Genesis 18:16: The one view in Abraham's life that decides something
Read it →Commentary on Genesis 18:16
The meal at Mamre is over, the three visitors stand up, and their faces turn toward the city where Abraham's nephew lives. A host walks his guests a little way down the road. That short walk opens the door into God's plans for judgment.
Hospitality That Keeps Walking
Abraham does not just receive his guests. He walks with them. One writer contrasts that with the polite generosity of an important man.
Here is another beautiful feature in Abraham, which also had its reward. His was not a mere hospitality that receives like a patron without going any further. In Abraham there was nothing of what we may call the condescension of a great man. We can scarcely call that true hospitality, or at least Christian hospitality... Genuine humility was there. With it came an unmistakable dignity of character, and no less true kindness, and lowly, persevering love. So he stays close to their steps, and no wonder. It was not merely a ready heart for a stranger. He felt the glory of his visitors, and of One among them especially.
What the Look Toward Sodom Means
This look is not a casual glance. God looks at a place before He acts against it.
It is not simply that everything is under the eye of God, which is always true, but this is the look that comes before judgment. The Lord came down to see before the judgment at Babel. Again He looked toward Sodom before its destruction (Gen. 18:16); and again we read that the Lord looked on the host of the Egyptians before their overthrow (Ex. 14:24).
Yet the approach to the city comes in stages. Those stages show God's patience.
God waits and bears long with the wickedness of men, but He is not indifferent to sin. It cries out to Him until at last it is ripe for judgment. But even so, the Lord is slow to judge. First we read of the two angels that they "looked down toward Sodom" (v. 16). Then they "went toward Sodom" (v. 22). Finally, "the two angels came to Sodom in the evening" (Gen. 19:1).
From Companion to Confidant
Abraham sets out beside men on an errand of judgment, and that shared road is where God begins to speak.
The Lord directed them in judgment, and Abraham went with them to show them the way. He is here the companion of the Lord and the confidant of His thoughts. And to us the Lord is not only the eternal spring of blessing to our souls, but He makes His saints His companions; not always, it is true, but still He does so. He makes us His companions by what He tells us. There is no happier or surer way to show love to someone than to share your thoughts and feelings with them.
Another writer notes what changes once the guests rise.
But now the Lord has spoken that word of present fulfilment, and they rise up to go on their way. Now the Lord will deal with Abraham as a man deals with his friend. He speaks with Abraham about what did not concern himself but the world. It is not Abraham's needs, or even Abraham's walk, but the intention of God which He would have him know... It is communion, personal fellowship with God about what concerns Himself and His ways.
Outside the Judgment, Told About It
Abraham walks toward the doomed city with nothing of his own at stake there.
"Abraham went with them to set them on their way." That was all. He was entirely apart from the judgment about to fall on Sodom.
Lot, not Abraham, was the man with everything at stake in Sodom. Yet see who was told.
Here Abraham is seen as "the friend of God." "The servant does not know what his lord does." But the Lord told Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom. Lot was the one most deeply affected by that solemn event, yet he knew nothing of it.
Who Deals With Whom
The party that rises here will soon divide. Notice who deals with Abraham, and who deals with Lot.
One thing has struck me. Messages from angels never teach or help Abraham. The Lord Himself teaches him, or, what amounts to the same thing, the angel of the Lord does. But contact with Lot comes only through angels. So with the destruction of Sodom: the Lord appeared to Abraham, and the Lord spoke to Abraham. Only two angels visited Lot.
Summary
- The walk — Abraham's hospitality did not stop at the tent door. He stayed close to his guests' steps, and that persevering love had its reward.
- The look — before God acts in judgment, He looks: at Babel, at Sodom, at Egypt's army.
- The pace — looked down toward Sodom, then went toward Sodom, then came to Sodom in the evening. God is not indifferent to sin, but He is slow to judge.
- The confidence — as the Lord's companion, Abraham became the confidant of His thoughts. He heard about God's plans for the world, not about his own needs.
- The contrast — the friend outside the city hears everything, and hears it from the Lord Himself. The man inside learns nothing until angels shake him awake.
