Genesis 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;” Genesis 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,”
This him was Abraham. These three were in the form of men. These were
messengers from God. These three were associated with the Spirit of God.
The statement “the Lord appeared” lets you know that at least one of these
beings was the Spirit of the Lord. I believe the reason three appeared was
to show that God the Father, God the Word, and God the Holy Ghost were in
agreement with the message that was brought. Abraham realized who this was,
even from a distance, and he ran out, and kneeled, and worshipped. Abraham
humbled himself before these three.
Genesis 18:3 “And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy
sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: ”
Here, again, Abraham called him Lord. He said, if you have judged and
found me okay, don’t leave. Abraham realized he was God’s servant.
Genesis 18:4 “Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your
feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:” Genesis 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.”
Abraham wanted to serve these. He humbled himself and washed their
feet. He was offering food and whatever they needed. Then he asked is there
something I am doing wrong?
Genesis 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.” Genesis 18:7 “And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a
calf tender and good, and gave [it] unto a young man; and he hasted to dress
it.” Genesis 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.”
Abraham was like an excited school boy. He gave them the very best he
had. (like a sacrifice).
Genesis 18:9 “And they said unto him, Where [is] Sarah thy wife? And
he said, Behold, in the tent.” Genesis 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.” Genesis 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.” Genesis
18:12 “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old
shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
These three brought unusual blessing to Abraham. Now, that Abraham was
old and Sarah had already gone through the change of life she was to have a
son. Sarah was very well aware that changes in her body had made it
impossible in the natural to have a child. She laughed, because it was so
unbelievable. With man, it was impossible.
But through God, all things are possible. Take note that Sarah called
Abraham, lord, but it was not capitalized. He was ruler over her body, not
her spirit.
Genesis 18:13 “And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah
laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?” Genesis
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.” Genesis 18:15 “Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was
afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.”
The LORD wanted to know why Sarah laughed. He made her body, and He
could restore her youth long enough for her to have a child. He was
disappointed in her doubt. Then Sarah became afraid when she realized that
this was the LORD of heaven. She denied laughing, but she (as we) could not
hide anything from the LORD (He knows everything).
Genesis 18:16 “And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward
Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.” Genesis 18:17
“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;”
Genesis 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?” Genesis
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; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of
him.”
Here, the Lord decided to tell Abraham what He was about to do to
Sodom. He spoke the blessing, again, that Abraham would be a mighty nation.
He knew that Abraham would teach his children and grandchildren the ways of
the LORD. He knew, because of the blood covenant Abraham had already kept.
(The circumcision of the men).
Genesis 18:20 “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah
is great, and because their sin is very grievous;” Genesis 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.”
The LORD was going to investigate this terrible situation which was
going on. We will find out a little later that this city’s iniquity was
homosexuality. The LORD was explaining to Abraham about the sin and it’s
consequences.
Genesis 18:22 “And the men turned their faces from thence, and went
toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.”
I guess it is time to deal with the two that were with the LORD when He
first came to Abraham. My own personal opinion (I have no Scripture to back
this up) is that the two with the LORD were two very important angels
(ministering spirits carrying out their orders from the throne). These
could even have been Gabriel, and some other angel of great importance. The
word men was loosely used, because they were in that form. The LORD remained
with Abraham to discuss the problem, and sent the two angel men on to Sodom.
Genesis 18:23 “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy
the righteous with the wicked?” Genesis 18:24 “Peradventure there be fifty
righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place
for the fifty righteous that [are] therein?”
This was very presumptuous of Abraham to question the LORD. The number
50 pertains to jubilee. This number indicates setting the captives free.
Abraham was pleading for this city. This LORD, spoken of here in the next
verse, is the Judge of all the earth. This indicated that this was the same
Spirit as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the LORD of all the earth.
Genesis 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?”
Abraham was saying, LORD, You are righteous, this is not like You, You
are a perfect Judge. Notice, in the Scripture above, that Judge was
capitalized. This also tells us that this was the LORD, not an angel. I
would be absolutely scared to death to speak to the LORD like this. Abraham
was almost scolding the LORD.
Genesis 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.”
You see, just a very few righteous people can be a blessing to the
masses.
Genesis 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:” Genesis
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].” Genesis 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.” Genesis 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.” Genesis 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.” Genesis 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.” Genesis 18:33 “And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had
left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”
This was an interesting conversation between Abraham and the LORD. One
thing that really stood out in this was the patience of the LORD. At least,
Abraham humbled himself, and admitted he was but dust and ashes. Another
thing so notable, to me, God was so gracious that if even ten (represents
world government) were righteous, He would spare the 1000’s who lived there.
The terrible thing in our society today, is that in our large cities, God
would be hard pressed to find even 10 (by His standard) righteous people.
The idea of ten satisfied Abraham, because Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and
his family were there, and Abraham figured God would spare the city from
destruction for them. Then the LORD and Abraham went back to their
respective homes. We will see in the next lesson, that not even all of Lot’s
family were righteous. God would destroy the city.
For the next lesson study chapter 19 of Genesis