Abraham, Part 18 - Long-term Sin

Genesis 19v1-13

15^th January 2011

Last week, we read in Genesis 18 how Abraham prayed for Sodom and God agreed to spare the wicked city if there were ten righteous people there. We can see in chapter 19 that there were not ten righteous people in Sodom, and God did indeed destroy it. This week, we move on to chapter 20:

Genesis 20v1-8
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, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
But God came to Abimelech 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 Abimelech 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'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands."
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. 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 yours will die."
Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.

Back in chapter 12, we read that Abraham pulled the same stunt when he was in Egypt many years before, and God had to save Sarah and him from the consequences of his sin. Now he's at it again.

Again God had to save them from Abraham's sin. He spoke to Abimelech in a dream and Abimelech (quite reasonably) protested his innocence. But God warned him of the importance of putting right what had been done wrong, and the fear of God fell upon Abimelech and his people.

Genesis 20v9-13
Then Abimelech 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 not be done." And Abimelech asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?"
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.' Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God caused me to 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."'"

Abraham's reply is appalling in several ways:

• He accused Abimelech and his people of being completely godless. But we see nobility in Abimelech, although (in this passage) we don't see it in Abraham. Abimelech seems to have more "fear of God" than Abraham does!
• Abraham showed no faith in God, when he assumed that God would allow him to be killed before God's promise of a son was fulfilled.
• Abraham tried to make a distinction between lying and deception. He said Sarah was his sister in the hope that others would infer that she was not his wife. This is no less wicked than an outright lie.
• Abraham admitted that this deceitfulness was his normal behaviour, 'I said to her, '...Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother"'.
• God had promised that Isaac would be born in the next few months. Had Abraham's sinful plan worked, Isaac would not have been Abraham's son - he would have been Abimelech's son.

Genesis 20v14-16
Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "My land is before you; live wherever you like." To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offence against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated."

See the moral integrity of the man Abraham accused of godlessness! He gave Abraham free passage and a generous gift, not because Abraham deserved it, but to ensure Sarah's good reputation.

Genesis 20v17-18
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah.

Finally, Abraham did the right thing, praying that God would not visit His judgment on his innocent host.

What a shameful attitude Abraham displayed in this story! But Abraham was a man of God! Sometimes, he did great things, trusting God and stepping out in faith. At other times, he did wicked things, concerned only for his own welfare and safety, ignoring God's promises, showing cowardice and choosing deception over honesty.

In other words, Abraham was just like us.

This week, I would most like to highlight the fact that Abraham's sin had remained with him, even after the incident in Egypt, for many years. As Christians, we acknowledge the need for total repentance - yielding everything to God and living in righteousness in every way. And yet some sins can stay with us for many years, just like Abraham.

• Maybe we don't realise that our sin is, indeed, sin
• Maybe we know it in our hearts but we don't admit to ourselves that our sin is sin
• Maybe we know perfectly well that it's sin, but we refuse to repent

Whatever, the fact remains that our sin can recur to our great shame, can threaten our ability to live in the good of God's promises, and can cause great suffering to ourselves or others.

May God grant us full understanding of the sin that remains in us, and full repentance, so that we may walk free from sin and avoid bringing shame on our Lord's name and suffering on those around us.