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Genesis
Chapter
18
{Verses
1-33: Characteristics of Fellowship with God}
1^~And
Jehovah/God appeared unto him {Abraham}
in
the plains of Mamre
{name means wealth and prosperity - implies he is in fellowship}.
He
{Abraham} sat in the tent door
in
the heat of the day {when the sun was high}.
{Verses
2-8: A Believer In Fellowship - Is Friendly and Hospitable}
2^~He
kept on lifting up {nasa'} his eyes
and
'looking to understand' {ra'ah},
and,
lo, three men stood in front of him.
And
when he saw them,
he
ran to meet them from the tent door,
and
bowed {shachah - used for 'to prostrate oneself '- here is a
gracious greeting to strangers}
himself
toward the ground.
{Note: This is a picture of a grace attitude. Abraham is warm and welcoming to these strangers. Follows the greeting of oriental cultures today.}
3^~And
said, "Why don't you stay awhile?"
{Idiom: literally is "my 'Adonay/lord, if now I have found
favor in
your sight, pass not away, I pray you, from your servant"}
{Note: RBT says that Abraham did not recognize these three strangers as being God or messengers from God at this point. The point of the verses is to show Abraham's good mental attitude when the strangers arrived.}
4^~"Let
a little water, please/'I exhort you, be fetched,
and
wash your feet {this was the invitation to enter one's home
- 'wash your feet first'},
and
rest yourselves under the tree {out of the hot sun}."
5^~"And
I will fetch a bit of food,
and
comfort you your 'inner being' {leb}
{picture of rest, relax, eat and refresh yourself inside and out}.
After
that you shall pass on.
For
therefore are you come to your servant
{meaning 'you have come to a gracious host who welcomes you'}.
And
they communicated categorically {dabar},
"So
do/manufacture {'asah - out of your good mental attitude},
as
you have said {'amar}."
6^~Abraham
hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said {'amar},
"Make
ready quickly three measures of fine meal,
knead
it, and make cakes upon the hearth."
7^~And
Abraham ran unto the herd,
and
fetched a calf tender and good,
and
gave it unto a young man
and
he {the young man} hasted/'moved quickly' to dress it.
8^~And
he took butter, and milk, and the 'meat of the calf'
which
he {the young man}
had
dressed/'manufactured {'asah - out of the calf},
and
set it before them.
And
he {Abraham} stood by them under the tree,
and
they did eat.
{Note: Here Abraham is in fellowship and these three accept his hospitality. In a few verses, two of the three will go to Sodom and refuse hospitality. Very few Sodomites are believers and therefore cannot be 'believers in fellowship'.}
9^~And
they said {'amar} unto him {Abraham},
"Where
. . . {is} Sarah your wife/woman {ishshah}?"
And
he said, "{In the} tent {'ohel}".
10^~And
he {the stranger} said {'amar},
"I
will certainly return unto you
according
to the norm or standard of human cycle
{`eth chay - idiom: literally 'cycle of life' -
meaning sexual relations, man and wife here, and then 9 months
later}.
And,
lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son."
And
Sarah heard it in the tent door,
which
was behind him {picture of her 'listening at the keyhole'}.
11^~Now
Abraham and Sarah were old {zaqen},
having
come {long} in age,
and
it ceased to be with Sarah
'the
passing of life' {'orach - means after menopause}
of
women {ishshah}.
12^~Therefore
Sarah laughed
{tsachaq - Isaac'ed - laughed inside herself - where 'Isaac' will
be formed - Humor of God}
within
herself {NOT out loud},
saying
{'amar},
"After
I am 'worn out'/'physically unable'
shall
I have 'sexual relationship'/'sexual pleasure'
{`eden - the 'garden of eden' was the 'garden of sexual pleasure'}
my lord {Abraham} being old also?"
13^~And
Jehovah/God
{Jesus Christ as one of the Strangers - a Christophany}
said
{'amar} unto Abraham,
"Why
did Sarah laugh {tsachaq}
{God heard this but Abraham did not so he is confused here -
Sarah should now realize this is the Lord},
saying
{'amar}, 'Shall I of a surety bear a child, when I am old?"
14^~
"Does 'anything'/
'any
doctrine communicated categorically' {dabar}
keep
on being 'too hard for'/'difficult for'/|
'beyond
the power of' {pala' -Niphal imperfect} Jehovah/God?
At
the time appointed I will return unto you,
according
to the norm or standard of human cycle
{`eth chay - idiom: literally 'cycle of life' -
meaning sexual relations, man and wife here, and then 9 months
later},
and
Sarah shall have a son.
{Note: RBT says the greatest problem God ever faced was how to save a creature with an old sin nature and personal sins! If He has solved this problem (therefore He has given us the GREATER), will He deny us anything else (the LESSER)? See Romans Chapter 5 for more on this.}
15^~Then
Sarah kept on denying {why deny a thought?}
saying,
"I laughed not" - for she was afraid
{that is why! She was afraid}.
And
He said, "Oh no, you did laugh/'Isaac'}."
{Note: Abraham in fellowship did not resent the rebuke of the Stranger/Lord. The principal is, God must even come before loved ones. God must be first in your life - period.}
16^~
And the men rose up from thence,
and
looked toward Sodom
and
Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
{Note: Point here is, Abraham is still gracious and polite so he shows them the road to Sodom.}
17^~And
Jehovah/God said {'amar},
"Shall
I hide from Abraham that thing
which
I am about to do/manufacture
{'asah - out of divine justice and righteousness}."
{Another
Promise of the Lord to Abraham - All Nations shall be blessed by His Descendents}
18^~"Seeing
that Abraham shall surely
become
a great and mighty nation,
and
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?"
19^~"For
I know {yada '} him,
that
he will command his children and his household after him,
and
they shall keep the way of Jehovah/God,
to
do/manufacture {'asah - from doctrine in their souls}
justice
and judgment.
That
Jehovah/God may bring upon Abraham
that
which he has communicated categorically {dabar} {to him}."
{Final
Trial of Sodom}
20-21^~
And Jehovah/God said,
"Because
the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great,
and
because their sin 'has reached the point of extreme'
{idiom: literally 'is exceedingly {m@`od} heavy {kabad}'} 21^~
I
will go down now,
and
see whether they have done altogether
according
to the cry of it,
which
is come unto Me
and
if not, I will know {yada`}."
22^~And
the {two} men turned their faces from thence,
and
went toward Sodom.
Abraham
stood yet before Jehovah/God.
{Note: Obviously at this point, Abraham has determined that this is the Lord in front of him now.}
{Abraham
the Prayer Warrior Making Intercessory Prayer on Behalf of Sodom}
23^~And
Abraham drew near, and said,
"Will
You also destroy the righteous
{tsaddiyq - believers with imputed divine righteousness}
with
the wicked {rasha`}?"
24^~"Perhaps
there exist fifty righteous { tsaddiyq} within the city.
Will
You also destroy and not spare the place
for
the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 ^~
That
'be far from you to do/manufacture {'asah}
according
to doctrine categorically communicated {dabar}'
{means that this does not agree with the doctrine already in
Abraham's' spiritually mature soul} . . .
to
slay the righteous with the wicked
and
that the righteous should be as the wicked,
that
be far from you
{does not agree with his understanding of God's divine viewpoint}.
Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do/manufacture
{'asah - out of divine viewpoint}
'proper
judgment' {mishpat}?"
{Note: This is a bold statement by Abraham, but it is based on his knowledge of God through His Word!}
26^~And
Jehovah/God said {'amar},
"If
I find in Sodom fifty righteous {tsaddiyq} within the city,
then
I will spare all the place for their sakes."
27^~And
Abraham answered {'anah} and said {'amar},
"I
have been caused to 'communicate categorically doctrine' {dabar} to
'Adonay/Lord . . .
I
. . . {who am but} dust and ashes."
{Note: Abraham is stating that he recognizes he is a being of 'mere elements of the earth', but he is 'speaking categorically' to God! He can only do this when he is confident he is on the firm foundation of God's Word.}
28^~"Perhaps
there exists
a
lack of five of the fifty righteous {tsaddiyq}.
Will
You also destroy the city for the {lack of} five?"
And
He said {'amar}, "If I find there forty and five,
I
will not destroy it."
29^~He
{Abraham} intensely "communicated
categorically
doctrine" {dabar - Piel intensive} yet again
and
said {'amar},
"Perhaps
there exists forty {righteous} found there."
And
He said, "I will not do/manufacture it {destruction}
{'asah - out of divine righteousness and justice}
for
forty's sake."
30^~
And he said {'amar} unto Him,
"Oh
let not 'Adonay/Lord be angry,
and
I will keep on intensely "communicating categorically
doctrine"
{dabar - Piel intensive imperfect}.
"Perhaps
there exists thirty {righteous} found there."
And
He said, "I will not do/manufacture it {destruction}
{'asah - out of divine righteousness and justice}
for
thirty's sake."
31^~And
he {Abraham} said {'amar},
"Behold,
I have caused to take upon myself
to
surly be intensively "communicating categorically
doctrine"
{dabar - Piel intensive infinitive} unto 'Adonay/Lord
"Perhaps
there exists twenty {righteous} found there."
And
He said, "I will not do/manufacture it {destruction}
{'asah - out of divine righteousness and justice}
for
twenty's sake."
32^~
And he kept on saying {'amar},
"Oh
let not 'Adonay/Lord be angry,
and
I will keep on intensely "communicating categorically
doctrine"
{dabar - Piel intensive imperfect} yet this once {more}.
"Perhaps
there exists ten {righteous} found there."
And
He said, "I will not do/manufacture it {destruction}
{'asah - out of divine righteousness and justice}
for
ten's sake."
33^~And
Jehovah/God kept on going on His way
as
soon as He had completed intensively
"communicating
categorically doctrine"
{dabar - Piel intensive infinitive}
with
Abraham.
And
Abraham returned unto his place.
{Note: Now Abraham fought hard to get the Lord to agree to sparing Sodom if there are only 10 righteous (believers) there. Why? RBT says Abraham was probably counting Lot and His wife (2), plus the two young daughters (4 total), plus Lot's three married daughters (7 total), plus Abraham probably assumed that Lot would not have permitted his three daughters to marry unbelievers, so the husbands would make 3 more, for a total of 10 believers. Only God knows the spiritual status of each creature. Abraham's guess was incorrect - as the following verses will show.}
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