Genesis 18 · The Lantern

Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

But let us now see what is also said in what follows. "But Abraham himself," it says, "was standing by them under the tree." For narratives of this kind we require circumcised ears. For it is not to be believed that it was of the greatest concern to the Holy Spirit to write in the books of the law where Abraham stood.

[Daniel 8:15] "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it.

The Lord appeared to him in the valley of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, etc. This appearance of the Lord is considered to be more sacred than all the previous ones, in which He was seen so many times by the blessed Abraham.

And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Now let us see how each one receives. "Abraham saw," it says, "and ran to meet them." Consider at once how tireless and eager Abraham is in his duties. He himself runs to meet them, and when he had met them: "he hastens back," it says, "to the tent and says to his wife: hasten to the tent." See in each detail how great is the eagerness of the one receiving.

"Three men came to Abraham and stood over him." Observe how it is that they come upon him but not against him. He had subjected himself to God's will, and for this reason God is said to stand over him. "They stood over him," not against him to repulse him but over him for protection.

The other way of anagogy is above the skies, as in the case of Abraham who saw three men and worshiped one, for the Trinity appeared in these three; and in the case of the two angels who were sent to Sodom, the Son and the Holy Spirit who are sent by the Father; and because the Father is never sent, He was not seen there, but He was seen in the case of the three men, for here H…

“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.

Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”

So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

He sets forth therefore loaves sprinkled with "three measures of fine flour." He received three men, he sprinkled loaves with "three measures of fine flour." The whole of what he does is mystical, the whole is filled with sacraments.

(Chapter 18, Verse 6) And he said to him: Hurry, mix three measures of wheat flour. Because three measures are explicitly mentioned here, and the measure is uncertain: therefore I added that in Hebrew it has three sata, that is, three amphoras: so that we may understand the same mystery here and in the Gospel, where a woman is said to have fermented three measures of wheat flou…

Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said to her: "Hurry, mix three measures of fine meal, and make cakes upon the hearth." And he himself ran to the herd, and took a tender and good calf and gave it to the servant, who hastened and cooked it.

Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

"But he himself ran," it says, "to the cattle and took a calf." What kind of calf? Perhaps the one that could happen to run up first? It is not so, but a "good and tender" calf. And although he hastens in all things, yet he knows what things, being chief and great, are to be offered to the Lord or to the angels.

Now although this meat is a burden unto the wise and prudent, yet was it given by promise unto Noah, and it was sent unto Elijah in a gift, and Abraham received God and His angels thereby, and Isaac was pleased to pour out blessings upon Jacob thereby, and Samuel offered this gift beforehand to Saul as to a king, and David and all the righteous kings made use of such meat, and…

The tender and excellent calf that Abraham took from the herd signifies the Mediator between God and humans, whom the most merciful Father killed for his returning younger son, that is, the Gentile people, according to the parable of the Gospel.

Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate.

But thou wilt not be able to stand in the freedom of spiritual beings until thou hast cast away entirely the bondage of carnal beings, for when thou hast cast away this bondage like a spiritual being and freeman thou mayest eat of every thing blamelessly, without making thy heart gross by the eating of flesh, and the drinking of wine will not cloud thy thoughts, even as it is w…

He also took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had cooked, and set it before them. By the milk, the beginnings and as it were the elements of the Mosaic law; by the butter, the perfection of evangelical doctrine; by the milk, the simplicity of the letter in the Scriptures, by the butter, the virtue of the mystical sense which is usually generated from the letter, is expre…

“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied.

What then does the Lord say to Abraham? "Where is," he says, "Sarah your wife? And he: behold, he says, in the tent. And the Lord said: coming I will come to you in season according to this time, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.

After they had eaten, "they inquired about Sarah." She, who even in her old age had preserved her modesty, came out from inside the tent to the door of the tent.

And when they had eaten, they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" He answered, "Behold, she is in the tent." Then he said, "I will return to you at this time next year, if life be with us, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." Both indeed the lords of the house, and evidently Abraham and Sarah, prepared with the utmost haste a meal; but as if in a well-ordered house, Abra…

Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

It was not that God, who had just said, "their sins were very grave," did not know that they had sinned. This was an example to judges not to prejudge a case, even based on very reliable hearsay.

The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied, he said. Well did he say that sins can cry out. Great surely is the cry of sinners as it mounts from earth to heaven. But why does he say that the sins of people cry out? It is because God says his ears are assaulted by the cries of our sins that the punishment of sinners be not delayed.

The Lord therefore said: "The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has been multiplied, and their sin has become very grave." He calls the outcry of Sodom the reputation or rather the infamy of their crimes, from which the Apostle, admonishing us, says: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice" (Ephesians 4:31).

I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

"I have come down therefore," he says, "that I may see whether they are being consummated according to their cry which comes to me. But if not, that I may know." From this saying the heretics are accustomed to assail my God, saying: behold, the God of the law did not know what was being done in Sodom, unless he had come down to see, and had sent those who might find out.

"I will go down," he says, "and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know." Therefore, when the Lord said that he would go down to see whether the same outcry was true, he did not show his ignorance, who possesses the knowledge of all things, but instructs our rashness, lest we presume to blame the deeds of other…

And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins [Hebrews 11:37] went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture].

[Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27).

Since I have begun, I will speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. By this word he clearly rebukes our pride, we who are far distant from the height of his merits, far removed from divine conversation due to our slowness and inertia, nevertheless inflated with the pride of arrogance, do not recall that we are destined to be dust and ashes; for blessed Abraham, the clo…

suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”

Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis18