"Good Morning in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
Today's Blog Title: "Unusual Visitors"
Today's Scripture: Genesis 18:1-15
Today's Key Verse: Genesis 18:14: "Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."
I have divided Genesis 18 into two sections. Today's we will look at the first section (1-15), where we see that Abraham has three visitor's, and in verse one, would indicate one of these visitor's was God in human form and the promise to Abraham that Sarah "at the appointed time would have a son." Tomorrow we will go into Section two which will deal with Sodom and Gomorrah.
In lands without motels and or hotels travelers were dependent on hospitality. Romans 12:13 says, "Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." This is exactly what Abraham does when he says to the visitor's, "Lord if I have favor in Your sight do not pass by your servant." He then has them sit under a shade tree, and goes and tells Sarah to make bread, and has a calf prepared for a meal. He also brings them water for drink and to wash themselves. We see that Abram served the food to them and he stood as they ate.
After eating, the focus of the Lord then turns to Sarah. The Lord says, "Where is Sarah your wife?" Abraham tell the Lord that she is in the tent, and as Sarah was listening at the tent door He tells Abraham that Sarah would have a son. Sarah hearing this, laughs within herself. Then we read one of the most wonderful human passages in the Bible. The Lord says, "Why did Sarah laugh?" This verse, would make it clear that the Lord Himself, was one of the three guests. Sarah was a woman of faith like her husband, and she had believed God for many years, and His promise to give her and Abraham a son, but now that she was past the child bearing years, she found her faith stretched to the limit. The Lord then says, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" What a statement that was and it still applies to us as believers even today. In verse 15, Sarah being afraid, denied that she had laughed but the Lord who knows our thoughts and deeds says, "No, but you did laugh."
In His mercy, He did punish her as He had not punished Abraham (17:17), but neither did He allow her embarrassed denial to stand. We will see later in this study, that she would laugh again, but this time it would be for joy, rather then disbelief (21:17)
Tomorrow we will look at section two, (18:16-33) where we will see God telling Abraham, that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham's pleas to God to save the cities.
Today's Question and Comment: Do we like Sarah as believers sometimes lack in our faith in believing God's promises? We saw in these verses, that Abraham was eager to show hospitality to these three visitor's. In doing this, Abraham showed us that even today, meeting another's need for food or shelter, is one of the most practical ways to obey God. In Hebrews 13:2, we are told, that when we practice hospitality, we may be helping a messenger of God, without realizing it. In closing, remember what the Lord said to Abraham when Sarah laughed, "Is anything to hard for the Lord?"
Day after day, You have been faithful to me
Day after day, I've known Your grace
Day after day, week after week, year after year
I will declare Your glory, I will declare Your greatness,
I will praise Your name
Heavenly Father, may we as believers keep our faith strong in You. May we always look to you knowing that "Nothing is impossible for You."
Amen
Have a God Filled and Spirit Led Day and may your prayer be "Come, Lord Jesus, Come"
Yours in Christ,
Cindi
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