Genesis 18 The Lord visits Abraham CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
On the way down to Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord stops to visit with Abraham. The Lord is accompanied by two angels. While there, the Lord confirms his promise that Sarah will have a child. He also announces his intentions to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, in response to which Abraham begs for mercy, hoping to spare Lot and his family.
The Lord Appears to Abraham
In verses 1-3, three men visit with Abraham. He addresses one of them as, “My Lord.” He bowed himself before the Lord and the Lord did not refuse this act of worship. Compare Acts 10: 25-26 and Revelation 19:10. This has to be THE Lord or he would not have accepted the worship.
Two of these men are angels and one of them is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. You know that two of the men are angels because after they visit with Abraham they show up in Sodom (19:1). However, they appear as “men,” (19:5, 10, and 11). That’s because, when angels appear in the Bible, they always appear as men. Compare Judges 13:6, 8, 10-13, and 19-22.
The Bible capitalizes all of the letters in “LORD” in verses 13, 20, 22 and 33 to show you that the third man is Almighty God, Jehovah. However, since no man has ever seen God (Exodus 33:20, John 1:18), then this has to be God manifest in the flesh. Therefore, Abraham sees a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 3:16, John 14:9).
Abraham Feeds the Lord
You may wonder why, if these men are the Lord and two of his angels, they would bother to eat. However, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ ate after his resurrection when he had fellowship with the disciples in Luke 24:41-43.
In this passage, we can see how the Bible is self-interpreting. In verse 6, Sarah prepares 3 measures of meal, one for each of her guests. This is enough to prepare the bread for each of them to get something like a cornbread muffin. In Revelation chapter 6: 9, during the tribulation, we find that a penny will buy a measure of wheat (to make a small cake of bread) or three measures of barley. In Matthew 20:2, we find that a penny is a day’s wage. Therefore, it takes a full day’s wage just to get a small piece of wheat bread or three small cakes of barley bread. There is, as you can see, a severe food shortage coupled with high inflation during the tribulation. Ezekiel 4:9-10, 16-17 is a prophecy concerning food rationing in a similar circumstance.
Sarah Hears About the Birth of Isaac
According to verse 11, Sarah was definitely beyond her childbearing years. One fellow concluded that since men lived longer back in those days, Sarah had probably not reached menopause by the time she was 90. However, you could not draw that conclusion if you believed the Bible.
In verse 14, the Lord asks, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The answer, of course, is “No.” We find here, and in three other places, the Lord affirming his ability to do the impossible. See Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Matthew 19:26; and Luke 1:37. In all four instances, the context is a miraculous birth:
- Genesis 18:14 deals with the birth of Isaac;
- Jeremiah 32:17, 27 deals with the rebirth of Israel (Isaiah 66: 8);
- Matthew 19:26 deals with the New birth (Psalm 22: 30-31);
- Luke 1:37 deals with the birth of Christ (Isaiah 7:14).
Notice that Sarah lied about laughing when she heard about the birth of Isaac. She lied out of fear, which is one of the two primary reasons why men lie.
Abraham’s Prayer Before the Lord
When Abraham heard that God might destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he sought God’s mercy because he was concerned about Lot. Abraham questioned whether the Lord would “do right.” He did not think it was right for the Lord to destroy righteous people with the wicked. According to Jeremiah 5:1, 2 Peter 3:9 and Ezekiel 33:11, God would rather save the wicked than destroy them.
Abraham negotiates with the Lord to get Him to spare the cities if there are 10 righteous people there. Evidently, he figures it out this way:
Lot and his wife……………………………………………………………….2
Lot’s two daughters…………………………………………………………..2
Lot’s two married daughters and their husbands………………………..4
Two converts or another married daughter and her husband..……… 2_
…………………………………………………………………………………..10
Unfortunately, he figured wrong!