As we know, Moses is writing this to the Israelites, like how he wrote the rest of the Pentateuch during the time his people were wandering the desert, searching for the promised land after he set them free from Egypt. His message to them in this chapter would have been to keep faith in the promise, like Abraham and Sarah did, even when they thought it was impossible.
So where are we? Oh yeah, the covenant. So the covenant is introduced to Abram in 12:1-3, actually made in 15:18-21, was just reaffirmed in 17:1-21, and will later be renewed with Isaac in 26:2-5. So why did God reaffirm this covenant to Abram (who was changed to Abraham)? Because it is most likely that Abram was thinking that Ishmael, who came from Hagar, was who the promise would come through, but God was like "dude, no." Abram laughed, God shut him down, circumcision was born, and here we are in chapter 18 :)
" 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." Genesis 18:1-33
We see in Gen 18 that God came down and appeared before Abraham (Theophany), and the main thing I want to focus on here is Abraham's typical response of the gracious host who is in complete service to his guests, according to the Near Eastern customs of hospitality. God appeared in the "heat of the day", which was the appropriate time for people who were passing by, and Abraham ran... I just imagine this old wog who is trying to get you you stay for a bit and trying to stuff food down your throat (I love you Nonna)... he ran to greet them, got down on his face and flippin begged to serve them!
Now, did Abraham know that he was talking to God? There is evidence for either answer, and the reason why it is important to know is because of a different question; did he run to greet, get down on his face and beg to serve every traveler that appeared? I mean, am I really supposed to run to the butchers and get the finest cuts for a BBQ, just because Jo Blow came round? Do I really wash his feet, prepare a meal I wouldn't prepare for myself, and stand aside waiting for him to finish? Flippin heck, Abe was an old man, he would have had every reason to not go out of his way like that, he could have sat back because he was weak, or gotten one of his many servants to do it, or even demand respect because they were on his property and he was well respected because of how old he was! This guy is the housewife of the century!!
Yes, I do believe that he knew it was God, as the Hebrew word for 'O Lord' in verse 3 is 'Adonay', which is distinct for God in the OT, rather than the term for respect 'My Lord', which is 'adoni'. However, even though I think He knew it was God, or at least divine, there is still a lot that can be taken from these scriptures. We must ask ourselves, would we really do all this if we thought God or an angel came to us? Would we recognize our low position, even though we have a high position in society? And furthermore, Hebrews 13:2 is important for context on this issue, for even though it may not be referring to Abraham or Lot directly, it still links the idea that we should treat strangers like we would treat angels. Hospitality and generosity are important values for a Christian to have, and I would say not just when a stranger comes to his home, but whenever he meets a stranger in his everyday life.
Verse 9-15 is the main reason for the visit, which is a follow on from the covenant being reaffirmed in chapter 17. In chapter 17 we saw that God let Abraham know that Ishmael was never going to be who the promise would come through, but Isaac, his son with Sarah. Now we see that this promise is about to come true, the impossible is about to happen, and Sarah laughs, just as Abraham did in chapter 17. Seriously, who would have the nerve to laugh at something God said? That was how impossible this seemed for them, to Abraham and Sarah, the promise was already fulfilled in Ishmael, they didn't think that God could make Sarah give birth, but even with everything that they thought was impossible, they remained respectful and obedient. In chapter 17, when Abraham laughs, we see he stills listens to God and circumcises all in his household. Now, in chapter 18, when Sarah laughs, we see she still refers to Abraham as "my Lord", showing her faithfulness and respect to him and God, even though she thought what had been said to be impossible.
Verses 16-21 show God deciding to let Abraham know his plans for the destruction of Sodom because of Abraham's unique role in regards to his own decedents and (v. 18) all the nations of the world. God wished to teach Abraham the way of the Lord in regards to (v. 19) righteousness and justice, and also Abraham's intercession for the Gentile cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is parallel with his calling to be the vehicle of blessing to the whole world.
Verses 22-33 show Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, maybe because of Lot, although this is not specified. We see the principle here that God will not destroy the righteous along with the wicked. The hypothetical number that Abraham puts forth to God reduces from 50 to 10, with the principal established that if there were 10 righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, God would not destroy it. But alas, not even ten were found, only three; Lot and his two daughters. So God shows His righteous judgement by (SPOILER) saving the righteous and destroying the wicked.
:)
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