“The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre.” (Genesis 18:1 NLT)

Abram (who was later renamed Abraham) was given an extraordinary promise. God announced that He would bless Abram with a son and a land for his descendants. Those descendants would become a great nation—one that would bless all other nations.

God didn’t include a timetable with His promise. He wanted Abram and his wife Sarai (who was later renamed Sarah) to trust Him. But as time passed, that became more and more difficult for the childless couple.

In Genesis 12, God instructed Abram to leave his country and move to the land of Canaan—the Promised Land. When Abram got to Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and confirmed His promise to give the land to Abram’s descendants. And in Genesis 17, the Lord appeared to Abram to make a covenant with him. If Abram served God faithfully and lived a blameless life, God would give him countless descendants. The Lord then changed Abram’s name to Abraham because he would be the father of many nations.

One day, Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day when he saw three men nearby. Abraham recognized one of them as the Lord Himself. The Bible doesn’t say how Abraham recognized Him, but it may have been because he had already encountered the Lord on two previous occasions.

So the encounter at Mamre was the third time the Lord appeared to Abraham. And on all three occasions, it was Jesus he came face to face with. It couldn’t have been God the Father. The apostle Paul wrote of Him, “No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will” (1 Timothy 6:16 NLT). Jesus Himself touched on His encounter with Abraham during His confrontation with the Pharisees in John 8. “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” they replied (verse 57 NLT). They couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea that the One who stood before them had also stood before Abraham centuries earlier.

Unlike the Pharisees, Abraham knew exactly who he was talking to. And it must have gratified him to hear the Lord confirm again that Sarah would give birth to a son. Sarah, on the other hand, had a different reaction. She laughed to herself when she heard the Lord’s words. She was, after all, nearly ninety years old, and Abraham was nearly one hundred—not exactly the prime childbearing years.

Jesus reassured the couple with an important question by quoting Genesis 18:14: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (NLT) Within a year, they would have their answer. And they would name him Isaac.

It is interesting how Jesus came to different people in the Bible. To Abraham, Jesus came as a traveler. We know that Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56 NLT). Why did the Lord come to Abraham as a sojourner? That is what Abraham was.

Jesus meets us where we are, in a way that resonates with us. He appeared to Abraham and Sarah to encourage them to be patient, to trust God’s timing, and to prepare for the blessings and challenges that lay ahead. He does the same thing for us, as often as necessary, through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Reflection question: How might the Lord reassure you or give you the perspective you need to trust His promises and His timing?

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