28. Lest you fall into the error of
supposing that this acknowledgment of the One was a payment of honor to
all the three whom Abraham saw in company, mark the words of Lot when
he saw the two who had departed; And when Lot saw them, he rose up
to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; and
he said, Behold, my lords, turn in to your servant’s
house Ib.
xix. 1, 2.. Here the
plural lords shews that this was nothing more than a vision of
angels; in the other case the faithful patriarch pays the honour due to
One only. Thus the sacred narrative makes it clear that two of
the three were mere angels; it had previously proclaimed the One as
Lord and God by the words, And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore
did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I then bear a child? But I am
grown old. Is anything from God impossible? At this season
I will return to thee hereafter, and Sarah shall have a
son Ib.
xviii. 13, 14.. The Scripture is accurate and
consistent; we detect no such confusion as the plural used of the One
God and Lord, no Divine honours paid to the two angels. Lot, no
doubt, calls them lords, while the Scripture calls them
angels. The one is human reverence, the other literal
truth.