The LORD appears to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he is sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. The appearance is at Mamre — the same site where Abraham built an altar in Genesis 13:18 — and at the hottest, most inconvenient time of day. The divine visit comes not at a spectacular moment but in the ordinary afternoon heat, while Abraham is resting. Hebrews 13:2 reflects directly on this verse: do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. The application: God often shows up in the ordinary moments — not the mountain-top experiences or the dramatic theophanies but the afternoon at the tent entrance. The question is whether you are attentive enough, and hospitable enough, to receive what arrives in the middle of the ordinary day.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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