from WL Worcester (H Blackmer, ed.), 
The Sower.  Helps to the Study of the Bible in Home and Sunday School
 
(Boston: Massachusetts New-Church Union, n.d.)

Table of Contents
 

 

Lesson 14

Genesis 14: Visit of Angels

The Story

Primary

Abraham was living at Hebron, his tent shaded by the oaks. We think of a black goat's hair tent, large and irregular in shape. The tent of the chief usually stands near the path by which strangers may come. Three visitors came near, and Abraham welcomed them as people do in that country, with every politeness and kindness, and did all that he could for their comfort. He would have done so for any visitor, but he seems to have known that these were angels of the Lord. In that country they wore sandals, and the roads were hot and dusty. A first thing for the comfort of a guest was to bring water to wash the guest’s feet. They must have something to eat. Sarah ground meal in the little hand mill, and baked cakes on the hot stones, pushing aside the fire. And Abraham brought more for their refreshment. Butter means curds, and there was milk and meat. So they ate under the tree; and Abraham stood by to wait on them, and they talked with him as they ate.

They told Abraham that he and Sarah should have a son. Then the men rose up to go toward Sodom, where Lot lived, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

Junior

Reading the 18th chapter we meet the names Abraham and Sarah. They are our old friends, but the names are changed. Does anyone remember the reason for the change?

One of the most lovely customs in the East is that of hospitality to strangers. Receiving a stranger, the people of the Bible land are profuse in their expressions of kindness. The guest is safe under their roof. They give everything to the guest. The best they have is not too good.

Three visitors came toward Abraham's tent and he made them welcome. Read and tell me what he did for their comfort. Do we hear also in the Gospels about washing the feet of a guest? (Luke 7:44) What food did Abraham and Sarah prepare? Do you know how the women grind the meal, one stone laid on a cloth on the ground and the other with a pin near the edge for the hands of the women? Our Lord spoke of two women grinding at the mill. (Matt. 24:41) If you come to a village in the afternoon, you may hear a gentle roar of the millstones in all the homes, grinding for the evening meal. It is among the signs of desolation when the millstones are no longer heard. (Rev. 18:22) When camping you may have baked cakes on the hot stones. In Palestine they do so, and earthen ovens are also used, heated by a quick fire, the cakes baked on the hot sides of the oven. Butter probably means curds. We can imagine the scene at the tent door under the tree, the guests refreshing themselves and talking with Abraham, who stood near to wait upon them. Someone look up and read to us Heb. 13:1, 2.

We listen as the guests talk with Abraham and hear the promise of a son. It was like the promise by the angel to Zacharias of John the Baptist's birth. (Luke 1:18) They must know that it was the Lord's doing and the Lord's gift. What would be the name of the son now promised to Abraham and Sarah? (Gen. 17:19) There had already been promise of this son and it had been told what his name should be. Sarah laughed, and before at the same promise Abraham had laughed. (Gen. 17:17) We must connect laughter with Isaac; the name means laughter. They laughed at first because they did not believe. By and by, they laughed for joy. (Gen. 21:6)

We go with Abraham and the heavenly visitors toward Sodom, to a place on the high hills from which they could see Sodom and the plain. There Abraham earnestly prayed that if there were fifty righteous, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, or even ten, these might be saved. Coming again to the same place the next morning early, he saw a great smoke rising, for Sodom was destroyed. Lot and the few who could be saved were led out of the city to a place of safety. (Gen. 19:27-29) If Abraham longed and prayed so earnestly for the people of Sodom, how the Lord must have longed for the salvation of all who could be saved, when with His great love He saw the evil in the world.

1. What heavenly guests came to Abraham at Hebron? What did he do for them?

2. What promise did they make to Abraham?

3. Where was Lot living?

4. Why was Abraham anxious for his safety?

5. How are Sodom and Gomorrah mentioned in the New Testament? Were the cities standing then?

Spiritual Study

Intermediate

This beautiful picture of eastern hospitality tells of a beautiful experience in our Lord's life. Abraham looked up and saw three men approaching. It was a literal, outward experience for Abraham. (A. 2149) To the Lord there was given a perception of the Divine as it would be, a trinity of the inmost Divine love, the glorified Human Nature, and the Holy Spirit going forth in all works of blessing. It is a little as if you were given a perception of the angel that you may become. The Lord desired to keep the perception and to come into closer union with the Divine. The washing of the feet of the guests and their eating of food which Abraham provided represent mutual approach and closer union between the Divine and the Human Nature of the Lord. (A. 2160, 2164, 2178)

Why is the birth of Isaac now promised? Because this closer union of the Divine made possible a new step in development and glorification, the development of a rational power, spiritual and Divine. (A. 1404, 2213) In us, every step of regeneration is a Divine gift. It does not come till we have realized our own helplessness and our dependence on the Lord. This is several times suggested in Scripture by the birth of children to parents in old age. The new birth, the new development is recognized as the Lord's gift. It is of steps of regeneration that it is declared in the Gospel, "With God all things are possible," and that it is asked in the Old Testament, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (A. 2218-2221)

And now the last section of the chapter, Abraham's prayer for Sodom. Why is it appropriate here? What relation has it to the visit of the angels in the first part of the chapter? With the clearer perception given to the Lord's human mind of the Divine, came a clearer perception also of the conditions of evil in the world and a more intense desire to be reaching with saving help all that could be reached and saved. The tenderness and the persistence of the prayer. The numbers fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, you will know describe spiritual states of life to which the saving help can reach, even to some remains of childhood's innocence not yet destroyed. (A. 2259-2285)

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