He Laughs

It is clear that Abraham believed the promise of God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Yet it is also apparent from several scenes that both Abraham and Sarah laughed when told they would bear Isaac at 100 and 90 respectively: “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years ole? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (Genesis 17: 17) “So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’” (Genesis 18: 12) Abraham and Sarah were being visited by three angelic beings; it seems that one was the Lord. When Sarah laughed he said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

It is good if we remember the One who makes promises to us finds nothing impossible. Even when laughter bubbles up within us at the thought of the promise being fulfilled after all this time; the One who made the promise is faithful and true.

Isaac means “he laughs.”

Sodom and Gomorrah

As Abraham stood with the Lord overlooking the region of Sodom and Gomorrah; the two angels went to visit the city of Sodom to discover if the evil report that had gone up to heaven was true. In his bargaining for Sodom because of his nephew Lot Abraham was sure that the influence of Lot had resulted in at least ten righteous people. He was mistaken.

The visit of the two angels culminated in a violent mob surrounding the house of Lot in order to force Lot to allow them to rape the visitors. They proved that the outcry that had gone up to heaven was true and the city deserved to be destroyed.

The angels hesitated to bring about the destruction until Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were safely away. Even then, the backward look of Lot’s wife caused her to be turned into a pillar of salt. She was destroyed because she ignored God’s warning to flee destruction. Jesus used her story as an illustration to flee destruction. (Luke 17: 32)

Visit to Abimelech

We know from the title line of Psalm 34 that Abimelech was the title of a Philistine king. Abraham and Isaac in his own time each visited Gerar, Philistine territory. We can only conjecture why both would use the same ruse to protect themselves and claim that his wife was actually his sister. It is only by the grace of God and divine intervention that each wife was kept safe.

Follow the Call

We live in a different age and time than Abraham. His time was only about 300 years from the flood of Noah. His call and life became the foundation for the redemption narrative. God’s call to Abraham fit into His plan and purpose for the salvation of the world. When Adam gave the legal right to Satan to rule and reign in this world; breaking into this planet through legal means by sending the Second Adam became God’s plan from the beginning. Where do you fit into God’s plan and purpose?