Jesus Visits Abraham

Introduction: When Jesus comes for dinner

Take a moment to think about the most important guest you’ve ever had over for dinner. Now personally I’ve never entertained anyone of more importance than say my mother or my friends. Have any of you ever hosted an important politician? No one had the honor of having the Queen over for tea before she passed? Do you think the King will be dropping by any time soon? Now imagine you have a guest stop by completely unnanounced, and that guest is God himself. This is the situation that Abraham was in in our text for this morning, Genesis 18

Genesis 18 ESV

And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

This is part 5 of our “Finding Jesus in the Old Testament” sermon series, where we explore the Old Testament looking for Jesus in three ways, through prophecies about the coming Messiah, types of Jesus that foreshadow who he will be and Christophanies where theologians believe Jesus appeared before the incarnation on earth. Today’s passage is an example of a Christophany.

Now a Christophany you’ll remember is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament before the incarnation. Christophanies are uncertain because unlike prophecies and types the New Testament doesn’t confirm these as actually being Jesus. There is however reason to believe that they are.

The basic arguement that applies to all Christophanies has to do with the roles of the members of the Trinity, that is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Because in many places scriptures tell us that God the father is seated on the throne and no one has seen the father, many would argue that any appearance of God to men in the Old Testament would be Jesus. Also, often when God appears to people in the Hebrew Scriptures He has this mysterious way of talking about Yahweh like He is and isn’t Yahweh at the same time, which fits in really well with our Theology about the Trinity, how the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, but the Father isn’t the Son and the Son isn’t the Spirit and the Spirit isn’t the Father.

It’s also significant that this has every appearance of being God “in the flesh.” For one this is shown not to be a private vision of Abraham’s because Sarah overhears and reacts to the conversation he’s having with the three men. Also they have their feet washed and eat a meal, which seems to imply that they had physical bodies. Also they ate meat, which has some interesting implications as far as the morality of eating meat goes.

Now in most of these messages I’ve focused on what the passage teaches us about who Jesus is. Today our focus will mostly be on Abraham’s response to Jesus and how we as disciples of Jesus should emulate his character. We should react to Jesus in a similar way as Abraham did. Remember that even if this wasn’t the Son appearing to Abraham, Jesus is God so that means anything the Bible teaches us about Yahweh’s character teaches us also about Jesus’ character.

1. We Should Be As Hospitable as Abraham

So let’s set the scene: Abraham is sitting at the door of his tent at the heat of the day. Now he’s living in the land that will one day be Israel, which is significantly warmer than Canada, especially this time of year. He’s also living in a tent many thousands of years before the air conditioner would be invented. So the best way to beat the heat was to sit under the shade of your tent’s entrance, since it was both shaded and open to the warm breeze. While he’s relaxing and letting the hottest part of the day pass by he spies three men.

This would have been a common sight. As people would travel by foot, and wearing only sandals at most I might add, it was common for folks to start looking for a place to rest during the hottest part of the day. It was also common for someone to welcome them and give them a place to rest, even if they were a stranger.

So Abraham, being a very welcoming and hospitable guy jumps up and runs to meet these three men without hesitation. Now it’s unclear at this point in the narrative whether he recognizes that these men are Yahweh and two angels or not, people disagree.

I tend to think that he didn’t know, that this was just his habit. Now it was customary to provide a weary traveller with some bread and water, maybe even some bean or lentil stew, but Abraham goes above and beyond and kills a calf for these men, and even gave them milks and curds. This is very generous.

Personally I’ve never taken the time to butcher a calf to feed strangers from the street, I don’t know about you. Then he shows his deference by standing as they ate under the tree.

Hospitality, especially with strangers, I would say has significantly declined in most of modern western society. Just try to imagine yourself sitting on your front porch, if anyone even does that anymore, on a hot summers day and you see three strangers sweating in the heat. Would you invite them into your house for lunch? When did we become such an isolationist untrusting society? Except for Newfoundland.

Have any of you ever been to Newfoundland? My parents went their a number of years ago. They told me about this walking trail that they went on that took them along some sheer cliff faces overlooking the ocean. At one point the path meandered over to a porch attached to a building that my parents assumed was a public building. They went inside and saw nice displays of nicknacks and other things like that. While they were there a lovely couple invited them to tea at what turned out to be their home. They were happy and willing to entertain anyone who came along the trail and wanted to stop by for a visit.

To be honest when I read this Scripture in preperation for this sermon I didn’t even consider hospitality at first. It took until the part of my prep where I read what other people have written about the Scripture that I even considered it, but once you see it it’s so obvious, especially when you read it in contrast to the next chapter, when the angels arrive in Sodom. Let’s just say they don’t receive the warm welcome they got from Abraham. In fact there’s a few passages that name inhospitality among the chiefest sins of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, like Ezekiel 16:49

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

In the words of Allen P. Ross

Why did the Angel of the Lord approach Abraham in this manner? Why did He not use an oracle, a vision, or a voice? Possibly He meant it as a test for both Abraham and the Sodomites. The moral states of Abraham and Sodom may have been indicated by their different treatments of strangers. Abraham’s peaceful, quiet visit contrasted greatly with Sodom’s outbursts of brutality and inhumanity (cf. chaps. 18–19).

Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 59.

And the New Testament doesn’t leave us off the hook for this one. There are several important passages that urge us as disciples to be hospitible. Like Romans 12:9-13

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

and in

1 Peter 4:7–10 ESV

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Some in fact think the author of Hebrews has this particular story in Genesis 18 in mind when they wrote in Hebrews 13:2

Hebrews 13:2 ESV

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Imagine your embarrasment if you turned out guests who turned out to be messengers from God Himself. Yet in a way it’s worse still than that, because of what Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

So when you’re hospitible with others you’re hospitible with Jesus, when you’re inhospitible towards others, you’re inhospitible with Jesus.

So I guess that means we need to be learning well how to be hospitable people. We wouldn’t want to miss our opportunity to bless others the way that we’ve been blessed.

2. We Should Have Faith Like Abraham

Now really when we read today’s text this point should actually be “don’t doubt God like Sarah,” but that doesn’t flow as well with my other two points, so instead we’ll compare Sarah’s response with Abraham’s response and show the positive example of Abraham over the poor example of Sarah.

Genesis 18:9–15 ESV

They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Now let’s not be too hard on her. At this point in the story they might still not have been aware that these visitors were Yahweh and His angels, and even if they were think about it. Sarah was 90 years old. Imagine being 90 years old and barren and someone tells you that next time they see you that you’ll have a baby boy. It’s a little ridiculous.

Now that being said Sarah knew full well what God had promised them multiple times, that he would bless Abraham and make him a great nation, and that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. So when she heard this stranger who she may or may not have recognized as God Himself say that they were going to have a son in a year she should have believed Him. That’s why the Lord says in response “is anything too hard for the LORD?” Which could be literally translated “is anything too wondrous for the LORD?”

What seems impossible for us is easy for God. Remember Yahweh made the entire universe with just words from His mouth. Why would it be too difficult for Him to create life in the barren womb of an old woman, and to guard that woman’s health and life as she gives birth?

I would say the main point of this chapter is that God keeps His promises, both His blessings and His curses. If you want God's blessing than make sure you're under his promises, and the only way to do that is to be adopted as sons by the blood of Jesus.

What about in our lives? What about that thing that you’re worried about, that’s eating away at you? Is God too small to take care of it? Is God too small to call the city of Fredericton to repentance? We should practice not the doubt of Sarah that we find here but the faith of Abraham we find in Hebrews 11:8-10

Hebrews 11:8–10 ESV

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

You want to know the cool part though is that Hebrews doesn’t stop there. Sarah is not remembered for her moments of doubt but remembered in Hebrews 11:11-12

Hebrews 11:11–12 ESV

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

SO if you’re finding yourself doubting God and unsure that He’ll come through in your life that doesn’t have to be the end of your story. You can come back to faith and be remembered as faithful. We even have an advantage that Sarah didn’t have, which is the forgiveness that comes from Christ and the access to His power through the Holy Spirit to bring us to even greater knowledge and faith than that blessed couple ever had.

3. We Should Intercede Like Abraham

Imagine with me a man who is living paycheque to paycheque. Not hard to imagine these days I know. He’s working hard but he can barely make enough to keep his kids clothed and eating and keep the power on. If you were planning on passing the offering plate around to take a collection for a family whose house had burned down, you wouldn’t be expecting much from this man would you? You wouldn’t be surprised or judge him harshly if he threw a twenty dollar bill in the plate and moved on. In fact you might be impressed that someone living that close to the margins would give even that. Now imagine that a billionaire was in the same congregation while that same plate was being passed around. How would you feel about that man giving twenty dollars and then moving on?

In the words of Jesus in Luke 12:48 “...Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Abraham was a man who had been given much. Obeying God and leaving his homeland he brought with him a number of servants and in the words of Genesis 13:2

Genesis 13:2 ESV

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

He was a very rich man. It is to his credit than that he was so generous in giving of his wealth to strangers. But Abraham’s greatest wealth was not in livestock, silver, or gold. Abraham’s greatest gift was the close relationship that he had with Yahweh, the one true God.

The same principle applies to spiritual riches like these as applies to earthly riches. To whom much is given, much will be required. So how well does Abraham steward his relationship with God? Let’s look at the last part of this passage Genesis 18:16-33

Genesis 18:16–33 ESV

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Note that the Lord didn't say He was going to destroy Sodom. He said that He was going to go see if the outcry about them was accurate. Abraham's plea shows that he knows full well that the outcry was accurate. He knew what that city was like. Yet Abraham intercedes for them. He was likely at least in part worried about his nephew Lot who was at this point living in the city of Sodom, but he doesn’t just ask God to save Lot, he intercedes, which is just a fancy word for praying on behalf of others, for the whole city.

The question that intrigues me is why did Abraham stop at ten? Maybe he thought that Lot and his extended family were more than ten in number and therefore were enough to save the city? Maybe he felt he was already overstepping his bounds with God and didn’t want to push any further? Regardless, God promised to spare the wicked city for the sake of just ten righetous people living in it, which shows the power that Abraham’s prayer has with God. Yet ten righteous apparently could not be found. I would argue that perhaps there were no righteous men in Sodom. Opinions are mixed whether even Lot turned out to be righteous. By my reading he doesn’t seem so. Though he offered to take in the angels he also offered to give up his daughters to the men of Sodom, which I don’t think is a very righteous thing to do. No I believe that in the words of Romans 3:10

Romans 3:10 ESV

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

SO when God rescues Lot from the city he doesn’t do it because Lot is righteous in my opinion, but because He knows how much Abraham cares for him. In the words of Gen 19:29

Genesis 19:29 ESV

So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

So the prayer of Abraham to save the city didn’t work out like he’d hoped it would, but I think in great deal because of his righteous prayer God spared his nephew Lot. So Abraham was a good steward of the relationship that he had with Yahweh and used it for the good of others. We might not be rich in livestock, silver and gold like Abraham, but we are rich in our relationship with God like Abraham, in fact we’re even more rich because of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. In the words of Matthew Henry

Here is the first solemn prayer upon record in the Bible; and it is a prayer for the sparing of Sodom. Abraham prayed earnestly that Sodom might be spared, if but a few righteous persons should be found in it. Come and learn from Abraham what compassion we should feel for sinners, and how earnestly we should pray for them. We see here that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Abraham, indeed, failed in his request for the whole place, but Lot was miraculously delivered. Be encouraged then to expect, by earnest prayer, the blessing of God upon your families, your friends, your neighbourhood. To this end you must not only pray, but you must live like Abraham. He knew the Judge of all the earth would do right. He does not plead that the wicked may be spared for their own sake, or because it would be severe to destroy them, but for the sake of the righteous who might be found among them. And righteousness only can be made a plea before God. How then did Christ make intercession for transgressors? Not by blaming the Divine law, nor by alleging aught in extenuation or excuse of human guilt; but by pleading HIS OWN obedience unto death.

Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ge 18:23.

So let’s take a moment right now to think about the people in our lives who are the most hurt and broken. Take a scrap of paper and write down some names, commit to praying for those people that God would intervene in their lives. We have untold riches that are being squandered if we don’t use them to the benefit of everyone around us.

Conclusion: The perks of a relationship with God

Let’s take a minute to reflect on the amazing privilege that we have as disciples of Jesus. When Jesus died on that Cross, rose again and sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper we gained access to an unrivaled relationship with God Himself. Abraham would be jealous of what we have. It might be tempting to be Jealous of what Abraham had when He shared a meal with God Himself, but His relationship with God was less intimate than ours can be.

So let us take from this story the lesson it has for how we should treat the relationship we have with God. First we should use it as inspiration to share what we have with others with love in hospitality. We should trust God when He speaks and take Him at His Word, which He has given to us principally in the Bible. Finally we should bless others with this gift by praying on their behalf.

Living after the example of Abraham in this passage would go a long way to fulfilling the greatest commandment of Scripture, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves. In so doing we fulfill God’s call on our lives to be the disciples He longs for us to be.