 The word for "he sat" is in a form that can be read "yashav", the letter "vav" () being omitted, as though it read that Abraham was sitting before he saw God, but on seeing God, he wanted to stand up.But God told him to sit, as Abraham would serve as a symbol for his children, for when his children would come into their synagogues and houses of study and recite the "Shema", they would be sitting down and God's Glory would stand by.To support this reading, the Midrash cited "God stands in the congregation of God."