Gen 18: The three visitors appearing before Abraham and promising that Sarah would have a son the next year; Abraham pleading with the LORD for Sodom

God appeared to Abraham yet again, this time to give a time frame to the promised seed. God also made known to Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom, which was wicked beyond measure.

• v1-2: Three men, Yahweh and two angels, appeared before Abraham. (three men = "The Lord" staying behind to speak with Abraham (Gen 18:17), and the "two angels" who headed to Sodom and arrived there in the evening (Gen 19:1)
• v2b: "he ran to meet them . . .When the visitor is an ordinary person, the host merely rises; but if of superior rank, the custom is to advance a little towards the stranger, and after a very low bow, turn and lead him to the tent, putting an arm round his waist, or tapping him on the shoulder as they go, to assure him of welcome." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary by Zondervan)
• v3-5: Abraham proved extraordinarily hospitable. He did everything for his guests that Oriental hospitality could suggest according to the custom of his day. These were men he did not know, yet he was welcoming, complaisant and respectful.
• v6-8: Although the patriarch, with many servants to do his work, Abraham took it upon himself and his wife to serve his guests personally, standing near them under a tree as a servant while they ate. Christ himself has taught us to wash one another's feet, in humble love.
• v9: The heavenly beings took care that Sarah should be within hearing. She was to conceive by faith, and hence she had to hear the promise firsthand. In Abraham's time and culture, women did not sit at meals with men (especially strangers/guests), but confined themselves in the tent.
• v10: The promise was renewed, and this time a time frame was set. The promises of the Messiah were often repeated in the OT, for the strengthening of faith of the people.
• v11-12: Sarah could not find in her heart to believe it, and hence laughed. Notice that human improbability often sets up in contradiction to divine promise; the objections of sense and what is rational tend to stumble and puzzle true believers who are not firmly grounded in faith.
• v13-14: God reproved Sarah's lack of faith, despite her hospitably entertaining the guests, just as Jesus reproved Martha in her own house. God takes offence at our unbelief and distrust, that our belief in what is rational and 'makes sense' overrides what He has promised. Here we see God's response and rebuke - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
• v15: Sarah foolishly attempted to conceal her fault from a God who is all-seeing and all-knowing, which God directly rebuked.
• v16: God is also a God to whom vengeance belongs: He set His face against Sodom in wrath.
• v17-21: God made His resolution to make known to Abraham His purpose concerning Sodom because he was a friend and favourite of God. "The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them" (Ps 25:14)
• v19: Abraham, as head of his household, was charged with directing his children and his household to do right. He, as the head, would be held accountable for what those under him were doing.
• v20: The sin of sodom cried aloud to heaven for vengeance.
• v21: It was not as though God had no idea what was going on and really needed to go down to see it for Himself, but it was to show the incontestable equity of all His judical proceedings, and to set an example for those in authority to enquire into the merits of a cause with utmost diligence before passing judgement.
• v23: Communion with God is kept up through the word and through prayer. God revealed to Abraham His purposes, and now Abraham took the opportunity approach and intercede on Sodom's behalf. When we pray and intercede, we approach God's throne in confidence and petition according to and in line with His Word.
• v23-25: Abraham believed in God's justice, that He would not treat the righteous and wicked alike, and sweep away the righteous along with the wicked. His prayer was a prayer of faith: faith in the righteousness of God, and a prayer of humility: a deep sense of his own unworthiness, amazed at the liberty God graciously allowed him.
• v30: "May the Lord not be angry". Abraham dreaded God's displeasure, but remember that we are dealing with God and not man, and that "the prayer of the upright pleases Him" (Prov 15:8)
• v28-32: Abraham's confidence of God's grace is highlighted here, as He boldly advanced upon God's concessions, again and again. As God granted much, he still begged for more mercy. The question is the, why did Abraham leave off asking when he had already prevailed to get the place spared if there were ten righteous in it? Perhaps God restrained his spirit from asking any further because He had already determined its ruin: "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you" （Jer 7:16)? ><
• v33: God and Abraham went their own ways. Visions of God are not constant, for we live by faith and not by sight.