Abraham understood that God's promises to him required a son, an heir who would continue the line of faith that he was pioneering. Fourteen years earlier he took his wife's slave to try to produce the needed heir through her because it seemed like time was running out for there to be any possibility of him having a son. Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old. He considered himself as good as dead in terms of having any more children. God waited until Abraham had completely given up hope of being able to accomplish God's desire. When the Lord mentioned it again Abraham laughed, the thought was so ridiculous. But when the Lord repeated it again Abraham realized that it was the Lord, not him, who would fulfill the promise. So Abraham believed and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Shortly after that the Lord appeared to Abraham again in the form of a man with two angels, also in the form of men, with him. Abraham invited them to stop, rest and stay for a meal before continuing their journey. The Lord accepted his invitation and spent a few hours receiving Abraham's hospitality and talking with him, friend to friend. When the meal was ready Abraham served it to his guests under a tree outside his tent while Sarah listened to the conversation from inside the tent. When the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son by Sarah she laughed silently to herself. She had longed and hoped for a son for many years but now it seemed so impossible that it was ridiculous to suggest it. When the Lord asked why Sarah laughed she suddenly became afraid and denied it. The Lord insisted that she had laughed, not to get the last word in an argument, He used this little incident to let Sarah know that He knew what she was thinking. This realization gave her the faith to also believe His promise.

There was also one other reason the Lord had visited Abraham. He was going to judge the cities of the plain where Lot was living and wanted to deliver Lot. We would naturally think that if the Lord wanted to do something He would just do it. But the Lord does not work that way. He wants His people to pray for the things he wants to do, especially for the salvation of others. So, before leaving, He told Abraham what he was about to do. Right away Abraham was concerned for Lot. He appealed to the Lord's righteousness by asking if He would destroy the righteous with the wicked. Starting from fifty and working down he got the Lord's word that He would not destroy the city if ten righteous people were found in it. Abraham probably considered that there were more than ten people in Lot's household. Surely Lot would be OK. As the next story shows us, there were not even ten righteous in Lot's household, but the Lord remembered Abraham and rescued Lot when He destroyed the cities of the plain.