He Sought God For The Deliverance Of Sodom. Let Us Follow The Story In Genesis Chapter Eighteen, We Will Begin At Verse Sixteen. Sodom’s Doom Revealed, (Genesis 18:16-22)The Meal And Conversation Concerning Sarah And The Birth Of Isaac Being Finished, The Heavenly Visitors Then Revealed Another Reason For Their Visit. Genesis 18:16a. And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: ... (KJV) After The Meal They Rose Up And Looked Out Towards The Mountains Over Which Sodom Lay, And Began To Move In That Direction. They Had Spent Nearly A Half A Day With Abraham, But He Was Reluctant To Let Them Go. Genesis 18:16b...and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. So Abraham, To Prolong The Visit, Walked Along With Them For A Ways, And As They Walked, God Took Abraham Into His Confidence And Revealed His Intentions Towards Sodom And Gomorrah. Genesis 18:17. And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; (KJV) Having Been Taken In Covenant With God, Abraham Would Henceforth Be Known As “The Friend Of God,” And Would Share An Intimacy With Him Like Few Mortals Would Ever Share. Psalm 25:14. The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. (KJV) Then The Lord Revealed Why He Would Confide In Abraham. 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?
About To Become The Head Of A Great Nation, It Was Natural To Suppose That Abraham Would Be Interested In All That Concerned Mankind. As The Head Of The Old Testament Church, And, “Father Of The Faithful,” There Was a Special Reason For Him To Be Properly Instructed Concerning The Impending Doom Of Sodom. For Upon Him Would Fall The Responsibility Of Interpreting To The People Of His Day The Reason Why Judgment Fell Upon Sodom. This Is Also The Responsibility Of The Church On Earth Today, To Explain God’s Judgments To The Unbelieving World. Amos 3:7. Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Abraham Was To Be, Not Merely The Ancestor Of A Nation, But The Father Of A Spiritual Family, Which He Would Lead By Influence And Example. Abraham Had No Written Book To Aid Him In His Work, Nor Did He Leave Written Records For His Descendants. But He Left Them An Example Of His Walk With God. Genesis 18:19a. 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. (KJV) “I Know Him,..”
He Could Trust Abraham, For He Would “Command,” Not In The Dictatorial Tones Of A Tyrant, But By The Power Of A Consistent Life. God Made The Bestowment Of Intended Blessings Contingent On The Faithful Discharge Of Duty.
If Abraham Had Not Been Faithful, His Name Would Have Died Out, And There Would Have Been No Handing Down Of The Story Of His Devoted Life, And Persistent Hold Of The Divine Promise. Children And Servants Alike Learned From Abraham, And Were Brought Under Spiritual Influence. (Gen. 22:7; 24:26; 26:25) Isaac Followed In His Father’s Steps And Was A Meditative Man. (Gen. 24:63) Jacob Cherished The Promises And Handed Them On To His Sons. (Gen. 49:1-33) The Jews Preserved A Knowledge Of God When All Other Races Were Sunk In Idolatry, And Polytheism. From Them Came The One Who Was To Be The Savior Of The World. All, However, Depended On The Right Training Of Isaac. This Should Speak To Us Of The Inestimable Value Of Spiritual Training In The Home.(Proverbs 22:6)Ephesians 6:4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (KJV) Parents Are Held Accountable For Failure, And Should Therefore Be Firm And Loving In Training. The Heart Will Not Become Pure Naturally, But Must Be Trained. The Set Of The World Tide Is In An Evil Direction. Parents Should Not Readily Delegate To Others The Work Of Training, Either In Secular Or Religious Knowledge. Sunday School Teaching Should Supplement, Not Supplant, Home Training. Genesis 18:20. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
After Giving The Reason Why He Would Give The Revelation To Abraham, God Gave Him The Reason Why He Would Destroy Sodom And Gomorrah. “Because The Cry Of Sodom And Gomorrah Is Great,...” All Sin Is Open And Unhidden To The Eyes Of God,
Revelation 18:5. For Her Sins Have Reached Unto Heaven, And God Hath Remembered Her Iniquities.” (KJV) “..., And Because Their Sin Is Very Grievous;” The Sin Of Sodom Is Detailed In The Next Chapter, And Some Very Heinous Sins Are Made Known. Genesis 18:21. “I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come up unto me; and if not, I will know.” (KJV) Though God Speaks Of Making Investigation Into The Sins Of Sodom, This Was Really Unnecessary. Proverbs 15:3. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (KJV) The Moral Degeneracy Of The Inhabitants Of The Jordan Valley Was One Of The “All Things” That Are Ever “Naked And Manifest” Unto His Eyes. Hebrews 4:13. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (KJV) So Nothing Can Hide Sin From God.
2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (KJV) Was There A Chance That Sodom Would Come To Repentance? We Note That God Was Long-suffering In The Days Of Noah While He Prepared The Ark. (1 Peter 3:20) Genesis 6:5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (KJV) For 100 Years, While Noah Prepared The Ark, God Waited, With Patience, Giving Mankind A Chance To Repent. God Allowed Nineveh To Repent At The Preaching Of Jonah, Even After Declaring Their Destruction. (Jonah 3:9-10) One Hundred Years Later Nineveh’s Wickedness Came Again Before God, And There Was No Repentance, And No Holding Back The Wrath Of God, And It Was Completely Destroyed. (Nahum 3:7) So It Is Today, God Visits Before Judgment, That Mankind Might Have Every Opportunity To Come To Repentance. Individuals Are Visited In Various Ways, Cities, Nations, And Races Of Mankind, Are Visited By Storm, Flood, Earthquake, And Other Natural Disasters To Turn Them Back From Sin. When The, “Iniquity Is Full.” (Gen.15:16)--
Then The Judgments Of God Must Come Swift And Sure. But As With The Case Of Sodom And Gomorrah, Nothing Would Be Done In Haste, But With Judicial Calmness. Abraham Intercedes For Sodom.Genesis 18:22. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. (KJV) Two Of The Three Men Proceeded On Their Way Towards The Jordan Valley While The Third Was Detained By The Patriarch, Probably On The Heights Overlooking The Plains. It Is As Though Abraham Reached Out And Took Hold Of His Arm To Hold Him As He Spoke To Him. Then Abraham Begins The First Intercessory Prayer, Which We Have Recorded In The Bible. Genesis 18:23a. And Abraham drew near, And said... (KJV) Not Simply Physically, But Spiritually, Or A Pious Turning Of The Mind To God. James 4:8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.(KJV) Abraham Begins His Prayer, Which Contains One Of The Most Sublime Examples Of Hunan Intercession Of Which Scripture Preserves A Record. When Abraham Learned Of The Possibility Of Sodom Being Destroyed, His Mind Must Have Turned Immediately To His Nephew Lot Which Was Living In Sodom. Ultimately Abraham Hoped To Rescue Not Only Lot, But The Cities, Along With Their Inhabitants. Genesis 18:23b..., Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (KJV) In Genesis The Wickedness Of Sodom Is Set Forth So Emphatically That Its Name Has Become Proverbial To This Day. Yet Here Is Abraham Interceding For Sodom. The Good Man Pleads For Mercy For The Wicked. Who Is Most Likely To Come To The Help Of The Wicked?
No. Men Who Are Thoroughly Bad Are As Merciless To Others Of Their Kind As A Wolf Pack Is Merciless To The Wounded Wolf. The Most Merciful Men All Through The Bible Are The Best Men-- Joseph, Moses, David, Stephen, Barnabas. Above All Was Jesus, Who In His Perfect Righteousness Could Be The Friend Of Publicans And Sinners. There Is No More Corrupting Sin Than Censoriousness And Self Righteousness. Let Church Members Examine Their Own Hearts. Abraham Did Not Shut His Eyes And His Ears To The Calamities Which Was Coming Upon The Sodomites, As Many Would Have Done, On The Argument That It Was Richly Deserved, Or That It Was No Concern Of His, Or That It Was Little He Could Do To Stop It. But Abraham Actively Bestirs Himself, That, If Possible, To Prevent The Calamity. Genesis 18:24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? (KJV) Not Content With Asking Lot’s Deliverance, Or The Rescue Of The Righteous, He Aims At Nothing Short Of The Complete Preservation Of The Cities. He Realized That Jehovah Was a Merciful God, Because He Was Tolerant With The Amorites, For Their Iniquity Was Not Yet Full. (Genesis 15:16b) 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? (KJV) Abraham Began His Entreaty, Not On The Deserving Of Mercy On The Part Of Sodomites, But On The Grounds Of The Righteousness Of The Judge. Pitching His Hypothetical Number Of Pious Sodomites So High As To Insure A Favorable Response, And Gradually Reducing The Number As Grace Was Extended. Genesis 18:26. And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within he city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. (KJV) Thus Jehovah Accepted The Test Proposed By Abraham, Solely On The Grounds Of Mercy. Notice How That Abraham Acknowledges His Personal Unworthiness As He Takes His Petition To Jehovah Again. 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:
The Patriarch, Not Sure That There Were Fifty Righteous Souls In The Cities, Petitions The Lord Some More. Let Us Look At The Success Of His Intercession. 1. He Got All He Asked.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.
2. He Ceased Asking Before God Stopped Giving.We May Speculate As To What May Have Happened Had Abraham Continued To Reduce The Number On Which He Staked The Salvation Of Sodom. For God’s Glory It Is Only Just To Notice That It Was Not He, Who Discontinued Answering The Patriarch’s Petitions, So Much As The Patriarch Himself Ceased Asking. Maybe Abraham Felt That He Had Reached The Limit Of That Liberty Which God Allows To The Believing Supplicants At His Throne. Here Are Some Lessons We Learn In This Intercession With God By Abraham. 1. The Liberty Which Saints Have To Approach God In Prayer. (Hebrews 4:16) 2. The Art Of Wrestling With 3. The Great Encouragement Which Saints Have to Pray Without Ceasing. (James 5:16b) 4. The Deep Interest Which Saints Should Always Take In The Welfare Of Their Fellow-Men. (1 Timothy 2:1) Since That Day Who Has Not Known The Power Of Intercessory Prayer? Elijah Also Knew The Power Of Intercessory Prayer When He Was The First To Ask God To Restore Life To A Widow's Son. (1 Kings 17:21) Luke 11:9. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (KJV) Let Us Say In Our Heart, “I’ll Be A Friend To Jesus.” We Do Not Have To Have Great Talents Or Abilities To Be His Friend. Martha Cooked Supper For Him. (Luke 10:38-42) The Women Of Galilee Ministered To Him Of Their Substance. (Luke 8:3) The Woman At The Well In Samaria Gave Him A Drink Of Water. (John 4:7) Simon Of Syrene Bore His Cross For Him. (Luke 23:26) Everything We Do For Him Is Remembered, And Repaid. Matthew 10:40. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
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