Genesis 18:2: “Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.”
Abraham had moved near Hebron and pitched his tents by the old trees of Mamre. Landmarks in the area, its leafy branches stretched tall into the sky and its ancient roots reached deep into the soil.
It was an ordinary day in the desert. In the midday heat it gets eerily quiet and all life seems to come to a temporary halt. Abraham sat at the entrance to his tent while Sarah busied herself in her quarters. The two of them haven’t had very much to say to each other ever since Ishmael was born. Abraham loved Ishmael with all of his heart while Sarah acted coolly around the boy. In fact, she looked very unhappy and it pained him to see her like this. He missed her companionship – he missed his wife. But no efforts on his part could bridge the distance he felt.
Abraham sighed and lifted his eyes to pray when he saw three men approaching his campground from the south, the bright light of the midday sun on their backs. Abraham was blinded by the light as he strained his eyes to see if he knew any of them. Perhaps they needed his help. No one travels in the heat of the day, unless there is an emergency. But the three men seemed strangely aloof and unaffected by the desert heat. With a steady, purposeful stride they came closer.
The middle-man had the bearing of a king and the two men traveling beside him looked like His attendants. Abraham rose up from his seating position and took a few steps towards them. The face of the Man in the center looked quite familiar. Where had he seen Him before? And then it dawned on Abraham: He looked like King Melchizedek whom he had met twenty years ago. This brief encounter had etched itself into Abraham’s memory. Strangely enough though, the King did not seem to have grown a day older since the last time they had met. His face shone, His demeanor was kind, but his eyes looked serious. Startled, Abraham muttered, “It’s Him”, and bowing low he invited the three visitors and said, “My lords, you must be tired. Please let me wash your feet and give you some refreshments.”
The Lord looked a little amused, but nodded and said: “Go ahead!” And the three men sat down under the old trees of Mamre. In a flurry Abraham went to look for Sarah and her servant. He had already selected a choice and tender calf from his herd. “Please roast the best parts of the calf”, he asked Sarah’s servant. Then he turned to Sarah and with urgency in his voice said: “Please use our finest flour and bake us some bread. Be quick!” He himself grabbed some appetizers, curds and milk, and set these before his guests.
Soon the servant brought out the roasted meat along with the freshly baked bread, and the men ate while Abraham stood nearby and waited on them. All the while Sarah chose to remain in her tent, but sat down near the entrance to overhear the conversation. And the Lord asked Abraham: “Where is your wife Sarah?” He replied: “There, in the tent.” Sarah wondered why they mentioned her at all. Then she heard a surprising message, something that her husband had reiterated ever since his last visit with the Lord. One of the visitors spoke up and said: “When I return next year, your wife Sarah will have a son.”
“A son”, something in Sarah’s heart shifted and she let out a small laugh. She hadn’t believed her husband when he related the incredible news to her, and now she heard it with her own ears coming from a mysterious Man who paid a surprise visit. “A son born to a woman as old as me – never have I heard of such a thing”, Sarah said to herself while listening to the men talk. The Lord said to Abraham: “Why did your wife laugh and say she is too old to have a baby?” Sarah blushed in her tent, cut to the heart. Completely mortified she opened her mouth and loudly said, “Oh no, I wasn’t laughing!” And without a trace of reproach in His voice the Lord replied: “Oh yes you did.” And that was the end of their conversation.
The three men got up from their seats and stretched their legs. Apparently they were headed to Sodom, and she could hear that her husband wanted to accompany them for a little ways. Soon after they had left Sarah stepped out of her tent and caught a last glimpse of the four men. “Isaac” – Sarah spoke the name of her future son with tenderness. “Our son’s name is Isaac – laughter. He will bring joy to the world. What a beautiful name for our future son!” And for the first time in years the clouds in her heart were pushed aside. A soft breeze caressed her face as she cleaned the table under the old trees of Mamre.