Abram was ninety-nine when the Lord changed his name from Abram (father of people) to Abraham (father of many people). “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.” [1]
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. Abraham and Sarah made a meal for them. The Lord told Abraham that Sarah would have a son. He was to be called Isaac. [2]
The three men got up to leave. They looked down towards Sodom. Abraham walked with them. Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.” [3]
These three men, perhaps angels, spoke of the future of Sodom and the future of Abraham. The men of Sodom were about to be destroyed. The Sodomites failed their fatherhood roles.
The Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” [4]
The three men left and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Abraham interceded for Sodom. His nephew Lot, Lot’s wife and two daughters were living there. Abraham asked God to spare Sodom if only ten righteous people lived there. God agreed. [5]
God’s demeanor towards Abraham who trusted and obeyed Him was different than His demeanor towards the Sodomites who disregarded God and faithful fathering.
In 2012, the Cherokee County Health Department released a statistic that 61% of its unmarried teenage girls had become pregnant. Many men were in prison for not paying child support. They were guilty of impregnating girls, forsaking them, and moving onto other girls. They abandoned their children. One boy told me that each of his four siblings was from a different father. When I asked who his father was, the boy replied, “My father was in jail before I was ever born. I have never met him.”
Children need to be noticed. Imagine a child swinging for the first time! Imagine a child riding a bike without training wheels for the first time! Perhaps, many boys taking attention deficit pills would not need them if their fathers were giving them attention and guidance.
Fathers, take time with your children. Go places with them. Tell them Bible stories. Pray with them. Teach them good manners. Teach them how to fix things. Build memories! When they are grown and you are older, you will realize the favor they did for you by wanting to be with you.
How important is fatherhood to God? He says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” [6]
[1] Genesis 17:1, 5
[2] Genesis 18:1-14
[3] Genesis 18:17-19
[4] Genesis 18:20-21
[5] Genesis 18:22-33
[6] Malachi 4:5-6
