in his guests only three tired wayfarers." Had the patriarch been less earnest in his purpose to entertain these travelers, they would have passed on in their mission to Sodom, and he would have lost the blessing of a face-to-face communion with the mes sengers from heaven. More than this, the spokesman of the three was none. other than the Son of God. I n proof of this read the first verse of chapter 18: "And the LORD [Heb., Jeho vah] ap "And he stood by them under the tree, peared unto and they did eat." Gen. 18: 8. him [Abra ham] in the plains of Mamre," where the patriarch dwelt. In each instance where the word LORD is used in this chapter, it is from Jehovah in the original He brew. Besides the Father, the Son of God is the only being in the universe to whom, in the Bible, the term Jehovah is applied.* After the meal the Lord promised the aged patriarch a son through whom should be fulfilled the promise that from him should arise a mighty nation which should represent God in the earth. It was then that Abraham realized that he had entertained beings from the heavenly world. The text also shows that he recognized that it was the Son of God who was talking with him. The two angels went on to Sodom, while the Lord remained to tell Abraham of their mission to that wicked city. It was then that the beautiful circumstance occurred of Abraham's pleading for the doomed city. See Gen. ANGEL VISITORS. "In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the righteous, and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they have passed the boundary of God's forbear ance. "Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their conncils angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked upon them; human ears have listened to their appeals; human lips have opposed their suggestions and ridiculed their counsels; human hands have met them with insult and abuse. In the council hall and the court of justice, these heavenly messengers have shown an intimate acquaintance with human history; they have proved themselves better able to plead the cause of the oppressed than were their ablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated purposes and arrested evils that would have greatly retarded the work of God, and would have caused great suffering to His people. In the hour of peril and distress, 'the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.'"- Great Controversy, p. 632. *In our English Bible, wherever the name of the Deity is printed in SMALL CAPITAL letters, it indicates that the word in the original is Jehovah, ANGEL MESSENGERS. Angels are sent on missions of mercy to the children of God. To Abraham, with promises of blessing; to the gates of Sodom, to rescue righteous Lot from its fiery doom; to Elijah, as he was about to perish from weariness and hunger in the desert; to Elisha, with chariots and horses of fire surrounding the little town where he was shut in by his foes; to Daniel, while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a heathen king, or abandoned to become the lions' prey; to Peter, doomed to death in Herod's dungeon; to the prisoners With the promise that the city would be spared if ten righteous persons could be found within its gates, Abraham was content. He knew that there were more than that number of the family of Lot alone, and he felt confident that the safety of the city was assured. But the Lord sees not as man sees, for God knows the heart. The angels failed to find ten righteous persons in that great city, and its doom was sealed. The two angels who had de at Philippi; to Paul and his parted from Abraham, appeared companions in the night of tempest on the sea; to open the mind of Cornelius to receive the gospel; to dispatch Peter, with the message of salvation to the Gentile stranger,-thus holy angels have, in all ages, minis tered to God's people." Great Controversy, þ. 512. to Lot as he sat in the gate of Sodom at even. Like his uncle Abraham, Lot insisted that the strangers should partake of his hospitality. So they came to his house, "and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." Gen. 19:1-3. Soon a mob gathered about the door of the house and demanded that the strangers be delivered up to them. Lot went out to reason with them, and disperse them if possible, but he could not, and as his very life was in danger, and the door was about to be broken in, "the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door." Vs. 10. Through the miracle of smiting the people with blindness, the mob was finally dispersed. In the morning the angels hurried Lot and his wife and two daughters out of the city. But it was hard for them to leave their friends and their beautiful home. "And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city." Gen. 19:16. This whole account of the experience of Abra "In the morning the angels hurried Lot and his wife and two daughters out of the city." ham and Lot is very real and impressive. The angels here mentioned were not mere immaterial phantoms. They had bodies and parts the same as men. They partook of material food, and did not hesitate to lay hands upon Lot and his family, and with force hasten them in their escape. These accounts are given in all their minuteness that we may gain, with other lessons, a correct understanding of the nature and work of heavenly beings. In another instance Balaam's ass saw an angel in the way and "turned aside" from him. When the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, he also saw the angel. The Lord permitted the humble beast to see the angel A SPIRITUAL BODY. at the first, but the Spiritual Bodies. ual bodies as well as bodies of this life. Contrasting gross, perishable bodies with spiritual, imperishable bodies, the apostle says, "It is sown a natural body [at death]; it is raised a spiritual body [at "The saints will have spirit- the resurrection]. There is a ual bodies after the resurrection. remarks: "A spirit without body is also, according to the Scriptures, simply a shadow, and in this sense the Scriptures are all the way through materialistic, in opposition to the spiritualism [the spiritual as compared with the material] of the moderns; only they place imperishable matter everywhere in contrast with the perishable matter." natural body, and there is a spiritual body." I Cor. 15:44. A spiritual body is not necessarily gross. Eventually the redeemed saints, as well as the angels, will have spiritual bodies. How and when does man obtain this spiritual body?—At the resurrection this great change will come. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Cor. 15: 53. |
