I love the Bible passages where people eat with God. It’s a theme that runs from Genesis to Revelation. This is the first really clear account. (Wait til we get to one where it’s a whole picnic with 70 men!) But people will be sharing fellowship meals with the Lord or at least in His presence all the way through until the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation. Interestingly, usually bread and wine are on the menu. But in today’s reading, we have veal, cheese curds or butter, and some nice hot ash-cakes. Sounds good to me.

Three “men” approach Abraham’s tent. He runs out to meet them, bows, and invites them to stop on their journey and share a meal in the shade before going on. Abraham calls one of the men “Adonai” which means capital-L Lord, as in THE Lord. God. Somehow Abraham recognizes him.

Notice what Abraham does. Now remember- the man has his own militia. I image his encampment was huge and staffed with a lot of servants. But Abraham goes to the herd personally and selects a calf to be prepared. He asks Sarah to make ash-cakes; flattened disks of dough baked among hot ashes or sometimes slapped inside the “chimney” of a small mud oven.

Abraham acts as both host and server. He sees to water for foot washing. He gets his people working on the meal and like a head-chef, oversees every detail. He sees to their comfortable seating in the shade. And then he goes full-on waiter:

“Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set it before them. And he was standing by them under the tree while they ate.” Genesis‬ ‭18‬:‭8‬ ‭LEB‬‬

I know that Abraham was not wearing a tuxedo with a white towel draped over his arm, but that’s how I picture him. He’s keeping the glasses filled and the food coming until his guests are satisfied.

K, two things.

1. God and His accompanying angels are eating. Physical food. The One Who invented cows is having milk and cheese and beef. It’s what’s for dinner. How does that even work? Maybe it’s like Jesus eating fish and honey after His resurrection. Jesus could appear or disappear, but He could also eat real food. That is so cool!!
2. Abraham was rich. And rich people are usually the ones being served. Until they run into someone greater.

Maybe they were enjoying seconds when the Lord tells Abraham, “I will certainly return to you in the spring, and look, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the doorway of the tent, and which was behind him.” Genesis‬ ‭18‬:‭10‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Sarah was eavesdropping. And laughed “to herself” at this announcement. It’s understandable. She’s 89 at this point. It’s nothing short of comical. But, I kind of wonder if might’ve been the kind of laughter that happens when something wonderful happens- when a cherished dream that was long ago given up is suddenly resurrected.

There’s a scene like this in the 1995 movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. Elinor falls in love with Edward. But she finds out he’s already engaged to Lucy Steele. Elinor faces a future of poverty and spinsterhood. Her hopes of happiness with Edward are dashed. At the end of the film, Elinor and her family are under the impression that Edward is now married to Lucy when he comes to visit them. He is not. When he reveals this detail, Elinor bursts into sobs and by the end of his declaration of love, she’s simultaneously crying and laughing. The dream that was lost to her forever- was miraculously restored.

I wonder if there was some of that in Sarah’s laughter. Wonder. Extreme delight. Unspeakable relief from three quarters of a century of longing and perpetual disappointment. Perhaps there was.

The men finish the meal and, in ancient middle eastern host fashion, Abraham not only sees them off, but walks with them for part of their journey. Two of the “men” continue down the road toward Sodom but the One Who is the Lord pauses to let Abraham know what’s about to happen.

It’s interesting to note something that won’t be revealed until tomorrow. But we’re gonna take a sneak peek.

“And Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. And he looked down upon the surface of Sodom and Gomorrah…”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Wherever he is meeting with the Lord- you can “look down” and see Sodom & Gomorrah from there. So, Abraham and YHWH must be up on a pretty high hill or mountain.

And from there, with the cities in view, Abraham haggles to make a deal with God over the fate of Sodom. I have no idea why Abraham continued to drop the number of people from fifty to ten. He had to have known how wicked the place was. Maybe he thought about it and realized that 50 righteous people was a pretty optimistic number. Maybe he just wanted to see how far the Lord’s mercy would go.

If you count from chapter 19: 1) Lot, 2) Lot’s wife, 3 & 4) their 2 unmarried daughters, 5, 6, the two future “sons in law”. There may have been more adult kids already married. Maybe Abraham hoped that at least Lot and his family would be righteous. But…

Location. Location. Location.

Beware your surroundings. Beware the society and culture in which you live. You are changing it, or it is changing you, whether you recognize how or not.

The two guys who left while Abraham was still talking with the Lord.., they were on a mission. There’s a reason why old time ministers who warned of God’s impending judgement on earth were called “Fire and Brimstone Preachers.”