As Abraham was sitting at his tent door in the heat of the day, the pre-incarnate Son of God suddenly appeared along with two angels (Gen. 18:1-2). Recognizing the significance of the occasion, Abraham ran to greet them, extending to them the eastern hospitality common in that part of the world:
“My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”
Genesis 18:3-5
Abraham asked his wife Sarah to prepare three measures of “fine meal” to make cakes. He then selected a “tender and good calf”, instructing one of his servants to prepare it. He prepared the best calf and flour of the highest quality. One measure of flour was equal to one third of an ephah.¹ In using one ephah of fine flour, expositors estimate that Abraham offered enough bread or cakes to feed 60-100 people. The action words used…ran (v.2), hurried, quickly (v.6), ran, and hastened (v.7) show that Abraham eagerly extended hospitality to these visitors. Do we have the same cheerful generosity when the Lord gifts us with an opportunity to serve Him through our hospitable love for the saints? When we generously receive our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we exhibit our love for Christ and close fellowship with Him (1 John 3:16). To receive them is to receive Christ and the Father (Matt. 10:40).
Friend of God
Abraham was known as a “friend of God.” In the Mosaic Law instituted later at Sinai, a matter was established upon the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15). In Scripture we find three witnesses to Abraham’s friendship with God. The first was King Jehoshaphat who cried out for deliverance from his enemies: “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” (2 Chron. 20:7). Second, in James 2:23 we read: “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.’” Finally, we have the witness of God in Isaiah 41:8: “But you, Israel are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.”
It was upon his faith in God, that Abraham entered into a relationship with Him, beginning a growing, intimate friendship with the Lord. Today, no one can have friendship with the Lord until their sin is dealt with. Trusting Christ as their Savior, they are born again, have peace with God, and enter into an enduring, eternal relationship with the Lord. Now part of God’s family, the Lord desires that they possess an active, vibrant fellowship with Him. John 15:13-15 says: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” A master of the house does not share family matters with his servants (or employees) for one must be a family member to enter into his confidence. The Lord acknowledges us as part of the family of God and has shared the very things of God with us, through His Word.
Mamre and Hebron
The word “Mamre” means “strength, fatness”² and “Hebron” means “association, community” expressing the idea of fellowship.”³ There were three keys to Abraham’s intimate fellowship with the Lord. First, many years earlier, he had confessed his sin in going to Egypt and lying to Pharaoh about his relationship to Sarah (Gen. 12:10-20). After leaving Egypt he had returned to the altar at Bethel, and his fellowship with the Lord was restored (Gen. 13:1-4). Second, he demonstrated a pilgrim view towards life (Heb. 11:8-10). He was still dwelling at Mamre in Hebron, the place to which he had moved his tent after separating from Lot (Gen. 13:18). Third, he possessed a desire to obey the Lord and wait upon Him. Just prior to this, Abraham had circumcised himself and the men of his house, demonstrating his faith and obedience to the Lord (Gen. 17). Though at times he had lapses of faith (Gen. 16), he had a growing trust in the Lord.
In the upper room, the Lord Jesus said: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’” (John 14:21-23). The only path to spiritual maturity is through abiding in Christ expressed by immediately confessing known sins, living the sanctified, pilgrim life (1 Pet. 2:11), and expressing our faith by knowing and obeying His Word.
As we spend time with Christ in His Word and in prayer, the Lord delights to reveal Himself to us and guide us. He is interested in our circumstances. Abiding in Christ in unhindered fellowship (Hebron) is the key to spiritual strength (Mamre). In His high priestly prayer of John 17, the Lord prayed: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Humbling ourselves before His Word, the Lord will manifest His workings in our lives: “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones’” (Isa. 57:15).
In His visit with Abraham, the Lord displayed two praiseworthy attributes: His omniscience and His omnipotence. He also revealed to Abraham two things pertaining to his own life: the arrival date of his long-promised son, and the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Lord’s Omniscience
The Lord exhibited that He is All-knowing in three ways. First, He revealed to Abraham and Sarah the time of their long-promised son: “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son” (v.10, NASB). After Sarah laughed within herself, the Lord repeated “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son” (v.14, NASB). Second, though no one else heard Sarah laugh within herself, the Lord knew she had laughed and confronted her. Third, the Lord prophesied that Abraham would be faithful in training his children in the ways of the Lord (v.19).
The Lord’s Omnipotence
The Lord also declared to Abraham that He is All-powerful: “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (v.14). From a natural standpoint, both Abraham’s and Sarah’s bodies were no longer capable of producing a child (Rom. 4:18-21). However, God has infinite power. For example, He spoke the heavens and earth into existence, breathed life into mortal bodies, and years later would reveal His power to Abraham’s descendants in Egypt through His servant Moses. Still later, He would display His glorious power through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Someday, the same all-powerful God will resurrect the dead in Christ, never to die again (1 Cor. 15; Phil 3:20-21; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
Before the two angels left for Sodom, the Lord said: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (18:17-18). Abraham was the friend of God and “the secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him” (Ps.25:14). Besides, it was through Abraham and his Seed that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. If the Lord was going to remove a people group for their willful sin, then He would inform Abraham.
Similarly, in our quiet times with the Lord, let us learn of the praiseworthy Christ and listen to Him as He instructs and guides us through His Word. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will begin to see Him working through our circumstances in ways by which we can only conclude: “it is the Lord” (Matt. 14:27; John 21:7).
Abraham’s Prayer
“Abraham enjoyed the pre-incarnate Son of God’s fellowship as he served Him through his generous hospitality and intercessory prayer.”
After the angels left for Sodom, Abraham asked the Lord to spare the wicked cities for the sake of the few righteous that dwelt there. “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (wv.23-25).
Today, as believers we have the opportunity to draw near to the Lord with our concerns. Let us draw near reverently (Matt.6:9), confidently (Heb. 4:16), and believingly (Jam. 1:5-7). Hebrews 4:16 says: “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (NASB). The Lord hears, listens, and answers our prayers according to His infinite wisdom and unlimited power. ‘The Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24) and it is through Him that we have continual access before the throne of grace (Rom. 5:1-2).
The Lord left after granting Abraham’s request to spare the cities for the sake of ten righteous souls. Abraham had prayed in weakness, believing the only way for Lot to be saved was for God to spare the cities. The Lord did not grant his spoken request because there were not ten righteous. However, the Lord remembered Abraham (19:29) and granted the prayer of his heart, though it was unexpressed audibly: “Lord, please spare Lot and his family.” It was not God’s will to spare the cities, but it was His will to spare Lot and his family, though only Lot and his two daughters chose to be spared. Though Lot made poor choices, Scripture testifies that he was a righteous man, vexed by the wickedness around him. The Lord knows how to deliver the righteous and punish the wicked (2 Pet. 2:7-9). Similarly, someday the Lord will call His Church home (1 Thess. 4:13-18), before bringing judgment upon the earth.
Romans 8:26-27 says: “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (NASB)
God knows the mind of the Spirit and He knows our hearts, and the Spirit can conform our imperfect prayers to the will of God. Dear believer, be prayerful about everything, pray even when you do not know how or what to pray. The Lord will help you in your weakness.
Abraham enjoyed the pre-incarnate Son of God’s fellowship as he served Him through his generous hospitality and intercessory prayer. Today, as we commune with and serve Christ, the risen, ascended, glorified Son of Man; He will experientially bless us with a greater knowledge of Himself and His workings in our lives.
Endnotes
¹Merrill F. Unger, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988), p.842
²The Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), e-Sword X
³Unger, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p.549