The Visitors

How does God speak to you?

I know people who talk about God talking to them as they would about anyone else, as though he came around and they chatted over a cup of coffee.

Wouldn't that be something?

For Abraham, though, that seems to be what happened, with the arrival in a vision, or perhaps in person, of three men.

But God also spoke to Abraham directly, so who were the three men?

So the men turned from there, and went towards Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  - Genesis 18:22-23

According to Jewish sages, as explained in an article on the site Hebrew4Christians, the three were archangels, Michael, Raphael and Gabriel.  Each had a mission.  Michael was there to announce that Sarah would bear a son, while Raphael was there to heal Abraham of his circumcision.  But Gabriel had a different mission, not directly involving Abraham, the mission to deal with Sodom.

Now I know God's ways are not easy to understand, but I still question why he would send Gabriel to Abraham with the others, unless he wanted Abraham to know about the mission to destroy the wicked.

When we read this chapter of Genesis, we often focus on the haggling between Abraham and God over the righteous who will be slain with the wicked.  Abraham stands up to God and makes a case for them, and we admire him for that, but what if that was God's reasoning behind letting Abraham in on the plan.

If God chooses to let us in on something, don't you think he wants us to do something about it?

Perhaps we have an example here of how God works in this world, how he chooses to offer us opportunities to do something with the lives he gave us.

Abraham's visitors arrived as traveling Arabs, and at first, he had no idea who they were.  So, whom does God send to us?

The idea that I could be approached by a stranger and in that moment be talking with an angel of God is mind-blowing, especially if I ignore the guy and go about my business.

How upsetting would that be?  Of course, if I never know, I would never be upset about it, and that is the point, isn't it?  We think God doesn't send messengers to us because we don't take the time to get to know them, or even to listen to them.

So, what is the message here?  Should I take the time to listen to everyone I encounter?

Maybe.  Yes, that takes work, and it requires more than just our time.  We need to be open to strangers, putting ourselves at risk.  But, if we do, we might find that like Abraham, we are given a chance to challenge the outcome and maybe make a difference in the world.

Or not.

One thing is clear.  It is up to us to choose.

More to come...