The Book of Genesis, Chapter 18

Genesis 18:1-33

Summary

Three men, the Lord included, visit Abraham, and he is a very generous host. One of the three tell Abraham his aging wife will have a son, and Sarah laughs, 'cause this is pretty ridiculous at her age. The men set out towards Sodom, to, ah, settle some "issues," and Abraham makes some fast deals to try to make sure Sodom gets a fair shake from the Lord.

Commentary

This is a really interesting chapter. It conatins a famous story, and a less famous story which showcases how incredibly awesome Abraham was.

At the outset, we're given the image of a very hot day, and the Lord appears before Abraham with three men. Abraham rushes out to meet them, and kneels to show his subservience to the Lord, and offers his hospitality.

The hospitality theme is important, and we'll get a better illustration of how very important it is in the following chapter, but Abram goes very much out of his way for these strangers (and the Lord, admittedly). He has his wife and servants bring them water to wash themselves (Gen 18:4), and cakes (bread), curds and milk, and the meat of a calf for them to eat (Gen 18:7-8). Some washing up and a meal, essentially.

Hospitality in a largely-wilderness world is, I would imagine, very important. If there was an accepted understanding of hospitality for strangers, I would think that that would reduce the likelihood of violent interlopers, as people would be fed and watered and wouldn't have to resort to desperate measures to get such things.

During the meal, one of the three men asks Abraham if his wife Sarah was still around. Upon hearing that Sarah was in the tent, he tells Abraham that "[he would] return ... in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son" (Gen 18:10). Keeping in mind that Sarah is somewhere around the age of an octogenarian, the author tells us very politely that Sarah had long ago stopped menstruating, saying, "[I]t had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women" (Gen 18:11). So, to their understanding, at the time Sarah was no longer capable of having children. So she laughed. Understandable, I think. Maybe he was being kind and flattering, she thought, or maybe the idea was just too silly, I don't know, but she laughed.

The Lord arched an eyebrow, much like Spock (or so I'd like to think), and said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh," and Abraham, much to his credit, does not respond, "Gee, why do you think?" It's kind of understandable, I suppose, if you're thinking from the Lord's perspective, to be confused by the laughter. As the Lord goes on to say, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" (Gen 18:14). Well, I suppose that makes sense, but only if you buy in one hundred percent to the glory of God. That's really hard for a lot of people, so I can understand why Sarah, even confronted with with the awesome power of the Lord, might laugh at the idea of getting pregnant in her old age.

That's the famous story. The laughing Sarah. My favourite story is actually in the second half of the chapter, wherein Abraham shows he's as savvy as he was badass. The Lord tells him what he's up to, and where he's going, because he wants Abraham to understand the "righteousness and justice" of the Lord (Gen 18:19). Apparently Sodom and Gomorrah have been rather naughty cities, and the Lord says, "[H]ow very grave their sin!" (Gen 18:20). So the Lord is headed down to Georgia, er, I mean Sodom and Gomorrah, to lay down the law.

Abraham sees a bit of an interesting issue with this, and after the three men have left, he approaches the Lord and says, look, what if there are fifty good people in that town? "Will you sweep away the good with the wicked?" (Gen 18:23). God ponders this and says, well, if there are fifty good people, he will spare the town. Abraham thinks for a bit and says, look, what if five of those fifty are not as good as we'd hope, would you destroy the whole town for the lack of five good people? God says that he won't do it if there are forty-five good people. This goes on until Abraham has talked God down to saving the city if there are ten good people there. He cuts God's original requirement down by eighty percent. Talk about a wheeler and dealer there!

I love this story because we get to see God change his mind, a lot. I'm sure there's are explanations which suggest that God isn't so much changing his mind as much as he already knows he's going to settle for ten, but that's, as I've said with similar assumptions in the past, intellectually lazy, I think. Gods forgiveness and love at this point in the story isn't infinite, but he does make a conscious decision here that collateral damage is, for the most part, not okay at all. Could you imagine how many wars would have been stopped if somebody said "You can only go to war if there are less than ten people on the other side worth saving"?

Abraham's willingness to go up to God, and say "look, I think you're being a little harsh here, that's totally unfair if there are good people in that city," is amazing. He is incredibly brave, incredibly wise, and an all around total badass. I have so much more respect for Abraham than I did before. So I guess we all have to think about speaking truth to power, and standing up for what's right even when it's mind-bogglingly scary to do so.