In this message we come to Genesis 18, which contains an intimate record of Abraham's experience with God. If we take an overall view of Abraham's experience with God as found in chapter eleven through chapter twenty-four, we shall see that his experience is in four major sections. Firstly, while he was living in the demonic land of Chaldea, he was called by God. Suddenly, much to his surprise, the God of glory appeared to him (Acts 7:2). That was the beginning of his experience with God.
Secondly, in chapters twelve through fourteen, Abraham experienced living by faith in God for his existence. He had been called by God for the fulfillment of God's divine purpose, but, as a human being, he still had to have food, protection, and all that was necessary to maintain his existence. He was a stranger in a new land, having no property of his own. Thus, God trained him to exercise the very faith which God had infused into him to trust in God for his existence.
Following that, in chapters fifteen through seventeen, the third section, God trained him to know grace for the fulfillment of His purpose. Here Abraham learned not to do anything by himself or on his own but to do everything by and with God. Although God needed him, God did not need anything of him. All that Abraham had, was, and could do was absolutely repudiated by God. God spent at least fifteen years to train Abraham in this matter. For thirteen years, God disappeared from him because he did not behave himself properly. Abraham was trained, disciplined, and very much in God's favor, but he did not walk in the presence of God. Rather, he walked in the presence of his wife, the one who proposed that he exercise his flesh to produce a seed for the fulfillment of God's purpose. Abraham expected that Ishmael, his seed, could fulfill God's purpose. Nevertheless, God seemed to say, "No, I don't approve of Ishmael. He is the issue of your effort, the produce of your doing. I reject him and you must not keep him. Abram, you must learn that nothing that you can do means anything to Me. I only need you, not your ability and strength. I don't need your Lot, Eliezer, Hagar, or anything of you. You must walk before Me, not doing anything by yourself or on your own. You must be nourished and supplied by the sufficiency of My divine udder. Then you will be able to produce something not only for Me but also of Me. I only accept and approve what is out of Myself. I shall not produce an Isaac without you. I shall produce an Isaac through you, but not out of you. You are My channel, not the source. Whenever you consider yourself to be the source, you insult Me. I am the unique, all-sufficient source. You have known Me as the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. Now you must know Me as El-Shaddai, as the all-sufficient Mighty One with an udder. Stay under My udder and be supplied and nourished constantly by My all-sufficiency. This is the way to walk before Me." As Abraham learned to know grace for the fulfillment of God's purpose, God changed him in both name and in nature. God changed Abraham's constitution by having him circumcised. Abram was terminated and Abraham came into being. This is the third major section of Abraham's experience of God.