CRITICAL NOTES.—
Genesis 18:1. In the plains of Mamre.] Heb. In the oaks, or in the oak-grove of Mamre. “Mamre was an ally of Abram, and under the shade of his oak-grove the patriarch dwelt in the interval between his residence at Bethel and at Beersheba” (ch. Genesis 13:18; Genesis 18:1). (Jacobus.) Sat in the tent-door.] The Orientals are in the habit of sitting at the open door of their tents in order to catch the cooling air in the heat of the day. The chief of the family occupies this prominent position, and keeps himself in readiness to go forth and greet the passing traveller. In the heat of the day.] “The dinner-hour, when they took their principal meal and their accustomed rest (ch. Genesis 43:16; Genesis 43:25; 1 Kings 20:16; 2 Samuel 4:5). The Arab, when he takes his meal, sits at the door of his tent, in order to observe and invite those who are passing. It is a custom in the East to eat before the door, and to invite to a share in the meal every passing stranger of respectable appearance.” (Knobel.)
Genesis 18:2. Three men.] Angels, though men in outward appearance. In ch. Genesis 19:1, they are expressly called angels. Hebrews 13:1 plainly refers to this. One of the three is recognised as Jehovah. Ran to meet them.] “This is the habit in the East when it is some superior personage who appears. The sheikh comes out from the door of his tent and makes a low bow quite towards the ground, and sometimes conducts the stranger to his tent with every token of welcome.” (Jacobus.) Bowed himself.] Probably nothing more than civil homage is intended, as he was then ignorant of the true character of his guests.
Genesis 18:3. My Lord.] One of the three is addressed as a superior personage. The name is used chiefly and specially of God, but often applied to men of high distinction and authority. It is stated (Genesis 18:1) that Jehovah appeared to Abraham.
Genesis 18:4. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet.] The Easterns walk in sandals with bare feet. The heat, with the irritation of the particles of sand, makes long journeys exceedingly painful. Therefore the first act of hospitality is to order servants to wash the feet of travellers. Rest yourselves.] Heb. Lean ye down and recline,—after the manner of the Easterns taking meals. Under the tree.] Collective singular for “trees,” as his tent stood in a grove (Genesis 18:1).
Genesis 18:5. Comfort ye your hearts.] Heb. Sustain—strengthen your hearts. Thus— Judges 9:5—“Comfort (Heb. ‘stay’) your hearts with a morsel of bread.” Hence bread is termed the staff of life (Isaiah 3:1).
Genesis 18:6. Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal.] Heb. Make ready three seahs of meal. A seah contained the third part of an ephah—a little over an English peck. Make cakes upon the hearth. The cakes were round and flat, and were baked upon the hot stones of the hearth (1 Kings 17:13).
Genesis 18:7. A young man.] Heb. The young man, i.e., the servant.
Genesis 18:8. Butter. “The word, as used in the Bible, implies butter and cream in various states of consistence.” (Bush.) Most commonly made from the milk of the goat. He stood by them.] He is emphatic in Heb. It is intended to mark the fact that he—the master—stood in the attitude of serving.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 18:1-8
THE DUTY OF HOSPITALITY
This incident in Abraham’s life was intended to show how God still further revealed Himself, but at the same time it affords us an example of the duty of entertaining strangers, of showing hospitality towards those who stand in need of such offices. Allowances must, of course, be made for the varying conditions of age, and country, and customs, but the principle of the duty itself is clear. Hospitality is represented here as a duty which may be regarded in three aspects—
I. As a common duty. Hospitality may be considered as one of the common duties of humanity as such—a duty which may be considered apart from all religious sanctions. It may spring merely from a natural feeling of kindness, from the instinct of compassion, and may look no higher than the interests of this present world. There are duties which men owe to one another, and which may be considered with reference to society alone. Offices of kindness promote the welfare of society, and increase the sum of human happiness. They make the ills of life more tolerable. If this world were all, men might be kind to one another from considerations of utility alone. The rigid adherence to what mere justice demands between man and man is not sufficient for human happiness. There is a higher law of love by which we are as much bound to do good to others as not to injure them, to supply their wants as not to rob them, to bind up their wounds as not to smite them with the fist of wickedness. There are duties which are due to humanity as such. Hence, when anyone refuses to save the life of a fellow creature, or to render help in some sudden and extraordinary necessity, we say that his conduct is inhuman. The cold sentiment of justice cannot compel a man to such deeds of kindness. These must be left to the common instincts of the human heart. But though such works of love are beautiful in themselves, and useful, still they may be done quite regardless of any relations in which we stand to God and the future. We may show kindness to a man from the impulse of a feeling exactly alike to that which prompts us to show kindness to a hound or a horse. There is a human charity which rises no higher than human and present interests. It is a loving-kindness which is not better than life.
II. As a duty of piety. In the case of a religious man there can be no duties which are contained in themselves, and having no reference to anything beyond them. With such, all duties have regard to the pleasure and will of God. Therefore they look beyond human interests and this transitory world. They are duties towards God at the same time that they are duties towards man. With the religious man no real separation can be made between these. You cannot isolate any particle of matter in the universe so that it shall not be influenced by any other. In like manner, you cannot isolate the duties of a believer in God, for they are all influenced by a constant force and tendency. Hence the morality taught to the Jews in their sacred books was superior, in this regard, to that of the nations around, for they inculcated duties for the reason that such were well-pleasing to God. Man should love his fellow-man, not merely as a human being having certain relations to society, but as one who stands also in certain relations to God, and one who is therefore to be loved for God’s sake. Abraham was the type of the believer, and his hospitality was therefore rendered in the spirit of religion. This view of the subject ennobles all duties—
1. In their form. They take a wider range, and regard higher and nobler issues. Virtues become transfigured into graces, and doing good into blessing.
2. In their motive. They have continual reference to the will and good pleasure of God. They approve themselves to the highest personal Will and Presence in the universe. Thus all duty becomes the loving service of the good God, who wills nothing but what is best.
3. The best qualities of the soul are developed. Abraham’s conduct here was marked by love, humility, and reverence. He received the strangers graciously, and spread his best stores before them. He was courteous in his behaviour, and lowly in his bearing towards those whose superiority evidently impressed him. These are the choice graces of the human soul, and train a man for the service and adoration of God. To do our duty upon the highest principle of all is to work in the very light of God’s countenance, where the noblest things of the soul revive and flourish.
III. As a duty which is prophetic of something beyond itself. The fact that God holds an eternal relation to the souls of believers imparts a solemn grandeur and significance to all their actions. The smallest deeds done for God’s sake acquire a boundless importance. Mary’s deed, which is commended in the Gospel, was simple enough. She brake a box of costly ointment, and poured it on the head of Jesus. But He attributed a far-reaching purpose to that action of which she had no suspicion. “She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying” (Mark 14:8). Thus there is a prophecy of greater things in actions which are done through faith and love to God. The loving heart has infinite depths in it all unknown to itself until the light of God enables us to see further down into them. As genius does not always know all it utters, so the faithful and loving heart cannot always relate what it holds. Such was the case with Abraham in this history. His duty rapidly rises in the form and meaning of it.
1. He entertains men on the principles of common hospitality (Genesis 18:2). He saw three men, and paid them that respect which was due to their style and appearance. He treats them at first as visitors of distinction, but still as men (Genesis 18:3-8).
2. He entertains angels. After a while the truth dawns upon him that they are heavenly beings. He has really, in the language of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, “entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2.) His action thus extends to heaven.
3. He entertains God (Genesis 18:1). With the strangers he receives the Lord Himself. His duty thus reaches to the Most Highest. He has literally done all for God. The service of every believer, in whatsoever duty, must come to this at last. Abraham’s case was peculiar as to the form of this visitation; still, the same thing really occurs to every spiritual man. His actions ultimately touch God. Jesus says of little acts of kindness done for the needy in His name, “Ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40.) Everything that is like God leads at length to Him. The deeds of love, though they may be done for the good of men, are really rendered to God. With the believer every duty becomes a personal service to the Lord.
A PRELUDE TO THE INCARNATION
It has ever been God’s method to prepare mankind, in various ways, for the subsequent revelations of His will. The whole of the Divine dealings with the Jewish nation had reference to something beyond themselves. They were a long and careful education for the times in which God would show His full purpose of love in Christ Jesus. In this appearance of God to Abraham we have a prelude to the Incarnation.
I. God appears as man. One of the three visitors is Jehovah, for it is expressly said that “the Lord (Jehovah) appeared unto him” (Genesis 18:1). In Genesis 18:10, this heavenly visitant makes a promise whose conditions God alone could perform. Jehovah is represented as clothed in human flesh, as under human limitations; yet Abraham learns to distinguish Him as above mortal, and at length knows that God has visited him. Since then God has come to dwell in this world in the tabernacle of flesh, and became as man among men. This miracle of God’s appearance to the patriarch was but foredating the grand miracle of the Incarnation.
II. God passes through the same experience as man. This was something more than a passing appearance. The angel Jehovah performs human actions, and passes through human conditions.
1. He both speaks and listens to human words. This Divine visitor converses freely with Abraham, and listens to his offer of hospitality. So God manifest in our nature spoke with human lips, and heard through ears of flesh the voices of men.
2. He shares the common necessities of man. This Divine visitor had no real need for food and refreshment, and yet He partakes of them. Jesus, though He had no need of us in the greatness and independence of His majesty, yet took our infirmities and necessities upon Him. He lived amongst men, eating and drinking with them, and partaking of the shelter they offered.
3. As man he receives services from man. Jehovah, under the appearance of a man, partook of the food and of the hospitable services which Abraham offered. So Christ, in the days of His flesh, received the attentions of human kindness, shelter, food, comfort. He had special friends, such as those of the household of Bethany, which He loved so well. He was grateful for every act of kindness done to Him. Though He came here in great humility, He was pleased to receive the reverential regard and homage of men; for this was but the tribute justly due to His glorious Majesty hidden beneath the veil of flesh. The reverence at first shown by Abraham would improve into adoration and worship; so beneath the human in Christ we come to perceive the Divine, and to worship Him as Lord of all.
III. God manifest is recognised only by the spiritual mind. Such appearances as this were not vouchsafed to the men of the world. He who was called “the friend of God” was alone thus privileged. The world around was ignorant of the true nature of this transaction. They knew not of any manifestation of God. So to unspiritual men Christ was not truly known as to what He really was. He could only be recognised by an eye favoured with spiritual vision. “The world knew Him not.” Men may hold, as a doctrine, that Christ has come in the flesh, and that He was truly God; and yet, without a living faith, they do not really know Him and feel His power. Abraham had that eye of faith which could discern God.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
This manifestation of God to Abraham was vouchsafed after his ready and faithful obedience to the command regarding circumcision. The obedience of faith brings a more intimate knowledge and recognition of God.
His own tent occupies a distinguished place among those of his household and attendants, standing near the path by which the casual wayfarer may be expected to pass. It is the hour of noon, and Abraham is on the watch for any weary pilgrim, to whom its sultry and scorching heat may make rest and refreshment welcome. The hour of noon, in that burning clime, suspends all labour, and compels the exhausted frame to seek repose. Abraham and his people repair severally to their tents, and make ready the homely meal. But first the patriarch takes his place at the tent-door, where usually is his seat of authority. And there he waits to see if any stranger is coming whom it may be his duty and privilege to entertain. Perhaps some of the remnant of the godly, still holding fast their faith amidst the abounding iniquity and universal idolatry of the land—not protected and blessed, as Abraham once was himself, by any pious Melchisedec, but persecuted and cast out by those among whom they dwelt—may be going about without a home, and may be glad of a day’s shelter and a day’s food. These the patriarch will delight to honour; and the recollection of his own early wanderings, as well as his love to them as brethren in the Lord, will open his heart towards them. Thus he sits for a little in the heat of the day, in his tent door, not idle, but intent on hospitable thoughts—“not forgetful to entertain strangers.” On this day he is well rewarded for his hospitality. According to the saying of the apostle (Hebrews 13:2), “he entertains angels unawares.” And not all of them created angels, even of the highest order. One, in the progress of this interview, discovers Himself to be the Angel of the Covenant—the Lord Himself.—(Candlish).
Times of leisure and repose specially fit us to receive Divine communications. The quietness which reigns around is well suited to the “still small voice.”
God appeared, not solely for Abraham’s sake, but in order to show that “His delights were with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:31).
Genesis 18:2. Whenever visitants from the celestial world appear to men, they have the form of man. This is the only form of a rational being known to us. It is not the design of God in revealing His mercy to us to make us acquainted with the whole nature of things. The science of things visible or invisible He leaves to our natural faculties to explore, as far as occasion allows. Hence we conclude that the celestial visitant is a real being, and that the form is a real form. But we are not entitled to infer that the human is the only or the proper form of such beings, or that they have any ordinary or constant form open to sense. We only discern that they are intelligent beings like ourselves, and, in order to manifest themselves to us as such, put on that form of intelligent creatures with which we are familiar, and in which they can intelligibly confer with us. For the same reason they speak the language of the party addressed, though, for ought we know, spiritual beings use none of the many languages of humanity, and have quite a different mode of communicating with one another.—(Murphy.)
The fact that God appeared as man is a proof to us that man is of a Divine race. Man does not begin from the fall, from the corruption of human nature, but a step higher up where he appears in the true image and glory of God. To think lightly of man is to think lightly of the Incarnation. There is some kind of fitness in man, as the image of God, of man’s organs, his affections, and his life, to be the utterers and exponents of the life, yea, of all the heart of God.
The persons that now appeared at the tent-door of Abraham were certainly unknown to him. He was ignorant of their quality, their country, and their destination; yet his behaviour to them was as respectful as if they had been attended by a pompous retinue, or had sent a messenger to him beforehand announcing their names, and their intention of paying him a visit. With how much propriety the apostle inculcates the duty of hospitality from this incident will be obvious at once, and we may remark, in addition, that those who hold themselves in readiness to show kindness to the stranger and the traveller, may chance sometimes to be favoured with the presence of guests who will have it in their power and in their hearts to bless them as long as they live.—(Bush.)
He ran to meet them.
1. An instance of unsophisticated heartiness of nature.
2. An instance of a disposition to give and to bless.
Godliness does not place us above the necessity of observing the courtesies of human life, but even obliges us to practise them. The believer does that from principle and from love of God, which in the man of the world is the result of good breeding. The one is marked by simplicity and the absence of guile; the other scruples not to follow the arts of hypocrisy, and to disguise the worst feelings under the hollow forms of politeness.
Reverence towards man—towards all that is noble and godlike in man—prepares the soul for that supreme adoration which is due only to God.
Genesis 18:3-4. Abraham uses the word Adoni, denoting one having authority, whether Divine or not. This the Masorites mark as sacred, and apply the vowel-points proper to the word when it signifies God. These men in some way represent God. The Lord on this occasion appeared unto Abraham (Genesis 18:1). The number is in this respect notable. Abraham addresses himself first to one person (Genesis 18:3), then to more than one (Genesis 18:4-5). It is stated that “they said, So do (Genesis 18:5), they did eat (Genesis 18:8), they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?” (Genesis 18:9). Then the singular number is resumed in the phrase, “And he said” (Genesis 18:10), and at length, “The Lord said unto Abraham” (Genesis 18:13), and then, “And he said” (Genesis 18:15). Then, we are told, “the men rose up, and Abraham went with them” (Genesis 18:16). Then we have, “the Lord said” twice (Genesis 18:17; Genesis 18:20). And lastly it is said (Genesis 18:22) “the men turned their faces and went towards Sodom, and Abraham was yet standing before the Lord.” From this it appears that, of the three men, one at all events was the Lord, who, when the other two went towards Sodom, remained with Abraham while He made his intercession for Sodom, and afterwards He also went His way. We have here the first explicit instance of the Lord appearing as man to man, and holding familiar intercourse with him.—(Murphy.)
If now I have found favour in thy sight. Such was the Oriental form of salutation. The difficulty of the first address, on any new occasion, is felt by every man in his intercourse with the world; hence all languages have their regular forms of salutation.
We read of another heavenly visitant whose manner and speech possessed an indescribable charm, and who was urged to stay, in words similar to these.—(Luke 24:29.)
Let a little water be fetched, and wash your feet. That is, have them washed, for this was performed by the servants, and not by the guests themselves. Water for the feet is a necessary and most grateful part of hospitality in the East. Where the people only wear sandals, which are intended only to protect the soles, the feet soon become foul and parched; and to have the feet and ankles bathed is the most gratifying of refreshments after that of quenching thirst. In passing through Hindoo villages, it is common to see this office performed for the weary traveller. In the sandy deserts of Arabia and the bordering countries, no covering for the feet can prevent the necessity for this refreshment at the end of a day’s journey. The fine, impalpable dust penetrates all things, and, with the perspiration, produces an itching and feverish irritation, which, next to the quenching of his thirst, it is the first wish of a traveller to allay; and to uncover his feet, and to get water to wash them, is a prime object of attention. If sandals only are used, or the feet are entirely without defence, it becomes still more necessary to wash them after a journey.—(Bush.)
Genesis 18:5. The courtesy of a godly man.
1. In his refined humility he diminishes the merit of every office he proposes to perform. If they are to be refreshed with water he calls it “a little water;” and if with food, he calls it “a morsel of bread.”
2. He relieves the anxiety which his guests might have lest they should encroach upon his liberality. He says nothing regarding the best of the entertainments which he intends to provide for them.
3. He ascribes the opportunity for his benevolence to the Providence of God. “For therefore are ye come to your servant.” God had so ordered things that these men should come to him at that time, and he was therefore bound to regard and treat them as if sent with that special purpose. He claimed no merit for this act of kindness. He was but the Lord’s instrument. The piety of Abraham shines forth here. He habitually recognised a superintending and directing Providence. To an ordinary mind it was a thing of chance that a few strangers should pass by the door of a tent, but Abraham instinctively refers it to the ordering of heaven, and therefore he feels that he is only discharging a duty which God has laid upon him.
We should regard every opportunity of befriending our fellow-creatures as ordered by Divine Providence. The circumstances which call for benevolence, as well as the impulse of the feeling itself, come from Him.
Every occasion of doing good must be recognised as a call from God to do it.
Can finer or truer delicacy in the conferring of a benefit be imagined? Ah! it is godliness after all that is the best politeness. It is the saint who knows best how to be courteous. Other benefactors may be liberal, condescending, familiar. They may try to put the objects of their charity at their ease. Still there is ever something in their bountifulness which pains and depresses, and if it does not offend or degrade, at least inspires a certain sense of humiliation. But the servant of God has the real tact and taste which the work of doing good requires. And the secret is, that he does good as the servant of God. Like Abraham he feels himself, and he makes those whom he obliges feel that it is truly not a transaction between man and man, implying that greatness or grandeur on the one side, of which the want may be painfully realised on the other, but that all is of God, to whom giver and receiver are equally subject, and in whom both are one. Think of this, ye who complain of the ingratitude of the poor; and be not in haste to reckon your gifts unvalued and unrepaid. Be assured it is a bitter thing for man to be obliged to his fellow-man, unless the obligation be hallowed and sweetened by a sense of the part which God has in the transaction. Take Abraham’s method if ye can. Imbibe Abraham’s spirit: say, It is the Lord; my entertaining you is nothing; my serving you is nothing; “for therefore are ye come to your servant.”—(Candlish.)
So do as thou hast said. Here is no empty form or idle ceremony; no affected disinclination to receive what is so frankly offered; no unmeaning compliments or apologies; no exaggerated professions of humility or gratitude. All is the simplicity of a generous heart and of sound sense.
It was the custom of St. Gregory, when he became Pope, to entertain every evening at his own table twelve poor men, in remembrance of the number of our Lord’s apostles. One night, as he sat at supper with his guests, he saw, to his surprise, not twelve but thirteen seated at his table; and he called to his steward, and said to him, “Did not I command thee to invite twelve? and, behold! there are thirteen.” And the steward told them over, and replied, “Holy Father, there are surely twelve only.” And Gregory held his peace; and, after the meal, he called forth the unbidden guest, and asked him, “Who art thou?” And he replied: “I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve; but my name is ‘The Wonderful,’ and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt ask of God.” Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Genesis 18:6. Abraham performs more than he had promised—causes preparations for his guests to be made, surpassing the simple offer of a “morsel of bread” and “a little water.” There is a temperance and modesty in speech which is observed by every man of true nobility of mind and feeling.
The hasty preparation which follows is exactly after the Oriental fashion. The repast provided for the family will not suffice for these new guests. But the requisite addition is easily and quickly made. In the true primitive style, all in the house—the heads as well as the servants of the household—bestir themselves. Sarah prepares cakes. Abraham himself fetches a calf, which the young man hastens to dress. Butter and milk complete the entertainment, to which the three seeming travellers sit down; Abraham, meanwhile, doing the part of an attentive host, and courteously standing by them, while they eat under the tree. And yet, probably, he knows not who they are whom he is entertaining. But be they who they may, can we doubt that, in showing them this kindness, a glow of satisfaction fills his soul? And can Abraham long fail to detect, under their homely appearance, some traces of their heavenly character? They are not of the common class whom business or pleasure brings across his path. They are not like the ordinary inhabitants of the land. Their holy air and holy demeanour cannot be mistaken.—(Candlish.)
Abraham was a man of noble views, and a large heart; but he was not above attending to the little things of life. While he acted the part of a generous host, he knew what details were necessary to be carried out in order to entertain his guests. All the efficient characters in history, while they have been men of comprehension, have also been men of detail. Great generals not only conceive plans of vast extent, but the most minute particulars, which are to fill up those plans, are each and every one distinct to their mind’s eye. In another way, St. Paul is an example of this faculty. There are great principles laid down in his epistles; and, at the same time, we observe a most circumstantial attention to the common affairs of life. No man can become great who is not a master of detail.
It seems very strange to us that in such an establishment as that of the patriarch there was not ready baked bread for the strangers. But the fact is, that in the East to this day, so much bread, and no more than will suffice for the household, is baked daily, as the common bread will not keep longer than a day in a warm climate. In villages and camps every family bakes it own bread; and while journeying in the East, we always found that the women of the families which entertained us always went to work immediately after our arrival, kneading the dough, and baking “cakes,” generally on spacious round or oblong plates, of thin and soft bread, which were ready in an astonishingly short time. It may seem extraordinary to see a lady of such distinction as Sarah, the wife of a powerful chief, occupied in this menial service. But even now this duty devolves on the women of every household; and among those who dwell in tents, the wife of the proudest chief is not above superintending the preparation of the bread, or even kneading and baking it with her own hands. Tamar, the daughter of a king, seems to have acquired distinction as a good baker of bread (2 Samuel 13:5-10); and there are few of the heavy duties which fall upon the women of the East, which they are more anxious to do well and get credit for, than this. It is among the first of an Eastern female’s accomplishments.—(Pictorial Bible.)
Genesis 18:7. Here was a well-ordered family; everyone knew his office, and did it. In every society, say the politicians, as in a well-tuned harp, the several strings must concur to make a harmony.—(Trapp.)
Here, again, the European reader is struck no less at the want of preparation than by the apparent rapidity with which the materials of a good feast were supplied. The dough was to be kneaded and the bread baked; and the meat had not only to be dressed, but killed. The fact is, the Orientals consume a very small quantity of animal food. In our own journeys, meat was never found ready killed, except in the large towns. There was, probably, not a morsel of meat in Abraham’s camp in any shape whatever. Amongst the Arabs, and indeed other Eastern people, it is not unusual at their entertainments to serve up a lamb, or kid, that has been baked whole in a hole in the ground, which, after being heated and having received the carcass, is covered over with stones. It is less usual now in the East to kill a calf than it seems to have been in the times of the Bible. The Arabs, Turks, and others think it monstrous extravagance to kill an animal which becomes so large and valuable when full grown. This consideration seems to magnify Abraham’s liberality in being so ready to kill a calf for strangers.—(Bush.)
Abraham, though an old man, ran to his herd to fetch his choice calf. True generosity is not content with easy sacrifices, and shrinks not from personal trouble and inconvenience.
Abraham entertained his guests—one of them being Divine—with a “fatted calf.” So God entertains man with the choicest provision of His household (Luke 15:23).
Genesis 18:8. Abraham attended upon his guests. God is the guest of Abraham here. Abraham is His guest now and for ever (Matthew 8:11).—(Jacobus.)
God, manifested through man’s nature and form, becomes known to Abraham “in the breaking of bread” (Luke 24:30-31.)
God will prepare the best things for His people in the feast of glory.
It is a singular instance of condecension—the only recorded instance of the kind before the Incarnation. On other occasions this same illustrious Being appeared to the fathers, and conversed with them. And meat and drink were brought out to Him. But in these cases He turned the offered banquet into a sacrifice, in the smoke of which He ascended heavenward (Judges 6:18-24; Judges 13:15-21). Here He personally accepts the patriarch’s hospitality, and partakes of his fare—a greater miracle still than the other, implying more intimate and gracious friendship, more unreserved familiarity. He sits under his tree, and shares his common meal. “Behold,” says the same Lord to every believing child of Abraham, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” etc. (Revelation 3:20). But above all, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “Be not,” then, “forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). They have entertained the messenger of the Covenant, the Lord Himself. But how may you have any chance of falling into this blessed mistake, and unawares entertaining Christ and His angels? Does He, or do they go about now in the guise of weary and wayworn pilgrims? What says the Lord Himself? “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto me.” “Whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.” Yes, every service performed to one of the Lord’s little ones in a spirit like that of Abraham; every kindness shown to one who is, or who may be, a disciple of the Lord, is a service performed and a kindness shown to the Lord Himself. The Lord accepts it as such. What a thought is this! That in all your acts of courtesy and friendship,—of hospitality, of charity, of goodwill,—you may consider that it is the Lord Himself you are obliging? What a motive “to do good unto all men, especially those that are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). And think not that your thus entertaining Christ is a mere pleasing notion,—a fiction or a theory. Think not that it is to be practically realised only in the judgment of the great day as the principle upon which its final rewards are to be dispensed. Even now your thus entertaining Christ unawares may be matter of blessed experience. He manifests Himself to you on every occasion, however trifling, on which, in doing the least good to the very least of His brethren, you do it in faith as unto Himself. For such brotherly kindness opens your heart. It is the very best reply to His knocking. It brings near to you that Lord whom, in the person of one of His little ones, you have been honouring. You thus realise the fact of His entering in that “He may sup with you and you with Him.” For at the supper you provide for any one of His little ones—He will not Himself be absent. Multiply, therefore, these offices of Christian love. Devise liberal things. Do good and communicate. Give as unto the Lord—that thus you may have more of His presence with you, and more of His love shed abroad in your hearts.—(Candlish.)
This Divine visitant condescends to feast with Abraham. Surely Abraham has now become the friend of God (James 2:23). This feasting of God with man appears again in the progress of the dispensations of His grace—in the Shew-bread in the Temple, the Lord’s Supper in the New Covenant, and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in the new world.