(Genesis) Genesis 20-21 — Joe Focht

Divine Judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 19 .23 says, The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, that which grew upon the ground.

But his wife, Lot's wife, looked back again from behind him, she lingered, and she became a pillar of salt. Now again, this is a divine judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah as we move through this passage.

And I've received questions during the week about Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, I believe forty-eight times in the Old Testament, Sodom and Gomorrah mentioned nineteen times in the New Testament.

And it becomes synonymous with unbridled sexual sin. And no doubt that is of all kinds. It was without restraint, so it did not have any limits. And so it becomes synonymous with that kind of sin. Now, on many of our state laws today, we still have restrictions about sodomy on the books of many of our states.

It is still something that we hear of today. Those of you that may be lawyers that have studied law, and much of our law based on English law, and all of that based on Scripture to a degree, and Blackstone defines sodomy very clearly, what the law of God is in regards to those things.

Now, clearly, rather than just having an opinion, the Scripture I think gives an evidence of what was taking place. If you're interested, I'll read a few verses. Well, let me read Jude, verse seven first.

If you're interested, you can flip there. If not, you can just listen. Jude is mentioning the judgment upon Egypt, the judgment upon the fallen angels, and the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah as being examples to those who would live ungodly.

Said the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation once and for all, the idea is, he hath reserved into everlasting chains under darkness under the judgment of the great day, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them, in like manner, Greek grammar law, to the angels, giving themselves over to fornication, now, to be given over to simply means that, it means to be unbridled, it means to be controlled by.

And it says, as Sodom and Gomorrah was given over to fornication, porneia, we get pornography, it is sexual activity that is outside of the law of God, outside of marriage. It is sexual perversion. They were given over, it says, the cities to fornication, going after strange flesh, as the angels did, unnatural in the example that's being used here, are set forth as an example of suffering the vengeance, and then it says, of eternal fire.

So, whatever else happened at Sodom and Gomorrah, in regards to geological upheaval, and oil deposits and the burning and so forth, what started it all off was the falling of eternal fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

And it clearly says that their sin was an unbridled sexual sin that the entire city was given over to. Now, back in 19, we get a picture of it when they say to Lot, in verse 5, they called unto Lot and they said unto him, all of the men of the city, young and old, from every quarter, hear that there's two new men in town, remarkably, and they call unto Lot and they said unto him, where are the men which came in to thee this night?

Bring them out to us that we may know them. And it speaks about having sexual relations with them. Now, there are those that say this simply means to know them, and that from Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49, where it says the real sin of thy sister Sodom was a full belly idle time in the pride of life.

They remembered not the poor. They say there, what it's saying is the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was inhospitality and pride. And that the men of the city are simply saying, you know, bring them out that we might know them and have tea with them and talk with them.

But that is not at all what is being said. The next verse, Ezekiel 16, 50, says that they had committed an abomination. You have to read on. It is the same phrase that says Adam knew his wife and she conceived.

The same phrase that says that Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bear a son. That Seth knew his wife. That Adam knew his wife again. We have it in Judges, and I'll read, you don't have to turn there.

Where it says now they were making their hearts merry. Judges 19. Behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about and beat at the door and spake to the master of the house, the old man saying, bring forth the man that came into thy house that we may know him.

The exact same phrase. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly, seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly.

Here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and humble ye them. Do with them what seemeth good unto you, but unto this man do not such a vile thing. So in both cases, both in Sodom and here in Judges, we know that it's a sexual thing.

They're saying, bring them out that we may have homosexual relationship with them, because in both places, both Lot and this other man says, here is a daughter, here is a concubine, do this in lieu of, if you want this sexual thing, humble them, do to them whatever you want to do.

And evidently, Sodom and Gomorrah were completely given over to unbridled sexual passion, insomuch that the men of the city wanted to have these two men, which were angels, that came and to have homosexual relationships with them.

Now, God calls it wickedness in 2 Peter, where he says he knows how to reserve the righteous and to set aside the wicked for judgment in context of Sodom and Gomorrah. They knew how to deliver just Lot, but set aside the wicked.

Leviticus chapter 18 says this, Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination. Now, by the way, there are those who will say that is speaking about a law for the priesthood and it is a warning that they shouldn't be given over to the idolatry that the nations around them were given over to and that it does not apply to two men who have a monogamous relationship.

No, it's very simply, it says that you shall not lie with a man as you lie with a woman. It is an abomination. Again, it says this in Leviticus chapter 20. It says, If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.

They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. Again, Deuteronomy 23, you can turn there on your own, Romans 1, 26, so we just hit a few in the New Testament to give you the idea here of the word of God and though some try to wrangle it around, it speaks of those who would not own God as creator.

They would not acknowledge the truth of God. For this cause, God gave them up to vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, unnatural, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their own error, which was meat.

They're given to a reprobate mind, it says. It is wicked. It is evil. You have the word in 1 Corinthians 6, 9, effeminate. You have 1 Timothy 1, verse 10, abusers of mankind, arsino coitus in both places, which simply means a man who goes to bed with a man.

So the Bible forbids that. Now I think the church's problem is this. I think that we have to realize that God loves the homosexual but hates homosexuality. That God loves the homosexual the same as he loves an adulterer or a fornicator or a drug addict, which I was.

I mean, God is gracious and there is forgiveness and there is new life. And I think, but we have to understand that God does draw the lines and that sin is sin and it is not acceptable that there can be those that can be set free, as I was set free from drugs.

Many of you are set free from drugs, from addictions, from alcohol, from any number of things. That God has something better for us as his sons and daughters. And that clearly God defines the lines in regards to what we call homosexuality that it is wrong.

Now I think the church has to learn how to deal with the person who is coming out of that lifestyle who needs encouragement. And I think that somehow we have to draw the line between the sinner and the sin that God hates and the sinner that God loves.

And it's a difficult issue. But I think it is not love to allow someone to remain in their sin and not to be clear. The Family Research Council in Washington, D .C., we get a fax from them every day citing dozens of experts.

They did a study of over 5 ,200 obituaries in over a five-year period in 16 homosexual newspapers to study the lifestyle of homosexuals. The average age of men dying of AIDS in the United States, across the board, is 39 years old.

The average age of homosexuals dying of any disease, of any cause, is 41. Only 1 lived in the obituaries, only 1 lived to be 65 or older, 1%. Only 3 live to over 55. Homosexual men are three times as likely to have alcohol or drug abuse problems, 14 times more likely to have syphilis, 23 times more likely to contract a venereal disease, a thousand times more likely to contract AIDS.

Lesbians are 19 times more likely than heterosexual women to have syphilis and twice as likely to have genital warts. They took San Francisco as a study because it's the most openly gay city in America.

In San Francisco, the rate of infectious hepatitis A is twice the national average, twice as high. The rate of infectious hepatitis B is three times the national average. And the rate of venereal disease is 22 times the national average.

Among homosexuals, the ratio of men murdered is 50 times the national average, 50 times that of the general population. Suicide, 60 times higher than the national average amongst homosexuals, 60 times.

Auto accidents, I don't know how they figure that, 45 times. But my point is this, to love the sinner is to offer him a lifestyle that is much better than that. It is fuller. It sets us free. We could have looked at statistics on drug addicts and we would have been appalled at what we would have seen there.

Or just statistics across the board of immoral people that are involved in heterosexual sex outside of marriage and we would have been appalled at what we would have seen there. So as we look at the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and know this, the Bible is clear that it was unbridled sexual behavior and in particular the case that we looked at was that of homosexual sin.

And the Bible is clear that that is unacceptable to God as an abomination. But the Bible is also clear that there is forgiveness for those who will turn to the Lord. Now I'm mentioning that because the Metropolitan Church and the homosexual community, it's a confusing issue sometimes because you see they have the title of homosexual evangelicals and there are some tracts that they've put out that have kind of run an end run around some of these verses.

But then you read past that and some of those tracts are very well done. They talk about the need to accept Christ as Savior, to repent of one's sins, and they're very clear on the business of being saved.

So there's almost a mud, you know, the lines become muddied and unclear. But the Bible is not unclear. Know that. And the same as it is on any other sin, it is very clear. And I think the nation has come to the point where for that to become a political force, in other words, we don't find adulterers out trying to sway legislation or we don't find, you know, crack addicts out trying to sway legislation and have the using of crack pushed in the public school system as an acceptable behavior.

We don't have, you know, Junkie Pride Day or anything, you know, it just, it has kind of gotten itself into a position, and I don't mean to be funny, but we have to realize it's become a political animal.

It is, it is, it has come into a position that, that, that tells us as a people and as a nation that we are disintegrating, that we are falling apart because of what we now accept and say is normal. And Isaiah warned the time would come when that which is right would be called wrong and that which is wrong would be called right.

And Jesus warned that it would be as in the days of Noah, and again, continual immorality, the imaginations of hearts, men, man's mind continually evil, and it would be like in the days of Lot, and certainly militant homosexuality is a sign of the time, and here in Lot they wanted to break down the door.

They were angry because Lot said, do not so wickedly, and their lifestyle was judged. So I think, you know, for the church in America here, I think it's a difficult issue, and I don't think that the church, myself, I don't think the church has done the job that it could do to reach out to that community, and certainly there are a lot of broken lives for who knows, you know, all the baggage and all the reasons.

But I think that the demonstration of love that we always need to show to a lost world, to any sinner in any condition, is these are the lines that God has drawn, and if you persist in sin you will go to hell, if you turn to Christ for forgiveness your life can be changed and improved forever, and that is the message.

Intercession, Judgment, and the Consequences of Lot's Choices

God rained down fire, eternal fire, on Sodom and on Gomorrah. Lot's wife looked back, was turned to a pillar of salt. Abraham got up early in the morning, it says, to the place where he stood before the Lord, and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and behold, and lo!

Now you know something heavy is going on because it says, behold, and lo! Behold and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. Now this had been a well-watered plain, remember that's why Lot chose it.

Now it's going up as the smoke of a furnace, and it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham, and he sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

Now by the way, if God is remembering Abraham and his plea for Lot, just think where we sit this evening, because it says, Jesus Christ ever liveth and maketh intercession for the saints. You know, if Abraham's intercession was effective and touched the heart of God in regards to Lot, just think what's happening for us this evening, that our very name is on the lips of the Son of God at the right hand of the throne of God Almighty.

Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him, because he feared to dwell in Zoar, so he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. Now remember, Lot had said, please don't send me to the mountains, I'll die there, send me to Zoar.

It's a little city, no problem, the angel finally said, okay, look, just go to Zoar, we can't do anything until you get out of here. Well, Lot was headed into Zoar, the morning was up, as Lot sees what God does, the Son of Gomorrah, and he sees how close that had come to him.

He sees his wife being encrusted in salt, she had lingered that far behind. He sees the smoke of this area going up like a furnace. No doubt the whole earth shook. Lot then changed his mind and decided he didn't want to be in Zoar, because he knew, is this fire thing going to happen on a regular basis now?

You know, Lot decided it's better to be in the mountains now. What amazes me is he didn't go to live with Abraham. Why didn't he just go find Abraham and say, hey man, I made a bad decision, you know, I've been a knucklehead, just, you know, Abraham was there for him.

So he ends up living in a cave. This is a guy who chose the best for himself, now living in a cave. And the firstborn said his daughters unto the younger, verse 31, our father is old, there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth.

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. Now, you know, as I look at this, I think, first of all, you know, the daughters are of the moral standard of Sodom, that's where they were raised.

And they're saying, look, our dad's going to die, there's no man, everybody we know is gone, you know, let's seduce our father, we'll get him drunk, and we'll bear children from our father. The remarkable thing is, I think, where does a guy living in a cave get wine, you know?

Of all the things you're going to lug out of Sodom and take with you, you know, did they take, you know, a gallon of wine or something, let's, you know, where did they get this wine living in a cave? This is a remarkable thing here.

They made their father drink wine that night, verse 33, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He perceived it not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Now, he's really pickled. You know, at least for Lot's credit, they had to get him drunk, he would not have consented to this if he was sober, so.

And it came to pass, on the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, behold, I laid last night with my father, let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Now, this is remarkable because God had said to Abraham, in chapter 18, verse 19, you know, I'm going to let Abraham know what I'm going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah because I'm sure that he will instruct his children after them, and he will teach them my ordinances.

He'll teach them to do what's right and to walk in my ways. How different Lot's family is, how he had sacrificed his family for the material. He had made his choices with a natural eye instead of making his choices on his knees.

It cost him his wife, it had cost him everything, now he's living in a cave, and the last time we have his name mentioned in this chronology, in the record, we hear his name many times, but in the record of his life here, the last time we have his name mentioned is this.

So both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. How sad, as he signs off, as it were. The firstborn bear a son, verse 37, and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the Moabites unto this day.

The younger, she also bear a son, called his name Ben-Ammi, the same as the father of the children of Ammon, Ammon is the capital of Jordan today, Ammon, Ammon, unto this day, Moab and Ammon. And Abraham journeyed from there towards the south country.

Abraham's Repeated Deception in Gerar

Now, it's interesting to watch this, so far, whenever we got to wine, we've got a problem, whether it's Noah or whether it's Lot, wine has not been a good thing so far in the Bible, I don't think it's still a good thing when you look at the newspaper.

Abraham, every time he goes south, he ends up in trouble, and I can't believe he's doing it again, you know, this is interesting, Abraham heads towards the south country, he dwelt in Kadish and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar, and Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister.

Now, doesn't this take us back, you know, that was 25 years earlier, he told the same story as he went down to Egypt, and you'd think he would have learned, you know, I appreciate the honesty of Scripture, as we read the New Testament, and Hebrews 11, and all the wonderful things Abraham did by faith, God mentions none of these things, because he doesn't see them in Christ.

He sees a different righteousness. But in the natural, I see Abraham struggling like so many of us. You know, he had made, gone south before and had to tell Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister, now he heads south again, and he says to Sarah, of Sarah, she's my sister.

And Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. Now, this is remarkable for a number of reasons. First of all, Abimelech is not the man's name, it is his position. The king in Egypt was called Pharaoh.

The king in this area of Philistine country, and we'll get to that, was named Abimelech. That was his title, not his name, as his name may have been Frank or Harry, I don't know. But his title was Abimelech.

He sends and takes Sarah, who's 90 years old, into his harem. That's because God had started to rejuvenate her, remember, back in chapter 18, God said in a year, you're going to have a child. She laughed.

She said, ha, it ceased to be with me after the manner of women. I'm through menopause, I don't even have a menstrual cycle anymore, I don't ovulate anymore, I'm none of that stuff going. Look at me, I'm a prune, I'm all dried up, there's nothing left.

And Abraham, that's as funny, just as funny, she says. Now, remarkably, God is rejuvenating. We're going to find her in the next chapter, breastfeeding Isaac. God restores. Abraham will go on and remarry 160 and have six more kids.

And remarkably, her beauty must be returning. At 90 years old, Abimelech takes her into his harem. I love this. Look at verse 3. God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said, consider this, you're a dead man.

That's our dad. You know, I like that. Somebody messes with your kids, don't you feel like that? You're a dead man. You know, art but is in italics there, you know, behold you, you're a dead man. Because the woman which thou hast taken, she is a man's wife.

Now, if you're in adultery this evening, sitting here, thinking that you're not seen, note that the eye of God was on this situation. And he says, you are a dead man because you have taken someone else's wife.

God honors marriage and the vows and the covenant and does not play fast and loose with adultery. It was a capital crime in the Old Testament. And we can thank God that it's not now. Our ranks would probably have been thinned.

But many of us would not have made it to the day that we were saved. And if you're in adultery this evening and you're squirming in your seat, I don't know who you are. God does. And if the shoe fits, wear it.

You should be squirming because Jesus Christ could come at any moment. And when he does, we will all give an account and we'll stand before the living God. No doubt to be judged and to given rewards. But our works will be tried as a fire and it is not a light thing.

You're a dead man because the woman you've taken is another man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her and he says to the Lord, are you going to slay this righteous nation? I don't know if he heard about Abraham's discussion with God.

Said he not unto me? He's arguing with God. Now, didn't he tell me that was his sister? You heard it. She even herself said, he's my brother. And now Abimelech says this, in the integrity of my heart, I'm sure God's impressed.

In the integrity of my heart, in the innocency of my hands, have I done this? And I love God's answer. God says unto him in a dream, yeah, I know. Look what he says. He says, yeah, I know that you did it in the integrity of your heart.

The reason is, is because I withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore, I suffered you not the toucher. Don't tell me you did it in the integrity of your heart. I was the one who kept you from doing it, he says to him.

Because it tells us in Proverbs that the king's heart is in the Lord's hand and he turns it whichever way he will. And God says, I'm the one that turned you, Abimelech, away from this. It's not because of your integrity.

Cut me a break. Now therefore, restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet. That's the first time the word prophet is used in the Bible, of Abraham. And he shall pray for you, and you shall live. If you restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

Now, I don't know if Abimelech saw the smoke coming up from Sodom and Gomorrah like a furnace, but he knows well, you do not mess with this particular God. And no doubt he was an idolater and thought there were many gods, but he knew of a certainty that Abraham's God was one that you did not mess around with.

Therefore, Abimelech rose early in the morning, I guess he did. He called all of his servants, he told all these things in their ears, and the men were sore afraid. You know, I'm thinking, doesn't anybody ask, you know, Abraham's 100 years old and Sarah's 90.

Doesn't anybody say, you're brother and sister, why are you living together your whole life? You know, do you guys ever get married? Where's your mom and dad? What do you know? This story's getting a little old, brothers and sisters.

Abimelech called Abraham and says unto him, what have you done unto us? What in the world did you do? Now, you know that you're in trouble when you are a believer and you're getting rebuked by a non-believer for your lack of Christian honesty.

You know, the worst kind of liars are the deceivers, you know, the ones who claim to be something that they're not. And Abraham, by the way, it's interesting, you know, he passes this bent on to Isaac because Isaac will also tell the king of the south that Rebekah is his sister and not his wife.

He learns from the dad. What have you done? And what did I do to you? Have I offended you that you brought on me and my kingdom this great sin? And thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

This shouldn't be done to anybody. Now this is Abimelech reproving Abraham. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what sawst thou? In our jargon, it's what in the world were you thinking that thou hast done this thing?

And Abraham said, well, I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wife's sake. This is the man of faith. God's made him all kinds of promises. They're going to kill me.

And yet indeed, she is my sister. Abraham explains his loophole now. She, Sarah, is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. Now, this would be before the Levitical laws, Abraham saying, well, we have the same father and different mom.

So it's kind of a half-truth. She's my half-sister. But I want you to know something. A half-truth is a full-blown lie. Don't let anybody kid you. A half-truth is a full-blown lie because the reason you tell a half-truth is to deceive.

So it's a full-blown lie. That's the job it does. There's no such thing as a half-truth. Because once you tell it, it's a whole lie. It's no longer a half-truth. It came to pass when God caused me to wander, Abraham says to Abimelech, from my father's house, I said unto her, to Sarah, now this is the kindness which you're going to show unto me.

Every place we go, you say of me, he's my brother. Now, you have to understand, Abraham was a city boy. He's called from Ur of the Chaldees. He heads out into the desert. There's bandits. There's robbers.

They're encountering all kinds of different cultures and people they never ran into before. Sarah, evidently, is a knockout. And Abraham realizes, everybody looks at my wife. So he says, I want you to do me a favor.

Everywhere we go, this is what your story is. I'm your brother. Because he knows then they're not going to kill me to get my wife. Abimelech took sheep and oxen and men's servants and women's servants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored him Sarah, his wife.

And Abimelech said, behold, my land is before you. Dwell wherever you like. God must have really freaked this guy out. He said, hey, the whole country's here. Just help yourself. Take whatever you want.

And unto Sarah, he said, behold, notice this. I have given thy brother, instead of thy husband, I've given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes unto all that are with thee and with all others.

Thus, she was reproved. And some feel that he was saying, why weren't you wearing a veil like a married woman? You know, I've given your husband a thousand pieces of silver. He's supposed to be a covering for you and so forth.

He reproves Sarah also. And Abraham prayed to God, notice, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants and they finally, they bear children. Now, we're not told what was wrong with them or how long Sarah was in his harem, but evidently they had come down with something and it was the proof that they were on their way to being judged completely by God.

Abraham now prays and Abimelech and his family and his household are healed. For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. So however long she was there, there was no conception or birth.

God Fulfills His Promise in Isaac

Now, the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken. So, God does what he says.

He does according to what he speaks and he does it at his set time. I mean, that's an encouragement to us that God does what he says he's going to do. Now, I love that. Then, you know, as we go through the scripture and we see all of the prophecies and all of the promises of God, so many of them fulfilled and we see the record of it, that's encouraging because he says that in the twinkling of an eye, he's going to catch us up and we're going to be with him forever, be his sons and daughters, we're going to stand around his throne.

So I like it when I am always reminded that God fulfills everything he says he's going to do, but he does it in his time. That's the part that we don't always appreciate. His schedule is different than ours.

He's not in the same rush that we are. He did it at the set time. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born, Abraham's 100 and Sarah's 90, whom Sarah bare unto him Isaac, which means laughter, Itzhak.

And to Abraham, it was a reminder that he had laughed in joy as God told him he would have a son. And to Sarah, it's a reminder she had laughed with unbelief. To both of them, a reminder. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him.

And Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh so that all who hear will laugh with me. Now, I'm wondering if Sarah's trying to give people the impression that's why the kid's name is Itzhak, because God's given her joy.

No, his name is Isaac because she laughed in unbelief, but she doesn't say that. And she said, who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck? So even her milk has come in.

I mean, this is she's astounded how God has rejuvenated her. For I have born him a son in his old age, and the child grew and was weaned in that culture somewhere around three years old, probably. And Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

I'm sure that Sarah joined in. That's a sentence. Three years. She joined the party when he was weaned. You know, it's just so interesting to watch this the way God does it. I mean, he does it in a way that no one helps.

There is no contribution that anyone can make. He is making a point about a divine promise. He's making a point about a divine covenant. And because of that, he lets no one touch it as he had parted the animals in pieces.

He himself had passed between those pieces, ratifying the covenant with himself. Abraham did not pass between the parts. And so much of the time we put our hands to something or we try to help God accomplish something and in our sweat and in our own wisdom, how we complicate things and we involve our Hagar's and our Ishmael's.

And we find out in the final analysis, no, God waits until it comes to the point where no one will get the credit or the glory but him, that no one will finally assume final responsibility to make things work the way they should, but him alone, he will share his glory with no man.

So now this son, Isaac, is born to these two ancient people. You know, I kind of, I enjoyed the last two, you know, Joanna was born in 1978. Kathy and I get married and we decided that we would wait two years to have children.

Well, she was pregnant in five months and Joanna came quickly. We were young and, you know, you borrow a crib. I remember when she was first born, Kath said, well, we need changing pads. I said, what do you need changing pads for?