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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, 'all');">Gen 20</a> - Abraham Lies About Sarah Again</h2>
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<p>A. Abraham’s lie, God’s protection.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, '1-2');">1-2</a>) Abraham lies in a similar manner as before.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between <span>Kadesh</span> and <span>Shur</span>, and stayed in <span>Gerar</span>. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And <span>Abimelech</span> king of <span>Gerar</span> sent and took Sarah.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Abraham journeyed from there to the South</span></b>: After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham moved. Perhaps he did not want to live in the hills overlooking the destroyed region any longer, and be reminded of those people and the judgment visited upon them.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.”</span></b> Abraham’s concern was probably not because Sarah looked like a young beauty at 90 years of age. We can surmise that she was reasonably attractive at that age, but more importantly she was connected to one of the richest and most influential men of the region. In that day, a harem was more of a political statement than a romantic statement.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. We should not ignore the idea of Sarah’s attractiveness even in old age. “She had in some measure been physically rejuvenated, in order to conceive, bear, and <span>nurse</span> Isaac, and possibly this manifested itself in renewed beauty as well.” (Morris)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">She is my sister</span></b>: This is the same lie Abraham told back in <a onclick="return mV('Gen', 12, '10-13');">Gen 12:10-13</a>. He shows that it is all too easy to slip back into sinful habits. Abraham stumbles in a place he stumbled before. Instead of trusting God to keep his family together, he devised his own plan to do it. His plan will fail completely.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Age does not automatically sanctify us. Unless yielded to the Spirit of God, we will repeat in our old age the sinful patterns of our youth.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, '3-7');">3-7</a>) God threatens judgment upon <span>Abimelech</span> for taking Sarah.</p>
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<p class="c2">But God came to <span>Abimelech</span> in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” But <span>Abimelech</span> had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will <span>You</span> slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against <span>Me</span>; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely <span>die,</span> you and all who are yours.”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Indeed you are a dead man</span></b>: This is a scary thing to hear from God, even in a dream. But the point had to be made to <span>Abimelech</span>, even though he could truly say he was acting <b><span class="c3">in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. This may seem drastic, but the stakes were high. “Suppose <span>Abimelech</span> had taken Sarah and God had not intervened? Two seeds would have been at the door to Sarah’s womb, and to this day an element of doubt would cling to the ancestry of our Lord.” (<span>Barnhouse</span>)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart</span></b>: Because <span>Abimelech’s</span> <b><span class="c3">heart</span></b> was right in this regard, God kept him from worse sin. God’s protecting power can guide even a pagan king.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Despite Abraham’s failure to really trust God in the situation, God was not going to abandon him. He would not <i>let</i> <span>Abimelech</span> touch Sarah. That womb was going to bring forth the son of promise, who would eventually bring forth God’s Messiah. God wasn’t leaving this matter up to man!</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you</span></b>: Even though Abraham is in sin, he is still <b><span class="c3">a prophet</span></b> and man of powerful prayer. God’s mercy did not leave Abraham, even though Abraham didn’t trust God the way he should.</p>
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<p>B. Abraham is rebuked again.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, '8-10');">8-10</a>) Abraham (just like last time) suffers rebuke from a heathen king.</p>
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<p class="c2">So <span>Abimelech</span> rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. And <span>Abimelech</span> called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended <span>you, that</span> you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.” Then <span>Abimelech</span> said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done</span></b>: It is sad to see that <span>Abimelech</span> - the pagan king - is in the right, and Abraham - the man of God is in the wrong, and <span>Abimelech</span> tells Abraham so.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?</span></b> This is a logical question for <span>Ahimelech</span> to ask Abraham. Abraham certainly did not have the <span class="c6">Lord</span> <b><span class="c3">in view</span></b> when he lied and failed to trust God.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, '11-13');">11-13</a>) Abraham’s excuse.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s <span>house, that I said to her,</span> ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ‘ “</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Surely the fear of God is not in the place</span></b>: This was Abraham’s excuse for his sinful deception by saying, but the real problem was that the <b><span class="c3">fear of God</span></b> wasn’t in Abraham. If he really respected the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, His commandments, His promises, and His protection, then Abraham would have never trusted in his own efforts to keep his family together.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Indeed she is truly my sister</span></b>: This is another attempt to justify his lie, by saying it is really the truth. But a half-truth, said with intent to deceive, is always a whole lie.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">When God called me to wander from my father’s house</span></b>: This is an indirect way of blaming God for the problem. Abraham claims that God sent him out on this dangerous journey upon which Abraham had to protect himself.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “There is a terrible meaning in this verb <i>wander</i> which Abraham uses. The Hebrew word occurs exactly fifty times in Scripture and never in a good sense. It is used of animals going astray, of a drunken man reeling, or staggering, of sinful seduction, of a prophet’s lies causing the people to err, of the path of a lying heart. Six other words are translated <i>wander</i>, any one of which Abraham might have used, but he used the worst word available.” (<span>Barnhouse</span>)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “Abraham should have said: ‘Forgive me, <span>Abimelech</span>, for dishonoring both you and my God. My selfish cowardice overwhelmed me, and I denied my God by fearing that He who called me could not take care of me. He is not as your gods of wood and stone. He is the God of glory. He is the living God, the Creator, the most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. He told me He would be my shield and my exceeding great reward, and supplier of all my needs . . . In sinning against Him, I sinned against you. Forgive me, <span>Abimelech</span>.’” (<span>Barnhouse</span>)</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 20, '14-18');">14-18</a>) <span>Abimelech’s</span> gift recompenses Sarah, and Abraham prays for him.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then <span>Abimelech</span> took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And <span>Abimelech</span> said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was reproved. So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed <span>Abimelech</span>, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the <span class="c6">Lord</span> had closed up all the wombs of the house of <span>Abimelech</span> because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <span><b><span class="c3">Abimelech</span></b></span><b><span class="c3"> took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham</span></b>: In showing such generosity to Abraham, <span>Abimelech</span> is essentially heaping coals of fire on Abraham’s head (<a onclick="return mV('Rom', 12, 20);">Rom 12:20</a>). Abraham should have been giving gifts to <span>Abimelech</span>, because he was in the wrong.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Also, it is interesting to see Abraham <i>accepts</i> these gifts, when he had refused gifts from a pagan king previously (<a onclick="return mV('Gen', 14, '21-24');">Gen 14:21-24</a>), because he wanted no one to think a man had made him rich. Here, because of Abraham’s compromise, he finds it hard to reclaim the same high moral ground.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver</span></b>: We can imagine the irony in <span>Abimelech’s</span> voice when he refers to Abraham as Sarah’s <b><span class="c3">brother</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Thus she was reproved</span></b>: The ancient Hebrew word for <b><span class="c3">reproved</span></b> is “<span><i>yakach</i></span>.” It has the idea of “set right,” so it is debatable as if Sarah was “set right” by <span>Abimelech’s</span> rebuke, or if she was “found to be right” because of her humble submission in this occasion. In a sense, both are true.</p>
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