Jesus as Perfect Judge | Genesis 18:9-33
“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?”
--James 4:12
- God is Establishing His family; His people, who are separate from the sinful world.
“Then they said to him, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ And He said, ‘I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent door which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.”
--Genesis 18:9-11
Over the next five chapters of Genesis, God, is carrying out His ultimate plan of raising up a special people, a peculiar people, a chosen people that will be called out of the depraved world around them. Here, he is reminding Abraham of this promised covenant, of many descendants being born through him and Sarah—the Israelites. God is solidifying His promises—when God says something is going to happen we must know that it is going to happen!
“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…”
--Hebrews 10:22-24
“Now Yahweh visited Sarah as He had said, and Yahweh did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.”
--Genesis 21:1-12
We, as the reader, have the benefit of knowing the outcome of this story, of knowing about the birth of Isaac; yet in the moment (a year a half before Isaac’s birth) Sarah had serious doubts about God’s plan.
“And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And Yahweh said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a son, when I am so old?’ ‘Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Then Sarah denied it however, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. And He said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’
--Genesis 18:13-15
“It is strangely characteristic of God’s people to believe His promise for a long time, enduring through much discouragement along the way, until the promise is almost there, and then find doubt. Believers are grateful that God is greater than their doubts.”
--Enduring Word Commentary
When looking at who God is we must understand that God is truly good, truly Holy—everything God does is good and none of it is evil or bad. We must put our faith in God and His promises.
- God’s chosen people are set apart from the depraved world.
“Then the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. Now Yahweh said, ‘Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.’ So Yahweh said, ‘The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.’”
--Genesis 18:17-21
Jesus confirms this promise of a great and mighty nation through Abraham and looks to conceal His judgement for Sodom and Gomorrah—Jesus is also taking credit for what he is about to do.
Sodom’s wicked and exceeding sin.
“Now the men of Sodom were evil and sinners, exceedingly so, against Yahweh.”
--Genesis 13:13
The Unrepentant Sins of Sodom and Gomorrah
-Sexual immorality including homosexuality. The term “Sodomy” comes from the homosexual sin found on Sodom. “and they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them.” –Genesis 19:5.
This word in Hebrew, yada, means “to know.” It is considered an idiom or a typical phrase in Hebrew that refers to “full knowledge of a person—both inside and out.” It is more than an acquaintance. How do we know it is refer to knowing someone sexually? The same word is used in Genesis 4:1, “Now the man knew His wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.” Looking at the context of Genesis 19—in verse 8 Lot says “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not known (yada) a man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them what is good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
So these men, who have come to Lot’s house, want to have intimate relations with the two angels—they even go to break Lot’s door down after Lot offers his daughters instead—this is a truly messed up situation.
-Arrogance, self-centered, gluttons, prideful, they did not help the afflicted or needy the sins of Sodom included pride, apathy, complacency, idleness, and unconcern for the underprivileged.,. “As I live, declares Lord Yahweh, ‘Sodom your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had lofty pride, abundant food, and quiet ease, but she did not strengthen the hand of the afflicted and needy. Then they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. So I removed them when I saw it.” – Ezekiel 16:48-50
“The Hebrew word translated ‘detestable’ refers to something that is morally disgusting. It is the same word used in Leviticus 18:22, where homosexuality is an ‘abomination.’ Jude 1:7 also weighs in: ‘Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.’ So, again, while homosexuality was not the only sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, it does appear to be the primary reason for the destruction of those cities.”
--Gotquestions.org
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were exceeding in their sin. They were fully depraved; they had given themselves over to their lusts, their own desires, they were following their heart’s commands instead of God’s commands.
“And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols and ordained one of his sons, and he became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”
--Judges 17:5-6
God, Jesus, is beginning to establish His chosen people, His community and the justice / wrath for those who are unrepentant and who choose the depraved world over the Lordship of Christ. Abraham is faithful to God; he is hospitable to Christ, he makes room for Him, he worships God and follows God—he is not like those in Sodom and Gomorrah because he is faithful to God.
“So Yahweh said, ‘the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin I exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.’ Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before Yahweh. Then Abraham came near and said, ‘will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’”
--Genesis 18:20-23
Abraham and Jesus continue to have this conversation about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s concern is not for the whole city of Sodom but rather it is for those who are “righteous” in Sodom—some commentators think Abraham is appealing for his nephew Lot because Lot lives near or in Sodom. Look at verses 24 and 25.
“Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?”
--Genesis 18:24-25
Abraham is speaking to God’s justice and how He treats the righteous people—“if you burn away the city and burn the righteous with the wicked then how is that just?” There is a dramatic irony here—because we know how lost and depraved Sodom and Gomorrah are—we know the ending of this story but Abraham doesn’t. Jesus promises:
“So Yahweh said, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.’ And Abraham answered and said, ‘Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes…Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there…’ Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.’”
--Genesis 18:26-27,29,31-32
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
--Romans 1:18-20, 25-27
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
--Romans 1:28-32
Abraham pleads to God for the salvation of Sodom; but there is none who are righteous, none who are worshiping Yahweh in Sodom—the biblical Jesus, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit is loving, merciful and is also Judge. God judges the world because He loves the world; He aims to clean the world of sin, of unrighteousness because of His love.
God’s character is immutable; unchanging. He is the same throughout the history of the world and throughout the entirety of scripture. He consistently gives His consuming fire in judgement throughout the entirety of scripture when dealing with sin and unrepentant hearts.
“So keep your souls very carefully, since you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire…So keep yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God which He cut with you and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which Yahweh your God has commanded you. For Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
--Deuteronomy 4:15-17, 21-24
“Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.’ But they fell on their faces and said, ‘O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?... Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, ‘Lest the earth swallow us up!’ Fire also came forth from Yahweh and consumed the 250 men who were bringing near the incense.”
--Numbers 16:34-35
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
--Hebrews 12:28-29
“Their problem in hell will not be separation from God, it will be the presence of God that will torment them. In hell, God will be present in the fullness of His divine wrath. He will be there to exercise His just punishment of the damned. They will know Him as an all-consuming fire.”
--R.C. Sproul
“And he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
--Revelation 14:9-11
“Isn’t it amazing that God gives breath to a man who is going to blaspheme him all day?”
–Leonard Ravenhill
- Live a life set apart from this world. Live for Christ. Live in Christ.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…”
--Romans 8:1-3
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean…”
--2 Corinthians 6:14-17
“I am thankful that Justice is in the hands of God.” – A.W. Tozer