1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.”
8 Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”10 And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.13 And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Sound Familiar?
Well it should, for it is the same kind of thing that occurred to Abraham in Genesis 12.10-20 with Pharaoh. The difference between these two passage is primarily God's interaction with Abimelech and the role that interaction takes in the story.
The narrative can be divided into three groups of speeches. The first speech is between God (Yahweh) and Abimelech (20.1-8); The second speech is between Abimelech and Abraham which seem to be controversies (20.9-13), and the third is also between Abimelech and Abraham and are painted as conciliatory (20.14-18).
There are two take aways that we need to develop, the first is simply that the choosing of Abraham as the vessel to undo all the evil in the world is not based on his virtue but on God's promise.
Don't you see that in this passage?
Abraham does not come off as the moral hero of the story.
He tells half truths in order to save his own skin.
He doesn't care that his wife could be defiled, let alone the death of Abimelech and the barrenness of his entire people.
Yet, because God is merciful, he works through those who are broken and confused and sinful.
God is faithful even when his people are faithless.
My professor, Mark Scott, used to always say, "God can still hit a straight lick with a crooked stick."
And that is what is emphasized in this passage. Not the faith of faithfulness of Abraham, but rather the sovereignty and mercy of God.
Although God does work through us in spite of our shortcomings, this does not give us an excuse to not be faithful and to disobedience.
The second take away is simply this: disobedience leads to death, while obedience leads to life.
See what happens in the story when Abraham does not trust God to protect him and Sarah. He lies about who his wife is, Abimelech takes her to be his wife, and Abimelech almost dies. Furthermore, all the women in his kingdom could not have kids!!!
Disobedience leads to death, not only in your own life, but also in the lives of the nations and people around you.
But when we obey, God brings about life.
It is appropriate to see that the very next passage after this is the birth of Isaac.
When Abraham and Sarah trust and obey God, he brings about life. And in this instance, it is the fulfillment of the promise he made to them.
God is a merciful God, and he wants to use people like us to bless the nations. But we have a role in that blessing, and it is obedience.
So obey, lives are at stake.
Well it should, for it is the same kind of thing that occurred to Abraham in Genesis 12.10-20 with Pharaoh. The difference between these two passage is primarily God's interaction with Abimelech and the role that interaction takes in the story.
The narrative can be divided into three groups of speeches. The first speech is between God (Yahweh) and Abimelech (20.1-8); The second speech is between Abimelech and Abraham which seem to be controversies (20.9-13), and the third is also between Abimelech and Abraham and are painted as conciliatory (20.14-18).
There are two take aways that we need to develop, the first is simply that the choosing of Abraham as the vessel to undo all the evil in the world is not based on his virtue but on God's promise.
Don't you see that in this passage?
Abraham does not come off as the moral hero of the story.
He tells half truths in order to save his own skin.
He doesn't care that his wife could be defiled, let alone the death of Abimelech and the barrenness of his entire people.
Yet, because God is merciful, he works through those who are broken and confused and sinful.
God is faithful even when his people are faithless.
My professor, Mark Scott, used to always say, "God can still hit a straight lick with a crooked stick."
And that is what is emphasized in this passage. Not the faith of faithfulness of Abraham, but rather the sovereignty and mercy of God.
Although God does work through us in spite of our shortcomings, this does not give us an excuse to not be faithful and to disobedience.
The second take away is simply this: disobedience leads to death, while obedience leads to life.
See what happens in the story when Abraham does not trust God to protect him and Sarah. He lies about who his wife is, Abimelech takes her to be his wife, and Abimelech almost dies. Furthermore, all the women in his kingdom could not have kids!!!
Disobedience leads to death, not only in your own life, but also in the lives of the nations and people around you.
But when we obey, God brings about life.
It is appropriate to see that the very next passage after this is the birth of Isaac.
When Abraham and Sarah trust and obey God, he brings about life. And in this instance, it is the fulfillment of the promise he made to them.
God is a merciful God, and he wants to use people like us to bless the nations. But we have a role in that blessing, and it is obedience.
So obey, lives are at stake.
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