In the eighteenth chapter of Genesis, there is the account of God appearing to Abraham through three “men” who were more than men. Many are content to see these “men” as angels who represented God and do not make any other claims for them; but others see one of these angels as the Lord who appeared to Abraham in concrete form but not in the ultimate “form of God.” As for the other two beings in our Genesis passage, they no doubt are angels who also represent God so that this trinity of beings as far back as the days of Abraham collectively represent the Holy Trinity (Augustine and others). Furthermore, this one special “angel” who is referred to as “LORD” (see verses 10,13,17,19,20,etc.NIV) is considered by many to be the Lord Jesus in his pre incarnate form (a Christophany).
The above makes this passage of scripture, Genesis 18, a truly remarkable chapter particularly since it comes so early in Scripture, indeed the first book of the Bible. I would suggest that we learn from this that while God’s revelation of Himself and His will is progressive, there are moments in God’s early dealings with Israel where truly profound manifestations of our Lord prepare us for an ever expanding revelation of who He is.
What is consistent throughout this progressive revelation of God, however, is the conditions for receiving His word and remaining in fellowship with Him. This is highlighted in Genesis 17, where God appears as El Shaddai or God Almighty (17:1), and challenges Abraham to walk “the straight and narrow” (implied) and be blameless before the Lord. Later Abraham to ordered to circumcise himself and every male in his camp which means that God is “cutting” a covenant with Abraham to be His God even as Abraham is to be God’s man (17:10f). Abraham OBEYS and this becomes the foundation for the Lord’s visitation in chapter 18. Abraham’s REVERENT reception of the Lord in chapter 18 as seen in his enthusiastic and very accommodating reception of the three angels, while typical of near eastern customs, can also be seen as the epitome of our proper relationship to the Lord. Sometimes I think we Pentecostals have overplayed our familiarity with God to the point that the Lord is more our “buddy” rather than our God. In fact, I would suggest that we can properly call God our “Daddy” (i.e. Abba Father - Rom. 8:15) only to the extent that we love and cherish Him with every fiber of our being. Notice that Abraham behaves as the model servant who delivers “five star room service” to his heavenly guests. He thinks of everything that will make them welcome and comfortable. Here he is modeling for us how we should approach our Lord, not as arrogant inquisitors challenging every action of God (by the way, notice how respectfully Abraham questions God and “negotiates” with God re the impending judgment of the twin cities of Sodom/Gomorrah - 18:23-33) but as his humble servants who are privileged to serve him. If that makes you and me feel a little uncomfortable, it could be that we have too much of our contemporary culture’s impudence in us and need an attitude makeover. It may also mean that we need more of the fire of the Holy Spirit in us that will burn our pride and transform our babbling into authentic prayer language (see Luke 3:17 and Matt. 6:7,8). We may even find ourselves entertaining angels (see Hebrews 13:2).
No comments:
Post a Comment