3-Day Bible Reading Plan: God is faithful, but not predictable
“Big Idea: God is faithful, but not predictable. God will be merciful and just. We just don’t know how his mercy and justice will play out in every scenario. We can trust God to act in accordance with his character. We just can’t predict how he will act. This principle is important to understand as we dive into the topic of prayer. When we pray, we can have confidence that God is not duplicitous or deceitful. He is faithful and reliable.” - Pastor Paul Crandall, 2/4/24
Watch Sermon and Read Notes Here.
Day 1:
Passage: Genesis 18:16-19 - “16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, 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 to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Reflection: This section introduces the dilemma: Can God trust Abraham (justice)? Can Abraham trust God (mercy and justice)? What is the tension between God's promise to bless Abraham and His justice towards Sodom and Gomorrah?
Cross-Reference: Ezekiel 16:49-50 (Sodom's sins) - “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.”
Life Level Application: Read Luke 9:51-56. “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.”
Why do you think James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven? How is this different from the heart of Abraham in Genesis 18 when he prays for Sodom and Gomorrah? How have you expressed both of these attitudes toward others?
Day 2:
Passage: Genesis 18:20-22, 25-33 - “Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.” “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.”
Reflection: Abraham expresses concern for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. While trusting God's justice, he questions how it will play out. God assures him He will act justly through dialogue. Do we wrestle with God like Abraham?
Cross-Reference: 2 Peter 2:7 (Lot's righteousness) - “and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked”
Life Level Application: Read Exodus 34:6-7. “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
How is God’s mercy described in this passage? How is his justice described? How does this declaration of God’s character give you comfort? In what way does it cause you discomfort?
Day 3:
Passage: Genesis 19:17-22, 29 - “And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my Lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.”
Reflection: God shows both justice (saving Lot) and unpredictable mercy (sparing Zoar). We are left with uncertainty but can trust His character. We can wrestle with doubt and express frustration in prayer.
Cross-Reference: Jonah 3:10-4:4 (Jonah's anger at God's mercy) - “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Why was Jonah angry with God? Was God acting against his character? Does God’s mercy toward others ever offend you, especially when he is merciful to those who have hurt you?
Life Level Application: Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Think about some of your unanswered prayers. How did you handle the disappointment of those prayers being unanswered? How was God still faithful even in your disappointment?