Genesis 18:1 Commentary and Bible Study

We read in the next section how the church is preserved. The family of Abraham represents the church of Jesus Christ throughout all ages, and here is God's manifestation to him. This may have followed fairly soon, if not immediately after the revelation of God to him in chapter 17. ‘Now the LORD appears unto Abraham.’ Three men appear. Does he know that one of them is the Lord? Possibly he did. More likely it dawned on him as time went on. Possibly the appearance of God was in the form of a theophany, a preincarnate appearance of Christ. Again, John's Gospel chapter 1 and verse 18 tells us that: ‘No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son of God, he hath declared him.’ The two other people with him would have been angels, temporarily embodied for the purpose of this visit. Throughout the chapter there is an alternating use of singular and plural with reference to the visitors. The one person is singled out as being pre-eminently important, the Lord himself. The others, who do not speak, accompany him. The plains of Mamre were now Abraham's customary dwelling-place, where he had been said to reside after coming out of Egypt and separating from Lot (Genesis 13:18). He sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; it was the hottest part of the day, mid-afternoon, the sun highest; people did not venture out. That explains why in verse 2, ‘he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo …’. That word ‘lo’ which evokes some surprise – behold, look – suggests this was unexpected. It was surprising that travellers would still be on the road; people would normally turn aside during those very hot central hours and rest in some way, not battle with the sun in the heat. ‘And, lo, three men stood by him’, or toward him; not exactly by him, because Abraham then ran to meet them. He is an old man, yet such is his courtesy that he hurries to meet them in order to extend to them relief and refreshment. ‘And bowed himself toward the ground.’ Many people think that means that he instantly realised that these three men were a representation of God to him, but that is not necessarily the case. These are the courtesies of the day. There is a lot of debate among the old writers as to what point in the narrative Abraham realised that it was God appearing to him. ‘And [he] said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight’, which would be a typical oriental greeting toward them; not necessarily indicating he knew at this stage that one, the senior figure, was divine. Certainly, the narrative might suggest that the three had a most unusual and remarkable dignity and bearing, and Abraham was full of wonder as to who they might be. ‘Pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.’ He minimises the service he is about to provide for them in an effort to persuade them to accept it.