Genesis 18 begins by mentioning an appearance of God to Abraham. Historically there have been two main interpretations of Genesis 18:1. In one reading, the verse speaks of God coming to see Abraham, perhaps to comfort him after his recent circumcision. According to this interpretation, three men arrive while Abraham is communing with God. In verse 3 Abraham says to God, in effect, "Don't go away. I need to take care of these visitors, but I'll be back." He treats the men with great respect and rushes to prepare a banquet for them (Gen 18:1-8).
We soon learn that these are not ordinary visitors During the meal God announces again that Abraham and Sarah would soon have a son (vv 10-15), even though Sarah is past menopause.
God has a second momentous announcement to share with Abraham. It is time to deal with the great evil coming from the nearby towns of Sodom and Gomorrah (vv. 16-21). After this announcement, "the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD" (v 22).
Chapter 19 then begins by noting, "The two angels came to Sodom in the evening." So two of the men are, in fact, angels. What about the third? One possibility is that the third is also an angel but is not needed at Sodom. Perhaps he goes to Gomorrah instead, or on to whatever his next assignment is.
Another possibility is that the third is the Lord who had announced the coming birth of Isaac and stayed behind to talk with Abraham. In this scenario, Genesis 18:1 is saying that the visit of the three men constitutes an appearance of God, and he addresses one of the three men in verse 3.
In this second reading, the third visitor's coming might have been a Christophany, an advance appearance of the Messiah. Many Christians through the centuries have affirmed this interpretation, going back at least to Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD), who proposed it in Chapter 56 of his Dialogue with Trypho.
Those who identify the third man as the Messiah often point to Gen 19:24: "Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven." This verse seems to mention two "Lords", one presumably on earth and the other one in heaven.
The text does not tell us when Abraham recognized the special nature of his two visitors. If he did not realize this at first, then his lavish hospitality is all the more remarkable. Heb 13:2 seems to be a reference to Abraham and his visitors: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
On the other hand, if he quickly picked up on the fact that his visitors were more than human, then he can be credited with excellent powers of spiritual discernment.
In a sermon on July 4, 2020, David Waddle reflected on Abraham's example in Genesis 18, both his remarkable hospitality and his faithful intercession for Sodom.
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