ABRAHAM ENTERTAINS THE ANGELS
Genesis 18.1 to 16
=Interpretation.= These verses have given no little difficulty
to the ancient Hebrew commentators. The first verse contains a
statement of God's appearing to Abraham but does not give any
content to this revelation, and then the three angels are introduced
into the narrative as if another revelation were here intended.
Moreover the number of angels that appeared to Abraham when one
might have served the purpose as well also presented its difficulty,
since Christian theologians, connecting this verse with the
preceding, tried to employ it as an argument for the trinity. There
are furthermore in these verses frequent changes of number which
are difficult to account for. Thus in verse 3, Abraham addresses
the angels in the singular, in verse 4 in the plural. In verse 9,
we read _va-yomeru_ "And they said" while verse 10 which seems a
continuation of this conversation begins _va-yomar_ "And he said".
In verse 13 God himself suddenly breaks into the conversation. A
comparison with other parts of the Bible in which angels appear
shows that they too exhibit similar peculiarities of style.[2]
[2] See for instance Genesis 19. 16, 17; 31. 11 to 13; 32. 25 to 31;
48. 15 to 16. Exodus 3. 2, etc.; 23. 20 to 22. Judges 2. 1 to 2; 4.
12 to 14; 13. 17 to 18, 21 to 22.
The study of these passages shows the following characteristic
features of the Biblical conception of angels which will help to
clear up the difficulties of our text. The angel, as the name both
in Hebrew and English implies, is the messenger of God. Inasmuch
as he exists only to do God's bidding his words are the words
of God and may be introduced by the words "God said" as well as
by "the angel (or angels) said". This accounts for the apparent
inconsistency in the use of singular and plural in our passage. The
angel has no discretionary power, as appears from the statement in
Exodus 23. 21, that the angel cannot forgive sin. Inasmuch as he
has no individual personality or will of his own but is merely a
manifestation of God's will, he has no name of his own, the name
being a mark of individuality, but bears the name of God, which
being a mystery, he may not reveal.[3] (Genesis 32. 3. Exodus 23.
21. Judges 13. 18.) This idea of the impersonality of the angels is
carried a step further by the Rabbis, who insist that no angel ever
executes more than one message and account for the number of angels
that appeared to Abraham by assigning to each a separate mission;
one to predict to Abraham the birth of Isaac, another to rescue Lot,
and a third to destroy Sodom. But such an explanation is scarcely
necessary as there are other passages in the Bible where a number of
angels are mentioned for no clear reason, as for instance in Jacob's
dream. As for the difficulty that we found in verses one and two, it
can now be made clear by understanding the appearance of the angels
in verse two as the explanation of the revelation referred to in
verse one.
[3] The significance of this cannot be gone into here. An
interesting treatment of it is to be found in Wiener's Essays in
Pentateuchal Criticism. Pages 47-53.
Regarding the significance of angels in general, we may consider the
accounts of their appearances as intended by the Biblical author to
convey his appreciation of the mystery of how God can communicate
with mortals without loss to His divine majesty. They certainly
do convey something of this appreciation to the child, for the
imagination of children notwithstanding their natural tendency to
conceive of God in anthropomorphic terms, is impressed by these
mysterious heralds of an invisible kingdom with a sense of the
majesty of God's rule.
=Aim.= This episode has always been made use of, and rightly so, to
impress the pupil with an appreciation of that courteous interest
in the stranger and deferential attention to his wants and desires
which constitute the true grace of hospitality, but an equally
important educational value, perhaps from the point of view of the
child an even more important one, is its power of impressing him
with a sense of the mysterious possibilities of this world, in which
any passing stranger that we entertain may turn out to be an angel
in disguise, who will reveal himself to us and bless us if we do
not turn him from our door. The story should leave the child with
the feeling expressed in the exclamation, "Is anything too hard for
the Lord". The teacher must of course not lose sight nor permit the
child to lose sight of the story's connection with the main theme
of the birth of Isaac, the significance of which we have already
pointed out in the previous lesson.
=Suggestions to the teacher.= This is a story whose educational
value would only be lost by analyzing its moral as the beauty of a
flower is destroyed by pulling it apart to show its structure. Tell
the story simply and, as nearly as possible, in the language of
the Bible itself. Be careful to give the story its characteristic
picturesque setting, and begin therefore by contrasting modern
conditions of housing and travel with those of Abraham's days, thus
establishing a point of contact with the child's present experience.
The following facts should be impressed on the child:
1. That Abraham's nomadic life, which was also the life led by many
of his contemporaries, necessitated his dwelling in a tent which
could be pitched wherever he wanted to make his home,
2. That traveling was to a large extent on foot over hot sand or
stones,
3. That travelers were not sure of obtaining food at regular
intervals, and
4. That it was consequently a great kindness to offer them rest and
refreshment.
After this introduction, tell the story of how Abraham one day saw
three tired travelers on the road approaching in the direction of
his tent and invited them to rest, refresh themselves and partake of
food. Then, in a manner which would suggest that you are confiding
to the class a great secret, tell them that these men whom Abraham
had invited were not really men at all but angels of God.
The incident of Sarah's laughing when the angel delivers his message
and then denying that she had laughed should not be omitted as it
affords an interesting human touch to the story and still more as it
gives the occasion for the angel's reply which contains the moral
of the story, "Can anything be too wonderful for God?" There is no
need of glossing over Sarah's prevarication and certainly no need
of giving it undue emphasis, but the incident should be told in
such a way that her motive is made clear. Say, for instance; "Now
as you know, Sarah was very old, so old that she thought herself
too old to have a little baby, and when she heard, from behind the
curtain of the tent, the angel telling Abraham that in a year's time
she should have a son she laughed, just as you would laugh if I told
you that a rose bush would have roses in mid-winter. But the angel
said to Abraham, 'Why does Sarah laugh? Is there anything that God
cannot do?' Then Sarah was ashamed and said, 'I did not laugh'. But
the angel said, 'Nay but thou didst laugh and Sarah was more ashamed
than ever, for she knew that she had not told the truth, and she
said no more."