Genesis 20 (Abraham and Abimelech)
Abraham the Sinner, Christ the Savior

We have finished the sordid story of Lot, a sub-plot, a parenthesis in the larger story of Abraham and the covenant and the promised land and the promised Seed. And Abraham came off rather well in comparison:

Lot, a man of doubt, dwelt in a house outside the Promised Land, laying up his treasure in Sodom, a city doomed to fiery destruction. Abraham, the man of faith, lived in a tent, a foreigner in the Promised Land, waiting for the Lord to give him his inheritance.

Even with destruction immanent, Lot had hesitated, not wanting to lose the riches of Sodom. Rather than leaving the wicked land entirely, he bargained for a small corner of it, Zoar, to be retained. He fled because the angels pulled him along. His wife, a native of Sodom, had looked back and been destroyed with her countrymen. Lot arrives in Zoar, as it were, with his hair singed and his heels scorched. Abraham, on the other hand, stands at a heavenly height in the mountains of Canaan and sees the smoke of the destruction of the wicked rising from afar. He is unscathed.

Lot was saved from the midst of destruction, not by his own righteousness, but because "the Lord remembered Abraham" who had successfully negotiated Lot’s salvation.

Lot, having bargained for Zoar, feared to live there. After all the men of Zoar were every bit as wicked as the men of Sodom. Might they not treat him as their brothers in Sodom had? And might not God strike the city for its wickedness after all? So he fled to the hills. To the west, in other hills, his uncle Abraham lived as a rich man — a man with a tent for a home, but a rich man nonetheless. In the hills outside of Zoar, Lot lived in fear. In a cave.

Abraham, as we said, comes out smelling like a rose in comparison. But the Holy Spirit will not leave Abraham’s image untarnished. Abraham too is a man of doubts and sins. It is necessary that we should know this lest we suppose that God chose Abraham for his righteousness rather than out of mere good pleasure.

The story of Lot is part of a larger story, the story of Abraham. But this is not ultimately Abraham’s story either. It is the story of Jesus. It is the story of God’s love for miserable sinners — and so we must know that Abraham too is a miserable sinner lest we put our faith in him. It is the story of God expressing that love by giving his only-begotten Son to be torn and bruised and slaughtered by men every bit as wicked as the men of Sodom. Torn and bruised and slaughtered that we — by nature and birth the children of Sodom — might become by faith, like Abraham, friends of God and heirs of the promised land.

Let Abraham fall, then, one more time. Let him be debased that God may be exalted. God, who chooses not according to Abraham’s works or yours, but saves by grace and grace alone. God, who keeps his promises even when Abraham has shown himself unworthy and done everything he can by doubt and fear to thwart God’s promise and to disinherit himself. If we are faithless, God remains faithful; he cannot deny himself.

Abraham the sinner; Abimelech the righteous (1-8)
1. Abraham acts without faith, endangering the Seed (1,2)
  1. He leaves the Promised Land
    1. He did this once before, going all the way down to Egypt
    2. This time he goes to the South, the Negeb, just outside the borders of the Promised Land
      1. He dwells there
        
        i.e. he makes his home outside the Promised Land
        
        Like Lot.
      2. Meanwhile, he sojourns in Gerar where Abimelech is.
        
        Follow this carefully.
        
        Gerar is inside the Promised Land, the land God said he would give Abraham’s Seed
        
        But Abraham doesn’t live there, he only travels within its boundaries for a time. He "sojourns," he lives as a foreigner.
        
        Now the NT tells us Abraham did indeed sojourn in the Promised Land. He lived there as a foreigner.
        
        Why? Because his true home was not this piece of real estate; it was heaven, a place that his Savior would go to prepare for him.
        
        But here Abraham’s sojourning is not a sign of faith, a sign that his true home is in heaven.
        
        It’s a sign that he’s made his home in the South, outside the Promised Land
        
        His sojourning in the PL, which should be the sign of his faith, becomes the sign of his doubt, his wavering.
    3. Last time, it was understandable (though not right)
      1. He was a poor foreigner, far from Ur, the land of his birth, and far from Haran, the current dwelling of his family.
      2. And all he had was the promise of God who appeared to him between Bethel and Ai, saying his Seed would be given this land. But beyond the simple speech, Abraham had seen no confirmation of this promise.
      3. When famine struck, this poor homeless man naturally abandoned the fantasy of inheriting the earth for the reality of food in Egypt.
      4. It was wrong, but it was understandable
    4. But this time?
      1. He’s already made the mistake once, and what happened?
        
        God contrived to rebuke Abraham in Egypt
        
        But in such a way that Abraham came out of the deal a rich man (recap story)
        
        Surely this must strengthen his faith?
        
        Surely he sees there is no point in repeating past sins
      2. When kings from the East defeated Sodom and took slaves, including Lot, Abraham went after them and defeated them. He knew at that time that it was the hand of God that had granted him strength.
      3. God made a covenant with Abraham, passing through the pieces of cut up animals (remind)
      4. God confirmed that covenant saying he would be Abraham’s God
      5. God confirmed his statement that Abraham should bear a son by his wife Sarah. He even gave himself a deadline — one year
      6. Abraham had seen God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, areas outside the Promised Land; He had emerged untouched.
      7. What can he be thinking?
        
        Such promises have been made!
        
        Such preservation has been granted!
    5. Are we not this way as well?
      1. We’ve been granted more than the PL, a mere picture of heaven
      2. This day, we have been brought up to heaven itself
      3. Yet how little we prize this day of rest and gladness. How often our worldly concerns crowd in.
  2. Yet he lies about his wife in fear
    1. The same old sin — lying. Saying "she’s my sister"
    2. For the same old reason — he’s afraid God won’t protect him from those who don’t fear God.
  3. He puts his wife in jeopardy
    1. Sounds an awful lot like Lot
      1. The men of Sodom are banging on his door saying give us those beautiful strangers who are staying with you
      2. Lot says, Take my daughters; only spare them
    2. But Abraham doesn’t have the excuse that he’s protecting his guests
      1. He’s protecting his little ole self
      2. Here, take my wife, only don’t hurt me
      3. He’s worse than Lot
  4. He puts the Seed in jeopardy
    1. This whole story is about the Seed
      1. The Seed that will crush the serpent’s head
      2. The Seed that will inherit the Promised Land
      3. The Seed in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed
      4. The Seed who will be, in the first place, Isaac, but in the final event, Christ.
      5. The hope of the world has come to rest on the birth of this Seed to Abraham and Sarah.
    2. And Sarah is again taken into a foreign king’s harem.
    3. Because Abraham is a wimp.
    4. What if he lies with her? What if she conceives?
      1. God promised that that the child would come from Abraham’s body
      2. How’s that going to happen if she’s in Abimelech’s harem?
      3. Can Abraham discreetly request an evening alone with his "sister"
      4. If God grants conception in such a circumstance, won’t Abimelech claim the child as his own?
    5. So even if the Seed is born, his identity will be forever in doubt
  5. How could he doubt after all he’s seen?
  6. How can we, now that the Seed has come?
    1. How can we look about at this world and make our home here, as though it is not about to be destroyed?
    2. How can we fear what man can do to us when they can only kill the body and God has already raised Jesus from the dead?
    3. If Abraham had great signs set before him, we have had greater still.
    4. If we are shocked by Abraham’s unbelief in the face of evidence, let us be further shocked by our own.
  7. The Lord is about to rebuke Abraham’s unbelief is a most delightful way — by provoking him to faith. So may he do with us.
2. God comes as Abimelech’s accuser; Abimelech is cleared (3-8)
  1. God announces Abimelech’s judgment
    1. He has taken another man’s wife
    2. Therefore he must die
    3. Don’t miss the irony here
      1. This situation exists because of two things
        
        Abraham’s faithlessness toward God
        
        God’s faithfulness to Abraham
      2. Why doesn’t God just say, "Fine. If Abraham’s faithless toward me, I’ll rescind my promises to him"?
      3. Because, praise God, his promises are unilateral; he will fulfill them.
      4. So when God said "Those who curse you I will curse," he meant if someone else takes your wife, Abraham (even if it’s your fault) I will judge him.
    4. Yet he does not immediately kill Abimelech
    5. Just like when he came down to see whether Sodom was as bad as he’d heard and then pass judgment…
    6. So here he gives Abimelech a chance to defend himself, to set the record straight
  2. Abimelech pleads his own righteousness
    1. The narrator tells us up front that "he had not come near her." If we were inclined to doubt Abimelech and assume the worst (like Abraham), the Spirit informs us his story is true
    2. Abimelech pleads "will you slay a righteous man [better translation: nation] also"?
      1. He knows that God is talking not only about destroying him but all of Gerar for his sin.
      2. We’ve heard language like this before, haven’t we?
      3. Abraham pled for Sodom "will you destroy the righteous along with the wicked. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"
      4. Now Abimelech is the Abraham-like character, invoking God’s own abhorrence of doing what is wicked.
      5. This is the first of several ways in which Abimelech is deliberately portrayed as being like Abraham (when Abraham is behaving righteously)
    3. Abimelech asserts he was lied to by Abraham and he acted innocently on the basis of that lie
      1. in integrity of heart (with respect to motive, the inward self)
        
        This phrase is used only in this passage and in 1 Ki 9:4 where it refers to King David
        
        Abimelech is making an amazing claim indeed
      2. in innocence of hand (with respect to outward action)
      3. The Biblical definition of complete, non-hypocritical righteousness.
  3. God affirms Abimelech’s self-testimony
    1. even more amazing, God confirms: "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart."
    2. Abimelech has received God’s own verdict: in this matter you have been righteous
    3. Yet…
  4. God asserts his protection of Sarah (and of the Seed)
    1. God is the one who restrained Abimelech from sin
    2. God had promised a Seed to Abraham and Sarah and Abraham himself, with all his doubt and fear, cannot repeal God’s promise.
  5. Abimelech’s righteousness, as good as it is, isn’t enough
    1. Because it’s just God restraining him from sin
    2. But he’s still a sinner by nature.
    3. We need a better cleansing.
  6. God affirms his special relationship with Abraham
    1. God actually directs Abimelech the righteous to faithless Abraham
    2. He won’t hear righteous Abimelech’s prayer, but he will hear Abraham’s
  7. God warns Abimelech of his danger and instructs him what he must do
    1. If Abimelech doesn’t return Sarah, he and his nation will die
    2. God’s covenant with Abraham remains
  8. Abimelech begins immediately to carry out God’s instructions
    1. "early in the morning" (v. 8)
    2. He goes to the task right away; he doesn’t wait
    3. He’s being contrasted with Lot who was warned to leave Sodom early in the morning and who dawdled
      1. In that story, it was Abraham who was being compared with Lot. Abraham was the one who looked good by comparison.
      2. Now it’s Abimelech
      3. And Abraham looks bad.
  9. Abimelech proves the righteous head of a righteous nation
    1. Not only is Abimelech one who fears God
    2. His advisors (servants in NKJV) also tremble. They hear of the coming judgment of God and they believe and are afraid.
    3. Again, what a contrast to Abraham who saw the judgment of God and still did not fear to leave the Promised Land!
Abraham evades responsibility; Abimelech goes above and beyond (9-16)
1. Abimelech comes as Abraham’s accuser (9,10)
  1. Abimelech knows that Abraham is God’s friend
    1. So he does not come out an attack Abraham
    2. But he asks accusing questions that show how grievous Abraham’s sin is
    3. And how innocent is the offended party
      1. What have you done?
      2. How have I offended you?
      3. You have done what should never be done
      4. What were you thinking?
  2. These indicate a new dimension to Abraham’s sin
    1. It’s attempted murder, or at least negligent homicide
    2. Abraham should have known that God would come in vengeance against Abimelech
    3. (Indeed, didn’t his experience in Egypt teach him anything?)
  3. And this of course comes as God’s rebuke against Abraham
  4. He is certainly not coming off too well in this story
2. Abraham tries to weasel out of his responsibility (11-13)
  1. Rather than confessing his sin and forsaking it, he offers a more twisted set of excuses that Adam and Eve offered God at the Fall — I figured you were a nation of murderers, I was telling a half-truth, I do it all the time, It’s God’s fault
  2. I figured you were a nation of murderers
    1. I assumed you didn’t fear God, he says to those who have just proved themselves more God-fearing than himself
    2. I assumed you’d kill me to take her, he says to those whose lives he has casually jeopardized without remorse
    3. So to protect myself, I offered to let you violate my wife; It’s a trick I learned from my nephew, Lot.
    4. Does he know how bad this sounds?
  3. I was telling a half-truth
    1. She really is my sister … sort of.
    2. Uh huh … so what? So it’s technically true
    3. The relevant information in terms of preserving Abimelech from the sin of adultery and his nation from the curse of God is that she’s also Abraham’s wife.
    4. And this is supposed to mitigate the sin?
  4. I do it all the time
    1. Don’t think you’re so special, Abimelech, we pull this stunt everywhere we go.
    2. It can’t be so bad; I endanger everybody’s life, all the time.
    3. I’m constantly prostituting my wife.
    4. Every excuse he offers condemns him more.
  5. It’s God’s fault
    1. I started doing this "when God caused me to wander from my father’s house" (13)
    2. Yessirree, if God hadn’t taken me out of idolatry and appeared to me and promised me the land and the Seed and pledged himself by irrevocable covenant to me personally and overwhelmed me with riches and preserved me from judgment and given me exceeding great and precious promises … well then obviously I wouldn’t have been forced to sin. You understand, don’t you?
    3. How twisted is the mind of the sinner that it takes the very gospel of God and turns that into an excuse for sin!
3. Abimelech exceeds his responsibility (14-16)
  1. The contrast isn’t complete yet.
    1. Abraham has evaded responsibility for a sin he did commit
    2. Now Abimelech is going to take responsibility for a sin he didn’t
  2. Abimelech doesn’t just restore Sarah, the only thing God had told him to do
    1. He gives Abraham sheep and oxen
    2. He tells Abraham to take whatever land he wants
      1. Does this ring a bell?
      2. Remember Abraham and Lot standing on a hill and Abraham making that generous offer?
      3. Now it’s Abimelech in that position
      4. And Abraham, who Lot-like moved out of the Promised Land, is being restored to it by Abimelech. (This is God’s doing, as with Pharaoh)
    3. He gives him 1000 shekels of silver
      1. Compare that with Deut. 22:29 — If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act, ²⁹the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
      2. 50 shekels — This is presumably a pretty steep bride price. The man’s in no position to negotiate; he’s paying retail.
      3. 50 shekels! Abimelech pays 20 times that!
        
        And he hasn’t even violated Sarah!
        
        And he doesn’t even get to keep her!
      4. He has done way more than is necessary for Sarah’s "brother" (as he ironically reminds her of who the guilty party is)
    4. Thus she is vindicated before all (16b)
      1. Not "rebuked" as in the NKJV
      2. He’s saying, this makes everything right again
      3. He has paid a fantastic price to assure everyone that she is righteous and was not violated (How this works, I don’t know; but it’s clear that the text means us to assume it does)
  3. Can anyone escape the thought that it is Abimelech, not Abraham, who is the Christlike figure in this story!
    1. He, the righteous, pays for the sins of the sinner
    2. With a wildly extravagant payment, he justifies the one who was guilty
Abraham intercedes for Abimelech; God hears him (17,18)
1. God does not switch to become the God of Abimelech
  1. One of the most important aspects of this story is the one that’s never stated: Why doesn’t God ditch that loser Abraham and hook up with Abimelech?
  2. Abimelech is the man who fears God/ Abraham fears men
  3. Abimelech testifies to his own righteousness, internal and external; and God confirms his assertion/ Abraham tries to vindicate himself and every syllable he utters condemns him more.
  4. Abraham evades responsibility for a sin he committed/ Abimelech shoulder’s responsibility for a sin — and a sin ignorance at that — that he might have committed.
  5. Why doesn’t God turn and make of Abimelech a great nation?
  6. Because God’s choice is not based on our works but on his grace out of his mere good pleasure.
  7. Even Abimelech is not really righteous enough for God; it is only that God has restrained him from sin for a time.
  8. If God’s choice is on the basis of works, then all must be condemned, even Abimelech.
  9. But God’s choice is from grace
    1. He graciously chose Abraham, who didn’t deserve it
    2. And he remains faithful even when Abraham’s faith wavers
  10. So it is with you that your faith may be assured
    1. Your salvation does not rest on the greatness of your faith
    2. Your faith is based on the greatness of your salvation
2. God hears Abraham’s prayer
  1. God remains the friend of Abraham, hearing him, just as he said he would.
  2. God had closed up the wombs of Abimelech’s household; At Abraham’s request, they are opened.
  3. Suddenly Abraham sees
    1. The Lord opens and closes the womb
    2. The Lord makes barren and the Lord makes fertile
    3. The Lord is powerful to give children
  4. Isn’t this what was promised to Sarah? But they both had laughed and doubted.
  5. Yet if they doubt, how can they receive the promised child, for the promise is received by faith.
  6. Is Abraham just supposed to grit his teeth really hard and force himself to believe? He needs a preacher.
  7. So God is preaching to Abraham. Look! I opened those wombs
  8. And finally Abraham believes. And finally the Seed can be conceived (which is the very next event). After 9 long chapters and 25 long years.
  9. This is how God rebukes Abraham for his sin
    1. He restores him to the land
    2. He proves that he answers prayer and grants conception
    3. Shall we fear to be rebuked by such a loving God?
    4. Amen, Lord! Rebuke me! Rebuke me for loving this world. Rebuke me for my materialism. Rebuke me for taking lightly this Day and letting other "more important" things crowd it out. Rebuke me for acting like a citizen of this world and having its values. Rebuke me for my love of money, my pride, my selfishness. Rebuke me for doubting your promises when you have fulfilled them in Christ. Rebuke me for living like a sinner when I’ve died to sin in Christ. Don’t you see how sweetly he will answer this prayer?
  10. May God rebuke our littleness of faith as well
  11. And may our faith be greater than Abraham’s, for we have had so much more preached to us.
    1. Not that Christ will come but that he has come
    2. Not that we will inherit heaven, but that we have already.

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Genesis 20 (Abraham and Abimelech) Abraham the Sinner, Christ the Savior

Genesis 20 (Abraham and Abimelech)
Abraham the Sinner, Christ the Savior