SEEING WORLD CONDITIONS FROM THE DIVINE VIEWPOINT

^[p. 147] SEEING WORLD CONDITIONS FROM THE DIVINE VIEWPOINT

“I will go down now, and see” Sodom, Jehovah said to Abraham. Think of God saying that to an actual man today; I am going out to see what is going on in England, in the world; to see what France is doing; what Italy is doing, or America. Is that not what God says, in effect? It is that exactly. God is concerned about all these matters. The two angels looked towards Sodom, and went towards Sodom. Jehovah looked towards Sodom, too. He was going that way. And then He says, ‘I will tell Abraham about it’. Well, I pray to God regularly and ask Him to tell me about these things. God is concerned about international conditions. He has set up gentile monarchies and they are running their course. Has God forgotten what is said in the book of Daniel? No, beloved. The book of Daniel, and what is recorded in it, still exists. The monster that God showed Nebuchadnezzar still exists, in part. The monarchies are running their course: they are about at their end, and God would take us into His confidence as to what these things mean. It is most important that we should be with God about these things, to be instructed about them. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?”.

So God spoke to Abraham about Sodom. And then it says that “Abraham drew near”. How beautiful that is! And he said to God, “There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein?”. ‘Yes, I will spare for fifty’, God said. What a wonderful conversation that was-Abraham interceding for the world, with a ^[p. 148] view, of course, to saving his brother Lot who was in it. Should we not intercede for the world, with a view to our brethren in it, our Lots that are in it, that they might be rescued out of it? Well, God said that He would spare Sodom for fifty. Then Abraham said, Will You not spare it for forty-five? Yes, for forty-five. For forty? Yes, for forty. For thirty? Yes, for thirty. For twenty? Yes, for twenty. For ten? Yes, for ten. That is God, beloved, speaking to His friend. Abraham did not venture to go below ten. And so God left Abraham; the conversation was ended. That is how it stands; God did not break it off; it was a finished matter. “Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place”.

Presently the flames of Sodom arose and a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace. The world is doomed; we may as well accept it. But what I am at is that Abraham went to the very spot where God had spoken to him; that is to say, the place of his nearness to God, the place of dignity too, the dignity of God having spoken to him about the matter. It was from there that he looked toward Sodom. Abraham recognised the place. I have no doubt he would often think of that spot, the very spot where Jehovah had spoken to him. It is well to keep in mind where Jehovah speaks. Where does He speak today? Hs speaks in the assembly. That is where His communications are made, in the temple. Paul says, “Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”, 1 Corinthians 3: 16. That is where God speaks.

Well, that is the place to go to. Abraham went to the place where God spoke to him and saw the destruction of Sodom from that point. I do not believe we see anything aright save from that point. There we see things as God sees them. It was from there that Abraham saw the destruction of Sodom.

^[p. 149] That is all I had to say, just to stress the thought of speaking in nearness, and in a certain place, and that we should have recourse to that place so as to be in the mind of God and get the gain of divine speakings.