“STRANGELS” – ANGELS UNAWARE!

 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

 

“STRANGELS” – ANGELS UNAWARE!

 

Gen 18:1-8

18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2 And he lift 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,

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

 

Half snoozing in the shade of his tent flap was the man who would become the father of two nations. A few things are not explained to us and so we speculate that Abraham might have been praying for a child – a son to carry on the family name. The appearance of three strangers might have alerted Abraham that his prayer was about to be visited with an answer. Or maybe not!

 

Abraham could simply have been a very hospitable man. These strangers were walking in the heat of the day – a time when travel was usually suspended until the sun was more favorable. These men would have needed shade first of all and so Abraham suggests they cool themselves under a tree. Water was brought to wash and cool their feet. A morsel of bread (to comfort their hearts) was promised but instead turned into a fatted calf. The only response to all this was “so do, as thou hast said!” That seems a bit strange to me and perhaps to Abraham as well because the meal preparation turned urgent – as if these men might vanish in the heat swirls of noon day. But these weren’t spirits because verse 8 says “they did eat.”

 

The next question of these three men would chill any man as they asked, “Where is Sarah, thy wife?” These three men, all strangers, not only asked about the wife but called her by name! Now, that is spooky. The next statement was even stranger as they announced that Sarah who was “old and well stricken in age” would be having a baby as the cycle came around.

 

The next exchange was even more chilling as one of the men identified himself. This was the Lord – big capital “L” – the Son of God in human form and he is not happy with the laughing response to the birth announcement.

 

Gen 18:13-14

13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

 

So, in the half-asleep existence of our lives – in the prayers that we little expect to be answered – let us be hospitable to strangers – “strangels” if you please.

 

Heb 13:2

2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

 

Dear Lord, awake me to your presence in my life today and help me to be hospitable to all I meet. AMEN