The Myth of Omnipresence (8): God at the Terebinth Trees of Mamre

The Myth of Omnipresence (8): God at the Terebinth Trees of Mamre

Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground… And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” – Genesis 18:1-2, 20-21

Another indication of the non-omnipresence of God is seen in the passage above. While God was heading to Sodom and Gomorrah to ascertain the level of their atrocities, He made a detour at Abraham’s tent through His appearance at the Terebith trees of Mamre before proceeding to His destination.

Firstly, as the passage reveals, God was not there with Abraham before he saw Him. It was at the point of God’s appearance that Abraham himself saw God and quickly ran to worship Him. Then, after the hospitality was over, God put Abraham in confidence as to what He was going to do in Sodom and Gomorrah.

And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” – Genesis 18:20-21

Again, we can see God saying, “I will go down now and see…” This suggests that God was not at Sodom and Gomorrah at the same time He was with Abraham, and everywhere else. Rather, He announced that He was going down to Sodom and Gomorrah to ascertain all the reports He had heard about the place so that He could determine how best to deal with them.

This scenario represents another piece of biblical evidence to support the claim that omnipresence is merely a myth and does not accurately describe God, despite being one of the most popular attributions generally ascribed to Him.

You Will Succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• The Myth of Omnipresence (7): God at the Tower of Babel
• Initials
• Understanding God: He Checks Up
• You Say, God Says
• Freed from Paranoid Schizophrenia

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