Promise and Confirmation

Promise and confirmation
Gen. 18:1-16
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
3rd Sunday after Trinity 2011
July 10, 2011


Genesis 18:1 "And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;"

Good morning and may God’s richest blessings be on all of you. We are blessed to be together and to hear and celebrate the mystery of God’s love for us today and always.
It seems to me that the heat today is appropriate, especially in the light of this Sunday’s Old Testament reading. It happens to be a favorite of mine. Why? It is a very rich passage that brings together many wonderful themes, including prophecy, promise, and the Personhood of God. It also proves to us both the consistency of God, especially as concerned with promise and the execution of it.
The scene opens as Abraham sits in his tent, “in the heat of the day.” One could imagine a day similar to today, minus the humidity. Abraham is on the Plains of Mamre, which according to one commentator, “The place is the “plains of Mamre” which is Hebron and evidently had a grove of oak trees.” So, we know that it is a place of repose. Now the Scripture plainly says that it was the Lord who appeared to Abraham, and judging by his reaction, this seems to be the case. He runs from his tent door to meet them and bowed to the ground. His actions clearly show, even in the overly-demonstrative atmosphere of the ancient Middle East, that these men were clearly important. For example, even in today’s Middle East, before the fall of Saddam Hussein, one could clearly see a similar kind of obeisance paid to him, as soldiers and even ministers would practically prostrate themselves before him.
In the story, Abraham’s graciousness continues as he begs his guests to stay, rest, wash their feet, and dine with him. We know that the washing of feet was a customary Middle Eastern courtesy, especially with the hot, dusty, climate and the quality of roads as compared with ours. Imagine trudging down a country road in the summer just outside of Odessa, Texas for example. One’s feet would be dusty and hot. How refreshing a foot bath would be!
After offering this courtesy, Abraham runs to his wife, instructs her to make fresh meal cakes, then runs to the herd to select a choice calf and gives it to be slaughtered and dressed. Finally, when this wonderful veal is done, he brings it out with the fresh bakestuffs, accompanied by butter and milk. It is wonderful, tasty, healthy and very hospitable meal. Note too, that although these “men” are obviously divine beings, they consume actual physical food and drink. They are not mere apparitions, but real people, albeit of a divine source. Note too, that Abraham’s reaction to offer them the best that he had is entirely appropriate. It goes without saying that we should always offer our best to God.
Finally, after all this, Abraham stands by them while they eat. He doesn’t even sit with them to partake of the meal. Instead, he serves them, paying them great honor.
Let us now consider the significance of this occasion. First, we know that it was the Lord who appeared to Abraham, but the Scriptures are not clear as to which Person of the Trinity appeared to him. The Scriptures say “Yehovah”, meaning “the existing One”, but we do not know for sure whether this indicates God the Father or God the Son. Some scholars even surmise that the “three men” were the Holy Trinity Himself, appearing to Abraham as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. While this may have some merit, perhaps a better answer might be that Jesus appeared to Abraham as the pre-incarnate Christ, accompanied by two angels. This view appears to have merit because in the later passages of the same chapter, these men turn towards Sodom and Gomorrah to execute judgment upon it. In the opening verses of Chapter 19 of Genesis, “two men” appear to Lot as he sat in the gate of Sodom. It is most likely that these were the same angels who accompanied Jesus on His visit to Abraham, while Jesus returned to glory in Heaven.
At any rate, it is a wonderful connection between God and man. The Lord appears to Abraham and reconfirms the promise He gave to him in Genesis 17:21. Recall that this is where God tells him that his covenant will not be with Ishmael: “But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” The promised heir is not even born yet, but God knows his name and has placed him at the center of his covenant! This is amazing prophecy, which God will shortly make concrete.
This is the promise which God re-confirms in the presence of Abraham and Sarah, who is in the tent, listening. In the words of Genesis 18:10: "And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.” There is now no doubt as to what the Lord intends. He intends to fulfill all the words that he spoke to Abraham, namely that He would make Abraham the father of a great nation by providing him with the promised son and heir. He will keep His promise and He will be faithful.
Note, however, Sarah’s reaction: (Genesis 18:12) “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” This reaction is very human and very natural. She is well into menopause. By human standards, both she and her husband, now 99 years old, cannot conceive children. It is too late. One commentator says this is a laugh of bitter irony, born of deep disappointment over many years: He says: “These remarks of Sarah’s show us the basis of her doubts. She laughed not out of cocky arrogance but because a life of long disappointment had taught her not to clutch at straws. Hopelessness, not pride, underlay her unbelief. Her self-restraint in not openly expressing her doubts and the sadness behind them go far to explain the gentleness of the divine rebuke.”
While Abraham did not hear her laugh, for she “laughed within herself”, the Lord did and gently rebukes her for it. The statement (Genesis 18:14): “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” says it all. When Sarah again denies that she doubted, or laughed, the Lord simply says, (Genesis 18:15): “Nay; but thou didst laugh.” The Lord knows us through and through.
The story ends as the men rise up and “looked towards Sodom.” Abraham rises up and as the good host, escorts them on their way. This portion of the visitation is complete.
What significance can we draw form this wonderful Old Testament story? Is it merely just a chance meeting of three men and Abraham? It is just an encounter of God and Man? Why is this story important to us modern-day Christians?
Two words are appropriate to this story. They are “consistency” and “completeness.” First of all, we see the consistency of God in His behavior and promises to Abraham. The Lord promised, the Lord reconfirms his promise in this story, and soon the promised son and heir will be born. All of the words spoken to Abraham will come true. God is completely consistent and completely faithful to Abraham.
The lesson for us is that God is also completely consistent and faithful with us. He always keeps His promises to us and He is always faithful. He cannot do otherwise, for to do so would violate His own perfect Nature. Thus, as simplistic as this may sound, we can always rely upon God. We can rely upon Him always and for certain. While our prayers are not always answered in the way we would have them done, they are always answered, and for those who pray to do God’s Will, in a way that is best for us. This is a fact upon which we can relay without fail. God is always faithful. Thus, He is totally consistent, whereas we as mere humans cannot always be. Bishop Finick of the Free Church of England once mentioned in a lecture:”No one is totally consistent.” No one, that is, except God.
The other word to consider is “completeness.” As God fulfills his word to Abraham, He set in motion the great chain of events that would create an environment for the coming of the greatest promise of all time, Jesus Christ. While in this story, we see the pre-incarnate Christ coming to man; in the fullness of time God the Son would come to us to fulfill the great promise of all, that of forgiveness of sin and a new life with God. Jesus Christ would come to fulfill the promise made by God the Father in the Garden of Eden. Just as God spoke to Eve to tell her that “her seed” would bruise the head of the serpent, just as he would bruise the heel, so it would come to pass. Satan did indeed bruise Jesus in a major way, as he suffered torture and death at the hands of sinful men. Yet, Jesus would crush the head of the serpent by destroying his chief and deadliest weapon, death. Christ came to free us from death, despair and eternal night. We live because of Him. We live in hope because of him and because God is faithful, true and good. Finally, we live in hope because on the plains of Mamre, some several thousand years ago, God reconfirmed his promise to Abraham. Through him and ultimately through Christ, we are indeed the sons and daughters of promise.
Genesis 18:10: “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.”