Adult Lesson Plan: Genesis 18–23

OPENING (2–3 minutes)

“Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). That question is almost mischievous in its simplicity. It’s not, “Is anything too hard for you?” or “for Abraham?” It’s for the Lord. And it comes in a moment when the promise sounds, frankly, absurd: Abraham and Sarah are old, still childless, and heaven is doubling down on a covenant that seems to be running out of runway. If you’ve ever read scripture promises with a quiet thought like, “I believe… but how would that even work?” then Genesis 18–23 is going to feel uncomfortably familiar—in the best way.

Come, Follow Me frames this week with the Lord’s purpose: we are here to be proven, “to see if [we] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command” (Abraham 3:25). That’s a bracing line because it implies the test is not only whether we can endure hardship, but whether we can endure timing, ambiguity, and commands we would not have chosen. Today’s question to carry into the text is simple: when God’s promises feel delayed or costly, what does faithful trust actually look like?

SCRIPTURE EXPLORATION (15–20 minutes)

Genesis 18 opens with a stunning collision between the ordinary and the holy. Abraham and Sarah are living real life—hospitality, meals, tents, heat of the day—and then comes the promise: Sarah will have a son. Their reaction matters because it is so human. Come, Follow Me points us to the earlier promise in Genesis 17:4, 15–22 and then asks us to notice how Abraham and Sarah reacted (Genesis 18:9–12). The text doesn’t present them as cartoon saints who never blink; it shows them processing a promise that strains the imagination. Then the Lord’s response is not a scolding lecture but a question meant to reframe reality: “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). A rich discussion question for the class: when the Lord answers doubt with a question instead of an explanation, what is He inviting us to do? Another question worth sitting with: what kind of faith is required when the only “evidence” you have is the Lord’s word and the calendar keeps turning?

Come, Follow Me suggests Hebrews 11:8–13 as a lens for sustaining faith when promises are not received in this life. That chapter is famous for describing people who moved forward without seeing the end from the beginning. A thoughtful class question: how does “faith” change when it becomes less about getting an outcome and more about trusting a Person? And what do we learn about God’s character from the fact that He can ask for trust while still choosing His own timing?

Genesis 19 shifts the setting to Sodom, and the tone changes from waiting to urgency. Come, Follow Me highlights the angels’ warnings and actions (Genesis 19:12–17) and then the haunting phrase, “look not behind” (Genesis 19:17), with Lot’s wife as the tragic counterpoint (Genesis 19:26). It is easy to reduce that story to a single glance, but Elder Jeffrey R. Holland presses deeper into the heart. He taught, “Apparently, what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back” (Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 24). That turns the story into a mirror. The question is not merely, “Do I avoid obvious wickedness?” but, “What am I secretly nostalgic for that the Lord is trying to rescue me from?” Elder Holland adds, “It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. … So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly” (Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” 24). A discussion question that often opens honest conversation: what are the modern forms of “looking back longingly”? Not just sins, but identities, grudges, old narratives, or even “yesterdays” that keep us from the future God is offering.

Then Genesis 22 brings us to the most wrenching test: Abraham commanded to offer Isaac. Come, Follow Me is careful: “Although we don’t know all the reasons God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, we do know it was a test of his faith in God” (Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, “February 23–March 1. ‘Is Any Thing Too Hard for the Lord?’”). But we also know something else: “it was ‘a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son’ (Jacob 4:5)” (Come, Follow Me, same section). The manual invites us to look for parallels, and it provides examples: “Isaac was the only begotten son of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 22:2; see also Hebrews 11:17)” and “Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father (John 3:16).” It also notes, “Isaac was to be offered in place of a lamb (Genesis 22:7–9)” and “Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1:29)” (Come, Follow Me, “Genesis 22:1–19”). A reverent question for the room: which similarity pierces you the most, and why? Another: what does it teach you about the Father that He would embed the gospel so deeply into the lived story of His covenant people?

DOCTRINAL DISCUSSION (10–15 minutes)

Genesis 18–23 quietly teaches a doctrine that is harder than it sounds: the Lord’s promises are real, but the Lord’s timing is His. Come, Follow Me states it plainly: “The Lord fulfills His promises in His own time” (Come, Follow Me, “The Lord fulfills His promises in His own time.”). That isn’t a slogan; it’s a spiritual skill. It changes how we interpret delay. If God is both truthful and wise, then waiting is not evidence of abandonment. It may be part of being “proven” (Abraham 3:25), and, as the manual adds, “In proving us, God also improves us” (Come, Follow Me, introduction). A question to let the class wrestle with: what kinds of “improvement” can only happen when a promise is delayed? What virtues are forged only in the space between “God said” and “God did”?

Genesis 19 adds another doctrine that is oddly merciful: God does not merely command us to flee wickedness; He also provides help and warning. Come, Follow Me asks, “What impresses you about what the angels said and did to help Lot and his family escape destruction?” (Come, Follow Me, “Genesis 19:12–29”). The story portrays a God who sends messengers, gives clear direction, and urges urgency—because some environments are not meant to be negotiated with. Elder Holland’s counsel expands the doctrine from behavior to desire. He pleads, “I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays” (Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” 26). Then he gives a line that feels like a compass: “faith is always pointed toward the future” (Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” 26). A discussion question that often surprises people: how can “looking back” show up in very religious ways—like endlessly rehearsing old failures, or clinging to a lesser version of ourselves because it feels familiar?

Genesis 22 teaches that the center of covenant life is ultimately Christ. The manual invites us to “consider singing or reading the lyrics” of “God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son” (Hymns, no. 187) as a way to feel the Father’s love (Come, Follow Me, “Genesis 22:1–19”). The point is not to turn Abraham into a cold exemplar of obedience; it is to let Abraham’s story tutor our hearts about the Father’s gift. When the manual says the sacrifice of Isaac is “a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5), it is quietly teaching that the Father understands sacrifice from the inside. A final doctrinal question for the class: how does it change your view of God to realize that He asks for trust while also giving His Son?

PRACTICAL APPLICATION (5–7 minutes)

Adults live with timelines: family hopes, health realities, financial pressures, relationship strain, unanswered prayers. Genesis 18 offers a faithful way to talk to ourselves in those spaces. Instead of only asking, “Why isn’t this happening?” we can also let the Lord’s question work on us: “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). That question doesn’t deny pain; it re-centers possibility in God.

Genesis 19 offers another practical lens: sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is stop romanticizing what God has told us to leave. Elder Holland’s language is precise: “The past is to be learned from but not lived in” (Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” 26). Many faithful people “look back” not because they want sin, but because they want certainty, familiarity, or control. This week, a teacher might invite class members to privately name one “Sodom” they are tempted to keep as a backup plan—an influence, a habit of thought, a relationship dynamic, a private resentment—and ask what it would look like to face forward with faith.

Genesis 22 brings application into the realm of trust under cost. Most of us will not be asked to reenact Abraham’s extremity, but we will be asked to yield what we would most like to manage ourselves. The manual’s framing helps: we may not know all reasons, but we do know it was “a test of his faith in God” (Come, Follow Me, “Genesis 22:1–19”), and we do know it points us to the Father and the Son (Jacob 4:5). When life asks for surrender, the gospel is not asking us to love loss; it is inviting us to trust God’s heart.

CLOSING TESTIMONY & INVITATION (2–3 minutes)

Genesis 18–23 places three truths side by side: the Lord can do what seems impossible (Genesis 18:14), the Lord can rescue us from what will destroy us if we stop longing for it (Genesis 19:26; Holland, “The Best Is Yet to Be,” 24), and the Lord has already shown us, through His Only Begotten Son, what His love is willing to give (Jacob 4:5; John 3:16; John 1:29).

An invitation for the week: choose one promise you’re waiting on, one thing you need to stop “looking back” toward, and one way you will remember the Father’s gift of the Lamb of God (John 1:29). I bear witness that the Lord’s question is not rhetorical. He really is the God of power and covenant, and His promises are not fragile. They rest on Him. “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).