Moses' Leadership Lessons | Exodus 18

Summary

Note: Although the video title refers to Exodus 18, the subtitles present a teaching on Genesis 18 and Abraham’s encounter with the Lord and two angels.

Andrew Wommack walks through the chapter and draws practical lessons about faith, hospitality, prayer, God’s relationship with people, and the contrast he sees between mediation under the Old and New Covenants.

Main Ideas and Lessons

Expect and Pay Attention to God’s Activity

Wommack says Abraham was anticipating the fulfillment of God’s promise that Sarah would have a son. He uses the encounter at Mamre to argue that people should be alert and expectant, rather than so preoccupied that they miss opportunities to respond to God. He connects this idea to Moses noticing the burning bush and the disciples calling out to Jesus on the water.

Hospitality Can Create Space for Fellowship

Abraham welcomes the visitors, offers them water and food, and waits while a meal is prepared. Wommack emphasizes that the Lord and the angels accept Abraham’s hospitality and eat with him. He takes this as an illustration of God’s willingness to spend time with people.

Sarah’s Laughter Illustrates Doubt—and God’s Knowledge of the Heart

Sarah privately laughs at the promise of a son because she is old and believes childbirth is impossible. When she denies laughing, the Lord knows what happened. Wommack applies this by encouraging listeners to be honest with God rather than pretend or hide their thoughts.

“Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?”

Wommack stresses that human limitations do not limit God. He tells a story of a woman in his church who, he says, experienced healing and began believing for other things despite having had a hysterectomy. He presents the story as an example of his belief that God can act beyond what people consider possible.

God Values People’s Participation

Wommack interprets God’s question about whether to tell Abraham what is about to happen as an invitation for Abraham to participate, especially by interceding for Lot and the people of Sodom. He argues that God works through human cooperation rather than simply acting without people.

Abraham’s Intercession for Sodom

Abraham asks whether God would spare the city if righteous people were found there. He gradually lowers the number from 50 to 10, and God agrees not to destroy the city if that many righteous people are found. Wommack suggests Abraham may have stopped at 10 because he thought Lot’s family included at least that many people. He presents the exchange as evidence of Abraham’s boldness and of God’s mercy.

Wommack’s View of God’s Knowledge and Human Freedom

Wommack challenges the assumption that God always exercises complete foreknowledge of every detail. Citing passages in Genesis and Jeremiah, he suggests God may choose not to know certain things in advance, while still having the ability to know them. He also argues that people have genuine freedom to choose and that God does not force their decisions. These are Wommack’s interpretations of the passages.

Old- and New-Covenant Mediation

Wommack describes Abraham’s plea for Sodom as mediation between a holy God and a sinful city, and compares it with Moses’ later intercession. He says this kind of mediation belonged to the Old Covenant.

In the New Covenant, Wommack says, Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity. Therefore, Christians should not try to pressure or persuade God in the way Abraham did. He says there is still a proper way to pray and intercede, but it differs from Abraham’s approach.

Sin, Judgment, and Grace

Wommack distinguishes between God’s wrath against sin—which he says was placed on Jesus—and the harmful consequences of sin, which he says can give Satan an opening in people’s lives and society. He argues that disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or fires should not automatically be labeled God’s judgment.

He says the New Covenant is a time of grace, while also maintaining that people should repent and that final judgment awaits those who reject the Lord.

Sources and Speakers Featured

• Andrew Wommack — the sole speaker, providing the teaching, interpretations, and personal anecdotes.
• Biblical passages quoted or referenced by Wommack: Genesis 12 and 17–19; Exodus 3; Psalms 139; Proverbs 22:6; Isaiah 26:3; Jeremiah 7:31, 19:5, and 32:35; Amos 3:7; Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 4 and 12; Acts 12–13; Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 4; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Peter 2; Hebrews 13 and passages in Hebrews referring to Melchizedek; and 1 Kings 13.
• Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians are not cited in the subtitles.