Jesus and Abraham

The coming of Jesus is always good news.  This is what Abraham learned when Jesus appeared to him during a sad time in Abraham's life.  Genesis 18 is a fascinating example of Jesus appearing in the Old Testament.  He is first identified as "the Lord" (Gen. 18:1), which is God's covenant name, and also as one of "three men" who came to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (Gen. 18:2).  We find out in chapter 19 that two of the "men" were really angels, so that one of "the men" was really "the Lord."  God had come in the form of a man, and this is what Jesus would do permanently when he was born in the manger at Bethlehem.