Genesis 18:1
Genesis 18:11Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
The Watchtower reads Genesis 18 as an angelic visitation in which Jehovah himself did not appear. Three angels came; one of them spoke on Jehovah's behalf ("the angel of Jehovah" motif); the text uses "Jehovah" as shorthand because the angel represented him. On this reading, "Jehovah appeared to Abraham" is a loose idiom for "an angel bearing Jehovah's authority appeared."
The text resists the "only angels" reading at every turn. Verse 1 says plainly "Jehovah appeared to him" — not "an angel of Jehovah." Abraham addresses one of the three as "my Lord" (v. 3) and later as "the Judge of all the earth" (v. 25), a title Scripture reserves for God alone (). In two of the three depart for Sodom ("two angels"), while the third stays with Abraham — and the one who stays is called Jehovah throughout the dialogue (). Jesus claimed in that "Abraham rejoiced to see my day — he saw it and was glad." Past tense, completed action. The historic church has read Genesis 18 as the most explicit pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God — Christophany — and appears to confirm the reading. Doorstep form: "Brother, when Jesus said Abraham saw his day, when was that? Genesis 18 is the only passage where Abraham sees Jehovah face to face."