Genesis 18:1-15

Have you ever been spiritually stalled? A little lethargic? You feel like there’s just not much gas in the spiritual tank? Maybe it’s due to your lack of spiritual discipline. Maybe you are disappointed in God. Maybe you feel God hasn’t kept his promises to you. Maybe you have had to come to grips with the emotions of an unfulfilled lifelong dream. Today’s passage in Genesis 18 reminds us that God is on our side. He never forgets his promises. His timing is…his timing. And he will accomplish what he sets out to do.

Let’s start with a quick overview. God created Adam and Eve, placed them in a perfect environment, and gave them everything they could ever want. Because love cannot be forced, God gave the first couple free will. They used that gift from God to rebel against him, and sin entered humanity. In Genesis 3:15, God promised that he would send one through Eve’s offspring to defeat death and Satan. In Genesis 12, God chose Abraham and Sarah to be the parents of the people through which he would send the Savior. There was just one problem. Abraham, now ninety-nine years old, and Sarah, eighty-nine years old, were childless.

At the beginning of Genesis 18, Abraham is taking a break. It was the hottest part of a hot day, and he was sitting by the door of his tent. On that day, “the Lord appeared” (Genesis 18:1). God, himself, took on the form of a body. This is called a theophany. God arrived with two angels, also appearing in human form.

Abraham looked up, saw three men standing at a distance, and ran to meet them. As readers of the text, we know that one of the visitors was Yahweh. We don’t know if Abraham realized that. He might have suspected something out of the ordinary because he hurried to greet them and bowed down. If he knew one of the visitors was Yahweh, bowing down would have been the posture of worship. And bowing before visitors would have been an appropriate sign of honor.

Abraham invited the men to rest and eat with him. He gave instructions for Sarah to make bread from “three seahs of fine flour.” He then ran to his herd, chose one of his best calves, and instructed his servant to prepare it. Two things to note here. First, Abraham is acting with urgency. He is running from place to place. He told Sarah, “Quick! . . . Knead [the flour] and make cakes” (Genesis 18:6). Second, three seahs of flour is about twenty quarts. That would make a lot of bread. And the animal prepared was much more than three visitors needed.  A note from the NET Bible makes the point that “this was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham, and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.”^[1]

During the meal, the visitors asked about Sarah.

Genesis 18:9-10
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

Don’t miss the connection between Yahweh’s visit and the conception of the son. While Abraham and Sarah would come together physically, God would miraculously allow a couple well past childbearing years to conceive. Their son would be the son of promise, and there would be no doubt that God was in charge.

Sarah was listening to this conversation, and upon hearing the news of her future pregnancy, she laughed to herself and thought, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12). The question was warranted. Sarah had never been able to have children, and now, due to her age, “the way of women had ceased to be with” her (Genesis 18:11).

Genesis 18:13-14
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

At this point, Sarah must have realized the visitor was Yahweh. She was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But Yahweh did not let her off the hook. He said, “No, but you did laugh” (Genesis 18:15).

God’s question rings throughout Scripture. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Fast forward two thousand years to an angel’s visit with a young woman named Mary. When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would have a baby, she said, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

Luke 1:35-37
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

God allowed Abraham and Sarah to conceive and have a son. The Jewish race began through which the Savior would come.

God allowed a Jewish couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth—well advanced in years—to conceive and have a son who would prepare the way for Jesus.

God sent his angel Gabriel to a young Jewish girl named Mary and the impossible happened through God’s intervention. A virgin was with child. The Savior of all humanity was on the way.

I don’t know what you are going through, but I do know that God is writing his story in you, and I know two things about your story. God never wastes your time. The chapter he is writing today is preparing you for the chapter he’ll write tomorrow. And I know this—nothing is too hard for God. You can trust him. You can always trust him.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 18:1-15. Observe that the Creator God came to talk with Abraham and Sarah. Remember, he also speaks with us today.

Prayer and Application
Thank God for writing his story in you, even the painful parts. Thank him for never wasting your time. Thank God that nothing is too hard for him. Ask him to give you the faith to stand firm in his promises.

Have Questions?
Send us any questions you have. Our team is here to assist you as you explore God’s Word. Simply submit your question below, and we’ll get back to you soon.

^[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Gen. 18:6.