Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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Genesis -18
The Birth of Isaac Promised
1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he
sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; How Abraham expected strangers, and how richly his expectations were answered (Ge 18:1): He sat in the tent-door, in the heat of the day; not so much to repose or divert himself as to seek an opportunity of doing good, by giving entertainment to strangers and travellers, there being perhaps no inns to accommodate them. Note,
1. We are likely to have the most comfort of those good works to which we are most free and forward.
2. God graciously visits those in whom he has first raised the expectation of him, and manifests himself to those that wait for him. When Abraham was thus sitting, he saw three men coming towards him. These three men were three spiritual heavenly beings, now assuming human bodies, that they might be visible to Abraham, and conversable with him. Some think that they were all created angels, others that one of them was the Son of God, the angel of the covenant, whom Abraham distinguished from the rest (Ge 18:3), and who is called Jehovah, Ge 18:13. The apostle improves this for the encouragement of hospitality, Heb 13:2. Those that have been forward to entertain strangers have entertained angels, to their unspeakable honour and satisfaction. Where, upon a prudent and impartial judgment, we see no cause to suspect ill, charity teaches us to hope well and to show kindness accordingly. It is better to feed five drones, or wasps, than to starve one bee.
2 and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by
him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, When the visitor is an ordinary person, the host merely rises; but if of superior rank, the custom is to advance a little towards