Genesis 20
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 Abimelek king of
Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelek 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 Abimelek 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 who
belong to you will die.”
8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned
all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very
much afraid. 9 Then Abimelek 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 never be
done.” 10 And Abimelek 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 Abimelek brought sheep and cattle
and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his
wife to him. 15 And Abimelek 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 Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children
again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s
household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 20:16 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
Abraham is making the same mistake here as he did with
Pharaoh in Genesis 12, saying his wife is his sister in order to avoid danger
to himself.
Have you continued to make the same mistakes before God? Do
you come back to the same sin over and over again? Break the cycle! God
forgives all our sins, but He wants us to learn from our shortcomings, not
continue in them. Being a Christian means living in freedom; it means
transformation, not being stuck in our sins.
God is ready and willing to deliver us from our sin, but we
have to work with Him on it. We have to resist and trust His strength.
Abraham should have trusted God enough to know that even if
he told the truth about his and Sarah’s relationship, God would protect them.
We can trust that if we do what is right, God will be with us and will bless us.
Genesis 20:11
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.’”
Abraham thought there was no fear of God in Gerar, but Abimelech obeyed God, showing Abraham to be wrong. What’s the lesson for us? Don't prejudge someone. You never know what God is doing in their heart.
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