Review

In our last lesson (One Lord # 17) we looked at four encounters Abraham had with the pre-incarnate Christ. Speaking about the fourth encounter, the visit of the three messengers to Abraham's tent in Hebron, Jesus said:

Abraham your father rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it and was glad (John 8:56; NASB).

Jesus appeared as a man, used the name Yahweh, and visited Abraham with two angels who also appeared as men. Abraham offered the visitors a meal and had a lengthy face-to-face dialogue with Jesus. Here's what that encounter looked like:

Yahweh appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby… Then one of them [Jesus] said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’

... Then Yahweh said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too hard for Yahweh [God]? (Genesis 18:1-2, 10, 13-14)

We pointed out in the last lesson that anyone named Yahweh who is visibly seen in the Old Testament cannot be the One God because God has never been seen by any man. We also pointed out that Jesus does not like people to think that anything is impossible for God. He defends God's power by declaring that "Nothing is impossible for God" even in the New Testament.

On a Mission to Destroy

After fellowshipping with Abraham, our Lord Jesus began to walk towards Sodom with the two angels. The three were on a reconnaissance mission, and Abraham had a suspicion that the reconnoiter would lead to the destruction of the city where his beloved nephew Lot resided, Sodom. He was right.

Jesus consulted with the two angels about whether he should reveal to Abraham what he was about to do. Abraham was walking with them, excellent host he was, to accompany them on their way from the place where he had pitched his tent.

When the men [Jesus and the two angels] got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then Yahweh [Jesus] said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? (Genesis 18:16-17)

No Need to Know

The Lord Jesus’ question was rhetorical. He didn’t expect an answer from the angels. Jesus had already decided not reveal to Abraham what he was about to do. He didn’t need to consult with angels. As a courtesy, he asked the rhetorical question to express to the angels that Abraham was a special man, a chosen man, a righteous man.

This is what Jesus said to them:

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on Earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh [God] by doing what is right and just, so that Yahweh [God] will bring about for Abraham what he [God] has promised him’ (Genesis 18:18-19).

The Lord Jesus stated all this to the two angels to praise Abraham in front of them, letting them know how beloved Abraham was. His statements about Abraham allowed the angels to understand why Jesus would disclose information to Abraham. With these words of praise, the angels would understand why Jesus trusted Abraham so much.

But some things are better kept a secret, even from the righteous. We should only share information when there is a need to know. Jesus didn't want to share any information about his intention to destroy Sodom with Abraham because Abraham didn't need to know. Such information might stress him or cause him undue anguish.

Abraham: Chosen for a Blessing

Abraham didn’t need to be told what was going on anyways because he knew. He was perceptive enough to know that the three holy visitors were not heading towards Sodom for tourism or a short vacation. He knew the reputation of Sodom and was aware that its reputation had reached Heaven.

Abraham knew that Sodom needed mercy which is why Abraham began to intercede for Sodom as he stood before Yahweh. Abraham pleaded for mercy, testing the limits of God’s mercy. He discovered that God would spare a city with ten righteous people in it, but that God very well might destroy a city with less than ten righteous people.

The remarkable thing about the passage is not just that Abraham would ask for mercy, or that God would judge a wicked city. The remarkable thing is that the Yahweh with whom Abraham was speaking speaks about another Yahweh. This causes us to ask "who was who"?

Yahweh said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? …I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh (Genesis 18:17, 19).

Jesus spoke about God as another, not as himself. Although he bore the name Yahweh, Jesus did not pretend to be the Yahweh whose ways Abraham was called to follow. He did not speak confusingly about the Yahweh he served. Jesus said that he chose Abraham to direct his family and servants to keep the way of Yahweh, and he meant that Abraham should follow the One God.

Chosen to Follow

That was the purpose for which Jesus chose Abraham: to follow God. The result of Abraham’s labor of directing his family to follow God is the Jewish and Arab communities of the world today—the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael. Those two groups live in some degree of knowledge of God. However, all the other peoples of the Earth who through Christ today follow the God of Abraham are also Abraham’s descendants--people we call "Christians."

Jesus chose Abraham so that Abraham would be a follower of God. Did Jesus choose you to be a follower of God also? Of course he did. Now, do you? Do you follow the One God?

Jesus chose Abraham to walk in God’s ways so that God would ‘bring about for Abraham what he has promised him’ (Genesis 18:19). Did Jesus choose you so that God would fulfill his promises to you too? Surely, he did.

Read the passage again and pay close attention to the words so that:

Yahweh said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? …I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh (Genesis 18:17, 19).

The words so that indicate that God expects us to be righteous. If God will make us the heirs of his Kingdom, we must direct our children to keep God's ways. This is the reason why we have been chosen: to do what is right and to multiply that righteousness.

Who is Who?

As you look at this passage you will be challenged to see who is who. The inevitable question is “Who is this Yahweh who is speaks about Yahweh?” Apparently two divine beings bear the name Yahweh!

The first Yahweh of the passage (Jesus) expresses his desire for Yahweh God to make things happen for Abraham. What things? The things that Yahweh God had promised Abraham. The Yahweh who was in Heaven sent the Yahweh who came down from Heaven to speak with Abraham.

Jesus, the Yahweh who was speaking to Abraham, came from Heaven. We know that because he says that the cries against Sodom had already reached his listening ears while he was in Heaven. He calls those prayers ‘the outcry that has reached me.’ That means that Jesus listened to prayers during Old Testament times. Hearing prayers is not his ministry only now under the New Testament.

Jesus was down on Earth in order to verify the information he had received about Sodom through prayers. Jesus had come down to see whether what he had heard in those prayers was true.

Then Yahweh [Jesus] said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know’ (Genesis 18:20-21).

Here we see the two angels entering the city gates of Sodom:

Here we see a confrontation of the homosexual citizens of the city with Lot:

Here they demand that Lot subject the angelic visitors to them for them to rape them:

Here Lot takes a final stand against the inhabitants of Sodom at the door of his house:

Judge of All the Earth

The Yahweh who visited Abraham was the Judge of all the Earth. How shall we interpret that? What does it mean for Jesus to be the Judge of all the Earth? Isn’t the One God the Judge of all the Earth?

… Abraham remained standing before Yahweh. Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? … Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the Earth do right?’

Yahweh said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake’ (Genesis 18:23, 25-26).

Is Jesus indeed the Judge of all the Earth? If he isn’t, then he certainly would have denied Abraham the use of that title for him. Jesus surely would have told Abraham not to be mistaken about his identity—but he didn't have to do that because Abraham was right! The title Judge of all the Earth fits Jesus perfectly well. It corresponds with what we learn in the New Testament. There Jesus tells us that God authorized him to judge the World.  

… he [God] has given him [Jesus] authority to judge because he is the Son of Man (John 5:27).

Two Yahwehs in Synchronicity

You probably are already convinced, but in case you lack proof that the Yahweh of the Sodom and Gomorrah story was Jesus, then the following verses should convince you. It plainly demonstrates that there were two Yahwehs acting together to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah: one who was on Earth and one who was actively sending judgment from Heaven.

Then Yahweh rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from Yahweh out of the heavens (Genesis 19:24).

The Yahweh who sent burning sulfur from the heavens was the One God our Father. He was in Heaven. Who could the Yahweh on Earth have been? It wasn’t the One God. The Yahweh who rained down the burning sulfur by invoking the Yahweh in Heaven must have been Jesus!

Jesus Knows About Judgment

Are you convinced yet? Jesus spoke of the destruction of Sodom in the New Testament, revealing how important it was to him. And how could it not be important to him? Wasn't he there? The Jesus we follow today was a first-hand witness of the destruction of Sodom. Jesus spoke from personal experience.

He was responsible for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw the ‘days of Lot.’ This is what Jesus said when speaking to his apostles about the challenges of ministering the Gospel to hard-hearted people:

… whatever city you enter and they do not receive you… I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city… the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all (Luke 10:10, 12; 17:28-29).