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Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and

Abraham was walking with them to send them off. The LORD said, Shall I hide from

Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty

nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him so

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 upon Abraham

what He has spoken about him (Genesis 18:16-19)YHVH in His omniscience, in Hisomnipresence, His omnipotence shares His thoughts with us. He said, shall I hide from

Abraham what I am about to do? As if to say, Im conflicted? I am not sure whether I

should tell Abraham what I am about to do.

AArree wwee ttoo bbeelliieevvee TThhee AAllmmiigghhttyy CCrreeaattoorr oofftthhee ccoossmmooss

iiss ddeebbaattiinngg wwiitthhiinn HHiimmsseellff??

He already knows the end from the beginning, He is all-knowing, and He is

GODthen it is safe to say that He is not debating within himself. The wordy version

used here is anthropomorphism. It means to behave like, or to personify something that

is not. We know that Numbers 23:19 states the obvious, God is nota man that He

should lie,but throughout Scripture oftentimes to get some comprehension of who He

is YHVH has designed His Word to describe Himself like a man, so that man can better

relate in order to gain some measure of understanding of GOD. Of course, GOD is

inscrutable; however, if we are going to engage in relationship with The Almighty He has

to bring Himself down to earth in some degree so that we can understand, and He

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absolutely accomplished that by sending His son who told His disciples "Ifyou had

known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and

have seen Him (John 14:7).

SSoo wwhhyy tthheenn iiss tthheerree tthhiiss rreeccoorrddooffGGooddss iinnwwaarrdd

tthhiinnkkiinngg lliikkee aa mmaann??

I submit to you He does this to provoke us to ask questions, which He intends to

broaden our understanding of who He is, and what He desires of us! Ingenius, really;

God didnt need to tell Abraham anything. God already knew Sodom and Gomorrah

were destined for destruction. Hes God, and yet He debatesor so it appears as its

written in His Word, and then He relents and tells Abraham His plans. But He offers us

some clues as to why. He says in verse 19 For I havechosenhim. Why is that relevant

here?

WWhhaattssiiggnniiffiiccaannccee ddooeess ddeeccllaarriinngg tthhaattnnooww hhaavvee aannyy

bbeeaarriinngg uuppoonn wwhhaattHHeess aabboouuttttoo ddoo??

Chosen as it appears here is the Hebrew word yada, and it means to make oneself

known to, to reveal oneself to. When God reveals Himself people know about it! When

Moses came down the mountain after having been with God they all cried for him to put

a covering over his face because it shone! The point to that is, when a person has been in

the presence of God, it changes them, and Abraham was changed by the presence of

God. We read in Genesis 18:22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward

Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. Abraham was in The LORDs

presence, serving Him.

The very nature of God is not to destroy, but to bring to repentance. The LORD

is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not

wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9). The Hebrew

word found here for repentance is Strongs #7725 and it means a turning back to a

previous state or place, and it also means to restore! The Greek equivalent as it appears

in 2 Peter 3 is the word metnoia (Strongs# 3341) and it means a change of mind, as it

appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done

(Thayers). Peter is talking about a change of mind. Yaakov says in chapter one Butprove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his

natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has

immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the

perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer

but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).

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WWhhyy ddooeess GGooddsshhaarree iiddeeaass tthhaattpprroommppttuuss ttoo aasskk

eennggaaggiinngg qquueessttiioonnss ccoonncceerrnniinngg HHiiss ppllaannss??

And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one

to intercede;

(Isaiah 59:16);because the ultimate thing Abba is looking for is a man tointercede on mans behalf! The word used here for intercede ispgaand it means to

meet, to cause to light upon, to make entreaty. Weve established YHVH wants to

restore, wants to give light, life and blessing, but man often becomes confused either out

of ignorance or bad teaching. What Abba is trying to teach us is that we have a role in

redeeming Israel! Adversity strikes! What do we do? Do we sit idly by? No, we have been

called to intercede, because The Father is equipping us to be His hands and feet. You

may be the chosen vessel Hes chosen to use to bring healing and comfort to another

persons life! Let us speak life to one another, through our words, our actions, our

motivation! Weve been called, now all we have to do is answer it. Blessings and Shalom.