Genesis 18:1–14 (NLT)
1 The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.
We think we have to a relationship, but God has been after us far longer.
2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.
To Abraham, it looked like 3 men. But it is actually 2 and .
o Perhaps what scholars sometimes call “preincarnate theophanies” (theos = god, phainein = to appear)
3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. 5 And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.”
“All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”
Abraham is being hospitable.
Hebrews 13:2 (NLT) Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
Jewish teaching is that Abraham is recovering from circumcision surgery he just had, and if God took the time to visit someone sick or in recovery, so should we if we profess to follow him. (see Matthew 25 – The Sheep and the Goats)
6 So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” 7 Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.
9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked.
“She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied.
(MULTILINE REVEAL BIG)
10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent.
God had already promised Abraham a child – (6 times!), and that he would be the father of many nations:
Genesis 12:2 (NIV) 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
Genesis 13:16 (NIV) 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
Genesis 15:4-6 (NIV)4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:13-14 (NIV) 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
Genesis 17:8 (NIV) 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:17,19 (NIV) 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Faith .
(MULTILINE REVEAL BIG)
11 Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. 12 So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Who asked that question?
What does that say that God wants us to know?
(MULTILINE REVEAL BIG)
Romans 8:35-39 (NLT2)35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God is able, and God is good.
Sometimes we want what isn’t best for us. God can say no.
Sometimes it depends on the choices of sinful people (others AND me), and God doesn’t take away free will.
But…
Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) [God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
We forget who we are dealing with:
Psalm 24:8 (ESV) …[the] King of glory, The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Things I place in God’s hands (and leave the outcome to Him), because nothing is too hard for Him:
(MULTILINE REVEAL BIG)