“At the Tent”
Genesis 18:1-15
As we continue to read through the book of Genesis I think it is important to remember that we are reading only portions of a narrative each week. The complete narrative has main themes that follow through each section. By following the Literary Design of Genesis we have an idea of what will happen when. At this point we have completed the design with chapters 15 – 17 and we start anew today with chapters 18 & 19.
Do you remember Lot? The nephew of Abraham. He was a major player in the earlier chapters 11-14. But ever since the flood of the kings’ violence and him having to be rescued, we haven’t heard much about him. That’s because of the macro design of the larger section of Genesis. Lot will become the center of action when I return in July.
If you recall, the section began with a promise of the seed and a blessing, and it ended with – “but Lot went with him.” That little half obedience of Abraham ends up with a scenario of Lot having to be repeatedly rescued. This second time, Abraham steps in, not as the deliverer, but this time as the intercessor. Abraham will stand on the high place and intercede on behalf of the righteous who may be down in Sodom. Stay tuned for July 27th.
Today’s Scripture brings us back to a repetition of the promise of the future son. Abraham and Sarah are up on a high place by a sacred tree in their tent.
Yahweh is going to show up with two buddies, verse 1,
“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.”
The phrase, “heat of the day,” “khom hayyom” looks grammatically similar and should remind you of when Yahweh showed up for a walkabout at the “ruakh hayyom” the windy time of the day in the garden. God and human meet together, on the hill, with the trees, by the door of the tent. These words are meant to take us back to the garden of Eden.
We read that Abraham lifted his eyes, saw three men, and ran from the door of the tent to meet them. Abraham bowed down to the ground.
There we have the opening scene.
Abraham immediately offers proper etiquette. Abraham has water and food and a tree for shade. The three accept his offer.
Abraham hurries to the tent and tells Sarah to quickly create the recipe for what is known in Leviticus as the “meal offering.” Abraham wants to provide an offering at the door of the tent. In the meantime, Abraham ran to the cattle, took a calf, good and tender, and gave it to a young man who hurried to make it.
There’s something really important happening here. Think about it.
A meeting of God and humans, at the door of a tent, with meal offerings and communal offerings. This is supposed to make us think – Tabernacle!
Or, more clearly, we need to think the inverse because this is all before the tabernacle. Actually, we should be thinking, the lost Eden ideal, in which the tabernacle was established to represent a symbolic replay.
Look at the language here, Abraham “took and he gave.” Those are blinking red words at this point, taking us back to when Eve “took and gave.” However when the woman did this it was not good, but now, in this story, it’s really good. Abraham is preparing a feast here.
Again, knowing ancient Hebrew would help to understand the connections in this section.
- The Hebrew for “he took a calf, good and tender” compares to
- Genesis 3 where the name of the forbidden tree is “the tree of knowing good and evil.”
- In Hebrew, good is the word “tov,” bad is the word, “ra.”
- Here the word “good” is “tov” and the word tender is “ra.”
- Abraham takes what is “tov” and “ra” and gives it.
Here, we see Genesis 3, upside-down, we are watching redemption. Abraham is able to meet with God, at the tree, on the hill, by the door of the tent, they share a meal together and all is right and good. We are definitely brought back to Genesis 3, except it has flipped over.
It’s a tragedy, turned good. So what could go wrong?
Turn to Sarah. The men ask Abraham, verse 9,
“Where is your wife Sarah?”
Abraham responds telling them she is in the tent behind them.
They then tell Abraham that they will return “et khayyah” which is a Hebrew turn of phrase meaning, the spring, “the time when things come to life.”
The narrator then tells us that not only was Sarah in the tent behind them, she was listening at the entrance to the tent.
Oh, and by the way, Sarah was already very old, she was past the age of childbearing, no more times of the month for her. Because of this, Sarah, like Abraham in the last chapter, laughs to herself and exclaims, “
“After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
The English translation does not explain clearly what Sarah said. She actually uses the noun, “Eden.” A direct translation would be, “After my body’s worn out, will I really have Eden? And look, my master, he’s really old.”
This whole scene is set up with a little conversation outside the tent and then Sarah inside the tent.
We are given this window into Sarah’s heart and her mind and it really makes sense. Our previous view of Sarah in chapter 16 was not very sympathetic, remember?
She was mean and abusive. Here, we get the sense of empathy, we would have probably laughed too.
Next, the narrator takes us back outside the tent where the LORD said to Abraham, verse 13 & 14,
“Why did Sarah laugh and say,
‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Is anything too difficult or wondrous?
This is a difficult phrase to translate, but Jesus picked up on this, in Luke 18. Jesus says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Jesus was stating in Greek what the Septuagint translation used in this Hebrew phrase.
Stop! Think about it. This is about the birth of a seed, where there is no seed. It’s the growth of a seed where there is only dry land. Her womb is like a wilderness. It’s about Eden, the planting of a garden in the wilderness. It’s a metaphor for Sarah giving birth out of nothing.
As for you, the reader, you may be able to sympathize with Sarah, but
you just read how God created a cosmic order in a garden out of dark waters. You have read how He planted a garden out of a dry desert. When presented with the question, “Is anything impossible for Yahweh?” you have been trained that the answer is “No.” Yahweh is a pro at bringing something out of nothing.
In the conversation with Abraham, God repeats the promise,
“I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Next we are told, because she was afraid, Sarah acted deceitfully and lies, and said,
“I did not laugh.”
God’s response,
“Yes, you did laugh.”
The end of the scene. Like a good movie.
So what just occurred?
We began with God and humans at the tent on the hill by the door. They have a meal together, all good. God makes a promise, notice, this time He doesn’t issue a command, like “Don’t eat from the tree.” Instead, He repeats His promise.
The promise is responded with a lack of faith.
God confronts that lack of faith, and what do we get?
Deception, there’s a lie.
Back to understanding ancient Hebrew, the word for deceit or lying in Hebrew is the “kakhash.” The word for snake is “Nakhash.” If you saw each word written, the letter kaph and the letter nun have only a few little curves that make them different. In other words, this is a clever way of saying Sarah was acting like a snake at that point. There seems to always be one in each literary design. Today it is Sarah. Abraham was outside the tent, experiencing a redemption moment from Genesis 3. As for Sarah, she is imitating the nakhash with her kakhash.
God leaves with telling Sarah He knows the truth.
We have reestablished the literary design cycle of Genesis. We’re beginning back at Eden but the plot hangs in the balance and will be picked up later in chapter 21. In the meantime, what was this scene all about?
The scene takes us back to Eden, we are reminded that nations and seed come out of the womb of Sarah, and her womb was actually called Eden. Think about it, Eden is the birthplace of life. Which should also remind us of the ark, it was like a floating Eden. Within the darkness of the flood, we had a somewhat gestation period inside the ark, so to speak. Life came out of the ark, and generations existed, the same will be for Sarah’s womb.
The irony, Sarah’s response? Fearful laughter. She still doesn’t get it. She doesn’t even fake it. She down right doesn’t see how it is going to happen. To her, the odds are against the whole idea and it’s impossible.
From a human perspective, she’s right. But notice, her human perspective doesn’t get in God’s way of making sure His plan continues.
Her doubt doesn’t keep God from doing what He was planning to do. God will return, within a year, and Isaac will appear.
Check in time.
How many of us are like Sarah? We hear a promise from God and laugh, thinking that might work for others, but not me. Then we come up with some logical human reasoning that proves our skepticism. Oftentimes it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and unlike Sarah, it doesn’t happen and we feel we have missed out on the promise.
Yet, Is anything impossible for God?
What does it mean to say that “nothing is impossible with God”?
Does it mean that God can do anything, even if it is against the laws of nature?
Or does it mean that God can work with us to overcome the challenges we face in our lives?
The answer is that God can do both.
He can perform miracles, but He also works with us in our everyday lives.
He gives us the strength to overcome obstacles, the courage to face our fears, and the wisdom to make wise decisions.
When we believe that “anything is possible with God,” we are opening ourselves up to a world of possibilities. We are saying that we believe in God’s power and that we trust Him to work in our lives. We are also saying that we are willing to take risks and step outside of our comfort zones.
So if you are facing a challenge, remember that anything is possible with God. He is with you, and He is ready to help you overcome anything that comes your way, even if you doubt.
The scene at the tent starts the literary design with our connection to Eden. The next step in the cycle is some sort of conflict, rivalry or maybe some arguing or animosity between people. Stay tuned for the second part of chapter 18.
Let’s pray.
‘Nothing Is Impossible with God’ Bible Verses
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” – Matthew 19:26
“Ah, LORD God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” – Jeremiah 32:17
“For nothing will be impossible with God” – Luke 1:37
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13
“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” – Genesis 8:14
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2
“He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”” – Matthew 17:20
“But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”” – Luke 18:27
What Does ‘Nothing is Impossible With God’ Really Mean?
We do tend to overlook some passages. Whether it be because they are inconvenient, challenging, difficult to apply, or difficult to fit into our lives…we choose to emphasize others instead.
“Nothing is impossible with God” is one such verse. It is a statement we see and hear often, isn’t it? Nothing is impossible with God! We say these words to our friends and family members during trials when things look hopeless. Nothing is impossible with God!
We all believe that nothing is impossible with God — and yet, there lies a conflict. We might not even realize that the Bible offers us verses that make it clear — there are things not possible for God.
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged (Hebrews 6:18).
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind (1 Samuel 15:29).
It is impossible for God to lie or to change his mind or repent of something he has done or promised. Indeed, if God could lie or change his mind, then what would his promises be worth. Our hope would be…well, uncertain rather than certain.
It is impossible for God to sin — or to have sin in his presence. He commands us to be “perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
God cannot die, or even grow weary.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom (Isaiah 40:28).
I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
Our Living God cannot fail. When he speaks, his words must be carried out.
For no word from God will ever fail (Luke 1:37).
So, there are indeed things God cannot do. But…what does that mean for us?
What at first seems like a striking conflict is nothing of the sort. What seems like a contradiction is, in fact, a confirmation.
God stands by his Word to be there. God and his Words are one. God cannot lie, cannot fail, will never die. We can trust that what he tells us he can, and will, do, that indeed he can and will do them.
His promises will never fail us. We can, and should, have complete faith and confidence that we can rely on his Word. Why? Because some things are not possible for God.
And yet…sometimes we doubt.
How to Live Believing That Nothing Is Impossible with God
How often have we said it? Or heard it? Or even said it to ourselves in the midst of struggles, trials, or pain? In those moments, albeit well-intended, the words can seem empty and condescending, almost offensive. Nothing is impossible with God.
During those difficult times, we may find ourselves shaking our fists at God. Where is he during those times? He can often feel so distant. If all things are possible, why isn’t he fixing this? He promised to help. Yet we say it over and over, “Nothing is impossible with God.”
In the Gospel of Mark, we are told this story. As Jesus descended the mountain following the transfiguration, he came upon a man whose child was possessed by a demon.
The man said to Jesus, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus replied, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Clearly, Jesus’ repetition of the man’s words as a question, goes right to the man’s lack of confidence — lack of trust in Jesus.
The boy’s father then cried out to Jesus. “Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe! Help me to overcome my unbelief!’”
Then, came the command of Jesus, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And the boy was healed (Mark 9:21-27).
Like the boy’s father, we all want to believe. Almost everyone would agree that nothing is impossible with God. Yet, when faced with difficult challenges, it is sometimes difficult to take that to heart.
People struggle in believing God to provide the answer we so desperately seek. “Believing” in our minds is sometimes easy, but true belief is in the heart. Our minds can only imagine, think, wish, and hope for the answer. But believing in the heart means believing beyond what you can imagine or think of.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:19-21)
This is not to say we will be kept from trouble. In fact, we were promised trouble in this world, but we were also promised that Jesus had overcome the world (John 16:33).
We may not get the answers that we want at that moment we want them, but we can still count on those promises. Because it is impossible for God to lie or to fail his promises.
The proof of God’s love is not that we are kept from troubles, but that we can count on him to be with us through them.
Everything is possible for the one who believes. Lord, please help me with my unbelief.
