Genesis 18:1-8 – Resting in God

This account opens with Abraham resting at noon, a time when the sun was the hottest. He had pitched his tent by the shade of the oaks trees of Mamre. Here he was resting from the noontide heat at the entrance of the tent. And when he lifted up his eyes, he saw three men. Abraham probably did not know who these three men were. He was seeking to be hospitable as the custom of the day was. So he approached them humbly, falling on His face beseeching them to come to his tent and be entertained. Who actually were these three men? One of them was a Theophany, that is, God appearing in human form long before Christ’s incarnation. In the Bible we do read of several accounts of such appearances of God. He appeared to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. He also appeared as the fourth man in the fiery furnace with the three friends of Daniel seen by Nebuchadnezzar. Now He appeared to Abraham with two of His angels. Notice that while there were three men, Abraham was only talking to one, later recognized as Yahweh, the covenant keeping God.

Though he did not recognize God and His angels, Abraham probably could sense that they were not ordinary people. Ordinarily, he would have gotten his servant to do the task. But here he took upon himself to entertain them personally. He even had Sarah made bread and cakes for them, while he went out and selected the best tender calf, and had his servant prepare the meal for the visitors. As Abraham stood there to watch them eat, it must have dawned on him that they were divine visitors. The author to the Hebrews picked up this story and urged us believers to be hospitable to strangers, for like Abraham we might be entertaining angels unknowingly. The point is this: we ought to be hospitable.

The best rest we can find is in God. He wants to connect with us to bring His plan into realization in our life. He always makes the first move as He did in Abraham’s situation. He came to Abraham while he was resting from the weariness of the day. But the best rest anyone can have is to find rest in Him. We must learn from Abraham and invite Him into our tent. We must offer Him our very best and serve Him with humility. Our fruitfulness in life come from our rest in Him. So let’s hear Christ’s invitation to us again from Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”