Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre,[a] 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
The first verse makes it clear that this was an appearance of God , whereas the second verse indicates it was in the form of three men. Abraham was sitting in his tent when the men appeared . There was no indication that they were riding or walking. I like you to notice the time of the day as well. ” In the heat of the day ” in scripture often refers to time of trial or hard times in life. It is when we are going through difficult time that God appears. Here is a 99 yr old man who runs to meet the God and bows down to worship God. This is another clear indication that these were no ordinary men. How do you greet the Lord? When it is time for daily devotion or worship time, are we running or are we slow to act? On Sunday morning when it is time for worship service, do we go to church with joy? Do you go with expectation? Or are we going because it is Sunday and you have to? We should have same zeal as Abraham when it come to meeting the Lord. In verse 3-8, we see the attitude of Abraham, how he prepares the meal and wants to give his best to the Lord. Also notice the fellowship took place under a tree which in scripture symbolizes the “CROSS”. It is through Jesus we have fellowship with God. This portion of scripture is great teaching on hospitality. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. ( Hebrews 13:2)
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.[b] 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?’
For the first time, God gives Abraham an exact time when the promised son will be born. God says in about a year ( time of life) Sarah will have a son. Keep in mind at this stage of life, Abraham was 99 years old, and Sarah was 90. She was well past her menopause and her “season” of childbearing had to be revived. This required physical regeneration (production of eggs & manner of women) as her womb was barren even in her young age and therefore miracle by Lord. Sarah was listening to the conversation, and she laughed not the laugh of joy as earlier with Abraham ( Gen 17:17) but a cynical laugh. Surely she knows about the promise of God from her husband. Both of them were old, they probably were no longer physically intimate; therefore, Sarah just could not understand how this was possible. Lord called out Sarah right away, not only that she laughed but the question or doubt she had in her heart. This must have shocked her and ultimately strengthen her faith. She was inside the tent, and the guest not only had told her she laughed but her inner thought. At this point, we come to one of the mountain peak verse in the bible. If you do not have done so already, underline this verse in your bible and memorize it.
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.” Gen 18:14
The reason Sarah laughed and had doubt is that to her having a child at her age was impossible. How many times we act in the same manner as Sarah? How many times in our life we have problems that just seem like unsolvable but is there anything too hard for God? You might have a sickness that has no cure, but God can heal any illness just as easy as he can heal the common cold. There is no situation that you or I might be in that God can not bring us out of. We serve a God who shut the mouth of Lions, Parted waters of the red sea, defeated a giant with stone, defeated army of 33000 with 300 men, There is nothing too hard for God. Jesus says in Matthew 19: 26. With God, all things are possible. Whatever you may be struggling with, no matter how bleak it looks from the worldly point of view, God can resolve the situation. Is your Spouse or child an addict? Does someone have cancer? Like Sarah, are you barren and long for a child? Just bring it to God. There is no degree of difficulty with God, just like there is no degree of Sin with God. To us, murder is a bigger sin that stealing, but to God, both are sin. There is no sin God cannot forgive just bring it to him, confess,repent and be saved.
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.”
After the message had been given concerning Sarah, it became apparent that the 3 men had another mission. The two angels set out in the direction of Sodom. However, the Lord stayed behind Abraham had one of the most remarkable conversations. The Lord wanted Abraham to know his Intentions toward Sodom & Gomorrah. This was not done for knowledge but rather for communicating it to his family and generations to come. God wanted no doubt in the fact that he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and why. God knew Abraham is going to tell his children and the generation to come. How important it is for us to share our faith with our children and family. We are not to receive our salvation and just sit on it but rather share. In the Gospel of Mark, disciples receive a great mission, and we are part of that mission. Each one of us has a ministry, and we are to share the Gospel with whoever we can and however we can. In the next few verses, we see Abraham bargaining with God or interceding for people of Sodom and Gomorrah, many of whom he probably knew, including of course his nephew Lot, and his family. Several essential points from this dialogue.
- God does not want to bring judgment on any city or person.
- He does respond to the prayer of those who intercede as long as it does not contradict the scripture.
- The remarkable influence which even tiny minority may have. Only 10 Godly people would have saved Sodom & Gomorrah from destruction
- This was the first intercessory prayer recorded in scripture and should serve as a prototype for our prayers for others.
- Prayer continually recognized, and appealed to, the righteous character and the loving kindness of Lord as the basis for the request.
As we come to the end of this chapter, once again, we see how Abraham has grown in his faith. Abraham recognized God as ” Judge of all the Earth.” Many people think of OUR GOD as tribal God, but that is not how Abraham looks at it. Next week we will look into the destruction of Sodom and lesson we can learn from that portion of scripture. Hope you are blessed by this word. Keep on Praying and keep on Growing in your faith. Please give me your feed back on the comment section. I would love to hear from you. May God continue to use us all for HIS GLORY. Amen.
only savior jesus 