This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.
Scripture References: Genesis 17:1-27; 18:1-33
“Ishmael come in for dinner!” said Abram, his father. Abram was now 99 years old and his wife, Sarai was 89. 13 years had passed since Ishmael had been born. He was the son of Abraham and his second wife, Hagar. I imagine things had settled down in the family by then.
They had all learned how to live with one another, at least for a while. Abram loved his son Ishmael very much, even though he wasn’t the son God promised him.
In fact, God showed up to talk to Abram one more time. It had been years since God walked through the blood of the animals to make his promise. And He hadn’t given Abram and Sarai the son He promised yet. I think God was wanted to wait until they were ready for their very special son. They still needed to grow in their faith in God, so they could teach their son to trust God.
So, God wanted to remind Abram that He hadn’t forgotten His promise. I will make you the father of a great nation, Abram. In fact, I will even change your name to Abraham, because that means “Father of a Multitude” or “Father of many, many people.” And your wife will have a new name, too. She will not be Sarai anymore, but Sarah which means “Princess.” Abraham and Sarah must have been excited to think that God was really going to keep His promise! They were learning more and more to trust Him.
One day not long after they got their new names, Abram was trying to cool off from the heat, so he was sitting at the door of his tent, hoping for a stronger breeze. He heard a commotion and looked up. Visitors! Visitors were here! In that land, and in that time, visitors were a very special thing. No one had cars that they could hop in and drive over to their friend’s house. Everyone was busy with their herds of animals, and with the house chores. So, people took visitors very seriously. In fact, the custom of that day was that you had to provide for, and protect your visitors, even if it meant giving your food and safety! You had to protect them, even if it meant you or your family would get hurt instead! You had to feed them, even if you had to go without food. You had to give them a place to sleep, even if it meant you had to sleep on the floor. They loved visitors!
So, Abraham jumped up ready to do his duty when he saw three men outside of his tent. He ran up to meet them and bowed himself down. This was the way the men greeted each other. It was like our handshake. “Welcome! Please stay and let me make you comfortable!” said Abraham. “I will send for some water to wash your dirty, tired feet, and you can rest under the shade of the tree over there. I will send for some bread and make you comfortable. After you are rested and full you can pass on your way.”
“That sounds good. Do as you wish.” The 3 men replied.
“Sarah! Sarah! We have guests! Hurry!” said Abraham when he rushed into the tent. “Get the flour and make some bread!”
He then told the servants to go get water and wash the visitor’s feet and give them something comfortable to sit on in the shade.
Abraham ran out the back door of the tent and ran straight to his herd of cows. He got a young calf and got it ready for a barbeque. When the meat and bread were ready, Abraham made a tray of the food, and put butter and milk on the tray. It was ready! He served his hot food to the guests right where they sat comfortably under the tree. And Abraham stood to the side, making sure they didn’t need anything else. Usually the servant was supposed to do that, but Abraham wanted to treat the guest right. He could tell there was something special about them.
When they had eaten, one of the men asked Abraham “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
Abraham must have thought this was strange. I imagine he thought to himself “I don’t remember telling them my wife’s name…and what’s even more strange, visiting men never concern themselves with the women of the house. They never even see them! It’s not the way of the people in this country for the women to be in the same room as the visitors.”
“Sarah is in the tent.” Abraham said.
The visitor said, “In one year, Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son.” Abraham must have realized who was visiting him. It was God again! Jesus, God the Son, had taken the form of a man, and was sitting right there talking to him! The other two men were angels in the form of men sent by God for a very special purpose.
Sarah was nearby, even though women were never in the same room as the visiting men. She could hear the men outside the tent, because the tent walls were fabric made of animal skins. When she heard the man say she was going to give birth, she couldn’t help herself. She laughed very quietly to herself! She, and 86-year-old woman was going to give birth! Impossible! She thought the visitors were crazy.
God asked Abraham “Why did Sarah laugh, and say “Will I have a child being an old lady?!” Is there anything too hard for God? I will truly give Sarah a son.”
Sarah heard God but didn’t realize who He was. She had never seen Him, as God never appeared to Sarah before. He only appeared to Abraham. So, Sarah was nervous. “I didn’t laugh!” she said. She thought something bad was going to happen, so she lied.
God replied “No, you did laugh.” Even though Sarah had laughed to herself, and not out loud, God knew exactly what she was thinking. Now Sarah knew it was God! He knew her thoughts!
I think God wanted Sarah to know exactly who was there, making the promise once more. God is so good to us, even when we doubt Him, and even when we lie to Him. He keeps His promises.
He wanted us all to know also that we cannot lie to God. He knows our very thoughts. ALL of them. If we say “I’m not that bad. I can get to heaven” we are lying. We aren’t just lying to ourselves, but to God! The Bible says there is NO ONE good enough. Romans 3:10 says “There is none righteous (good), no, not one.” We can lie to ourselves, but we cannot lie to God. But God is good! When we accept that we are not good enough, but Jesus IS good enough, we can have forgiveness of sins. I thank God for this!
Now the men were ready to go on their way. They stood, and the two angels faced towards the city of Sodom.
Abraham stood with the men, to walk everyone down the road a little bit. But God stopped and said “Will I hide what I’m going to do from Abraham? Abraham will be the father of a great nation, and I will bless the whole world through his family. And I know Abraham’s heart. He will teach his children and servants to love and follow God. But there is a cry coming up from Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a cry of sin. The sin is so bad that people are calling out for help and the calls reach up to heaven. The people who have been hurt by the sin there have cried out, and I hear them. I want to see if it is as bad as the cries say.” God did not need to come to earth to see. He knows everything, but He wanted Abraham and all of us to know that He cares about us. He cares when we hurt. And He cared that the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah had hurt so many people.
“I will destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah” said God.
Wait! What about Lot?! Where was he living with his family? In Sodom! And God was about to destroy the whole city!
Come back next week to hear what happens.