The Three Visitors
The Three Visitors
Image by Sandra Filipe from Pexels
Hospitality
Yahweh appeared to Abraham again near the oaks of Mamre when he was sitting in the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. When Abraham looked up, he saw three men standing near him. He ran to meet them and bowed down before them.
Abraham said, “Please, my Lord, favor me by not passing by your servant. Allow me to bring you a little water so you can wash your feet and rest in the shade of the tree. Then allow me to bring a few pieces of bread to restore your strength before you continue your journey. For this is the reason you have passed near your servant.”
“Do as you have said,” they replied.
Abraham hurried to Sarah in the tent. “Hurry! Three seahs of the best wheat flour! Knead and make bread!” Then Abraham ran to the herd to select a tender and tasty calf. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
Abraham brought out fresh milk and soured milk, along with the calf he had prepared, and set everything before the visitors. He stood near them under the tree while they ate.
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Within a couple months after Abraham’s circumcision, Yahweh returned, this time with two companions. Abraham was resting in front of his tent on a hot afternoon when he suddenly spotted them. This was the third time Yahweh visibly “appeared” to Abraham, so there is no reason to assume Abraham didn’t recognize him.1 He immediately ran to the travelers and invited them to stop and rest at his camp.
Abraham’s words and actions epitomize Near Eastern hospitality. He downplayed the inconvenience of their sudden appearance while emphasizing the honor they would show him by accepting his offer. “A little water” and “a few pieces of bread” were a small matter. But in reality, he arranged a feast far greater than three people could possibly eat. In a breathless rush, this ninety-nine-year-old man ran around giving orders without even taking the time to form a complete sentence. He then stood near his guests as they ate, in case they should need anything else.
Abraham’s extreme generosity serves as the backdrop for the next two chapters. His camp was the first of two places visited by the heavenly travelers. However, their next stop would give them a very different sort of welcome.
Sarah’s Laughter
Then [the visitors] asked [Abraham], “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
“There, in the tent,” he replied.
“Next spring, I will certainly return here. By then your wife, Sarah, will have given birth to a son.”
Now Sarah was behind him at the entrance to the tent, listening. Abraham and Sarah were both old, and Sarah had passed menopause. So she laughed to herself and thought, “Will I finally have this pleasure after I am worn out? And my lord is also old!”
Then Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she wonder, ‘Could I really give birth to a child now that I am old?’ Is that too amazing for Yahweh to do? At the appointed time next spring, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was afraid and denied it. “I did not laugh.”
“Yes, you did.”
Image by Sweet Publishing from Free Bible Images, CC BY-SA 3.0
Having accepted Abraham’s hospitality, the three visitors addressed the reason they had stopped at his camp. God had a message for Sarah. Although it took some convincing, Abraham already knew that Sarah would have a son within the year.2 But Sarah would be a harder sell. The repetition of the promise was for her benefit.
Abraham had probably told his wife about the promise that she would have a son. He would have needed to explain why he no longer called her Sarai. But she didn’t believe him. She’d been down the road of false hope before. Abraham at least had Ishmael, but all of Sarah’s hopes and dreams had long ago been completely dashed. God knew she needed to hear the promise directly from him. By appearing to Sarah herself and directly addressing her doubt, he went beyond proving his power to proving his love for her.
Like Abraham before her, Sarah reacted to the promise by laughing. But she laughed to herself, out of sight of the esteemed guests. Yet she could not hide her unbelief from God, who challenged her very human way of thinking. Could anything be so amazing, so unbelievable that God could not accomplish it? Then Sarah made the situation worse by lying about her laughter. But with a mild rebuke Yahweh began the process of restoring Sarah’s faith, turning her focus from the impossible to the God of the impossible.
Yahweh’s Confidant
When the men left, they went to look down over Sodom. Abraham also went with them to see them on their way. Yahweh thought, “Should I hide what I’m doing from Abraham? He will certainly become a great and powerful nation. Through him, every nation on earth will be blessed because I have chosen him to instruct his children and his household after him. They will follow Yahweh’s way by doing what is right and just so I may do for Abraham what I promised.”
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Having completed their meal and their business with Abraham and Sarah, the visitors continued their journey. Ever the gracious host, Abraham accompanied them part of the way. From his home in the hills around Hebron, they headed southeast until they reached a point where they could see the city of Sodom in the plain of the Jordan below them. There Yahweh decided to confide in his friend.
Yahweh’s promise to Abraham serves as the reason for revealing his plans concerning the cities of the plain and as the basis for Abraham’s and Lot’s central roles in the investigation. Abraham and his offspring served as God’s chosen representatives, who would restore proper worship by teaching righteousness and justice. The blessing of the nations had to come through him.3
Once again Abraham is portrayed as a prophet.4 He heard and participated in the decisions of the divine council and served as a mediator for the nations, a role he played admirably.5 But would the people of Sodom and Gomorrah bless Abraham and his nephew, who both intervened to save them? Or would they bring God’s curse upon themselves by showing contempt for their would-be benefactors?6
Outcry
So Yahweh said, “How profuse is the cry from Sodom and Gomorrah! How terrible their sin! I need to go down to see if they’ve really done everything I’ve heard about. If not, I’ll know.” Then the men turned away and headed toward Sodom. But Yahweh stayed behind with Abraham.
Yahweh began his revelation to Abraham by lamenting the horrors being committed in the cities of the plain. The “cry from Sodom and Gomorrah” could mean the cry of the suffering victims or the cry of the cities themselves against their inhabitants—or both. Either way, the outcry had become unbearable. So Yahweh announced his intention to investigate the situation.
The moral depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah was no secret.7 Yahweh never mentioned destroying the cities, but Abraham foresaw the just result of the investigation. He knew as well as God did that the outcry was indeed merited. But he also knew Lot lived in or near Sodom. Although Abraham’s concern for innocent lives was genuine, his love for his nephew no doubt served as a major motivation for his intervention.
While Yahweh stopped to talk to Abraham, his two companions continued on their way to Sodom. There’s no need to make too much of Yahweh saying that he would go down to investigate but then sending only the two angels. This idea would not have seemed at all contradictory in the culture of the ancient Near East. It’s the same as saying Solomon built the first temple.8 As king, Solomon certainly did not lift a finger in the temple’s actual construction, but he commanded others to do so under his authority. In the same way, the angels represented God and acted with his authority.
The Judge of the Earth
Abraham moved closer. “Would you really sweep away the innocent with the guilty? There may be fifty innocent people in the city. Would you still sweep them away and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty innocents in it? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing—putting to death the innocent with the guilty! Should the innocent and the guilty be treated the same? Surely not! Shouldn’t the Judge of the whole earth judge fairly?”
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
Abraham based his appeal for Sodom on Yahweh’s honor as “the Judge of the whole earth.” If innocent people died because Yahweh punished the guilty, it would bring his ability to administer justice into question. Even a city as wicked as Sodom could have a few innocent people living there. Abraham could not imagine God destroying them for the sins of others.
Later, Moses also used Yahweh’s honor as the basis of his appeal for mercy for the rebellious Israelites.9 As Abraham appealed for God to show mercy for the sake of the innocent in Sodom, Moses appealed for God to show mercy for the sake of Abraham. Both appeals link back to the covenant promises.10 While the world honors displays of power, God receives more honor through mercy, forgiveness, and faithfulness to his covenant than he does through just retribution.
Negotiations
“If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom,” Yahweh replied, “I’ll forgive the entire place for their sake.”
Abraham answered, “I’ve dared to speak to my Lord, although I’m nothing but dust and ashes! But there may be five fewer than fifty innocents. Would you destroy the entire city for the lack of five people?”
“I won’t destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
“But you may find only forty.”
“I won’t do this for the sake of forty.”
Abraham continued, “Please don’t be angry with me for speaking, my Lord! You may find only thirty there.”
“I won’t do this if I find thirty there.”
“Again I’ve dared to speak to my Lord! But you may find only twenty there.”
“I won’t destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
Then Abraham said, “Please don’t be angry with me for speaking just one more time. But you may find only ten there.”
“I won’t destroy it for the sake of ten.”
Yahweh left when he had finished speaking with Abraham. So Abraham returned to his camp.
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Sodom and Gomorrah were the largest of five allied cities in the valley of the Jordan.11 All five were implicated in God’s judgment, even though only Sodom is mentioned here. Fifty people would have been a tiny fraction of the population, even at that time. Yet Yahweh agreed to spare thousands of guilty people for the sake of only fifty innocents.
Despite this generous concession, Abraham still feared it wouldn’t be enough to save his nephew. In an exchange typical of bartering societies, Abraham negotiated the “price” for Sodom and Gomorrah from fifty people down to only ten. At each step, the tension rose, and Abraham sensed he was pushing his luck.
Finally, Yahweh would go no further. Having finished speaking with his servant, he signaled the end of the conversation by leaving. At that point, Abraham could only return home and hope he had done enough.
- See Genesis 12:7; 17:1.
- See Sarah; Isaac.
- See Why Israel?
- See Abram’s Reward.
- See Amos 3:7.
- See Contempt.
- Genesis 13:13.
- 1 Kings 6:1; Acts 7:47.
- Exodus 32:11–14; Deuteronomy 9:25–29.
- Genesis 18:17–19; Exodus 32:13.
- Genesis 14:2.