Book of Genesis Chapter 20 Commentary by Pastor
Ron Beckham
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 20:1-5
Verse 1. "Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the
land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in
Gerar.
It's unclear as to whether or not Abraham ever saw his nephew,
Lot, again. He undoubtedly heard that the younger man had survived because
the sordid last verses of Chapter 19 are included in Scripture. Moses, the
descendant of Abraham and the human author of Genesis, included that information. It was known in the family that Lot was
the unwitting grandfather of two tribes to be, the "Ammonites" and the
"Moabites;" otherwise Moses would not have
had 19:30-38 in
his original manuscript. It came from the Holy Spirit, but it also came
from the family of Abraham. At the moment, Abraham was very upset about the destruction of Sodom, as evidenced
by this sudden departure from his favorite campground at the "trees of Mamre"
(Genesis 19:1).
It was his habit as a nomad to move on to some new location
when he was frightened and/or upset, and right at the moment he did not know if
his beloved nephew, Lot, was alive or dead. So off he went, into the "Negev"
("dry" or "south"), a desert region south of what was later to be called Judea.
"Kadesh" ("be holy") was in the area where Israel would later wander for 40-years.
"Shur" ("wall") was to the south, just east of Egypt. He moved again to "Gerar"
("circle") which was south of Gaza, near the Mediterranean Sea. He was
restless and moved once more. Note that no mention is made that he
prayed about these decisions to move. It would have been wise to pray, but
it seems he simply went.
Verse 2. "Abraham said of Sarah his wife, 'She is my
sister.' So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah."
As people, we all tend toward repetitive, compulsive behavior, far more
often than we know. What we do can be positive, but when we are
pressured, we tend to make mistakes. Abraham was likely still very upset over what
he thought was the sudden death of his nephew, Lot, and he probably felt guilty
about Lot's "death." Abraham had been allowed by the Lord to pray that Lot's
city, Sodom, would not be destroyed and he likely felt, "I should have kept on
praying."
Another factor was Abraham's lifestyle - he was a nomad who
moved his tents and herds from place to place. When one area was
overgrazed, the man and his retinue would move to another place. As we saw
previously, Abraham's habit was to refer to his wife, "Sarah," as his "sister,"
when arriving at a new place. Just like it was before with the Egyptians
as seen in Genesis 12, it got him and his wife into trouble. "Abimelech
king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah" as HIS wife.
Verse 3. "But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the
night, and said to him, 'Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom
you have taken, for she is married.'"
"Abimelech" was the king,
the chieftain of the place called "Gerar," as we saw
in Verse 2. "Gerar" was a town on a trade route in the Negev desert, near
the Mediterranean coast south of Gaza. Abimelech was a wealthy man who was
strong enough financially and militarily so that he could pretty much do whatever
he wanted. He now did what Pharaoh had done in Genesis 12 - he took Sarah,
Abraham's wife, as his own. Once again, Abraham had placed his wife in jeopardy
by telling people she was merely his sister.
But God is operating in our lives in ways that often are too
deep, too obscure for us to see or understand. God's will was involved
here. He fully intended that a baby boy named Isaac would be born to Abraham and
Sarah; not to Abimelech and Sarah. So God did something that may well have
happened to all of us. He entered into Abimelech's dreams, right into the man's
thoughts, and warned him that he was going to die if his relationship with Sarah
went any further.
Verse 4. "Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he
said, 'Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless?'"
In today's world, it is considered important by many to have
fewer children than in past generations. The idea is to avoid
over-population that could lead to an insufficient food supply. But that was
not a consideration at the time of these verses. Many children meant that
their future would include more soldiers for the army, workers for the fields
and shepherds for the flocks. Looking ahead to Verses 17-18, we can see that some time had
passed and it had become obvious that the women of Abimelech's kingdom were no
longer bearing children. And now, in this dream, the king was learning
what had caused the problem.
For whatever combination of reasons, even though Abimelech had
taken Abraham's wife, Sarah, into his own harem, he had not yet touched her in
the manner of a man and a woman. Note, by the way, Abimelech's response.
He had at least some awareness of Almighty God, that He exists and is the Lord
of all. The man addressed Him as "Lord" and understood that
God is full of
justice, in that He would not destroy a "blameless" nation.
Verse 5. "Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my
sister?' And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart
and the innocence of my hands I have done this.'"
Abraham had done what he always did when moving his encampment
to a new place. Rumors abounded then, just like now, and from what we can
see in Verse 11, Abraham had heard that there was "no fear of God in this
place." Abimelech was sound asleep as the words of these verses unfolded,
but note that God can and will speak to the one who is sleeping and communicate
even with those who are in a deep coma. The Lord is God.
And again we must note that King Abimelech demonstrated at
least some faith, some belief in the Lord by his appeal to the Lord as the God
who is just in His dealings with people. His feeling, his belief was that
Abraham had done something wrong, and he, Abimelech, was being blamed for
something he did not do. He felt his response had been one of
"integrity...
and...
innocence." After all, it was Abraham who had said
his wife was his "sister," and Sarah had said
Abraham "is my brother."
Lord, heal us of our failures to pray when we should, and
help us to be people of truth and honesty. We confess our sins and entrust
our lives to You. Save us, Lord from the arrogance that we can somehow
live our own lives without looking to Almighty God for direction. In Jesus
Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 20:6-10
Verse 6. "Then God said to him in the dream, 'Yes, I
know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you
from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.'"
In this verse the Lord God acknowledges King Abimelech's
belief that he had acted in "integrity... and... innocence" (Verse 5), in
taking Sarah as his wife. And note that if you act in integrity, God
knows, even though people may misunderstand. He is aware of each thought, every intention we have, and yet He
loves us, all the same. No matter what others may think, God knows.
Also note that any positive reputation we have in
relation to our past actions, present mistakes or our standing in eternity is based on the grace of God.
Whatever it is that people may think about us, God knows the truth. If we
are innocent or guilty, He knows.
Proverbs 21:1 is an excellent Scripture for us to consider in
relation to this dream encounter, this vision, when Almighty God communicated directly with
King Abimelech. It says, "The king's heart is like
channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns wherever He wishes."
And it doesn't matter if the person is a "king" or not - God will have the
outcome in all of our lives, and for the purposes of this verse in Genesis, it
is especially true as our actions impact the lives of those around us. He
knows your heart and mine and His intentions for us are greater than we could
possibly know.
Verse 7. "Now therefore, restore the man's wife, for he
is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not
restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
We don't ordinarily think of Abraham as a "prophet."
Most don't think of the later-in-time King David as a "prophet" either. But
Peter, when he spoke about David in the power of the Holy Spirit, called David
precisely that - a "prophet." We need to recognize that God views people
differently than we do, which includes you and me. God's assessment of each one
is not the same as ours, even when we consider ourselves. He knows you
better than you know yourself, and He has intentions for your life that are
higher than anything you could imagine.
Most people think that a good God would never allow harm to
come to anyone, and most would want everyone in humanity (the ones we like
anyway) to live forever in this present state if it was possible to do.
The reality is that God shapes our lives through past, present and impending
death, and the fear of death has led many to the Lord. It was God's
intention that a year after the events of these verses, Abraham and Sarah would
have a son, and if it took King Abimelech's death and the destruction of his
people to bring the two back together once more, then the man and his people
would die.
Verse 8. "So Abimelech arose early in the morning and
called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men
were greatly frightened."
Notice the response of Abimelech and his people when they
learned that the king had been in danger of committing adultery with the wife of
Abraham. There was a respect for marriage in that culture which has been
lost in much of today's world. Another interesting factor was the way they
received the news we saw in Verse 7, that if the king pursued the relationship
with Sarah, ALL in that community would "surely die."
In order for them to be so worried about the news, they would
have had at least some belief in the Lord. The people of those days were
close enough in time to the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel incident to
actually have some recognition that God is real and He will judge sinful people.
"Abimelech" and
his "servants," including his closest advisors,
believed as each of us should, that God Almighty is VERY real and we are to live holy lives
because of Him.
Verse 9. "Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him,
'What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have
brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that
ought not to be done.'"
We see two very interesting elements in the lives of Abimelech
and Abraham at the time of these verses, especially as to God's treatment of
them. He intervened in Abimelech's life in the form of what might be
called "restraining grace." Have you ever been unexpectedly restrained,
STOPPED
from doing something you wanted to do? That's what happened to Abimelech and
it's interesting that being frustrated actually saved his life. He didn't
have Sarah, he didn't have what he wanted, but he and his servants would live.
If you are STOPPED in some aspect of life, you might remember this verse.
The other force here was in relation to Abraham. As they
moved from place to place in a nomadic life through the years, Abraham had
continually presented the lie that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. We
will see in Verse 12 that she actually was his half-sister in addition to being
his spouse. But the real problem with this man, Abraham, was that he had
the strong tendency to rely on his own ingenuity rather than trusting fully in God. Abimelech was being stretched to recognize that God
will stop us from harm and Abraham was
experiencing "revealing grace." He was recognizing that his faith in the Lord needed to be deeper than
before.
Verse 10. "And Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What have you
encountered, that you have done this thing?'"
Abimelech was puzzled. The Lord had revealed to him in a
dream (Verse 3 & forward) that Abraham was a "prophet" of God. And King Abimelech was wondering
as we might, WHY would a prophet of God lie about who
and what he was? Why did he say that his wife was his sister? What had
happened to this man, Abraham, that turned him into a liar? A "prophet"
to those who lived in the time of these verses, was a holy man; someone who
represented God. Yet Abraham LIED!
We all need to learn the lesson of Abraham. Yes it's
fine to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm, but it's also important
to be honest about who and what we are. To be "meek" or "humble" as it is
also called, is merely to be who we really are, without pretense. We are called
to lives of holiness so that others will see us, see our lives and they will
want to be changed into men and women of honesty, like we are supposed to be. Take the risk - be who you really are -
and God will bless you.
Lord, we come to You, meekly acknowledging that we have
not always told the truth. We have pretended to be what we are not in
order to gain some advantage in life. Forgive us, Lord. Help us to
be clean in Your sight and honest in all that we do and say. Thank You.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
Verse 11. "Abraham said, 'Because I thought, surely
there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my
wife.'"
What we see in these verses is Abraham the man revealed. In
this and probably other related ways, Abraham often relied on himself instead of
trusting in God. He was afraid that strong leaders like Abimelech would
attack his encampment and kill him in order to take this man's surprisingly
attractive wife. He was a man of faith, but also he was simply a human
being.
The effect of these events on Abraham involves what might be
called the "illuminating grace" of God. This process is happening in our
lives just as surely as it did in Abraham's. John the Apostle observed,
"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John
1:7). We "walk in the light" by becoming open about who and what we are.
God will protect us as we enter His "illuminating grace."
Verse 12. "Besides, she actually is my sister, the
daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my
wife;"
In our dealings with one another as human beings, many have
often used what are called "half-truths" as a means of communication.
That's what Abraham had done for many years while he and his people traveled
from place to place in their nomadic lifestyle. He had trusted in the
Lord, he had faith, but it is observed that he was not able to completely
abandon himself to the care of God. Like so many who are called
"the people of God" today, he had one foot in God's kingdom and the other in this
world.
In the Law given to Israel, we learn that "The nakedness of
your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother,
whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover"
(Leviticus 18:9). That would have stopped the marriage of Abraham and
Sarah, for she was his half-sister, except that the Law had not yet been given -
it was 400 years in the future from that moment. They acted in an absence
of any Law that would convict them, and therefore God attached no penalty to
their marriage. The concern here in these verses is about Abraham's honesty -
actually the lack of it.
Verse 13. "and it came about, when God caused me to
wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which
you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, He is my brother.'"
The hunger for safety is one of the most basic needs for us
all. But these verses give us an example of how NOT to satisfy that need.
Abraham achieved the goal of apparently placing himself into a position of
safety, but in doing so, he had placed his wife, Sarah, into true danger.
That's the great problem with the duplicity so common in this world. God is
displeased with you when you lie, and we can all note that dishonesty will have negative outcomes
never anticipated.
The "kindness" Sarah continually did for her brother-husband,
Abraham, had placed her into great danger at least twice. Abraham had
faith, but he was also controlled by fear. God was gently leading the man
to a much better place; a more complete trust in the Lord than the man had known
in the past. We must all see the truth stated through Zechariah the
prophet in later centuries. He wrote, "Not by might nor by power, but by
My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). It is not our
cleverness that will save us - it is the Lord who will bring us through.
Verse 14. "Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male
and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to
him."
Two interesting parts of our relationship with the Lord are
seen to be in operation within this verse. First, God was continuing to
bless Abraham, this man of faith, even though the man tended to have lapses when
he did not trust in the Lord as fully as he should. But note that he had
and you will still have
the blessing of God's presence in your life, even when your faith is small.
And the second part is the response of King Abimelech who was doing everything
possible to avoid God's judgment on himself and on his land. Sometimes we
wonder about some person or another: How could they be the Lord's
child when they make so many mistakes? The answer is that we all miss the
mark and we are only saved by the grace of God.
We forget that God's grace is His gift, His unmerited favor to
this world. None of us deserve it - or Him, but He gives it greatly to us
anyway. And here we find King Abimelech, who, from the perspective of the
culture they lived in had done nothing wrong, lavishly giving "sheep and oxen
and male and female servants" to Abraham, just as Pharaoh had done in Genesis
12. And now, best of all, Abraham's wife, Sarah, was restored to him.
Perhaps now he would love her more than he loved his personal safety.
Verse 15. "Abimelech said, 'Behold, my land is before
you; settle wherever you please.'"
It's most unusual for a sovereign nation to allow someone who
is a foreigner to roam free within its borders. In this case it's even
more surprising when we note that Abraham had a small army with him.
Looking back to Genesis 14:14, we see that Abraham previously had 318 armed men in his camp who
were intensely loyal to him. Undoubtedly, the number was even larger at
the time of this verse. The term "illegal alien" could have been applied
to him and his followers, except that he had official permission, right from the
top.
We see in Abraham's life the FAVOR of God. Yes he had
troubles and yes he knew sorrow, and yes he made mistakes, but the Lord was with
him and often delivered him. The key to this unmerited favor is seen in
Genesis 15:6 - the man "believed in the Lord and He accounted it to him for
righteousness." He believed in much more than simply the existence of God.
He trusted in the CHARACTER of God, that He is good. He had a healthy
trust in God's power and believed that God knows - everything. He had
faith in the Lord, even though he lapsed from time to time, and God blessed him
for his faith.
Father, we give You our hearts and our lives.
Forgive us for the duplicity that has been and is in us. We confess our
sins and trust in You now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Audio Bible Study - Genesis 20:16-18
Verse 16. "To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your
brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is your vindication before all
who are with you, and before all men you are cleared.'"
King Abimelech now turned to Sarah, Abraham's wife, who was likely
still dressed in the fine clothing of his harem, and spoke directly to her.
We learned in Verse 7 that God had appeared to Abimelech in a dream and
referred to Sarah's husband, Abraham, as a "prophet." Abimelech was badly
frightened by that information and wanted to be absolutely sure that Sarah would give Abraham a good
report about how she was treated while being kept in Abimelech's harem.
The Pharaoh of Egypt had been similarly frightened in a
previous instance as we saw in Genesis 12 and he also lavished gifts on Abraham
as a result. In this case, the king gave "a thousand pieces of silver" as
a public expression of his sincerity that he had not touched Sarah as a husband
touches a wife. Here he said to Sarah, "You are cleared," declaring HER
innocence (and his own) to all who would hear about this incident. And
note that Abimelech referred to Abraham as Sarah's "brother,"
a somewhat sarcastic reference to earlier statements about their relationship.
Verse 17. "Abraham prayed to God, and God healed
Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.'"
Time was passing in these verses; more so than the written
words directly indicate. And we find that Abraham now knew about all that had
happened in the harem of Abimelech and he did what he should have done earlier -
He "prayed to God," which is something
everyone should do.
Life would be better than it is. Prayer is something HE should have done before he lied to Abimelech about Sarah in
the first place. If we really
learn to pray, it will revolutionize our lives and the lives of those around
us, when we finally start calling out to the Lord in and for everything.
But like so many, Abraham had often acted first, BEFORE he
looked to the Lord, a habit which got him into a lot of trouble. We have
to wonder - How would life be different for all of us, for our loved ones and
the countries we live in, IF we had been men and women who believed and prayed
during all of the years that have led up to this moment? It's not to late
to start: TODAY is the day when we are to finally call out to the Lord for all of
our needs. Note that when Abraham did exactly that; when he prayed, a whole generation of
women of child-bearing age in that place were suddenly able to have children, when previously
they had been barren.
Verse 18. "For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of
the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife."
Notice the utter control of God over the activities, the very
bodies of those in mankind. He can control our minds if it is necessary
also. Note Proverbs 21:1 in relation to Abimelech and Sarah - "The
king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water, He turns it
wherever He wishes." It was very important to God that Abraham and
Sarah would have a son in about a year. He had even given the son-to-be
the
name, "Isaac," which means "laughter," because the very thought of having a son
in their somewhat old age had caused Abraham and Sarah to burst into laughter.
God has been much more involved in our lives than we ever
could have thought. He has closed "doors" in life and opened other ones for
us and we never even realized that He was involved. Sometimes we wept at
those doors and demanded that they be opened. But they were closed because
God has higher purposes than we understand. That process of opening some
situations and closing others will
continue and we might as well acknowledge Him because everything we have and are
is because of Him. And someday we will find that we have the "laughter" of
Abraham and Sarah because He will give us the joy of the Lord, in ways deeper
and more meaningful than any of our expectations.
Father, we surrender our lives and our wills to Your will,
which is higher than ours. Help us to pray before we act and we pray right now
that You will be with us in our prayers, strengthening our feeble efforts with the
power and love of God. Empower us, Lord, for we need You in all our
decisions, all of our ways. And thank You for the doors You have opened -
and closed - in our lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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