Years previously in Egypt, Abraham claimed his wife was his sister to save his life. His fear caused him to lie. The person in authority could kill him for his beautiful wife.
He is now temporarily settled in Gerar, and we are going to read that he hasn’t got over the anxiety in his life. This man of God, who walked with God and had promises from God, is again filled with such fear. But perhaps we know all too well what this is like.
Time goes by, but we remain the same anxious person.
“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.” (Genesis 20 v 1-7)
“She is my sister.” King Abimelek gets dragged into this mess through no fault of his own. But in a dream, he learns (and we do) there is a difference between sin committed in ignorance and that through rebellion. God stepped in and prevented Abimelek from sinning any further. Isn’t that an amazing grace with a pagan king? God stepped in to stop the mess even before it was created. There was no adultery committed and no resulting judgment; there was no disaster because God stepped in and made a way out even before the king knew he needed one.
If we were God, maybe we would have brought about a different ending. At the very least, giving Abraham a good telling off, perhaps. But God strangely and very graciously says the liar who is a prophet will be the one to intercede, stand in the gap and in effect save the king.
Abraham isn’t disqualified from his ministry as a prophet or an intercessor.
Grace never makes sense to us.
Maybe, like me, you have sinned in the same way twice and maybe because of fear. Don’t worry, you are in alignment with the father of faith, and God’s faithfulness is greater than our failures.
You may have thought you were being wise to protect yourself, and yet lies and deception can mean that others suffer the consequences we never intended.
The father of faith had feet of clay, and we are glad he did, for we know these anxious self-protecting plots we choose: a small lie here and there, all for a good cause. But every time we need a gracious God to step in to sort the mess before things implode.
Missions Paul 