In the Beginning: A Study in Genesis 15-26Muestra

Can God Deliver Me From a Mess I’m In?

Anyone who is married will tell you how easy it is to fall into bad routines and old ruts, even though it always makes things worse and never better. In the marriage of Abraham and Sarah, we see this principle playing out painfully.

In Genesis 20:1-18, we read of the account of Abraham moving and again giving away his lovely wife, now around 90 years of age, as he had previously in Genesis 12:10-20. Fortunately, God intervened like one of the big guys in a mob movie through a dream that revealed to Abimelech, who was king of Gerar, that Sarah was in fact married and that God was going to kill him and his family if he touched her sexually. Moses tells the story in such a way as to stress the innocence of Abimelech (e.g. 20:6). It is also clear that Abraham is a coward and that Sarah joins him in a lie. The story shows that, sometimes, there are people who do not know God that behave better than the people who do know God. Of course, things should not be this way, but sadly sometimes they are.

In 20:7, God declares that Abraham is a prophet, which is the first mention of a prophet in the Bible. Until this point, God has been the only one functioning like a prophet: calling creation into existence by His Word and speaking to His people directly but not much speaking through His people, which is what prophets do. God uses Abraham’s sin to evangelize Abimelech, telling Abimelech that Abraham will pray for him and that those prayers will be answered. Since we’ve all had moments like Abraham, it is an encouragement that God can take our mess and turn it into our ministry.

The poor Abimelech, who has been lied to and tricked, asked Abraham why he had lied to him and put him in harm’s way with God. Abraham answered that he feared that Abimelech might harm him to take Sarah and so he sought to protect himself in unbelief rather than trusting for God to protect him as God had promised and demonstrated previously. In a selfish admission, when it came down to the suffering of himself or his wife, Abraham was willing to cause his wife harm to avoid his own. Abraham then tried to weasel his way out of an embarrassing situation by telling a half-truth that sounded more like Adam’s likewise lame excuse for sin instead of simple repentance.

Amazingly, Abimelech was a kind man as he blessed Abraham giving him sheep, cattle and slaves. He also invited Abraham to live wherever he pleased on Abimelech’s vast land. To top it off, Abimelech also gave Abraham 1,000 shekels of silver, which is around 25 pounds. Today, that would be somewhere north of $6 million in silver. At this point in the story, the godless Abimelech certainly appears as a better man than Abraham which is more evidence that he was saved by God’s grace and not his great works.

Then, as God promised, Abraham prayed to God. We then read that God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his slave girls so that they could again conceive children. Apparently, God had closed the womb of every woman in Abimelech’s household as a consequence and warning for Abimelech having taken Sarah.

The point of this story is to again show that the fulfillment of God’s promise was accomplished solely by God’s sovereign and gracious provision. Up to this point in Genesis, God has repeatedly told Abraham that his son would come through his wife Sarah. Yet, for the second time, Abraham essentially gave her away to marry another man. Abraham nearly lost both his wife and his promised son! And, yet again, God had to fix Abraham’s mess, prevent Sarah from sleeping with another man, and return Sarah to Abraham so that they could have the son of the promise to fulfill God’s covenant with them and all nations of the earth. If Abraham’s plan failed, Jesus Christ could not enter into human history through the promised family line of Abraham and Sarah, which just goes to show that one sin can alter history, as it already had with Adam. Simply, God is faithful to accomplish His promises even when his sinful people complicate his plans through disobedience. Often, He has to save us from ourselves.

Questions:

1. Ladies, what are your thoughts about how Sarah behaved in this scenario?
2. Men, what are your thoughts about how Abraham behaved in this scenario?