1 And YHVH appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
Faith is extremely powerful in the spiritual forces. It has everything needed in and around itself for it to become firmly established in consciousness.
2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,
Abraham lifting up his eyes symbolizes the consciousness acknowledging the spiritual forces as the source of All, and thus looking above the Material world. Bowing to the Earth means giving the spiritual forces the proper respect they deserve. It does not mean worship. They are being acknowledged as both the source, and as part of you.
3 and said, "YHVH, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
Spiritual forces are sufficiently acknowledged by the consciousness at this stage and will always respond to one's actions and thoughts.
4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
Abraham bringing water for his guests symbolizes the need for purification of the consciousness. This is done by removing attachments to purely material desires.
5 while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on--since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
The morsel of bread symbolizes the spiritual energy in it's relation to one's inner strength and courage. It also symbolizes the necessity of using affirmations for the growth of the Soul.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
8 Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
The feast Abraham set before YHVH symbolizes the new vital forces in the body (tent)—which share in the spiritual awakening----producing a new consciousness (Isaac).
These are created by the Soul (Sarah).
9 They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent."
At this stage, the Soul is still not in complete sympathy with the Spirit and still clings to Materialism. This is symbolized by Sarah being "in the tent": She is within the body.
10 YHVH said, "I will surely return to you in the Spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
YHVH promising to return in the Spring and that Sarah will have a son symbolizes the renewal of spiritual forces that will occur in the body.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
This can occur at any age, despite the body's seeming loss of vigor.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"
13 YHVH said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'
14 Is anything too hard for YHVH? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the Spring, and Sarah shall have a son."
15 But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."
The doubts of Sarah symbolize the doubts of the natural person.
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
Looking toward Sodom symbolizes looking within for concealed thinking habits. Sodom itself ("hidden wiles") symbolizes those thinking habits, which are not in accord with the Divine.
17 YHVH said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?
YHVH questioning whether or not to destroy this place openly or secretly symbolizes the weighing of consciousness to determine if it is truly ready for such a step spiritually.
19 No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of YHVH by doing righteousness and justice; so that YHVH may bring to Abraham what he has promised him."
The decision to do so openly means that the consciousness is at the stage where it must consciously break from these habits by acknowledging their destruction...and thus play a part in the process.
20 Then YHVH said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomor'rah is great and their sin is very grave,
21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know."
The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is the forces operating against the flow of the Divine, and thereby disrupting peace of mind. If this is felt, patterns must be destroyed.
Sodom represents ("hidden wiles") which are the thought patterns that tell us that we are less than divine, and generally work toward our undoing. Gomorrah represents ("material force") which is a state of mind that sees the material world as being the governor of things. This is in direct antithesis to the Spiritual laws and, thus, must be destroyed.
22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before YHVH.
23 Then Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?
25 Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Consciousness at this level (Abraham) does not yet understand that there is truly nothing of value in these cities. There is nothing within them that contributes to the divine consciousness.
26 And YHVH said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
27 Abraham answered, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to YHVH, I who am but dust and ashes.
28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
29 Again he spoke to him, and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it."
30 Then he said, "Oh let not YHVH be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."
31 He said, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to YHVH. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."
32 Then he said, "Oh let not YHVH be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."
33 And YHVH went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
The spiritual consciousness cannot destroy these 'cities' if they are even partially empowering it. Abraham's constant questioning of YHVH symbolizes the process of realization that neither of the cities can be destroyed if they are contributing to the Divine Consciousness.