Today Passage: Genesis 16-19
Genesis 18:1-15
Genesis 18:1-15
Three months after this, as Abraham sat in his tent door, he saw three men approaching. They accepted his hospitality. Seated under an oak-tree, they shared food that Abraham and Sarah provided. One of the three visitors was none other than the Lord, and the other two were angels disguised as men. The Lord renewed on this occasion his promise of a son by Sarah and rebuked her unbelief.
WHO were the three strangers Abraham met in Genesis?
More important, the reading of this particular text places us in the dynamic field of the divine presence as operative in the world. This is a field interwoven with ongoing history because it is that which gives this history its full significance. It promises Abraham that he "will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (18.18). Abraham with Sarah embodies the nation to come, and embodies blessing for all nations. His embodiment of blessing is particularized in his nation, but thereby extended to all, as inclusive of them.
In Gen. 18:1, the word "Lord" is Strong's Concordance #3068 Yehovah, generally pronounced as Jehovah. (Other pronunciations include Yahweh and Yahveh. The name is so sacred that orthodox Jews will not even attempt to pronounce it. Instead they usually use the term "Hashem" or "Adonai".)
More important, the reading of this particular text places us in the dynamic field of the divine presence as operative in the world. This is a field interwoven with ongoing history because it is that which gives this history its full significance. It promises Abraham that he "will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (18.18). Abraham with Sarah embodies the nation to come, and embodies blessing for all nations. His embodiment of blessing is particularized in his nation, but thereby extended to all, as inclusive of them.
In Gen. 18:1, the word "Lord" is Strong's Concordance #3068 Yehovah, generally pronounced as Jehovah. (Other pronunciations include Yahweh and Yahveh. The name is so sacred that orthodox Jews will not even attempt to pronounce it. Instead they usually use the term "Hashem" or "Adonai".)
We know from previous scriptures, Gen. 12:1, Gen. 15:1, and Gen. 17:1 that Abraham had seen the "Lord" appearing to him as Yehovah. In John 8:53, in a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews, Jesus is asked the question,
"Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do you make yourself out to be?"
We note Christ's response to this question in verses 56-58:
"Your father rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM'" (NKJV, throughout).
This indicates a high probability that Jesus was the Yehovah whom Abraham saw that day on the plains of Mamre in the heat of the day. In Genesis 18:3, the word "Lord" is the same word as in verse 1, but is plural, which would seem to indicate that Abraham could not determine that they were heavenly beings --- for they appeared as men. It wasn't until after the three had eaten, verses 9-15, that Abraham realized the true identity of his visitors and their purpose.
The account recorded in the 18th chapter of Genesis bespeaks the very high esteem that Abraham held in the eyes of God. That is why he is called "Abraham My friend" in Isa. 41:8; that is why he is called God's "friend forever" in 2Chron. 20:7; and that is also why in James 2:23, " . . . he was called the friend of God.”
The account recorded in the 18th chapter of Genesis bespeaks the very high esteem that Abraham held in the eyes of God. That is why he is called "Abraham My friend" in Isa. 41:8; that is why he is called God's "friend forever" in 2Chron. 20:7; and that is also why in James 2:23, " . . . he was called the friend of God.”
Abraham accompanied the three as they proceeded on their journey. The two angels went on toward Sodom; while the Lord tarried behind and talked with Abraham, revealing to him the destruction that was about to fall on that guilty city. The patriarch interceded earnestly on behalf of the doomed city. But as not even ten righteous persons were found in it, for whose sake the city would have been spared, the Lord acted. The city was destroyed. Early next morning Abraham saw the smoke of the fire that consumed it as the "smoke of a furnace" (Gen. 19:1-28).