Abraham Meets With God
(Genesis 18)
1 Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
3 and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favour in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.
4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said."
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three
measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes."
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent."
10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was
behind him.)
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you,
according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!"
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
17 And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his
household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."
20 And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and
because their sin is very grave,
21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
23And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
26 So the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."
27Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it."
29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty."
30Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
31 And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty."
32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."
33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
In this passage of scripture, we read that God appears to Abraham again, this time in human form.
V1 Then the Lord appeared to him. (Abraham) V2 three men were standing by him. (The Lord and two others).
One of these men here is “The Lord”, The Hebrew here is Yahweh, (YHWH). This is referring to God the Father.
Yahweh is known as the (tetragrammaton)
“He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists” or “He Brings the Hosts into Existence,”
The other two are angels of the Lord. Obviously, these two angels were the two that visits with Lot in the city of Sodom.
V22 Then the men (meaning the two angels with the Lord) turned away from there and went toward Sodom.
Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even;
Whether this is God and two angels or whether this was the Trinity is not clear here.
Some believe this to be the case, (as did Augustine of Hippo) and would argue from the verse, 9 Then they said to him. Also verse 1 says “the Lord” appeared to him, yet there were three persons.
All "three" of these 'men' or personages appear to be the same. All three stand
together. All three talk at the same time saying the same thing. "And they said, Do as you have said."v.5 then in v.9 "And they said to him..."then it says "He" said..."v.10 Either they are still speaking as 'one' or one speaks for them.
Now we know that the scriptures reveal that no one has ever seen God at any time.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Also no man has ever seen God the Father in person.
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
Whenever God is seen in the Old Testament, it is the Angel of the Lord. If the only begotten Son is the one that declares Him, then this must be a pre incarnate Christ.
So we have to assume that if God the Father appears to men in the flesh, it must be a pre incarnate Jesus Christ.
This is what is known as a “Theophany” .
Theophany, meaning: a visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god.
There is also a “Christophany”, which is a physical manifestation of Christ, example the one that looked like the Son of man in Daniel’s fiery furnace. Also the appearance of the mysterious Melchisadek, who we are told in scripture was a priest and king of the most High God.
Knowing that these titles, Priest and King are reserved for Christ alone, and that no one person throughout the Old Testament bears the title priest and king, then this appearance in Genesis 14:18 was also the pre incarnate Christ.
Gen 14:V18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
So when the two angels headed off towards Sodom, V16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
V17 And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing",
Now we notice that in V17 “the Lord” stayed and continued to speak with Abraham and to reveal God’s intent in Sodom and Gomorah.
Now if “the Lord” is the pre incarnate Christ, then this was the pre incarnate Jesus and two angels and therefore the three men could not be representative of “the Trinity”.
Whichever view you take, whether the three men represented the Trinity or the three men were the pre incarnate Christ and two angels, you cannot build doctrine on it, because it is too vague.
Moving on.
In the custom of the day, it was a good and kind thing to show hospitality to strangers.
Notice when they came, in the heat of the day. No normal visitor would come to visit at this time. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. Abraham did not see them approaching. He raised his eyes and there they were, standing by him.
However, this is no ordinary visitor. This was the friend of Abraham, The Lord (YHWH).
Abraham in scripture is called “the friend of God”.
Isa 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
2Ch 20:7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
A good friend is always welcome in our home and Abraham makes God very welcome. And nothing but the best was good enough for God.
The first thing Abraham does is bow down before Him. V2 and bowed himself to the ground,
Bowed, (Hebrew shâchâh) prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.
Abraham worshipped God.
4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said."
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes."
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
Abraham was a very rich man, he could have called servants to do his bidding, yet we see him offering to wash their feet. We see him hurrying to feed them. As if this service could not wait.
Notice the choice of words, Hurried – Quickly – Ran – Hastened.
We see him giving the finest meal and the most tender calf. Nothing is too much trouble for his visitors.
I wonder, if this is the way we serve God, giving of our best. Or is it our leftovers, when we have time?
Do we give God the best of our time, the best of our service, the best of our finance, the best of our talents?
Do we hurry to serve Christ, or are we to ready to put things off to another time. Are we often too busy?
I will do it next week or next year.
I read a story of a Pastor in the US, who’s church was in the process of setting up what the Americans call a Thrift shop, (our Charity shops). He told the congregation that this shop was going to be like a Boutique, something special, not the normal second hand shop.
He said, if you are going to donate your goods, donate the best. He jokingly told them, do not bring a three legged chair, that is supposed to have four, or a pair of trousers full of holes. We do not want to bring rubbish but that it should be the best for our God. God is not wanting in our leftovers. He wants our best.
God is not pleased with our second best.
Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Leviticus 22:20 You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.
The application for Christians today does not involve animal sacrifices, of course, nor is it even directly related to financial offerings. Rather, it is a matter of treating God as holy. This concerns all areas of life, ranging from how we speak of God, to how we obey Him and how willing we are to sacrifice material things like finances, time or talents.
Second best is not good enough. God gave His best for us, His only Son. There is giving and then there is sacrificial giving.
Examples: Luke 21:4 for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."
2 Corinthians 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,
Psalm 100:2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
V8 and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
Abraham, waited on the Lord. His friend. Ready to act at the Lords bidding.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus is our Priest and King but He is also our friend.
We should be looking to serve Him in the manner of Abraham, the widow in Luke 21:4 and the believers in Corinth.
9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent."
10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'
In these next verses we see the same thing happening with Sarah as we saw with
Abraham in chapter 17.
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
The angel said “Sarah your wife shall have a son”.
At this Sarah laughed within herself. She could not get her head around the possibility of getting pregnant at her age and how is it going to happen when Abraham is past it too.
The angel said, "Why did Sarah laugh”. 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Even though we say that nothing is impossible with God, it is difficult with our natural minds to comprehend how it can be done.
When we pray for that sick brother or sister, do we believe that God not only can but will do what we ask?
Of course we know that everyone who is prayed for is not automatically healed. We know that God will work according to His purposes. There are those that would blame God when someone is not healed, there are those that blame the one who is being prayed for, saying that it their lack of faith, some blame the one who is praying, that they are lacking in faith. So who is to blame?
Well! It certainly isn’t God. 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Whether it is His perfect will, well that’s another question.
The Apostle Paul sought the Lord three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh” but God did not remove it.
2 Cor 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
Paul accepted this outcome and wrote that the Lord had said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
We must pray in faith believing but we must also leave the outcome to God.
It was no good Sarah denying it, the Lord knows our hearts.
Abraham’s plea for the righteous of Sodom.
Verse 15 to 31 We have the plea from Abraham to God for the righteous of Sodom.
God said, "shall I keep this from Abraham, God answers the question Himself".
19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."
God was keeping Abraham in the loop, as it were.
God revealed His intention to destroy the wicked city of Sodom, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
We see Abraham’s audacious plea for the people of Sodom. He begins to bargain with God, first if there are fifty righteous in Sodom, then forty five, then forty, then thirty, twenty and then finally cuts it down to ten.
God said that He would not destroy it if ten could be found.
We have seen this previously in scripture with the deluge of Noah. In the whole world only Noah was found righteous and God saved Noah and his family and removed them into the Ark before He poured out His wrath on the earth.We will see later in Genesis that from Sodom, only Lot and his family left and only three survived.
God wants to save families, this is the mercy and graciousness of God. God saved righteous Noah and his family, He saved the children of Israel and their families and He saved Lot and his two daughters.
We will see later in Genesis that from Sodom, only Lot and his family left and only three survived.God wants to save families, this is the mercy and graciousness of God. God saved righteous Noah and his family, He saved the children of Israel and their families and He saved Lot and his two daughters.
We should constantly pray that God will include our family members in His plan of salvation.
Of course, they must also believe on the Lord Jesus to be saved.
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).
They are the first that we should share the Gospel with.
Be an Andrew, who when he met Christ he went and found his brother.
John 1:41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”).
The conversation between God and Abraham finished here and God went His way.
33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
