(Genesis 18:1-3) Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.
Abraham feeds them and they eat. Because they eat, Abraham (and we the readers) can see that this is not just a vision...
(Genesis 18:8) He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
(Genesis 18:16) Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.
The two men (angels) left, while Abraham spoke with the Lord, negotiating with Him that Sodom should not be destroyed because Abraham's brother and family lived there...
(Genesis 18:22) Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord.
The Lord agreed that if there were ten righteous people in the city, it would not be destroyed. Of course, God already knew how many actual believers were in that city. None! But God had arranged for Lot and his family to be removed...
In the scriptures below we can now see that the two men are actual angels, sent to provide a way for Lot and his family to escape the city before it was destroyed...
(Genesis 19:1-22) Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
Did the Lord use the angels to destroy the cities or did He do it Himself? Not quite sure, but the order to do so definitely came from God...
(Genesis 19:24-26) The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
From this we can see:
- angels can appear as people
- angels can eat and drink
- angels have some powers
- angels are used to protect
- angels are used to destroy
Personal experience: while living in Puerto Rico as a missionary, my work would sometimes take me to this very small island. It had gorgeous beaches, but in the winter months, these beaches were very isolated. And I had been warned about thieves and such lurking in the trees and hills.
On one of my days off, I could not find anyone to go with me to the beach, so I decided to go by myself - not to swim but - just to enjoy looking at God's creation. I thought I had found a good spot where I would go unnoticed, but eventually I had the feeling that I wasn't alone. I hadn't heard anything, because of the ocean waves pounding on the shore.
As I slowly turned to look, I saw that there was a jeep full of young men right behind me - all just sitting there - intently watching me. There was no one else around on this mile long stretch of shoreline. I slowly turned back around and prayed, "Lord, let them just start up their jeep and leave!" And just like that they left.
Today's takeaway: I've heard many people say, "Why would we bring children into this evil world? How could we ever protect them?" But I think about how God protected Lot's daughters in one of the most sinful cities of all times. The people there wanted to have sex with the angles, and yet Lot's daughters were still virgins.
And even still, Lot was ready to sacrifice his daughters to protect his guests and keep the peace. Of course, God's protection far surpasses what we are able to do for our loved ones or even for ourselves. And God is able to protect us in more ways than we realize!...
(1 Chronicles 29:11-13) "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name."
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