18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre:
and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him:
and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on:
for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said,
Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it], and make cakes upon the hearth.
18:7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good,
and gave [it] unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
18:8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them;
and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
the LORD appeared... (v.1,2)- in the form of a man.
The LORD {Jehovah} had appeared to Abraham on previous occasions. However, we were not told how He appeared: whether in a spiritual vision or in a form visible to the human eye (eg. 12:7; 17:1).
An appearance of God in human or angellic form is called a 'theophany'.
Abraham could not have seen God the Father (cp. Joh 1:18). Therefore, this and other OT theophanies are pre-incarnate appearances of God the Son. Note, that while the Son appeared on the earth, the Father was in control in heaven (cp. Gen 19:24).
Abraham's hospitality may have been his customary treatment of strangers.
The three men included God the Son accompanied by two angels. cp. 19:1
It is possible that he did not recognise his guests until v.9,10. cp. Heb 13:2
On the other hand, Abraham's eagerness, and his request that they 'pass not away' (v.3) suggest that he suspected his guests were supernatural. cp. Judg 6:16-19
Here we find Abraham -
providing refreshment for the Lord (in loving & obedient service). v.1-8
Note the energy with which he served: he looked, he ran, he bowed, he hastened to engage others in the preparations..., he ran, he fetched, he took, and he set the meal before them. Then he stood as a servant while they ate. Sparing no expense or effort, he was there for Him.
enjoying communion with the Lord. cp. Joh 14:23; Rev 3:20
Abraham fed upon the Lord's Word to him -
18:9 And they said unto him, Where [is] Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold, in the tent.
18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life;
and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah heard [it] in the tent door, which [was] behind him.
18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old [and] well stricken in age;
[and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying,
After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord {ie., husband} being old also?
18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham,
Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid.
And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Sarah's laughter (v.12,13), like that of Abraham (17:17) may be an expression of amazement.
The message seemed too good to be true. cp. Psa 126:1-3
- - Yet, her fear, when confronted, hints at a degree of unbelief, or at least of confusion at how this could be possible. The Lord re-affirmed His Word to strengthen her faith. v.14; cp. Luk 1:18-20, 34,35
- - Her denial was ineffective, because the Lord sees the heart. Note that she was rebuked for her denial, not for her laughter (v.15).
This verse, and others like it, are often taken out of context by miracle seekers.
There is nothing that God has promised that He cannot perform.
But no one should presume that He will perform what He has not promised.
God does not act outside of His will. In this case, God had revealed His specific will. Abraham & Sarah could trust Him to keep His Word. However, those who expect God to act, only because they think He could or should, will be disappointed.
18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom:
and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment {ie., righteousness and justice};
that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
18:20 And the LORD said,
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; {Gen 13:13}
18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it,
which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom:
but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?-
''The way to know the divine purposes about this present evil world, is not to be mixed up with it, in its schemes and speculations, but to be entirely separated from it. The more closely we walk with God, and the more subject we are to His Word, the more we shall know of His mind about everything.'' [CHM]
- - Abraham's view of Sodom's future was not clouded by the perspective of the Sodomites. They were consumed with the business of prosperity and pleasure, and gave no thought to coming judgment.
- - Abraham was consumed with keeping the way of the Lord, and with watching for His promises. Therefore, the Lord revealed to him what He was about to do. v.19
In contrast, Lot, a believer who was caught up in the things of the world, was unaware of God's purpose, until the angels forcefully removed him from Sodom. (ch.19)
Abraham's knowledge of the Lord's purposes motivated him to pray
that those believers who were defiled by the world, might escape its judgment.
The Lord is careful in judgment. His justice is according to truth.
18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
18:24 Peradventure {ie., suppose} there be fifty righteous within the city:
wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that [are] therein?
18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked:
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee:
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? {cp. Deu 32:4; Psa 11:5-7}
18:26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now,
I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which [am but] dust and ashes {Gen 3:19}:
18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous:
wilt thou destroy all the city for [lack of] five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy [it].
18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do [it] for forty's sake.
18:30 And he said [unto him], Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak:
Peradventure there shall thirty be found there.
And he said, I will not do [it], if I find thirty there.
18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord:
Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for twenty's sake.
18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once:
Peradventure ten shall be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy [it] for ten's sake.
18:33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham:
and Abraham returned unto his place.
Abraham's prayer in behalf of the righteous in Sodom was motivated by concern for Lot.
Why did Abraham stop at ten righteous persons? (point 'C' seems best)
Perhaps he thought that Lot & his family exceeded that number.
As the story unfolds, we will see that only Lot could be considered righteous.
Perhaps he thought that a request in behalf of 'one' was too large a thing to ask.
Had he asked, God might have revealed His plan that if one were found, he would be preserved, but the city would be destroyed.
Perhaps Abraham persisted in prayer to the limit of what he perceived to be God's Will, stopping short of the point of presumption. cp. 1Joh 5:14-16
Through communion with the Lord, he became fully convinced that 'the Judge of all the earth' would indeed do right (v.25). Abraham could 'return unto his place' (v.33) confident that the Lord would justly fill His 'place' as Judge.