Questions of God: Shall I Hide From Abraham What I Am Doing? pt.3

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

By now you're thinking, are there really that many things you can learn from one question? And the answer to that question is: Duh!

  I'm sure by now you know that when God asks a question, He may be really saying something rather profound in the asking. Information is not what He is after. He is trying to get me, and you, to consider something from His point of view, and He is doing it in a relational way that helps us along in the process. It is a process of growth, and not just teaching to the test.

A smart guy named John Wimber was known to often say "God offends your mind to reveal your heart." I think this is the true essence of God's questions to us. He is showing us our own hearts.

One aspect of this question, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?" is a major test of just Who or What you think of God Himself. Is the God you know, worship, and even love, worthy of that worship and love? Is He able to back it up with some real muscle? Is He in fact the Almighty God that reigns over all of the universe and, more to the point, are you willing to submit to this God once you know how awesome He is, no matter what?

So back to the story; God is asking Abraham what He thinks about what He is about to do, which is...(ta-da! Cue dramatic music here) Judgment! God is about to judge a group of people for desperately wicked deeds and for making that the way of life in the city they were in. Now here's an interesting thought: if God is all-knowing, why did He need to make sure for Himself that they were as evil as He had heard?

OK, put that on pause for a second. Let's look at the dictionary definition for the word "judgment."
-the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.
-an opinion or conclusion.
- a decision of a court or judge.
 -a monetary or other obligation awarded by a court.

So if we consider God as a judge, then, if God were to answer a prayer for healing, for instance, that would be a judgment on behalf of the sick person. Just like a judge awarding a cash settlement on behalf of the victim of a crime, God makes judgments all of the time on behalf of people who seek him. In fact, the most awesome judgment God makes is to answer someone's prayer for salvation. God saving a person is basically God's ultimate judgment on our separation from Him and it is also His best statement about the future of the human race. God in effect says, "Alright, I am not counting your sin against you any more because I take into account what My Son did on your behalf. It is my judgment that you be saved from the consequences that those willful acts would have wreaked in your life."

God also needs to be able to judge in order to really be God. If your God is a God of love only, then your god is something like Santa Claus. He might get a little red in the face at the mention of your darkest secret sin, but he would just say, "Oh well, I'll just look the other way and pretend nothing is really wrong. Let's all have hot chocolate!"

God is not the cosmic cop, or the cosmic killjoy, or the ultimate Santa Claus, but He is able to judge unrighteousness because He is perfectly righteous, and all of His judgments are rooted in perfect love as well as perfect justice. He is the standard of righteousness and His standards are the only ones that count. We know right from wrong because He has revealed it to us in Himself and in His word. And all of this leads somewhere you wouldn't expect; to mercy.

Mercy? Yes, because every time God judges He has in mind a mercy. Here's just one example of this thing in the Bible:
Judgment:
Gen. 19:24-25 Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Mercy:
Gen. 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

[Warning: Extensive Bible Passages Ahead]
In scripture judgment and mercy are linked. Judgment is the door to mercy. In Deuteronomy 7:12 it says “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers." Do you see the connection here between judgment and mercy? The prophet Habakkuk prayed that the Lord would remember His goodness, that in wrath He would remember mercy.(Hab. 3:22) The prophet Jeremiah, in the book of Lamentations, declared that "Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not."(Lam. 3:22) And then in verse 29 of that same chapter he continues, "Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. (Lam. 3:32) The New Testament also confirms this in very strong terms. Paul, the apostle, said "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

God has a plan to turn situations around from judgment to mercy. Romans 8:28, oft quoted as it is, really does bring light to this concept: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." It is God's purpose to cause even bad things that happen into His redemptive plan. This is how an infamous slave trader can become the famous writer of the song "Amazing Grace." This is how a murdering religious zealot can become the great apostle to the gentiles. And this is how you and I can be changed from a total wreck to a real total success. Don't be afraid of God's judgment, because it is His plan to bring mercy, grace and love.

from: JavaJazzJesus