GENESIS 20: Abraham and Abimelech

Abraham and his family were wanderers. They did not live in a particular place, but they would move according to their need. They were constantly in search for water and pastures to feed their livestock.

(Genesis 20:1)  From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 

Today, this region is a desert, but is close to a “wadi”, which is a riverbed that contains water only during the rainy season. In a present day map it is located south of the Gaza Strip.

Abraham had been in Hebron for a long time, but he picked up his tent and moved elsewhere, probably in search of better pastures.

The problem was that he and his family again became strangers, “foreigners” among the natives. When you are a stranger in a foreign land, you are in a very vulnerable position. Maybe that is why Abraham saw the need to make an alliance with the king of the territory.

Again, the king was attracted by Sarah’s beauty. Abraham, fearful that he may be killed by someone who wanted to keep her, again said that she was “his sister” instead of his wife.

This is the same thing that happened in Egypt, but Abraham did not seem to have learned his lesson and again made the same mistake.

(Genesis 12:11-13)  When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,  (12)  and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.  (13)  Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake."

Believing that Sarah was Abraham’s sister open the way for the king of Gerar to take her for himself.

(Genesis 20:2)  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 

The king took Sarah as part of a peace alliance between Abraham and his people. This is not right in any light. However, despite Abraham’s mistake, God did not allow things to remain this way…

(Genesis 20:3-5)  But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife."  (4)  Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent people?  (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."

God not only saved Sarah, but also Abimelech from making a serious mistake. The king had taken Sarah as a concubine thinking it was acceptable to do so. But she was a married woman, and if he had touched her it would have brought negative consequences to his household. However, God was good to him and stopped him before he did.

(Genesis 20:6-8)  Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.  (7)  Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."  (8)  So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 

The Lord protected Sarah and Abraham as well as Abimelech and his household. The king was acting in integrity. It was Abraham that was not completely sincere and honest. What a shame! An ungodly person is acting with greater integrity than a righteous person! Sadly, we see much of this in the world today… we must take care of our testimony.

(Genesis 20:9-10)  (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 my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done."  (10)  And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you did this thing?" 

Abraham explained that he was carried away by fear, and that Sarah was really his half sister. He told him a half-truth.

(Genesis 20:11-13)  Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.  (12)  Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.  (13)  And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"

Abraham and Sarah had made an alliance based on fear, not trusting God. They nearly jeopardize the seed of the promise.

However, thanks to God intervention Sarah’s reputation was left spotless. She was not only given back to Abraham without being dishonored, but also received a redemption payment.

(Genesis 20:14-16)  Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.  (15)  And Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you."  (16)  To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated."

The word “vindicated” is translated from the Hebrew “Kesut Einaim”, which literally means: covering of the eyes.

The pieces of silver were going to “cover the eyes”. This has been interpreted in two different ways:

* To cover the unrighteous act committed.

* To protect the woman’s reputation, to let everyone know she is pure and has  not been touched by men.

It was VERY important to leave evidence that Sarah had not been touched by another man besides her husband, since it had to be certain that Sarah’s son was not Abimelech’s but Abraham’s.

Abraham’s mistake was about to jeopardize the future of the child of the promise. However, God saved him from stumbling.

Think about this. How many a time has God saved us from doing something we might later regret doing? There are mistakes God allows us to make because we will learn something from them. Yet, there are other mistakes that would only bring destruction. As the Bible tells us: “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

The Lord stopped Abimelech from making a mistake. He had also closed the wombs of all the women so that everyone would notice that there was something wrong in the whole situation. God revealed his purpose through the circumstances and a dream. Then everything went back to normal.

(Genesis 20:17-18)  Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.  (18)  For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

In the following chapter we will see how things followed their course in Abraham’s household. Not only were the wombs opened in the household of Abimelech, but also Sarah’s and Isaac was conceived.

(Genesis 21:1-2)  The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.  (2)  And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Before Isaac was born, God wanted Abraham and Sarah to learn an important lesson. The Lord was purifying the way before the son of the promise was born.