Genesis 18-19

“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down ...” (18:20). Sandwiched between God’s promise and its actual fulfillment (ch 17 & ch 21), the terrible story of Sodom and Gomorrah unfolds. The destruction of the city whose “outcry” of pain and injustice reached God’s ears gives us a glimpse of ultimate judgment. But through a special son, God wants to make Abraham the father of “many nations” and bring people into an “everlasting covenant” with himself – to birth a new community unlike Sodom and Gomorrah (17:3-8).

“I will be their God” (17:8). God constantly holds out his hands to offer us a way out of judgment and a way into his kingdom of mercy.