Abraham's Encounter at Mamre

Abraham's perspective on the Sodom and Gomorrah story began the day he had an encounter with the Lord at the great trees of Mamre. That encounter began with a promise that Sarah would have a son. The discussion then turned to what the Lord was going to do at Sodom. These stories replayed with Hillary's run for office beginning a year later and with the start of Clinton's impeachment, directly on the expected prophetic date.

Background

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah began at the great trees of Mamre.

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־ הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ 2וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּה֙ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים נִצָּבִ֖ים עָלָ֑יו וַיַּ֗רְא וַיָּ֤רָץ לִקְרָאתָם֙ מִפֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֔הֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ אָֽרְצָה׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, 3 men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1And Jehovah appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, (ASV)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1AND the LORD revealed himself to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of the tent in the heat of the day; 2And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood at a distance from him; and when he saw them, he ran from the door of the tent to meet them and bowed himself to the ground, (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, (RSV)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.(NIV)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, (WEB)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1The LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, (WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:1-2 1AND Yahvah revealed himself to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of the tent in the heat of the day; 2And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw 3 men stood at a distance from him; and when he saw them, he ran from the door of the tent to meet them and bowed himself to the ground, (BRB)

Abraham knew that he was having a very special encounter with the Lord, rarely in the Bible is there a personal encounter such as this. In fact no where else do we find the Lord appearing with a couple angels and spending a day with someone. Moses would have to go up to the Lord's dwelling. David would not have a similar encounter, nor would any of Abraham's immediate family, even down through the patriarchs. This was indeed a very special meeting time.

After agreeing to let Abraham host a meal the focus of the conversation turned to Sarah.

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵׅלָׅ֔יׅוׅ אַיֵּ֖ה שָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר הִנֵּ֥ה בָאֹֽהֶל׃ 10וַיֹּ֗אמֶר שׁ֣וֹב אָשׁ֤וּב אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ בֵ֖ן לְשָׂרָ֣ה אִשְׁתֶּ֑ךָ וְשָׂרָ֥ה שֹׁמַ֛עַת פֶּ֥תַח הָאֹ֖הֶל וְה֥וּא אַחֲרָֽיו׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10And he said, I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. (ASV)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9¶ And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Behold, she is in the tent. 10And the LORD said, I will certainly return to you at this time next year, and lo, Sarah your wife shall be with child, and shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind her. (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent." 10The LORD said, "I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. (RSV)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said.

10Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. (NIV)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9They said to him, 'Where is Sarah, your wife?

He said, 'See, in the tent.'

10He said, 'I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.'(WEB)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9They said to him, 'Where is Sarah, your wife?

He said, 'See, in the tent.'

10He said, 'I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.'(WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:9-10 9And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Look, she is in the tent. 10And Yahvah said, I will certainly return to you at this time next year, and look, Sarah your wife will be pregnant, and will have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind her. (BRB)

This was something of a shock because of Sarah's age. She will be 90 years old at the appointed time, much too old to have a child. Her response is like the response of a 90 year old today would be to such a promise.

1 Genesis 18:12 12וַתִּצְחַ֥ק שָׂרָ֖ה בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר אַחֲרֵ֤י בְלֹתִי֙ הָֽיְתָה־ לִּ֣י עֶדְנָ֔ה וַֽאדֹנִ֖י זָקֵֽן׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:12 12And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (ASV)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am grown old, shall I renew my youth, my lord being old also? (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:12 12So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?" (RSV)

1 Genesis 18:12 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"(NIV)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'(WEB)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'(WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:12 12Therefore, Sarah laughed inside herself, saying, After I am grown old, will I renew my youth, my lord also being old? (BRB)

Sarah's laughter leads to the name for the child, Isaac, or laughter. Sarah's age also provides the key for dating the story, revealing when it happened in history and when it happens again.

Dating the encounter

Abraham will be 100, and Sarah 90 at the time of the birth of Isaac. We've already established the placement of the life span of Abraham on the overall timeline from Adam. We've also established the day-for-a-year repitition placement on the modern calendar so we can date the prophetic replay of the encounter. The year was 8882 from Adam, a year that replayed in the modern era according to the following date report:

Date of Abraham's Encounter with the Lord
ET NumberDayModern DateBible DateAA Number
ET:8882 Sat 21 Nov 1998 NS 3489/11/6 FE AA:4738296

It is here that we look for headline fulfillment, something we do below.

More to the Story

The story of the encounter between Abraham and the Lord continued to unfold, with another important component to the encounter as the Lord and his angels were leaving.

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16וַיָּקֻ֤מוּ מִשָּׁם֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וַיַּשְׁקִ֖פוּ עַל־ פְּנֵ֣י סְדֹ֑ם וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם הֹלֵ֥ךְ עִמָּ֖ם לְשַׁלְּחָֽם׃ 17וַֽיהוָֹ֖ה אָמָ֑ר הַֽמְכַסֶּ֤ה אֲנִי֙ מֵֽאַבְרָהָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֲנִ֥י עֹשֶֽׂה׃ 18וְאַ֨בְרָהָ֔ם הָי֧וֹ יִֽהְיֶ֛ה לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל וְעָצ֑וּם וְנִ֨בְרְכוּ ב֔וֹ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֥י הָאָֽרֶץ׃ 19כִּ֣י יְדַעְתִּ֗יו לְמַעַן֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְצַוֶּ֜ה אֶת־ בָּנָ֤יו וְאֶת־ בֵּיתוֹ֙ אַחֲרָ֔יו וְשָֽׁמְרוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְהוָ֔ה לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת צְדָקָ֖ה וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט לְמַ֗עַן הָבִ֤יא יְהוָה֙ עַל־ אַבְרָהָ֔ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־ דִּבֶּ֖ר עָלָֽיו׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; 18seeing that Abraham had surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (ASV)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16¶ And the men rose up from there and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to see them off. 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from my servant Abraham the thing which I am going to do, 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him? 19For I know him well, and that he will command his children and his household after him, to keep the ways of the LORD, to do justice and righteousness; for the LORD shall fulfil for Abraham the thing that he has spoken concerning him. (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? 19No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." (RSV)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."(NIV)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17Yahweh said, 'Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.' (WEB)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17The LORD said, 'Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.' (WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:16-19 16And the men rose up from there and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to see them off. 17And Yahvah said, Will I hide from my servant Abraham the thing which I am going to do, 18Seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him? 19For I know him well, that he will command his children and his household after him, to keep the ways of Yahvah, to do justice and righteousness; for Yahvah will fulfill for Abraham the thing that he has spoken concerning him. (BRB)

Understand the strangeness of what is taking place here. Abraham is the father of all who believe in Jesus. He is the father of the faith, the father of the faithful. Because of a component of the set of promises Abraham is under, the Great Nation component of that promise, the Lord decides to talk to Abraham about what he is going to do at Sodom.

Sodom is a city-state in the Jordan river valley below the area were Abraham lives. The exact location of ancient Sodom was most likely the base of the hill now called Masada. The strange land formations seen there today are the remains of the brimstone destruction of the ancient city.

Ancient Sodom was not under Abraham's covenant relationship with the Lord. There was no particular reason to link the ancient city of Sodom to anything under the Abraham covenant. Yet, this passage links the punishment on Sodom to a future great nation that will descend from Abraham. Because of that future promise to Abraham, the Lord reveals his current Sodom plan to Abraham.

The great nation promise can be tracked forward and it lands specifically on the 13th tribe, the tribe of Manasseh. That tribe can be clearly identified as the modern United States of America as we detail on the www.BibleTribes.org website.

What was happening here between Abraham and the Lord was this: Some aspect of what Jesus was doing at Sodom and Gomorrah applies prophetically to the United States at some distant future time. Though there is no discussion in the story of the Day-for-a-year repetition of the these stories, it appears to be the way this ancient story applies to the future great nation.

In other words, we have specific reasons to look strictly at the United States for fulfillment of this prophetic event.

The Lord is to Test the Sodomites

The Lord proceeds to reveal what he has heard and what he is doing in this story.

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֔ה זַעֲקַ֛ת סְדֹ֥ם וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה כִּי־ רָ֑בָּה וְחַ֨טָּאתָ֔ם כִּ֥י כָבְדָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃ 21אֵֽרֲדָה־ נָּ֣א וְאֶרְאֶ֔ה הַכְּצַעֲקָתָ֛הּ הַבָּ֥אָה אֵלַ֖י עָשׂ֣וּ׀ כָּלָ֑ה וְאִם־ לֹ֖א אֵדָֽעָה׃ (WLC)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (KJV)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (KJV/NC)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.(ASV)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has come before me and their sins are very grievous, 21I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come before me; and if not, I will know. (LAM)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20Then the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor'rah is great and their sin is very grave, 21I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know."(RSV)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."(NIV)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20Yahweh said, 'Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me. If not, I will know.'(WEB)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20The LORD said, 'Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.'(WEB/HNV)

1 Genesis 18:20-21 20And Yahvah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has come before me and their sins are very grievous, 21I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come before me; and if not, I will know. (BRB)

This verse establishes the first thing that is to happen in this story. A test to see if the Sodomites are guilty or not. If they are guilty, the Lord will know and the punishment phase will commense.

Headline Fullfillment

Normally, day-for-a-year headlines can occur anywhere on the planet. The time story does not normally include location details, so we must look wide to find fulfillment. In this case we look to the United States specifically because the passage is targeted at a "Great Nation." It is here in the fall of 1998 that we start to look for the modern stories that match this story. Two such stories matter here, Sarah's promise, and the test of Sodom.

Sarah

Most of the ancient stories involved specific individuals, at the transition to the next generation. These ancient stories were times of great blessing and expectation as the birth of a son was a great blessing. The modern prophetic replays of these events usually involve political leaders and heads of state and the political escapades surrounding these individuals.

In the case of Sarah we limit out scope to prominent wife or female political figure somewhere in the United States, who, a year later, would be blessed with some sort of political birth.

Remember, we start this search in the fall of 1998, but the birth should be visible to the world "about a year later." Like the word spoken to Sarah involving a son.

In this case the fulfillment appears to center on Hillary Clinton, the wife of the president of the United States who a year later would have started her campaign for a Senate seat from New York State. Hillary's political position fits well with Sarah, the wife of the focus of the story. Her political "birth" began with her run for office.

It is very curious that her run for office was intertwined with the death of JFK Jr., another prophetic event in the summer of 1999. Hillary, in that case, appears to have played Dinah.

Test

Of course in the ancient story the test was two male angels sent to visit Lot in Sodom. Their presense attracted a crowd and demonstrated the entire place was sexually immoral, even immoral with unmarried daughters of Lot, so the place was scheduled for destruction.

The prophetic replay of this story hit the headlines specifically at November 21, 1998. The headlines involved the story of Kenneth Starr going to capital hill for the start of Clinton's impeachment process. The name Starr is a biblical synonym for angel, helping to identify the correct man. Starr was on Capital Hill to prophetically repeat the test of Sodom.

Of course the issue had been sexual immorality practiced in the White House between Clinton and an intern. The test, though, was not of specific individual behavior. It was a test of the government, of the entire American people through their elected representatives. This was a representative sample, just like Sodom was a sample city that represented the 5 cities that made up the ancient Sodomite alliance. (Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah, Zeboiim and Zoar would eventually go up in smoke.)

The question, like that posed to the leading men of ancient Sodom was simple: Does your community reguard sexual immorality as sin? If so, the Lord will know.

It took several months, both the American House of Representatives and the American Senate looked at the problem. The House, to its credit, agreed with the angel, and impeached President Clinton. As far as this "lower house" was concerned Clinton was guilty. When the issue came before the Senate, the "upper house" of Congress, things did not go so well.

The articles of impeachment carefully avoided directly mentioning the issue of sex. The angels sent to Sodom had not propositioned anyone in the town, the Sodomites had brought the subject up on their own. Kenneth Starr's impeachment papers worked exactly the same way. According to the whole House of Representatives, Clinton was unsuitable as the head of the law enforcement branch of the American Government. Nowhere in Starr's carefully crafted paperwork did the issue of sex come up.

But, when the debate reached the Senate, the topic turned quickly back to the reasons for Clinton's perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate, to its shame, brought the sexual issue up on its own. Just like the Sodomites. Since the reason for Clinton's behavior had been a sexual one at its heart the Senate would not remove Clinton from office. The United States People, as represented by its leaders, had failed the test. Sexual immorality was no longer a sin.

In what has become known as the "Clinton Rule" prosecution of similar cases is now difficult. Perjury, when the lie covers sexual immorality, is not something that can be convicted in American court. Sexual immorality has now become legal.

Of course America failed the carefully constructed devine test and triggered a series of events that would lead to fire from the sky and the destruction of two small cities. It didn't happen immediately, but followed a chronology sketched out to the day by Abraham's mercy plea. We look at that mercy time next.