SOAP {Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer}:FOR TODAY'S FULL READING, CLICK THE TITLE LINK ABOVE | ABOUT SOAP
SCRIPTURE1-2 God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.
3-5 He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path."
They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."
6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."
7-8 Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.
9 The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?"
He said, "In the tent."
10 One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.
11-12 Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"
13-14 God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?' Is anything too hard for God? I'll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby."
15 Sarah lied. She said, "I didn't laugh," because she was afraid.
But he said, "Yes you did; you laughed."
GENESIS 18:1-15 [MSG]
OBSERVATION
Treat everyone with kindness and respect, for you never know who you might be dealing with.
APPLICATION
Abraham walked with God. He was not a perfect man -- none are but Jesus -- but he was a God-fearing man who found favor in God's eyes.One day, as "three men" approached outside Abraham's tent, Abraham jumped to his feet at their service, ordering up a feast and offering them water to wash their feet. Did he know who they were? It certainly sounds like it, as he addressed them as "Master."
There were three men, the Bible clearly states. Abraham called the three "Master." The Bible says "the men said to him," as if they spoke to Abraham in unison, of one mind.
Who were the "three men?" The Bible goes on to refer to them as "God" in The Message and "the Lord" in the New International Version. Three men? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Who else?
The book of John tells us that Jesus was with God in the beginning. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. JOHN 1:1 [NIV] Why then could the Holy Spirit not be with God in the beginning as well? Certainly, the triune God has always been.
And what of Abraham, who had never seen God, recognizing the three heads of God approach him? The Bible says nothing of a burning bush speaking to Abraham, as it did to Moses. The Bible says "God." It says "three men walking."
Imagine being in such favor with God that he actually walked up to you while you're sitting on your porch! Wouldn't that be an incredibly wonderful, frightening, blessing?!
What if God walked up to me right now? Would I be ready? What would I do? What would I say?
PRAYER
Father, make me always aware that anyone I meet could be The One. May I treat them all with love and respect.
UPDATE
I never claimed to know everything, which became more obvious to me upon reading the next chapter of Genesis, which starts out: 1-2 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. He saw them and got up to welcome them, bowing before them and said, "Please, my friends, come to my house and stay the night. Wash up. You can rise early and be on your way refreshed." (emphasis mine)
The three men who approached Abraham at his tent then left for Sodom, and we see two of them at the beginning of chapter 19. "The two angels," the Bible says. So, I guess my line of thinking that Abraham was approached by the Trinity may have been a little off. This trinity was apparently God and two of His angels.
Still, imagine being approached by God Himself!
Your comments?
Joe
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