proaching. He ran to meet them, bowed down before them, and invited them [1] to rest in his tent and partake of some refreshment. Calling Sara, his wife, he told her to make some cakes of the finest flour. He caused the best calf of his herds to be killed for the entertainment of the unknown visitors. Butter, milk and honey were also placed before them, Abraham himself waiting upon his guests. After the meal, when they were about to depart, one of the strangers said to Abraham that after a year he would return, and that Sara, his wife, would have a son. Then Abraham understood that the Lord God Himself[2], accompanied by angels, was his guest.
COMMENTARY.
Faith. At the time that Almighty God told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, he and his wife Sara had no children, and both of them were growing very old. Therefore it seemed almost impossible that Abraham and Sara should have a son. Nevertheless, Abraham believed firmly in God’s promise that He would give him a son, that his descendants would become a great nation, and that of his family would be born the Redeemer. On account of his faith in God’s word, and especially in the promise of the future Saviour, Abraham was justified, i. e. he received sanctifying grace. Without faith no man can be justified, for “without faith it is 7 impossible to please God” (Hebr. n, 6). “The just man liveth by faith” (Rom. i, 17).
Hope. With firm confidence Abraham waited for everything that God had promised him, and gave himself over calmly to His guidance. “By faith he abode in the (strange) land”, says St Paul, “dwelling in tents, for he looked for a city that hath foundations (i. e. the heavenly Jerusalem), whose builder and maker is God” (Hebr. 11, 9. 10). He therefore regarded himself as a stranger and a pilgrim, and looked forward to his heavenly home and the eternal possession and vision of God.
Charity. Abraham’s faith was living, and active through love. He loved God above all things, as he proved in the story you will hear in Chapt. XIII. In the last chapter we saw how he loved his neighbour, and he again proved this by his behaviour to the three
- ↑ Invited them. He begged the strangers, as a favour to himself, to come and be entertained by him. He also brought water for them to wash their feet. In the East, in those days, people did not wear shoes or boots as we do, but only soles or sandals, bound to their feet by straps. The feet, being bare, became covered with dust, and had to be washed very often. To wash the feet of another was a service of love.
- ↑ God himself. He knew this, because the stranger revealed things to him which only God could have known.
