After confirming the covenant with God, Abraham becomes a “friend of God” and lives in constant and close communion with Him. But while the faith and piety of the chosen patriarch grew and strengthened, the unbelief and wickedness of those lawless cities among which his nephew Lot lived grew and intensified. Quickly filling the cup of their iniquity, they eventually incurred the terrible wrath of God. The punishment of these cities occurred immediately after the sixth theophany to Abraham.

This epiphany was extraordinary. The Lord appeared to Abraham with two Angels in human form. One day on a hot day, Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent near the oak grove of Mamre, and suddenly he saw three strangers standing in front of him at a distance. Hospitable Abraham immediately ran to meet them, bowed to the ground and said, turning to one of them: “Lord! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant; and they will bring some water and wash your feet; and you will rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will strengthen your hearts; then go[on your way] …» (Gen. 18:3–5). The wanderers accepted the invitation of the hospitable patriarch. Abraham quickly prepared a meal for them and began to treat them.

Having had their fill, the guests asked Abraham: “Where is Sarah your wife?” - "Here in the tent", - answered the Patriarch. Then the most venerable of the travelers said: “I will be with you again at the same time[next year], and Sarah your wife will have a son."(Gen. 18:9–10). Sarah heard these words in the tent, but since she was very old, the prediction seemed incredible to her. She couldn't help but laugh as she thought: “When I am old, should I have this consolation? and my lord is old". The mysterious all-seeing guest saw her inner laughter and said reproachfully to Abraham: “Why is this... Sarah laughed, saying: “Can I really give birth when I’m old?” Is there anything difficult for the Lord?? (Gen. 18:13–14).

Soon the travelers got up and walked towards Sodom. Abraham decided to see off his dear guests, since he had already guessed that he was hosting the Lord and two Angels. On the way, he also learned that the Lord was going to Sodom and Gomorrah to punish them for lawlessness and wickedness. This seemed to Abraham incompatible with the concept of justice. He asked the Lord: “Will You really destroy the righteous with the wicked? If there are fifty righteous people in Sodom, is it right that they should perish with the sinners?” The Lord replied that he would spare the city if at least a dozen righteous people were there. By this, the Lord made it clear to Abraham that the righteous have great boldness to intercede before God for sinners. Having seen off the guests, Abraham sadly returned to his tent, and the two Angels, at the command of God, headed along the road to Sodom.

Evening had already come when Lot met the heavenly messengers at the gates of his city. He bowed to the travelers and invited them into his house, but the strangers began to refuse. However, Lot insisted, and they agreed to take advantage of his hospitality. But as soon as the guests had time to enter, Lot’s house was surrounded by the corrupt inhabitants of Sodom and with loud cries they demanded that the strangers be handed over to them in order to abuse them. Lot considered it his sacred duty to protect the guests under his roof. This is what the law of hospitality, inherited from his fathers, commanded. Therefore, he went out into the street, prudently locking the door behind him, and begged his fellow citizens not to offend the strangers. “Here I have two daughters“,” he exclaimed in despair, “ who have not yet known a husband, whatever you wish, only do not do anything bad to these people, since you have come under the roof of my house.”(Gen. 19:8–9). But the crowd remained deaf to Lot's pleas. Moreover, he was captured and would certainly have been killed if the Angels had not brought him back into the house at the last minute. Then the angry crowd tried to break down the doors. But the Angels struck with blindness all the men rampaging around the house. Soon calm was restored at Lot's house, and then the guests revealed to the owner who they were and for what purpose they had come to Sodom. They ordered Lot, taking with him his wife, both daughters, and all his relatives, to immediately leave the city, doomed to destruction.

Dawn had already arrived, but Lot still hesitated to fulfill the command of the Angels. Then the Angels forcibly took Lot, his wife and two daughters out of the city and ordered them to run without looking back and save themselves in the mountains. Lot was terribly frightened and, believing that he would not have time to hide in the mountains, with the permission of the Angels, he ran to the small city of Zoar, which for his sake was spared from destruction. The fugitives were already in the town of Sigor when they heard a deafening roar behind them. A shower of brimstone and fire fell on Sodom, Gomorrah and their surroundings. The whole earth shook, and the cities turned into heaps of smoking ruins. None of the wicked townspeople were saved. But Lot’s wife violated the Angels’ prohibition, looked back and immediately turned into a pillar of salt. Such a punishment befell Lot's wife because, looking back and seeing a terrible disaster, she condemned the Lord in her heart. Soon the silence of death reigned over Sodom and Gomorrah. The Dead Sea was subsequently formed on the site of these cities.

The Old Testament appearance of the Trinity occurred about 4 thousand years ago. But the Oak of Mamre remained, under the shade of which travelers rested. Once upon a time it consisted of three huge dividing branches. But after a storm in 1898 broke the central branch, the tree was held together with metal hoops.

This vast plot of land near the city of Hebron (Arabic name - Khalil) was acquired from Muslims by the collector of Russian Palestine, head of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) in 1868. After this, the Oak gradually began to dry out, as pious pilgrims tore off pieces of bark and branches as souvenirs. To stop this, an iron grate with a lockable door was built around the Oak.

Although the Mamvri Oak is located on a Russian site, it belongs to a Muslim family, and ownership is passed from father to son. We, like all other pilgrim groups from Russia, were warmly greeted by the current owner of the shrine, an elderly sheikh named January with his numerous offspring. His large family (several wives and about 20 children) feed themselves by selling fallen pieces of bark and acorns to pilgrims. Also, many bought a postcard with a photograph of Oak about 60 years ago, in which the sheikh’s family is grazing sheep near Oak, and January himself is only 4 years old there. In the photo, one branch of the Oak tree was green, but now it is completely dry.

According to the legend that exists in the Holy Land, the end of the world will come when the actively shallowing Dead Sea dries up, when the Holy Fire does not descend on the Holy Sepulcher on Holy Saturday, and when the Oak of Mamre dries up. The oak tree has dried up, but a few meters away from it grow approximately two two-hundred-year-old oak trees, they were named Abraham and Sarah. And at the foot of the tree a very young oak tree began to grow, which also has three dividing branches. There is a whole grove of such oak trees growing around the fence. They are not like ours; they have sharp, carved leaves and large acorns with a spiky cap. This species is called "terevinf" or Palestinian oak.

In the city of Hebron there are revered graves of the forefathers: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Hebron is also considered the center of Islam in the Holy Land. In 1911, an Orthodox church was built on the Russian site, the only one in this city. Ancient Byzantine Christian buildings in Hebron were not preserved; they were destroyed or rebuilt by Muslims.

The beautiful temple made of white stone with golden domes was consecrated only in 1925. Together with the Russian section, it entered the jurisdiction of the ROCOR, and service there did not stop. The temple is three-altared. The central altar was consecrated in honor of St. Forefathers, the right one is in the name of the Holy Trinity, and the left one is in the name of St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker of Myra. At the temple we were met by a single monk named Abraham, originally from Moscow. The hospitable hosts gave us tea in the refectory, and we felt at home in Russia.

Not far from the temple, Russian archaeologists found a burial cave from the time of the Savior, descending into which we were able to better imagine the events associated with the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the calendar of the Shrine of the Holy Land we read: “On June 16, 1997, on Spiritual Day, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II visited the site. Two weeks after this event, on July 5, 1997, the authorities of the Palestinian Authority transferred the site to the jurisdiction of the head of the RDM of the Moscow Patriarchate. Soon after these events, the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear,” the Cross-Crucifixion and the Shroud of the Savior were filled with myrrh in the church.”

In our church there is an icon of the “Holy Trinity” with a piece of Mamre oak. The image was painted from the famous miraculous icon created by St. Andrey (Rublev).

Icon "Holy Trinity"

The church has many different images of the Holy Trinity. But the icon that defines the very holiday of the Trinity is invariably one - this is the image of the Trinity in the form of three angels. The prototype of this icon was the mysterious appearance of the Holy Trinity in the form of three travelers to the forefathers Abraham and Sarah under the oak of Mamre. The Church chose this particular icon, and not any other, not by chance, but because it most fully expresses the dogma of the Holy Trinity: the three angels are depicted in completely equal dignity, symbolizing the trinity and equality of all three Persons.

We find the deepest understanding of this dogma in the icon of the Trinity, painted by the Monk Andrei Rubleev for the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. This icon is a masterpiece of ancient Russian icon painting, and it was not without reason that the Church approved it as an example of how an icon of the Trinity should be painted.

In the icon of Andrei Rublev, the faces of the Holy Trinity follow in the order in which they are confessed in the Creed. The first angel is the first Person of the Trinity, God the Father; the second, middle angel is God the Son; the third angel is God the Holy Spirit. All three angels bless the cup in which the calf, slain and prepared for food, was brought. The slaughter of the calf marks the death of the Savior on the cross, and the preparation of the calf for food is a prototype of the sacrament of the Eucharist. All three angels have staffs in their hands, which symbolize their divine power.

The first angel, depicted on the left side of the icon, is dressed in a blue lower robe - an image of his heavenly, divine nature, and a light purple outer robe - testifying to the incomprehensibility and royal dignity of this angel. Behind him, above his head, rises a house, Abraham's dwelling, and an altar in front of the house. This image of a dwelling has a symbolic meaning: the house is, as it were, an image of God’s economy, and the fact that the image of the building is placed above the head of the first angel indicates him as the head (or Father) of this economy. The same paternal principle is reflected in all its appearance. His head is almost not tilted, and his gaze is turned to the other two angels. Everything - the features, the facial expression, the position of the hands, and the way the first angel sits - everything speaks of his fatherly dignity. The other two angels bow their heads and turn their gaze to the first angel in deep attention, as if conducting a conversation with him about the salvation of mankind.

The second angel is placed in the middle part of the icon. His middle dignity is determined by the position that is inherent in the second Person in the Trinity Itself, as well as in the work of economy and God's providence for the world. The branches of an oak tree stretch above his head. The attire of the second angel corresponds to the one in which the Savior is usually depicted. The lower one has a dark purple color, symbolizing the incarnation, and the upper blue chiton signifies with its color the divine dignity and heavenly nature of this angel. The second angel is bowed and turned with his head and movement towards the first angel, as if in an intimate conversation. The tree that overshadows it is a reminder of the tree of life, which was in the middle of paradise, and of the tree of the cross.

The angel placed on the right side of the icon is the third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit. The lower robe of the angel is transparent blue, and the upper robe is light smoky green, depicting heaven and earth, signifying the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, which gives life to everything that exists. “By the Holy Spirit every soul is alive and exalted in purity,” sings the Holy Church. This exaltation is expressed in purity in the icon by the mountain that overshadows the third angel.

Borrowed from the book “Thoughts on the Icon” by monk Gregory Krug

Mamre oak

On the icon of the Holy Trinity we see a tree, in the shade of which the forefather Abraham arranged a meal for the Lord, who appeared to him in the form of three travelers. This tree has survived to this day and is located on a site owned by the Russian Spiritual Mission on the territory of the Russian Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Hebron, 3 km northwest of the Machpelah Cave, on the West Bank of the Jordan River, in the Palestinian Authority. This is the famous Mamvrean oak, which is one of the trees of the Mamvre oak grove, where the world's first appearance of the Holy Trinity to man took place. The Bible itself does not mention any specific oak tree, but evidence of it appears as early as the 1st century AD. Josephus calls him Ogyges (giant). During the time of Josephus, it was believed that this oak had stood since the creation of the world. And according to legend, the end of times will come when the Mamre oak tree does not produce a single green leaf.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the oak trunk had a circumference of seven meters, then it was divided into three massive branches, as if symbolizing the Holy Trinity. Not far from the oak tree there are two more oak trees, which are about 200 years old. The pilgrims dubbed them the oak of Abraham and the oak of Sarah. And the Mamvrian oak itself began to slowly dry out at the beginning of the 20th century. The process was aggravated by pilgrims who tried to pinch off and take away a piece of the shrine with them. The last green leaf seen on the oak was in 1995.

There is a belief that the end of the world will not come as long as the Mamre oak is alive. Several years ago, the Lord sent a miracle: a small sprout sprouted from the root of a withered giant. Its height is now about 20 cm. To the great joy of believers, the trunk of this sprout also diverges into three separate trunks, as if representing an ongoing testimony of the Holy Trinity.

Abraham

The emergence of idolatry

When people dispersed throughout the earth, they began to forget the invisible true God, the Creator of the world. The main reason for this was sins that remove people from God and darken their minds. There were fewer and fewer righteous people, and there was no one to teach people the true faith in God. Then a wrong belief (superstition) began to appear among people. People saw many wondrous and incomprehensible things around them, and instead of God they began to worship the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and various animals, make images of them, worship them, make sacrifices and build temples for them or temples. Such images of false gods are called idols, or idols, and the peoples who worship them are called idolaters, or pagans. This is how idolatry appeared on earth.

Soon almost all people became pagans. Only in Asia, in the descendants of Shem, was there a righteous man named Abraham who remained faithful to God.

Abraham lived in the country of the Chaldeans, not far from Babylon. He was a descendant of Shem and, with his entire family, retained true faith in God. He was rich, had a lot of cattle, silver and gold, and many servants; but had no children and grieved about it.

God chose righteous Abraham to preserve the true faith, through his descendants, for all mankind. And in order to protect him and his descendants from his native pagan people (because among his native pagan people it was more likely to learn idolatry), God appeared to Abraham and said: “Get out of your land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed", that is, in this people - in its descendants, over time, the Savior of the world promised to the first people will be born, Who will bless all the nations of the earth.

Abraham was seventy-five years old at that time. He obeyed the Lord, took his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and all the property that they acquired, all his servants, and moved to the land that the Lord showed him. This land was called Canaanite and was very fertile. The Canaanites lived there at that time. This was one of the most wicked peoples. The Canaanites were descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Here the Lord again appeared to Abraham and said: “All the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants.” Abraham built an altar and offered a thanksgiving offering to God.

After this, the land of Canaan began to be called promised, that is, promised, since God promised to give it to Abraham and his descendants. And now it's called Palestine. This land is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Jordan River flows through its middle.

When the herds of Abraham and Lot multiplied so much that they became crowded together and incessant disputes began to occur between their shepherds, then they decided to disperse amicably.

Abraham said to Lot: “Let there be no discord between us, since we are relatives. Is not the whole earth before you? Separate yourself from me; if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

Lot chose the Jordan Valley for himself and settled in Sodom. But Abraham remained to live in the land of Canaan and settled near Hebron, near the oak grove of Mamra. There's about Mamri oak, he pitched his tent and built an altar to the Lord. This Mamrian oak still grows in Palestine, near the city of Hebron.

Melchizedek blesses Abraham

Not long after Lot settled in Sodom, the neighboring king of Elam attacked Sodom, destroyed the city, and took captives both people and property. Lot was among the captives.

Abraham, having learned about this, immediately gathered his servants (318 people), invited his neighbors to help, caught up with the enemy, attacked him and recaptured all the booty.

When Abraham returned, he was greeted with triumph. Melchizedek, that was priest of the Most High God And King of Salem, brought to Abraham as a gift bread And wine and blessed him.

Nothing is known about Melchizedek - his origin and death. Name Melchizedek Means king of truth: word salim Means world. Melchizedek prefigured Jesus Christ: just as Melchizedek was both priest and king, so Jesus Christ is High Priest and King. As for Melchizedek, neither the beginning nor the end of his life is indicated - he seemed to alive forever, - so Christ is the eternal God, King and High Priest; and we call Jesus Christ High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. And just as our Lord Jesus Christ gave us His body and blood, that is, St., under the guise of bread and wine. communion, so Melchizedek, prefiguring the Savior, brought bread and wine to Abraham, and, as the eldest, blessed Abraham.

Abraham reverently accepted Melchizedek's blessing and gave him a tenth of his spoils.

NOTE: See the Bible, in the book. "Genesis": chapters 12, 14, 15, 16, 17.

One day, on a hot day, Abraham was sitting under the shade of an oak tree, at the entrance of his tent, and saw three strangers standing opposite him. Abraham loved to entertain strangers. He immediately stood up and ran to meet them, bowed to the ground and began calling them to him to rest under a tree and refresh themselves with food.

Appearance of God (Holy Trinity) to Abraham

The wanderers came to him. According to the custom of that time, Abraham washed their feet, served bread, immediately prepared by his wife Sarah, served butter, milk and the best roasted calf and began to treat them. And they ate.

And they said to him: “Where is Sarah your wife?”

He answered: “Here, in the tent.”

And one of them said: “In a year I will be with you again, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah, standing behind the entrance to the tent, heard these words. She laughed to herself and thought: should I have such consolation when I am already old?

But the stranger said: “Why did Sarah laugh? Is there anything difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will be with you and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was frightened and said: “I did not laugh.”

But he told her: “No, you laughed.”

Abraham then realized that these were not simple wanderers, but that God Himself was speaking to him.

Abraham was 99 years old at this time, and Sarah was 89.

NOTE: See the Bible in the book. "Genesis": ch. 18, 1-16.

Holy Scripture of the Old Testament Mileant Alexander

The Appearance of the Trinity (Gen. 18).

The Appearance of the Trinity (Gen. 18).

That God appeared to Abraham in the guise of three strangers, the writer of everyday life points to this at the beginning of his story, “God appeared to him...”. Their appearance was adopted by ancient Christian iconography to express the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

God's promise: in "Isaac shall be called a seed in you" in the immediate sense indicated that not all the fleshly descendants of Abraham (for example, the Ishmaelites) would be considered his seed, the descendants of Abraham, the chosen people, the bearer of the missionary promises of the Old Testament humanity would only be the descendants of Isaac. But the meaning of the promise is not limited to this. He sees the spiritual meaning of the New Testament revelation of the story of Sarah and Hagar and therefore explains this story and the promise, sacred with it, in a mysterious transformative sense in relation to the New Testament Church.

The Holy Apostle Paul in chapter 4 of Galatians (4:21-31). says that Abraham had two sons - one from a slave (Hagar), the other from a free woman (Sarah). But he who is born of a slave is born according to the flesh, and he who is born of a free woman is born according to promise. Sarah, the mother of Isaac, the son of promise, not a slave, but free, for a long time previously not fertile, and then laying the foundation for numerous offspring, prefigured the New Testament Church (Tal. 4:26). Thus, the descendants of Sarah through Isaac are the sons of the New Testament Church - all believers led by the founder of the Church - the Lord Jesus Christ. In contrast to this, Hagar and Ishmael, who was born from her in the flesh, represented the Jewish synagogue, which was under the slavery of the Old Testament law, and in a broader sense - all those who did not know Christ.

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