"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, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 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." Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 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." 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. 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." Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 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." And Abimelech asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?" 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.' Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 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." ' " Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "My land is before you; live wherever you like." To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated." Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah." Genesis 20:1-18
The scripture from Genesis, Chapter 20, brings an air of déjà vu with it. You’ll remember in Chapter 12 that Abraham (known as Abram then) went to Egypt with his wife Sarah (known as Sarai then) and feared that Pharaoh would kill him if he knew that Abram was Sara’s husband so he devised and executed a lie. Sarai posed as his sister and was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. Abram and Sarai’s plan went up in smoke when the Lord afflicted diseases down on Pharaoh and his household. Pharaoh summoned Abraham, questioned him about why he could have done such a thing, and then sends Abraham, Sarai and all their people away. We learn that Abraham, who had been specially blessed by God, did not have the trust and faith in God in his heart. For he feared Pharaoh knowing that God would not let any harm come to him.
Fast forward to today’s scripture and Abraham and Sarai’s stay in Gerar. We find out right away that Abraham and Sarah have not learned from their first charade and go back to what they did to Pharaoh, only this time seeking to deceive King Abimelach. Everything seems to be the same until God enters in and comes to Abimelach in a dream telling him he is good as dead because Sarai was a married woman.
Abimelach then serves as his own defense attorney against the Lord’s judgment. He asks, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 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." Abimelach highlights the deceit brought on by Abraham and Sarah and how he failed to fall for it because he didn’t enter into relation with Sarah. Then the Lord says something amazing. He states, "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." Abimelach thought he had overcome their lie on his own, showing restraint in not entering into a tryst with Sarah. God told him that it was He who had kept him from touching her. He then told Abimelach to return Sarah to Abraham or face dire consequence.
Abimelach did as the Lord commanded and confronted Abraham about what he had done that almost had placed Abimelach and his nation in peril with God. Abraham, seemingly unable to tell the truth and admit his scheme, confesses that Sarah is his wife but then goes onto devise another story saying that Sarah was really his sister as well who he then married. Abimelach sends Abraham and Sarah away with livestock and money to cover the "offense against you". Abraham in turn prays to God for healing for "Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household" and God healed them. All was well and the story had a happy ending but what can we learn from this matter?
First, there is no one so righteous that they can’t fail. We have seen twice now how Abraham, the father of all nations, failed to exercise faith in the God who made special covenant with him. Fearing for his life as he and Sarah went into the presence of kings, Abraham felt it necessary to tell lies to protect himself instead of relying on God to take care of him.
Question: How often do we get into situations where we get afraid and forget that we have a God that is always with us…ever ready and able to step in and protect?
Second, God will step in and provide warning when we are in the midst of deceit. Abimelach would have fallen for Abraham and Sarah’s plot had God not sent him a vision in a dream. And God did one better that that. He had prevented Abimelach from touching Sarah before he revealed that he was being lied to (Abimelach was prideful because he thought he had done this on his own).
Question: Has God ever warned you about something before, preventing you from being deceived or falling into harm or failure? He will if we are always staying in touch with Him. The closer we draw near to Him, the closer He will be to us. God rewards faithfulness.
Finally, we should never be afraid to come clean if we have made a mistake. Abraham, as righteous as he was, could not tell Abimelach the full truth about the matter…that he had just flat out lied about his true relation to Sarah. Abraham was never Sarah’s sister but yet Abraham told the story that they were brother and sister before husband and wife. Two wrongs never make a right. Abraham only further discredited himself by refusing to tell he truth.
Question: Have you ever been like Abraham, unable to humble yourself to admit when you have made a mistake so you try to cover up what you have done to maybe not make it look so bad?
Believe in this, God never rejoices in falsehood. Lying is sin…plain and simple. God cannot be in the presence of sin but He will always be with truth because He is truth personified. When we commune with God, we commune with truth and it will be within us. Draw ever nearer to Him today.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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