June 20
Scripture ReadingGenesis 18:1-15; Compare Judges 6:11-27
Who were the three men that visited Abraham and Sarah in the plains of Mamre? It is obvious that one of the “men” was the Lord, a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus. The other men, as we will see clearly in the next chapter, were angels that accompanied the Lord and then went on to rescue Lot from the destruction of the cities of the plain. In the Book of Hebrews, Paul wrote, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2) He perhaps had this very incident in mind when writing these words. Is it possible that such an event, an appearing of angels to men, could happen in our day? Anything is possible, but it must be remembered that in that day, God’s people did not have the Word of God as we have it today. We are blessed with the complete revelation of God to man in the Bible. For this cause, there is no further need of the office of the prophet, or seer, and revelations such as this one in our reading today are not necessary. It should also be noted that false religious cults have been established in the world through supposed angelic revelations. Therefore, all such “angelic appearances” must be suspect, and must be carefully scrutinized with our only authoritative rule for faith and practice, the inerrant Word of God.
In this visitation, God once again confirmed that Abraham and Sarah would have a son. When Sarah laughed, God informed her absolutely nothing is “too hard for the Lord.” Such truths as revealed in this incident and in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah should strengthen our faith in God and His Word. Beloved, when times of difficulty come, let us remember God’s faithfulness and power. Amen!
Pastor Steve Smith