Questions of God: Shall I Hide From Abraham What I Am Doing? pt.2

Gen. 18:17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…

So, last time we saw how God and Abraham were friends and that God is a real giver when He hangs out with His friends. But there is another real awesome thing to discover in this question, which has to do with a call that God places on the lives of those that know Him.

  You know the story right? God is really on the way to treat Sodom and Gomorrah with the whole fire and brimstone treatment. But interestingly, He comes by to see what Abraham, the friend of God, thinks about this. There has been reports of great evil being done in Sodom and Gomorrah, and as a last chance to make sure, God is going to appear to the town as a man or angel and see for himself whether things are as bad as he's heard. Abraham has a last chance to influence God and His judgment in the wicked city.

  So Abraham speaks up just what anyone would in that situation, saying, "No way are You going to judge the righteous among the wicked!" God's answer is interesting. Maybe you already know the story from this point, because you've seen the movie. Abraham convinces God to spare the city if there are at least ten righteous people in it, starting at fifty and talking God down to ten. Abraham stops at ten, because he figures his nephew Lot and his family and maybe a few friends are well more than ten people. Well, he was wrong, which is sad, but there is something about God that we can learn from this situation that is very interesting. Apparently from this story, we learn that God is willing to let people influence Him in His decisions. Can you imagine that? God, the God, sovereign and all-powerful, is willing to let the opinion of His friends be heard and considered in the outworking of His will in history. In fact, there are several of these situations in the Bible, times when God had a friend that He listened to and even sided with. David the King and Daniel the Prophet had this kind of relationship with God.

  There are even a bunch of people running around on the planet now who have this job of hanging out with God and consulting with Him on occasion. They call them intercessors. Intercessors are people who stand before a great leader on behalf of another leader or an individual. People who pray are also called intercessors when they pray on behalf of others. So that would be you, too, right? You talk to God on behalf of others, don't you? Sure you do. We all do. And He hears you because you and He are friends. And, by the way, that’s a good thing.
from: JavaJazzJesus