Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.””
(Genesis 18:2-5)

Abraham was ready to be of service to those travelling in the heat of the day. He didn’t want to stop their journey. He wanted to be a blessing to them. To give them rest. To provide for their needs. And then to let them continue on their way. This was hospitality. This was going the extra mile to care for others. This was the heart God wanted all people to have for others. Lack of this heart is a slippery slope that deteriorates the rest of the godly values in someone’s life. That simple decision to NOT offer help. To NOT care about those around us. To NOT lift a hand to be hospitable – whether that’s helping someone put groceries in their car, providing a meal, providing a safe space, or giving them something you have that they desperately need. An outward heart is what we ALL should have. That is God’s heart as well.

Abraham running to them and bowing down demonstrates that on some level he recognized who they were. He was ready for ANY encounter, but he truly responded when he saw who it was. This is born out by what Abraham calls them. He uses the word Adonai (the Lord), which is what he called God in their previous encounter (Genesis 15:8).

Although this was the Lord and two angels (or as some scholars think, three angels), they met Abraham where his trust in God was. They FULLY appeared as men. They were not apparitions. They let their feet physically be washed. They ate food. They interacted just like any other human. If Abraham hadn’t recognized in his spirit (or heart) who they really were, there would be nothing to differentiate them from other human beings. Anyone not spiritually plugged into God would see them as anyone else and be unaware of their true nature (Hebrews 13:2).

God does speak to us. He does it through His Word. He gives commentary on what He says in His Word. And He helps guide us throughout our lives in big and in small ways. But if we truly want encounters with God, we need to expect them. We need to be ready and looking for Him. God shows up to us on the level that we can handle – even when He is calling us to deeper things. Abraham was ready for an encounter. He was expecting. And God met Him where he was. God responded to that expectation.

The sage Rashi writes: ‘והנה שלשה אנשים AND BEHOLD THREE MEN — one to announce to Sarah the birth of a son, one to overthrow Sodom, and one to cure Abraham, for one angel does not carry out two commissions (Genesis Rabbah 50:2). You may know that this is so because throughout this section it (Scripture) mentions them in the plural — “and they ate” (Genesis 18:8), “and they said unto him” (Genesis 18:9) — whilst in the case of the announcement it states, (Genesis 18:10) “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee”, and with regard to the overthrow of Sodom it says (Genesis 19:22) “For “I” cannot do anything” and (Genesis 19:21) “that “I” will not overthrow [the city]”. Raphael who healed Abraham went thence to rescue Lot; that explains what is stated (Genesis 19:17) “And it came to pass when they had brought them forth, that he said, Escape for thy life”, for you learn from this that only one of these acted as Deliverer. וירא AND HE SAW — What does the repetition of this word וירא imply? The first time it has its ordinary meaning (“he looked”), the second that of understanding: he saw that they were standing in one spot, and so understood that they had no desire to cause him any trouble. Although they knew that he would go to meet them they nevertheless remained where they were out of respect to him and to show him that they wished to spare him trouble; he, therefore, took the initiative and ran towards them. In the Treatise Bava Metzia 86b we have the following: It is written, “they were standing by him” and it is also written “He ran towards them” — how can these apparently contradictory statements be reconciled? But the explanation is, that at first they stood by him and when they perceived that he was loosening and re-binding his bandages, they retired from him; he therefore immediately ran towards them.’

The sage Chizkuni writes: ‘אל נא תעבור מעל עבדך, “please do not continue without stopping by at your servant.” Avraham addressed the most important one of them. To the question how he knew which one was the most important one, the answer is that the other two appeared to walk alongside him on either side in the manner that students do when they accompany their Rabbi. We know this from the Talmud, Yuma 37. The text there reads as follows: when the three angels appeared to Avraham, Michael walked in the center and Gavriel and Rafael on either side of him. (Our sages supplied us with the order of the hierarchy of the angels. (Compare an interesting edition called malachey elyon, by Rabbi Reuven Margolit, published by Mossad Harav Kook.) Rashi adds; “even though the Torah reports Avraham as running to meet them after he had already addressed them, the Torah did not report this in the chronological sequence. He had run to meet them before, as otherwise he would have had to shout at them. You might disagree by quoting the Talmud in Pessachim 6, according to which the principle of the Torah not being bound to report in chronological sequence only applies when two or more different occurrences are discussed, and here we are dealing with a single occurrence; but according to Rashi, the system used by the Torah here, is the one known as מקרא מסורס, “a truncated verse.”’

The sage Rabbeinu Bahya writes: ‘ואקחה פת לחם, “and I will take a piece of bread, etc.” This is an example of what the sages said in Baba Metzia 87 that the righteous promise very little whereas they do a great deal, more than they promised. This is why the Torah reports in verse 7 that Avraham prepared a sumptuous meal for his guests including meat from his best calves. וסעדו לבכם, “refresh your hearts.” These words are clear proof that Avraham had realised already that the men he was facing were angels though they appeared to him in the guise of ordinary mortals. This is why he spoke of לבכם when he referred to their heart. Had they been human beings Avraham should have said לבבכם, as the heart of a human being is called לבב as we know from Psalms 104,15 ולחם לבב אנוש יסעד, “and bread refreshes the heart of man.” Angels who do not have an evil urge (Megillah 14) have a heart which is simple, not exposed to contradictory demands by two urges, the good urge and the evil urge. The absence of a letter such as this ב has often been the means by which we have learned a variety of lessons. For instance, in Exodus 31,17 the Torah writes כי ששת ימים עשה ה’ את השמים ואת הארץ “for on six days G’d completed the making of heaven and earth.” According to correct grammar, the word ששת should have been preceded by the letter ב for this translation to be correct. The absence of that letter teaches that the maximum period of time which this universe is going to endure before undergoing a major transformation is six thousand years, seeing that in G’d’s calendar one thousand years in our time are only considered one day. (compare Bereshit Rabbah 19,14 based on Psalms 90,4 כי אלף שנים בעיניך כיום אתמול “for a thousand years in Your eyes are merely like yesterday.”) This is another example teaching you that not a single letter in the Torah- be it a letter too many or a letter too few- is without profound significance. Moses stressed this point when near the end of his life (Deut. 32,47) he said: כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם, “for not a single word is empty, (devoid of meaning) for you.” Our sages (Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 1,5) interpret this line as follows: “if a word appears “empty,” the “emptiness” is due to you, i.e. מכם. We find another example of the importance of a single letter in Psalms 48,14 where the psalmist (one of the sons of Korach) writes שיתו לבכם לחילה, “take note of its ramparts;” the letter ב is missing in the word לבכם although it is clear that mortal human beings are being addressed here. The answer is that the psalmist speaks of a distant future when the people of whom he speaks will no longer be troubled by an evil urge. Our sages (Midrash Tehillim 48) were aware of this and pointed out that this is the reason the word חילה (read cheylah) is actually spelled as חולה (from מחול, dance, as well as חולה, sick) to hint at the dancing performed by the righteous (now sick, i.e. Avraham) in a perfect world of the future. כי על כן עברתם, “this is why you have come by, etc.” Avraham meant that had he been aware beforehand that these men were going to visit him he would have prepared a feast for them.’