(Through the Bible) Genesis 15-18 — Chuck Smith

The Word of the Lord and the Promise to Abram

Now, after these things, that is, after the battle against these kings, after the meeting of Melchizedek, after the refusal of taking the reward and so forth from the king of Sodom, the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.

The Word of the Lord, this is the first time this phrase is used in the Bible. It will now be used many, many times over, but always the first usage is always interesting of a phrase. And this is the first usage of the phrase, the Word of the Lord.

Later in the New Testament, we find the Word of the Lord being identified as Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. And in Him was light and the light was the life of men and the light shineth into darkness. The darkness comprehended it not and so forth.

And then the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. It could be that Jesus was referring to this when he said, Abram, rejoice to see my day and saw it.

The Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. This is the first time that the term shield is used or reward is used. And it is the first time God revealed Himself as the I Am. I am thy shield and exceeding great reward.

Jesus picked up this term many times in the New Testament. I am the light of the world. I am the bread of life come down from heaven. I am the good shepherd. And so many times Jesus in John's Gospel used the I am, the egoimi.

Before Abraham was I am. That name by which God actually revealed Himself to the nation Israel as the God who becomes whatever your need might be. I am thy shield. Abram of course had probably been thinking about the battle now that he's gone back home.

Begins to relive the experiences and the excitement. It's amazing how your mind can flash back on vivid and powerful experiences and you almost relive them again. Many of the fellows who fought in some of the wars.

You get home and in the middle of the night you begin to relive it. You think you're back out there. You begin to hear the sounds, the shelling. You begin to feel the tensions. You begin to scream and you begin to relive the whole experience.

It makes such a deep impression on your mind. You're seeking constantly while in it to repress it. Then it has a way of working itself out later on. Abram was perhaps in one of these experiences where he was really again going through the feelings, the sound of the clanging shields and swords.

The arrows coming, the shield going up and deflecting it and the sword flashing and the shield going up and protecting and he perhaps was thinking, Oh, what if those kings regroup? What if they come down and they catch me by surprise?

What if they invade the land and they destroy me and they take away all of my riches? He saw that riches were such an uncertain thing. All of the wealthy cities of the Amorites and all were destroyed.

The cities of the plain had all been sacked. The wealth of Lot had been taken away. But yet in a moment, these men who had become so rich by this invasion, their riches were taken away. And he saw the uncertainty of worldly treasures and the worldly riches.

And he began to think, Oh, what if they come and take away all my riches? What will I do then? What if I'm faced in an ambush and I don't have my shield? What if I'm caught by surprise? And fear began to grip his heart because the first thing the Lord said was, Fear not.

It always indicates that he was afraid. And the Lord said, I am thy shield. You don't have to worry whether or not you have your shield, Abram. I am thy shield. I am your defense. I will protect you. You don't have to worry about your great supplies, someone sacking them and taking them off.

I am thy exceeding great reward. I'm your resource. If you have me, you've got the resources with you. You don't have to worry about the provision. You have me. I am your exceeding great reward. And so Abram made a very wise decision in turning down the puny treasures that were offered to him by the king of Sodom for the greater wealth of God who became his exceeding great reward.

Oh, we'd only realize if we have the Lord, we have defense. We have the protection that we need. Plus also, we have the provision that we need. God wants to be to you everything you need. He wants to be your protector.

He wants to be your provider. I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward. Abram said, Lord God. Now this is the first time this word is used. It's Adonai or Adon Adonai is what it is. Actually, Lord God.

The Lord signifying the Adonai Jehovah is what he's saying. Lord God. Notice the God is in all capitals. That's indicating that this now is the translation of that Hebrew word Jehovah which is a word filled with mystic glory and beauty.

Adonai is the title of Lord. And so it is capital L then small o r d. The Adonai. The first use of Adonai in the scriptures. The term which is a title that signifies relationship immediately. Abram is placing himself in the position of the servant when he calls him by Adonai.

It's a term of relationship. It is Lord in relationship of master. And it can be applied to deity or to man. Abram was the Lord over his servants. When it applies to man, the word is spelled with a small L.

When it is applied to God, it is spelled with a large L. In our text to help us to understand. Actually Sarah later on called Abram Lord. It is a term of respect as it indicates relationship. And in the New Testament, its equivalent of course is found in the Greek Kourios.

As refers to Jesus, the Lord Kourios, Jesus Christ. Now because it is a term of relationship, Jesus one time said, Why callest thou me Kourios, Kourios? Why do you call me Lord, Lord? And yet you don't do the things I command you.

That's inconsistent. That's wrong. You're using a title, but you're only using it as a name. It isn't a reality. I'm not truly your Lord. Many people are using the title, Oh Lord, good Lord. And they use it only as a name, but not really indicating a relationship.

It is a name that should indicate relationship. It's a beautiful, not names, but a title that indicates the relationship. And his title, as far as I'm concerned, is the Lord, Jesus Christ. His name is Jesus Christ, but his title in my relationship, he is my Lord.

And I want to submit my life totally and completely unto him. Now Abraham said, Adonai Jehovah, Lord God, what will you give me? The Lord said, I'm your great reward. You've just turned down all of the loot, you know, that you had captured from these kings.

And so I am your great reward. He says, what are you going to give me? Seeing I have no child, and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. So his chief servant was Eliezer, and without any children, Eliezer actually, at Abraham's death, becomes the heir of all of Abraham's goods.

So what are you going to give me? Anything I have is going to go to Eliezer. He's not even my own son. So you are my great reward. Great, but I don't need anything. And if you did give me anything, it's going to, you know, I don't have any child.

I don't have anyone to pass it on to. It's interesting how that when you get up into the later years, you don't begin, you begin not to think so much for yourself, but for what you can pass on to your children.

And so you're not so much laying up for the rainy days, you're just trying to set things up so that your children can have it a little easier than you had it. If possible. So what are you going to give me?

Seeing I don't have any child and Eliezer, this guy from Damascus, is the heir of all that is in my house. You've given me no child. No one born in my house who is my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord.

Again, the term, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, This, that is Eliezer, shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and he said, Look now toward the heaven and tell the stars that they'll be able to number them.

And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Earlier he said is the dust of the earth. Now look at the stars, see if you can number them. So shall thy seed be. And that famous verse quoted by Paul, James.

And he believed in the Lord. And he, that is the Lord, counted it to him for righteousness. God made a wild promise to him. Abram is 85 years old. God said, I'm going to make your seed like the stars in heaven.

You can't count them. And Abram believed the promise of God. As far fetched as it might have appeared at this point. And God accounted his faith for righteousness. And that is why Abram is called the father of those that believe.

Because our righteousness tonight is imputed to us by our believing the promise of God in Jesus Christ. That Jesus died for our sins and took our iniquities in his own life, in his own body. Died in our place.

And as we believe the promise of God. God accounts our believing in Jesus for righteousness. He doesn't account my works for righteousness. He doesn't account my prayers for righteousness. He doesn't account my study of the word for righteousness.

He doesn't account my diligence or sincerity for righteousness. He accounts my believing for righteousness. That's great. Because many times my works are horrible. They're negative. Many times I'm a total failure in my devotions.

He doesn't count that against me. He counts my believing for righteousness. So Paul the Apostle speaks of his own experience of righteousness by the law which was perfect. And the righteousness which is according to the law blameless.

And yet that which was gained to me I counted lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ for whom I suffered the loss of all things and count them but refuse that I may know him and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the law but the righteousness which is of Christ through faith.

Believing. And God accounting my believing for righteousness. Here's where it all began with Abraham. Abraham believed God. God said I'm going to make your seed like the stars. You can't number them. All right.

Far out. He believed God and God said all right you're a righteous man. He accounted that faith for righteousness. Now it's a good thing because Abraham's works weren't always the finest either. He did some pretty shoddy things after this.

But yet it was the basic believing in the promise and I will point out to you in a little bit that that believing wasn't always as strong and powerful as it should be because a lot of times people kind of say hey yeah but look you've really failed in your faith a lot of times brother.

You know your faith has been weak. You've tried other things and it begins to show you that your faith isn't really so perfect. So if he counts faith for righteousness maybe you're going to be kicked out too because your faith hasn't always been steady and strong.

Well neither was Abraham's. And yet God took and accounted his faith for righteousness. We'll get to some of the failures of faith in just a little bit. And he said unto him I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land to inherit it.

And he said Lord God again Adonai Jehovah. Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it. What kind of a sign. And he said unto him take a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon.

And he took them all and he divided them in the midst. He cut them in two and he laid each piece one against another side by side. But the birds he didn't divide in other words he left them whole. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses and Abraham drove them away.

The vultures began to come down and descend and Abraham was driving them off. And when the sun was going down Abraham was tired driving off the vultures from these pieces of the carcasses that he had set out there.

And a deep sleep fell on Abraham and lo a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And the Lord said to Abraham know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. And they shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

The Four-Hundred-Year Affliction and God's Covenant

Now they shall afflict them four hundred years does not necessarily imply that they would be four hundred years in Egypt. It is God is telling them they're going to go down into a strange land. They're going to go down in the land of Egypt but they will be afflicted four hundred years.

Now whether or not the in Galatians the third chapter tells us that the four hundred years which is a round figure. Four hundred and thirty years from the time that God made this promise to Abraham. It was four hundred thirty years from this time and to the Mount Sinai.

To their coming out of Egypt which meant that the sojourn which was for four generations in Egypt. Was not a four hundred year sojourn in Egypt but about a two hundred and fifteen year sojourn in Egypt.

But they were to be afflicted by the people round about them. Until God would bring them out and bring them into their own land and they would have their own place to dwell. And so rather than a four hundred and thirty year sojourn in Egypt.

Total time in Egypt it was from the time that the covenant was made with Abraham here at this time. So it makes the Egypt sojourn only about two hundred and fifteen years. Four generations. And also that nation whom they shall serve.

That is Egypt will I judge. And afterward they will come out with great substance. Now here's interesting prophecy. Because they did go down to Egypt. God did judge Egypt. When they came out of Egypt they really looted the Egyptians.

They came out with great substance. They borrowed all the jewelry and all from their masters in Egypt and then they took off. Which was really sort of back payment for their slavery. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace and thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

But in the fourth generation. That is having gone down into Egypt. They shall come hither again. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. In other words the area where they were living it was not yet full.

The iniquity wasn't to be fully judged yet. And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark. Behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. And in the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying.

Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt. Unto the great river. To the river Euphrates. The Kenites, the Kezites, the Kadmonites and the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Riphims. The Amorites and the Canaanites and the Gergesites and the Jebusites.

Now they never did conquer this much land. God promised to Abraham and to his seed the land all the way to the Nile River. To the Euphrates River and to the Mediterranean. So a much broader area than what they have ever captured.

Now this was a very interesting and strange experience. These carcasses driving off the birds. The prophecy of the Lord of the horror of the great darkness. Which was the time that his descendants would be the slaves in Egypt.

And then the smoking furnace, the burning lamp that passed between those pieces. And the covenant of the Lord with Abraham. It's a very interesting chapter that is deserving much study. Now Sarah, Abraham's wife, bare him no children.

Hagar, Ishmael, and the Failure to Wait on God's Promise

And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said to Abraham, behold now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee to go in unto my maid. And it may be that I may obtain children by her.

And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarah. It was a mistake. Not always is it a mistake to hearken unto your voice your wife. But this is the second time it speaks of a man hearkening to the voice of his wife.

And both of them at this point were mistakes. Now there will be other times when God will say listen to Sarah. And hearken unto the voice of Sarah thy wife. Now Sarah, Abraham's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian.

After Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So Abraham was 85 years old. And he gave her to her husband, Abraham, to be his wife. And he went unto Hagar and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise Sarai.

The barrenness, you know, you can always say well maybe the husband is unable to have children. Maybe there's something defective with him. But when Hagar conceived so readily, obviously now it is Sarah who is barren.

The curse of barrenness in that culture. And so Hagar despised Sarai. And Sarai said unto Abraham, my wrong be upon thee. I have given my maiden to thy bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes.

And the Lord's judge between me and thee. Abraham said unto Sarah, behold, maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever you please. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. Now the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water.

The angel of Jehovah found her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to shore. Hagar was running back to Egypt. She was getting out of there and going to go back home.

But man, to get back home, she had to go through that horrible wilderness area. She surely would have perished in trying to return to Egypt. And so she was by this fountain of water. And he said, Hagar, Sarah's maid, where did you come from?

Where are you going? She said, I'm fleeing from the face of my mistress, Sarai. The angel of the Lord said unto her, return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. Now she actually was wrong in despising Sarai.

And the Lord is telling her now to return and submit. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, behold, thou art with child. Thou shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, which means God shall hear.

And because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. So she was probably crying there by the fountain. And God heard her cry. And He said, call your son Ishmael, which means the Lord will hear. Or God will hear.

And he will be a wild man. His hand will be against every man. And every man's hand against him. And he will dwell in the presence of all his brothers. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her.

Thou God seest me. And so, she said, have I also here looked after him that seeth me. Wherefore, the well is called Baralaheroi. Which is between Kadish and Bered. So she made a pretty good way down into the desert, the Sinai there.

Going near Kadish. The name of the well. Is the well of him that lives and sees me. Baralaheroi. The well of him that lives and sees me. And Hagar bare Abram a son. And Abram called the son's name, which Hagar bare Ishmael.

And Abram was 86 years old. When Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. Now when Abram was 99 years old. So this is another 13 years later. The Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am almighty God, El Shaddai.

So here is the first use of the term almighty God, El Shaddai. Walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee. And will multiply thee exceedingly. Now we passed over the 16th chapter.

But let me point out that at this point, Abram and Sarah were trying to help God out. God promised he's going to bless Abram. Make his seed like the stars of heaven can't count them. And so Sarah comes with an alternate plan.

Hey Abram, you know, it looks like we're not going to make it. I'm getting so old. Why don't you just take my handmaid at this point? And, you know, raise up a son through her and all. And it was really a lapse of faith.

In the promise of God. So Abram's faith was not a perfect faith. It wasn't a... He wasn't a perfect man. His faith wasn't complete. So don't worry if your faith is not complete. Don't let Satan hassle you.

Believing in Jesus Christ is really the important thing. I'll make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of many nations.

Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, rather than high father, father of many nations, Abraham. For the father of many nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.

God is now repeating the promise of giving him a large number of descendants, and of giving to them this land forever. It's theirs. It belongs to them. This is the end of side one. For side two of this program, please turn the cassette over at this point.

Circumcision as an Outward Sign of an Inward Work

And God said unto Abram, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between you and me. And thy seed after thee.

Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And so here is where God established the right of circumcision, which became, of course, the most important right as far as the Jews were concerned. It is a badge and a mark of a people that have been separated unto God, and the spiritual significance is that of people who have cut off the fleshly life and are living after the Spirit.

Now, they made the mistake, as people so often do concerning rituals, as identifying the ritual for the reality. The reality is a matter of heart. God wanted a people that were separated from their flesh in their heart.

People who were spiritual and spiritually minded, who would serve God in the Spirit. It was to be symbolized by the cutting away of the flesh. But it was really a spiritual thing that God was seeking.

People who would cut away the fleshly mind and the fleshly heart, and would serve God in the Spirit. But they began to identify the physical right for the reality of the experience of the heart, and thus made the physical right totally meaningless.

So, if you would go through the right of circumcision, and yet still within your heart, were living after the flesh, walking after the flesh, the fact that you had gone through the right meant nothing.

Now, if you had gone through the cutting away of the flesh and the heart, then again, the right meant nothing. For God was really searching for the heart, and the work in the heart. Same with baptism in the church.

For many, it's become a meaningless right. They think, well, the important thing is to go down and be baptized. Baptism doesn't save you. Not that that is the washing away the filth of the flesh. You can go down and be baptized a dozen times and not be saved.

The right of baptism doesn't save you. It's the inward work of the Spirit within your heart that really counts. And so, here God established an outward right, which was to speak of an inward experience, the cutting away of the fleshly heart, the heart after the flesh, and it was to be, and God desired that people whose heart was after the Spirit and after Him.

And so, here is where the right was established, and God ordered it for all of His children, all that were in His house, all of the servants, all of those that had been brought into the house of Abraham.

It was something that was to be done unto Abraham and to his descendants after him. On the eighth day of the male child, the right of circumcision was to be fulfilled. And God said unto Abraham, verse 15, As for Sarai the wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sara shall her name be.

So, a slight change in her name. The name Sara means princess. That's a good name for a wife, fellas. You might start calling your wife princess. It's a beautiful name. And I will bless her and give thee a son also of her.

Yes, I will bless her and she shall be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples shall be of her. Now, here is God saying, hey, I'm going to bless her. I'm going to make her the mother. And Abraham fell on his face and he laughed.

Now, his was not a laugh of incredulity. His was a laugh of excitement. Alright! You know, it was just laughter of joy for this promise of God. Now, later on, Sarah laughed, but hers was a laugh of incredulity.

You know, a mean old woman. Shall I have the joy of bearing a child? And she laughed because it seemed so incredulous. And so the Lord rebuked her. Why did Sarah laugh? Oh, I didn't laugh. Oh, yes, you did.

So, Abraham laughed out of just the sheer joy of the whole thing. And she laughed because it seemed so incredulous. So, it's only right that when the child is born that they should name him Laughter. Isaac.

It means laughter. It's a very fitting name because they both laughed at the prospect of, in this age of life, having a son. And so, Abraham fell on his face and laughed and he said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old?

And so Sarah that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, now this is sort of a lapse of faith. Oh, that Ishmael might live before thee. In other words, oh, God, forget it. You know, Sarah's ninety and I'm a hundred.

That's alright, Lord. Let Ishmael, thirteen years old now, let him live before you. And God said, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed and thou shalt call his name Isaac, Laughter. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.

So that Ishmael was not to be the recipient of this covenant and of the land, but rather Isaac. So in reality, the land does not belong to the Arabs by the covenant of God. It belongs with the descendants of Isaac.

As for Ishmael, I've heard thee. You said let Ishmael live before you. Alright. I have blessed him. I will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve princes shall he beget and I will make him a great nation.

But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time next year. And the Lord left off talking with him and God went from Abraham. And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house and they went ahead and followed the command of God in the rite of circumcision.

Abraham was 99 years old when they went through this rite. And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And it can get awfully hot. And he lifted up his eyes and he looked, and behold, there were three men who stood by him.

Abraham's Hospitality and Entertaining Angels Unaware

And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and he bowed himself down toward the ground. And he said, My Lord, Adonai, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant, that a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

And I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort you in your hearts. And after that you shall pass on, for therefore you are come to your servant. And they said, Do so as you have said. So, the Lord was coming with two angels.

Passing through. Abraham ran out to meet them. Showed really tremendous hospitality to them. Let me get some water, wash your feet, let me get you something to eat, rest a while under the tent. It's a hot part of the day.

And then continue on your journey. In Hebrews we are told to be careful to entertain strangers. We never know but what we might be entertaining angels unaware. Abraham hastened to make into the tent unto Sarah and said, Make quickly three majors of fine meal and knead it and make some cakes upon the heart.

Some good old pita bread. And Abraham ran unto the herd and he fetched a calf that was tender and good and he gave it to the young man and hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk and the calf which they had dressed and he set it before them.

And he stood by them under the tree and they did eat. Now here's an interesting thing to me. He gave them butter and milk and meat. That's not kosher. Here's Abram the father of Israel not being kosher.

Now the kosher law of not having milk products with meat is not a proper interpretation of the scripture. It is one of those straining at a net things that the Pharisees loved to do. The law did declare thou shalt not see a kid in its mother's milk.

In other words, you're not to take a little goat and boil it in its mother's milk. Cooking it in its own mother's milk. It was just not the right thing to do. But the Jews have taken that as a kosher prohibition of having dairy products with meat products.

Because you see, if you drink a glass of milk and you eat a steak, you don't know but that steak may have come from the calf of the mother cow from whom you drank the milk. And in your stomach it's going to seethe in that milk.

And so you're seething a kid in its mother's milk. And so to be careful that you don't do that they'll not eat cheese or any dairy products with any meat products. Unless the meat product be a fish. Kosher law.

But it's a straining at things. It's not what God intended at all. Here's Abram being very unkosher. And the angels were too because they ate it. And they said unto him, where is Sarah your wife? And he said, she's in the tent.

And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it. She was saying in the tent door. Eavesdropping on what the men were saying out there.

She was in the tent behind the tent door you know listening and now Abram and Sarah were old and well stricken in age and ceased to be with Sarah after the man or woman. She'd gone through the change of life.

Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying after I am so old shall I have the pleasure my Lord being old also calling Abram her husband Lord. And the Lord said unto Abram why did Sarah laugh? Saying surely I have a surety bear a child shall I have surety bear a child when I'm so old?

Is anything too hard for Jehovah? Oh what a neat question isn't it? God said to Abram behold I am God is there anything too hard for me? Paul tells us now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Is there anything too hard for God? Why did Sarah laugh? Is there anything too hard for God? Why did Sarah laugh? Because she was looking at only the human possibilities. She wasn't looking at God. It is often times that we laugh at something that seems so incredible because we are only looking at the human aspects rather than looking to God who is able to set aside human laws and human kind of restrictions or prohibitions.

So she's gone through the change of life. So he's over a hundred years old so what? Is there anything too hard for God? Why did Sarah laugh? At the time appointed I will return unto thee according to the time of life.

And Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied saying I didn't laugh. For she was afraid. And he said oh but you did laugh. And the men rose from the fence and they looked toward Sodom and Abram went with them to bring them on their way.

Jehovah, Sodom, and Abraham's Intercession

So Abram started walking with them a bit. And the Lord, now here is interesting and the word Lord here is Jehovah. And Jehovah said shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do. Now there were three who appeared as angels but one of them was Jehovah who of course would have been Jesus Christ one of the theophanies or manifestations of Jesus Christ and this is what Jesus was probably referring to though it could have been Melchizedek this is what he was probably referring to when he said Abraham rejoiced to see my day and saw it.

Now here is Abram talking directly with Jehovah but not with the Father. No man has seen the Father at any time. But the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath manifested Him or made Him known.

So this is one of the manifestations of God in the Old Testament. It is not the Father. No man has seen the Father. Jesus said at any time. So this would be the manifestation of Jesus Christ in and as Jehovah because the name Jesus itself is Jehovah Shua and his name in the millennium will be Jehovah Tzidkenu.