City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹⁶ Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷ The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸ seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Genesis 18:16-19 (ESV)

⁷ “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Amos 3:7

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Reflection

Point of interest #1: This is the first devotional I am writing in this series in which Abram and Sarai have been renamed Abraham and Sarah.  My old pastor taught me that the “ah” represents the breath of God, which is a parallel to the breath breathed into Adam in Genesis 2:7.

Point of interest #2: On August 6 & 9 the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. As a result, common understanding is that cities can be destroyed in an instant, but we still struggle with upstanding God’s judgements. The empire of Japan had fought in WW II under the idea that they were protected by a great wind. This is because centuries earlier a great wind destroyed the Chinese fleet just before they were about to invade.  Also, just before the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese fleet were able to hide behind a storm front, which significantly delayed the detection of the attack.  So, the atomic bomb exploded 2,000 feet above ground, which meant that most of the damage resulted from the great wind generated by the blast.

Today’s devotional is on the four verses sandwiched between God’s promise to Abraham to give him a son and God’s judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah. The action picks-up just after the Lord called out Sarah for laughing at His promise, though she denied that she did. Clearly, she was embarrassed. It has always impressed me that the Lord points it out, but never makes an issue of it. The point here is that Sarah is included in the conversation, which underscores the point that she is part of the promise.

As the Lord and the two men set off on their journey to Sodom, Abraham walks them out.  But the Lord has something on His mind.  He is about to do something and wants Abraham to know about it.  It is as if the Lord wants to let Abraham in on a little secret.  But this is not a trivial secret.  This is the type of secret that will reshape the world.  God tells Abraham about the judgement He is about to hand out.  And He wants Abraham to know this so that he can teach his family about righteousness and justice.  But it also means that the Lord will give Abraham a chance to plead for the innocent if they can be found.

Application

God has made the most wonderful promise to you, and you believe it will come to you very soon.  Then He tells you that He will destroy the neighborhood on the other side of the railroad track.  You know, the neighborhood that is known for its terrible crime rate.  Would you speak up for those who might be innocent in that neighborhood, or would you say, “finally Lord, it’s about time!”

The Lord wants us to practice and teach righteousness and justice, but we must remain humble.  When we see the Lord’s punishment coming, we should be grateful for His righteous ways, but we should also be mindful of the grace on which we stand.  It is not a grace that says, “look at how righteous and just I am,” but rather a grace that says, “the ways of the Lord are right and just.”

Prayer

Dear Lord, we pray for Your righteous judgement to be sent out on all the Earth, and that the wicked are punished for their wicked deeds.  We also pray for Your grace that sinners repent and turn to You, that righteousness may be found in all the land and that your ways may be known to all people. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.