《Expository Notes on the Whole Bible – Genesis》(Thomas Constable) Commentator

9. Abraham's intercession for Lot 18:16-33

After God reviewed the reasons for sharing His plans for the destruction of Sodom with Abraham, He told the patriarch that He was about to investigate the wicked condition of that city. This news moved Abraham to ask God to be just in His dealings with the righteous there.

"A rhetorical question in each section-'Is anything too demanding for Yahweh?' [Genesis 18:14]; 'Shall not he who judges all the earth give right judgment?" [Genesis 18:25]-sounds the major motif of each unit [Genesis 18:1-15 and Genesis 18:16-33].... In both units it is some kind of noise that provokes Yahweh-Sarah's laugh and Sodom's groans." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, pp. 16-17.]

Verses 22-33

This is the first time in Scripture that a man initiated a conversation with God. He prayed for the people of Sodom, not just Lot. Abraham's intercession raises several questions in the minds of thoughtful Bible students. Did Abraham succeed in his intercession since God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Some interpreters believe he did not because he quit too soon.

". . . Abraham ceased asking before God ceased giving." [Note: Ibid., p. 116. See also Chris Wright, "Intercession or Irritation?" Third Way 29 (February 1983):18-19.]

This conclusion assumes that Abraham's primary purpose was to get God to demonstrate mercy and to spare the cities for the sake of their few righteous inhabitants (Genesis 18:24). While this idea was obviously in Abraham's mind, his primary purpose seems rather to have been to secure justice (i.e., deliverance) for the righteous minority in their wicked cities (Genesis 18:23-24). Secondarily, he wanted God to spare the cities. This interpretation finds support in Abraham's appeal to the justice of God rather than to His mercy (Genesis 18:25). This appeal was the basis of his intercession. Abraham was jealous for the reputation of Yahweh among his neighbors. If this was indeed his primary purpose, Abraham succeeded in obtaining justice for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah.

A second question arises from Abraham's method of interceding. Is his haggling with God an example we should follow? Evidently Abraham was not trying to wear God down by pressuring Him. Instead he was seeking clarification from God as to the extent of His mercy. He wanted to find out how merciful God would be in judging these cities.

Why did Abraham stop with 10 righteous people (Genesis 18:32)? Perhaps he had learned that the Lord would be merciful regardless of the number. [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 230.] Perhaps he thought there would be at least 10 righteous in those two cities. If so, he underestimated the wickedness of the Sodomites, and, perhaps, he overestimated righteous Lot's influence over his neighbors.

Will God spare a city or nation today because of the Christians in it? This passage is helpful in answering this question because in it we can see that a godly minority does play a role in influencing God's judgment. It can delay judgment by promoting godliness. However a godly minority may not prevent God's judgment if "sin is exceedingly grave" (Genesis 18:20). God does not always choose to remove the righteous from the wicked before He judges the wicked, as He did in Lot's case. Nevertheless the Judge of all the earth does deal justly. We can see this when we take the long view. People alive now have yet to receive their final judgment from the divine Judge.

Abraham's shameless, bold persistence with God illustrates what Jesus had in mind when he taught the importance of these qualities in prayer (e.g., Luke 11:5-10; Luke 18:1-8). Threefold repetition is common in Scripture, but Abraham's doubling of it gives his request even more solemnity and weight.

This chapter illustrates a progression in Abraham's relationship with God that is normal for those who have a relationship with Him.

1. God revealed Himself to Abraham (Genesis 18:1).

2. Abraham welcomed God's revelation (Genesis 18:2-3).

3. Fellowship resulted (Genesis 18:4-8). They ate together.

4. This fellowship led to further revelation and greater understanding of God's will (Genesis 18:9-22).

5. Having learned of God's purpose to judge the sinners, Abraham's response was to intercede for those under God's judgment (Genesis 18:23-33).

"It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pray effectively for lost souls if one is not convinced that lostness will ultimately result in literal, eternal punishment." [Note: Davis, p. 199.]

The outstanding lesson of this section is probably that since God is a righteous Judge He will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. [Note: See Joseph Blenkinsopp, "Abraham and the Righteous of Sodom," Journal of Jewish Studies 33:1-2 (Spring-Autumn 1982):119-32; and T. J. Mafico, "The Crucial Question Concerning the Justice of God," Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 42 (March 1983):11-16.]
19 Chapter 19
Verses 1-11

The men of Sodom wanted to have homosexual relations with Lot's visitors (Genesis 19:5). The Mosaic Law later regarded all homosexual behavior as a capital offense (Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; cf. Romans 1:26-27). [Note: For a refutation of denials of this view, see P. Michael Ukleja, "Homosexuality and the Old Testament," Bibliotheca Sacra 140:559 (July-September 1983):259-66. On the modern resurgence of homosexuality and its connection with ancient religious paganism, see Peter Jones, "Androgyny: The Pagan Sexual Ideal," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43:3 (September 2000):443-69.] Their lack of hospitality contrasts with Abraham's hospitality (Genesis 18:1-8) and reflects their respective moral states.

Hospitality was more sacred than sexual morality to Lot (Genesis 19:8; cf. Judges 19:23-25). Compromise distorts values. Lot considered his duty to his guests greater than his duty to his children.

"When a man took in a stranger, he was bound to protect him, even at the expense of the host's life." [Note: Davis, p. 201. See Desmond Alexander, "Lot's Hospitality: A Clue to His Righteousness," Journal of Biblical Literature 104:2 (June 1985):289-91.]

Verses 12-22

"In order to show that the rescue of Lot was in response to the prayer of Abraham, the narrative reads so that the words of the messengers ["swept away," Genesis 19:15; Genesis 19:17] recall explicitly the words of Abraham's prayer in behalf of the righteous in the previous chapter ["sweep away," Genesis 18:23]." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 170.]

Verses 23-26

Probably the burning sodium sulfate that was raining down covered Lot's wife as she lingered behind (Genesis 19:26). [Note: Kidner, p. 135. See Deborah Aufenson-Vance, "Lot's Wife Remembers," Adventist Review 163:8 (Feb. 20, 1986), p. 5.]

"The heaven's rain cannot be explained solely as a natural phenomenon, such as earthquake; it was exceptional, never again repeated, providing the parade illustration of the fiery eschatological judgment against the wicked (e.g., 2 Peter 2:6-9). The twin calamities of Noah and Lot illustrate Jesus' teaching on the suddenness of the coming of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26-30)." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 241.]

All that Lot had gained by living in Sodom burned up like wood, hay, and stubble (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15). The Apostle Peter cited Lot as an example of the Lord's deliverance of the godly from trials that He uses to punish the ungodly (2 Peter 2:6-10). John called believers not to love the world or the things in the world because they will pass away (1 John 2:15-17).

Verses 27-29

As in the Flood story, the writer focused the reader's attention on the response of individuals to the judgment rather than on the destruction itself. Here those individuals are Lot's wife and Abraham. Later they will be Lot and his daughters. The picture of Abraham in Genesis 19:27-28 is similar to that of Moses interceding for Israel in the battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:11-12). [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 173.] Lot's prayer concerning Zoar (Genesis 19:18-20) contrasts with Abraham's prayer for Sodom (Genesis 18:23-32).

"The substitution of Abraham for Lot in this sentence ["God remembered Abraham," Genesis 19:29; cf. Genesis 8:1] makes an important theological point. Lot was not saved on his own merits but through Abraham's intercession." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 59.]

Abraham rescued Lot twice: from the Mesopotamian kings (ch. 14) and from Sodom.

Verses 30-38

Moses evidently included the account of Lot's incest for at least two purposes.

1. It gives the origin of the Moabite and Ammonite nations that played major roles as inveterate enemies in the later history of Israel. Moab sounds like the words translated "from the father," and Ammon means "son of my kin."

"His legacy, Moab and Ammon (37f.), was destined to provide the worst carnal seduction in the history of Israel (that of Baal-Peor, Numbers 25) and the cruelest religious perversion (that of Molech, Leviticus 18:21)." [Note: Kidner, p. 136. See also Henry O. Thompson, "The Biblical Ammonites," Bible and Spade 11:1 (Winter 1982):1-14.]

2. This story also illuminates the degrading effect that living in Sodom had on Lot's daughters. The writer censured Lot's daughters by not naming them (cf. Ruth 4:1). His older daughter was so desperate to marry that she exaggerated the effects of the recent catastrophe (Genesis 19:31).

"Lot was able to take his daughters out of Sodom, but he was not able to take . . . Sodom out of his daughters." [Note: Davis, p. 206.]

"Throughout the ancient Near East, incest between father and daughter was regarded as wrong, and OT law punishes more remote forms of incest with death (Leviticus 20:12).... The fact that his daughters had to make him drunk shows that they were consciously flouting normal conventions. Because of his readers' moral assumptions, the narrator did not feel it necessary to excoriate Lot's daughters' behavior. The facts spoke for themselves." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, pp. 61-62.]

"The story of Lot and his family should provide a sobering reminder that all of our decisions are significant, even that of where we live. Our moral environment significantly influences our lives. For this and many other reasons the New Testament constantly implores the believer to fellowship with those of like precious faith." [Note: Davis, p. 207.]

"There are lives recorded in the Bible which have well been called beacons. There are men like Balaam, Saul, and Solomon, who started well, with every possible advantage, and then closed their careers in failure and disaster. Such a life was that of Lot. . . . There is scarcely a life recorded in Scripture which is fuller of serious and solemn instructions for every believer." [Note: Thomas, p. 171.]

"The impact of the unit focuses more directly on a characterization of the father. The one who offered his daughters for the sexual gratification of his wicked neighbors now becomes the object of his daughters' incestuous relationship . . . . To be seduced by one's own daughters into an incestuous relationship with pregnancy following is bad enough. Not to know that the seduction had occurred is worse. To fall prey to the whole plot a second time is worse than ever." [Note: George W. Coats, Genesis, with an Introduction to Narrative Literature, p. 147.]

"In tragic irony, a drunk Lot carried out the very act which he himself had suggested to the men of Sodom (Genesis 19:8)-he lay with his own daughters.

"The account is remarkably similar to the story of the last days of Noah after his rescue from the Flood (Genesis 9:20-27). There, as here, the patriarch became drunk with wine and uncovered himself in the presence of his children. In both narratives, the act had grave consequences. Thus at the close of the two great narratives of divine judgment, the Flood and the destruction of Sodom, those who were saved from God's wrath subsequently fell into a form of sin reminiscent of those who died in the judgment. This is a common theme in the prophetic literature (e.g., Isaiah 56-66; Malachi 1)." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 174.]

From 2 Peter 2:6-9 we know that Lot was a righteous man, though from the record of him in Genesis we might doubt that. He chose to live as, what the New Testament calls, a "carnal" believer (1 Corinthians 3:3). First, he lifted up his eyes and saw Sodom (Genesis 13:10). Then he chose for himself (Genesis 13:11). Then he moved his tent as far as Sodom (Genesis 13:12). Then he sat in the gate of Sodom as one of its judges (Genesis 19:1; Genesis 19:9). Then he hesitated as Sodom's destruction loomed (Genesis 19:16). Finally he ended up committing incest with his daughters in a cave (Genesis 19:30-38). How far it is possible for a believer to depart from God's will when we keep making carnal decisions!

A major revelation of this chapter is that it is foolish for a believer to become attached to the things of this world. They will corrupt him, and God will destroy them swiftly and suddenly.

20 Chapter 20
21 Chapter 21
Verses 1-7

God's provision and Abraham and Sarah's response 21:1-7

The emphasis in this brief section is on the faithfulness and power of God in keeping His promise and providing an heir miraculously through Sarah (Genesis 17:16; Genesis 18:14). Note the threefold repetition of "as He had said," "as He had promised," and "of which God had spoken" (Genesis 21:1-2). The tension of anticipation finally subsides, but only temporarily.

God "visited" Sarah (Genesis 21:1, NIV), a common metaphor that describes God's intervention in nature and human afffairs. The Hebrew word translated "visited" (paqad) also appears when God intervened to save the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 4:31) and when He ended a famine (Ruth 1:6). It also occurs when He made Hannah conceive (1 Samuel 2:21) and when He brought the Jewish exiles home from Babylonian captivity (Jeremiah 29:10). Thus its presence here highlights the major significance of Isaac's birth.

Abraham's obedience in naming his son "Isaac" (Genesis 17:19) and circumcising him on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12) was an expression of worship.

Isaac's name ("laughter") was appropriate for two reasons.

1. Isaac would be a source of joy to his parents as the fulfillment of God's promised seed.

2. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed in amazement and unbelief respectively when told that God had chosen to bless them by giving them a son so late in life (Genesis 17:17; Genesis 18:12). [Note: On the alternate reading of Genesis 21:6-7 as "God has made a joke of me ... laugh at me ...," see Isaac Rabinowitz, "Sarah's Wish (Gen. XXI 6-7)," Vetus Testamentum 29 (July 1979):362-63. This reading has not won support from most commentators.]

Verses 1-21

12. The birth of Isaac 21:1-21

God proved faithful to His promise by providing Isaac. Abraham and Sarah responded with obedience and praise. Ishmael, however, became a threat to Abraham's heir and, consequently, his father sent him away into the wilderness where God continued to provide for him and his mother.

Verses 8-21

The expulsion of Ishmael and God's care of him and Hagar 21:8-21

All was not well in Abraham's household even though God had provided the heir. Ishmael was a potential rival to Isaac's inheritance. This section records another crisis in the story of Abraham's heir. Waltke pointed out six parallels between Hagar and Ishmael's trek and Abraham and Isaac's (ch. 22). [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 292.]

Normally in ancient Near Eastern culture the son of a concubine became the heir of his mother but not of his father (cf. Judges 9:1-3). Now that Abraham had a son by his wife, Sarah did not want Ishmael to share Isaac's inheritance. Weaning would have normally occurred at age two or three (cf. 1 Samuel 1:22-24; Hosea 1:8). The Hebrew word translated "mocking" (Genesis 21:9) comes from the same root as Isaac's name and means "laughing." However this participle is in the intensive form in Hebrew indicating that Ishmael was not simply laughing but ridiculing Isaac (cf. Galatians 4:29). Ishmael disdained Isaac as Hagar had despised Sarai (Genesis 16:4). Abraham understandably felt distressed by this situation since he loved Ishmael as well as Isaac (cf. Genesis 17:18). God appeared to him again (the seventh revelation) to assure Abraham that Sarah's desire was in harmony with His will (cf. Genesis 17:19-21). He encouraged Abraham to divorce Hagar.

"But how could God ask Abraham to do evil if divorce is always a sin? The answer must be that divorce in this case is either not a sin or else is the lesser of two evils." [Note: Joe M. Sprinkle, "Old Testament Perspectives on Divorce and Remarriage," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40:4 (December 1997):535.]

For other instances where God apparently commanded divorce, see Deuteronomy 21:10-14 and Ezra 9-10. Since God makes the rules, He can also alter them according to His sovereign will.

"The key to Sarah's demand lies in a clause in the laws of Lipit-Ishtar where it is stipulated that the father may grant freedom to the slave woman and the children she has borne him, in which case they forfeit their share of the paternal property." [Note: Sarna, Understanding Genesis, p. 147.]

The laws of Lipit-Ishtar were laws that governed life in Mesopotamia that antedated the Mosaic Law.

The focus of this revelation is a clarification of God's purposes for each of the two sons. God would bless Abraham through Ishmael as well as through Isaac.

"As Cain suffered both banishment from the divine and protection by the divine, so Ishmael is both loser and winner, cut off from what should be his but promised a significant lineage." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 81.]

The concluding description of Ishmael's experiences (Genesis 21:14-21) provides information essential to understanding and appreciating later references to him and his descendants in the text. Ishmael became the father of 12 sons (Genesis 25:13-16) as Jacob did. From his sons came the Arab nations that have ever since been the chief antagonists of the Israelites. The term "Arab" (someone from Arabia) came into use for the first time in the ninth century B.C. [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 156.] Hagar chose a wife for her son from her homeland, Egypt.

"In this respect she does not display the wisdom used by Abraham in choosing, as he did, a god-fearing wife for his son." [Note: Leupold, 2:609.]

"The picture of Ishmael as the rejected son is complete: he is the son of a slave woman, married to an Egyptian, lives outside normal social bounds, and is remembered for his hostilities." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 274.]

God not only makes promises but also provision. His provision of what He has promised results in great joy and should lead to separation from whatever might hinder His program of blessing. See Paul's use of this account in Galatians 4:21-31.

Verses 22-34

13. Abimelech's treaty with Abraham 21:22-34

"This scene occurs at the same time as the events of Scene 6 [Genesis 21:1-21] but focuses on different characters and tensions. This second conflict with Abimelech creates a bracket around the Isaac birth narrative. Whereas the first conflict, Scene 5 (Genesis 20:1-18), concerned jeopardy of the seed, the second conflict, Scene 7 (Genesis 21:22-34), concerns jeopardy of the land (i.e., well rights)." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 298.]

God's blessing of Abraham resulted in his material prosperity. In response to Abimelech's initiative Abraham agreed to make a covenant of peaceful coexistence. This treaty enabled Abraham to serve and worship God freely in the Promised Land.

The writer may have included this incident in the text partially because it records the testimony of a Gentile king to God's faithfulness (Genesis 21:22) and Abraham's strong testimony to God's faithfulness (Genesis 21:32-33). It also sets the stage for Isaac's dealings with Abimelech (ch. 26).

Since Abraham had become a powerful individual in the land by God's blessing, Abimelech initiated a bilateral treaty with him for his own protection. This was evidently the same Abimelech that Abraham had dealt with previously (ch. 20). They made a parity covenant (i.e., between equals, Genesis 21:31-32). This was a remarkable admission of Abraham's standing and blessing by God and an expression of Abimelech's confidence in the future existence of the patriarch's family.

The birth of Isaac seems to have produced a much stronger faith in Abraham (cf. Genesis 21:14). Note his immediate response to God's instructions to him from then on (cf. Genesis 22:3).

"Phicol" (Genesis 21:22) seems to have been a title rather than a proper name, probably of Anatolian origin. [Note: On the origin of Phicol, Abimelech's army commander, see J. D. Ray, "Two Etymologies: Ziklag and Phicol," Vetus Testamentum 36:3 (July 1986):358-59; and Wenham, Genesis 16-50, pp. 91-92. Cf. 26:26.]

Wells were extremely important in the life of semi-nomads like Abraham (Genesis 21:25). [Note: See Clark Youngblood, "Wells," Biblical Illustrator (Fall 1986), pp. 41-49.]

Beersheba, one of the more important sites throughout Old Testament times, meaning "oath of seven" or "oath-well," became Abraham's possession with the payment of seven ewe lambs (Genesis 21:28; cf. Genesis 26:33). [Note: See William G. Dever, "Beersheba," Biblical Illustrator (Spring 1983), pp. 56-62.]

Critics of the historicity of the patriarchal narratives have pointed out references to the Philistines in Genesis (Genesis 21:32; Genesis 21:34; Genesis 26:1) as evidence that the Bible contains errors. It is common knowledge that the Philistines did not invade Palestine until about 1200 B.C. whereas Abraham evidently lived about 800 years earlier. One explanation is that since the Philistines of Genesis were peaceful and those of Judges and later were warlike perhaps the same name describes an earlier group of people. They may have resembled the later thirteenth-century Philistines who also emigrated from the Aegean area into Palestine. [Note: Kitchen, Ancient Orient ..., p. 80; Edward E. Hindson, The Philistines and the Old Testament, pp. 94-95.] On the other hand perhaps the Philistines of 2000 B.C. were Minoan and peaceful whereas those of 1200 were Mycenean and warlike. [Note: Barker, p. 134. See also Vassos Karageorghis, "Exploring Philistine Origins on the Island of Cyprus," Biblical Archaeology Review 10:2 (March-April 1984):16-28.]

"I suggest that the Philistines of Genesis represent the first wave of Sea Peoples from the Aegean, and that the later Philistines represent the last wave (cf. 1200 B.C.)." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 94.]

By planting a tree Abraham indicated his determination to stay in that region. Tamarisk trees (Genesis 21:33) were long-lived and evergreen. [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 282.] This tree was an appropriate symbol of the enduring grace of the faithful God whom Abraham recognized as "the Everlasting God" (El Olam). Abraham now owned a small part of the land God had promised him.

"By granting Abraham rights to a well, Abimelek had made it possible for Abraham to live there permanently and had acknowledged his legal right at least to water. In other words, after so many delays the promises of land and descendants at last seem on their way to fulfillment." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 94.]

In contrast to Abraham's fear of Abimelech (ch. 20) we now see him boldly standing up to this powerful king. His changed attitude evidently resulted from God's grace in blessing the patriarch as He had promised.

"The reader is forced to ask why the author constantly draws attention to the fact that Abraham was dwelling with the Philistines during this time [cf. Genesis 21:34]. The purpose of such reminders may be to portray Abraham as one who had yet to experience the complete fulfillment of God's promises." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 177.]

Peaceful interpersonal relationships with those who acknowledge God enable the believer to proclaim his or her faith freely (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-4).