Chapters 18 and 19 constitute one integrated story, but we shall consider it section by section. Like the Flood story, it has a chiastic structure this time focusing on the announcement of the destruction of Sodom (19:12-13).526Again there is a mass destruction with only one man and his family escaping. Both stories end with intoxication and shameful treatment by children that has consequences for future generations.527
We perceive the Lord's gracious initiative toward Abraham in His visit to eat with the patriarch in his tent. This was a sign of intimate fellowship in Abraham's culture. On the basis of that close relationship God guaranteed the soon arrival of the promised heir. In response to Sarah's laugh of unbelief the Lord declared that nothing would be too difficult for Him.
This chapter and the next may seem at first reading to be extraneous to the purpose of the Abraham narrative, which is to demonstrate God's faithfulness to His promises to the patriarch. Notwithstanding they are not. Chapter 18 contributes the following.
1. It records another revelation (the sixth) in which God identified for the first time when the heir would appear (vv. 10, 14). With this revelation God strengthened Abraham's and especially Sarah's faith.
2. It fortifies Moses' emphasis on God's supernatural power at work to fulfill His divine promises (vv. 9-15).
3. As a literary device it provides an interlude in the story line and heightens suspense by prolonging the climax. We anticipate the arrival of the heir with mounting interest.
4. It presents Abraham as an intercessor, one of the roles of the prophets of whom Abraham was one of the first (cf. 20:7).
5. It records God's announcement of judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (vv. 16-33), which follows in chapter 19.
"The noon encounter in this chapter and the night scene at Sodom in the next are in every sense a contrast of light and darkness. The former, quietly intimate and full of promise, is crowned by the intercession in which Abraham's faith and love show a new breadth of concern. The second scene is all confusion and ruin, moral and physical, ending in a loveless squalor which is even uglier than the great overthrow of the cities."528
"There is also a blatant contrast between how Abraham hosted his visitors (ch. 18) and how the Sodomites hosted the same delegation (ch. 19)."529
18:1 Abraham was living near Hebron at this time (cf. 13:18).
18:2 The "three men"were "the Lord"(the Angel of Yahweh, vv. 13, 17, 20, 33) and the "two angels"(19:1; 18:22) who later visited Lot. If Abraham had previously met the Angel of the Lord it seems likely that he would have recognized Him at once (cf. 17:1, 22). If he had not, Abraham became aware of who this Angel was during this interview (cf. v. 25).
18:3-11 Abraham's hospitality reflects oriental custom as practiced in his day and, in some respects, even today in the Middle East.530He was behaving more wisely than he realized since he did not yet know that his guests were divine visitors (v. 8). "Where is Sarah?"(v. 9) recalls God's earlier questions about Adam (3:9) and Abel (4:9).
18:12 Sarah's laugh sprang from a spirit of unbelief due to long disappointment as is clear from the Lord's response to it (v. 14). Abraham's laugh (17:17) did not draw such a response.
18:13 The fact that the Lord knew Sarah had laughed and knew her thoughts demonstrated his supernatural knowledge to Abraham and Sarah. This would have strengthened their faith in what He told them.
18:14 The Lord's rhetorical question, one of the great statements of Scripture, reminded the elderly couple of His supernatural power and fortified their faith further (cf. Jer. 32:17, 27).
18:15 Sarah evidently denied that she had laughed from fear of the Lord's powers or from fear of offending Him. Again God built confidence in His word.
Believers should never doubt God's promises because nothing is impossible for Him.
