Continuing a Bible study of Abraham:
(Genesis 18:1) And the LORD appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (2) And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself toward the ground,
The Lord appeared to Abraham in the form of three men, probably three angels in human form to be able to be seen by and communicated with Abraham. It is unclear if Abraham immediately recognized them as messengers of God, and that is why he ran to meet them, or as some scholars have suggested, he just invited whom he thought to be travelers in need of rest and refreshment in the heat of the day, and that he bowed, not out of adoration, but merely out of respect to the men.
(3) And said, "My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass on by your servant. (4) Please let a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. (5) And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort your hearts; after that you shall pass on, for therefore you have come to your servant." And they said, "Do as you have said."
Perhaps Abraham did not recognize these three as from the Lord initially as he sat in his doorway, but it seems as if he is getting a clue now. The word Lord here is "adonay", rather than just "adon", and is usually used as a proper name for God. Scholars much greater than I am have suggested that Abraham still didn't know at this point that these three were sent by God, and that it was customary for travelers to expect such refreshment from the first tent they came to on their journey, and that Abraham saw every opportunity to do good as designed by the providence of God. "Adonay" leads me to believe a little differently, but I have not yet studied all Biblical occurrences of the word to know with certainty that it always meant God, but so far, that is the only way I have seen it.
(6) And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes on the hearth." (7) And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. (8) And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree and they ate.
Abraham and Sarah and all others who helped him hurried to prepare a meal for these visitors, as evident by all the verbs and adverbs, "hastened", "quickly", and "ran". This must have taken some time, but they did it as quickly as possible while the men rested, and finally they did eat.
(9) And they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Behold, in the tent." (10) And he said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
"They", the men, asked about Sarah, but "He", one man, obviously prophesying as speaking from the Lord Himself, said that He, the Lord or angel of the Lord, would return to give Sarah a son. Obviously only God Himself could accomplish such a thing in Sarah's advanced age, so some scholars have speculated that this was God Himself or Jesus Christ in the flesh who spoke to Abraham. I see no reason to jump to this conclusion as often God spoke through "angels of the Lord" or other messengers. I believe "the time of life" probably meant in the time it normally took to bear a child, i.e. 9 months, although God would certainly not have needed that time.
(11) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; and the manner of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
I was tickled to see that one scholar of old had put it that Sarah's "monthly visitors had left her", so she could not possibly conceive a child in the natural way.
(12) Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" (13) And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I which am old surely bear a child?' (14) Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah will have a son." (15) Then Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!"
Whereas Abraham laughed with joy, Sarah obviously laughed in scorn and disbelief; this is evident by the fact that she lied about it. But certainly nothing is too hard for the Lord and He reiterated His promise that she would indeed bear a son.
(16) And the men rose up from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way. (17) And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing I am doing, (18) Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? (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 has spoken of him."
As the men left on their way, and Abraham walked them out on their way, they looked toward Sodom. The Lord makes known that He has a plan underway. Obviously it is not necessary that the Lord explain His thought processes to anyone, but I believe this is for our learning and for Abraham's benefit, because Abraham is part of His great plan to bring salvation to the world through his descendant, Jesus Christ, and because God knows Abraham. We are told elsewhere in scripture that Abraham was a "friend of God" (James 2:23). God loves Abraham, but more than that, He knows that Abraham will teach his children and all those in his household the way of the Lord. He would teach them to do "justice", which is also translated as "rightness". I believe God wants to include Abraham in His decision here because He knows Abraham will use this as a teaching experience, and it gives us an example, as well. Later in scripture we are told that Sodom and Gomorrah were set forth as examples (Jude 1:7) and (2 Peter 2:6) to us.
(20) And the LORD said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, (21) I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to Me; and if not, I will know."
The first word translated as "cry" is more like a shriek or outcry. Once again, it is not necessary for God to go and investigate the matter. Of course, He knows the complete circumstances, but again, I believe this was to include His friend Abraham and to show the process of His justice and judgment in a way that we can understand. Perhaps this is to show us that God does not act in a rash manner or punish merely upon the report of others, but only after His complete investigation and knowledge of the matter. Again, it's not that He need investigate, because He simply knows. We can rest assured He does know the entire situation, and indeed He knows it better than we can ever know, as He knows what will come in the future as a result of it, and He knows the hearts of men involved in it. So while we can never know entirely the processes of God, although we often try to conform Him to our little human boxes, I believe this was to be an illustration to us of how God does indeed act justly and without rash anger.
(22) And the men turned their faces from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Three men first came to Abraham, and we may assume that two men now went toward Sodom, as Abraham still stands before "the Lord". It might be otherwise assumed that all three men went to Sodom and Abraham figuratively stood before the Lord in prayer, except that later in verse 19:1, we are told that two angels came to Sodom in the evening. It's a pretty safe assumption that this is at the same time, so it appears two angels appearing as men went toward Sodom and one angel of the Lord stood with Abraham now.
(23) And Abraham drew near and said, "Will You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (24) Suppose there be fifty righteous within the city; will You also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it?"
Dr. John Gill writes that the area of which they are speaking is actually the Pentapolis which consisted of five cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. Therefore Abraham is estimating ten righteous people in each city. Gill cites the Targum of Jonathan on the Prophets, used in the third century of the Christian era.
(25) "Far be it from You to do so in this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; that is
far from You. Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
I believe Abraham is stating a fact that it is not the way of the Lord to slay the righteous with the wicked. I don't think he means to challenge Him, but rather seeks mercy for the few righteous in the city, perhaps namely his nephew Lot and his family. It is certainly in God's power and He would be justified to destroy wicked cities, even if a few righteous died with the wicked. That certainly happens today. Bad things happen as a result of men's wickedness and rejection of God. Because good people live among the wicked, bad things often happen to good people. I have come to realize that just because God takes the life of a person doesn't mean He destroys that person. Isaiah 57:1 talks about God taking righteous men away to save them from the evil to come. After all, to leave this world as a true Christian, is to live forever with the Lord in paradise.
(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."
The Lord indeed showed Abraham that His judgments were made with great mercy as He told him that He indeed would not destroy Sodom (the general area surrounding the city) even if there were found only fifty righteous people living there. The word translated as "city" does not always mean just a city as we know it, but in a wider sense, means a place being watched or guarded.
(27) And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, when I am but dust and ashes; (28) Suppose there are five less than the fifty righteous; will You destroy all the city for lack of five?" And He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it."
Abraham recognizes it is very bold of himself to dare to approach Almighty God with his petition, but he humbly asks Him if He would spare the city if there were a few less righteous there. God states He indeed would not destroy the place if even only 45 righteous were found there.
(29) And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" And He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty." (30) And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak; suppose there shall be thirty found there?" And He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
Abraham proceeds gradually in his requests. Perhaps he does not want to ask too much at once, or more likely, this is for his and our learning that we understand that our Lord is truly a just, merciful, and patient God.
(31) And he said, "Behold now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord; suppose there shall be twenty found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for twenty's sake." (32) And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more; suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for ten's sake." (33) And the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Knowing that his nephew Lot and his family practiced the true religion
of God, Abraham probably could not imagine that there were less than ten
righteous people to be found in the area of Sodom, and the Lord assured
him He would not destroy the place if He found at least ten righteous
there. Therefore, Abraham stops his petitions and goes back to his tent to await the events that would be.
