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Genesis 20:1-18
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.
Listening and Listening guide
Sermon
He was already an old man when God called him to leave his family and land and go to a new place. 75 years old. He packed up all he had on his back and he moved hundreds of miles with no home waiting for him at the other end. He stopped in mountains where he could watch his flocks without causing problems.
He was a nomad. When a famine came, he left that land. He went to Egypt. He escaped by a miraculous turn of events.
He became powerful. He collected more cattle, sheep. His family also grew. He got a servant in his household pregnant and she had a son.
Then another man took interest in his wife. That was partially his own doing. He had taught her to say, “I’m his sister”. Again, a miraculous turn of events protected him and their marriage. They escaped.
And they became one of the most influential families in all of history. He became the father of not one, not two, but three religious groups. All nations on earth have literally been blessed through him.
I’m talking about Abraham and his wife Sarah.
Adventure
Today we want to talk specifically about that instance in his life when another man took interest in his wife. That man was named Abimelek and he was the king of Gerar. He was a leader of the nation that would become part of the Philistines. And if that name means anything to you, you should know it, because the Philistines caused the Israelites trouble for many years.
It was these events that soured the relationship between the Israelites and the Philistines. It was these events that let the Philistines become a people that the Israelites never conquered.
All of that started with Abraham’s time with Abimelek and the story he told Abimelek.
Development
What did Abraham tell Abimelek?
He told Abimelek a version of the truth. We hear what Abraham told Abimelek in a dream he had. “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.” Now Abimelek 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”. Then we hear later, “Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father, though not of my mother”. (verses 3-5)
Abraham told them a version of the truth. He practiced endogamy. It’s technically not incest. Incest is marrying your brother or sister, father or mother, or uncles and aunts. No, he married a half-sister.
So when Abraham and Sarah told the Philistines they were brother and sister, that was partially true. Can you imagine ever doing that? I’ve been married for 15 years. We’ve had our challenges and we love each other deeply. I have never seriously thought of saying, this is Rachel. she is my girlfriend, or she is a cousin, or her? I don’t know her. I can’t imagine doing something like that. What’s going on here?
Abraham and Sarah were in the territory of Gerar. Abraham had gained significant power and influence. We know he had over 300 trained men in his own private army. If he had moved down to Gerar as a married man, the king of Gerar almost certainly would have seen him as competition. He would have said, this guy Abraham is trying to take over my land and my people.
But when Abraham said, she is my sister, all that competition went away. Suddenly Abraham was a wealthy shepherd and merchant, looking for a good home and good business partners and willing to share his sister to get some better relationships. Do you see that? It’s like in all the sports movies where the new running back moves to town. He is a great athlete and there is all kinds of tension with the local popular quarterback. Then boom, the running back’s sister starts dating the quarterback! What happens? All the tension goes away.
Now, imagine, what if that brother and sister, the new running back and his sister, had said, we’re dating. We’re dating from the start. What would that have done with the relationship with the quarterback? There would have been nothing to ease the tension.
One of the things that is fascinating about Abraham, Abraham is the guy who let his nephew Lot decide which land he got and which land Abraham got. Abraham asked God to save Sodom and Gomorrah for ten righteous people. Abraham jumped up and he went to war with only 300 trained men to save his selfish nephew Lot. Abraham did a lot of tough stuff in his life. When did Abraham have problems in his life?
He slept with a mistress. He allowed his wife to abuse her servant. He sent that woman and her son away. And now what does Abraham do?
This was how Abraham thought his wife should love him. “‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” (verse 13)
I want you to think about that for a second. Maybe you don’t like it at first because you don’t like the idea of someone teaching you how to show love. I wouldn’t get too hung up on that. Maybe you don’t know it, maybe you don’t do it, but you often have to say, how can I love you right now? Do you want a hug? Dinner? Want me to leave you alone? How can I love you? So that isn’t necessarily bad. But imagine this...
Imagine I come to you and I say, here is a thousand dollars. I want to give you a thousand dollars. You would probably say, wow, that’s awesome! Thanks. Really? Are you sure you want to give me a thousand dollars? And I say, yup, it’s all for you. You just have to spend it on me. Yeah, that’s it. It’s all yours. Just spend it on me.
Would you feel loved? Would you feel cared for? Would you feel important? Absolutely not! You’d probably throw the money back in my face and say, just go spend the money yourself!
You know the word for love here... the word Abraham uses for love.... he doesn’t tell Sarah, here is how you express your passion and desire for me. He doesn’t say, here is how you express your friendship and appreciation for me. He says, here is how you express your faithfulness to me. Here is how you express your commitment to me.
Abraham didn’t really give his wife a gift. He gave her a loan. When he loved her, he expected her to give it right back, the way he wanted it, all the time. He didn’t know love.
See, this is Abraham’s failure. He did not know love. And then you step back and say...
Abraham lived a lie.
And because he lived a lie he made Sarah live a lie.
And because Sarah lived a lie, Abimilek lived a lie.
And because Abimilek lived a lie, their whole nation almost died.
This is what happens when you and I don’t love truth.
But I want you to see also how God gives them the truth. Look at verse 7 “Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live.” (verse 7) What you got to know about this, “These are the only uses of the words prophet and pray in Genesis” (Andrew E. Steinmann, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 1 of The Tyndale Commentary Series (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 2019), 206)
You see this? God let’s a man who has been deceived, who lived a lie, speak the very words to give life.
That’s because behind Abraham was a far greater prophet who didn’t just speak the truth, but was truth himself. One day would come the prophet who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. He would not have to pray for the truth. He would speak the truth himself. He would not have to ask for life. He would just speak life himself.
(the difference between a child who tells something true but doesn’t know what they are saying and an adult who has learned through sacrifice and loss)
AJ wanting to read the Bible, he has his win Bible.
Behind Abraham was the great prophet who would come some day and not just pray for
Know the truth so we can all live.
Action
Friends, do you see what happens here?
It’s easy to think that Jesus is just another Trojan Horse.
(maybe let me teach you everything vs let me go ahead of you)
One of the most famous failures of truth in history is the story of the Trojan Horse. Remember that one? The prince of Troy took the beautiful queen of the Greeks. Because of that, the Greeks went to war against the Trojans. But the Greeks could not get into the city of Troy. So what did the do?
They built a massive horse. They gave it to the Trojans as a gift. The Trojans put the horse in their city. And they had a party.
But what happened that night? Greek soldiers were hiding in the horse. In the middle of the night, the soldiers broke out, opened the gates, and began to kill everyone.
It's easy to think Jesus is that, isn’t it? And sometimes things happen that make us feel that is true. Christians seem to divorce just as much as nonChristians.
Jesus is much more like a Gobstopper