Abraham Lies Again

In order to keep livestock healthy it is necessary to regularly move them to different areas so that the grass and plants can recover.   While many modern herdsmen can use fencing to exclude the animals from an area which has been grazed, the traditional way was to move the entire herd to a more distant area, forcing the herdsmen to live a nomadic lifestyle.   After the destruction of Sodom, Abraham move further south, into what was then Philistine land, seeking fresh pasturage for his livestock, as described in Genesis 20:1-2.  “And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.   And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”  For a change, they camped near the city of Gerar, where Sarah could visit with the local people.

Twenty three years before when they went into Egypt, Abraham told peoplee Sarah was his sister rather than telling them she was his wife because he was afraid somebody would be jealous and kill him, as described in Genesis 12.  When the lie was discovered, they were expelled from Egypt and forced to return to Canaan.    Einstein is often credited with having said doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results is insanity.  Unfortunately, unless the consequences are very severe, people tend to repeat the same mistakes.  In Gerar, he told the lie again, and once again the king decided to take Sarah as his wife.

God had revealed the lie to Pharaoh in Egypt, and he revealed it to The Philistine leader, in Genesis 20:3-8.  “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?  Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.  Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.  Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.” 

Abraham had assumed the Philistines had no fear of God and would not hesitate to kill him.   In reality, they had a very strong respect for God, and worshipped him at the time.  God knew Abimelech had no intention of committing adultery and had protected him from doing so.  He told him to give Sarah back to her husband, warning that if he did not, he and his people would die.  The people were horrified at how close they had come to offending God. 

Abimelech was quite concerned as to why Abraham had put them in such danger of God’s judgment, as Genesis 20:9-10 tells us.  “Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.  And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?”  Everyone knew that adultery was wrong, and was to be judged harshly.  Knowing that, why had Abraham lied and set them up to bring God’s judgment on them?  Had they done something that made him angry at them? The lie almost resulted in someone unintentionally committing adultery with Sarah, and bringing God’s judgment on the Philistine nation.     

Abraham explained that he had made a false assumption, that they had no respect for and would kill him for his wife, in Genesis 20:11-13.   “And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.  And yet indeed she is 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 house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.”   

Concerned about his own safety, he had not even considered the effects of his actions on anyone else.  He was only thinking about himself.  When confronted, he tried to justify the lie by pointing out that was also his half-sister.  That in no way changed the implication that she was not his wife and was free to marry someone else.   Abraham had believed and obeyed God when he began his journey to Canaan, but had never trusted God to protect him completely.  As a result, he and Sarah had agreed to tell that same lie every time they thought there might be such danger.      

Unlike Pharaoh, Abimelech did not kick them out of his country, as we see in Genesis 20:14-15. “And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.  And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. “  Instead, he gave Abraham a large amount of property to make up ofr the mental and emotional stress he might have experienced, giving them permission to live wherever they wanted to.

Abimelech realized it was not all Abraham’s fault.  Sarah had willingly gone along with Abraham’s idea, even if it meant committing adultery.  Contrary to what some have taught, she was responsible for her own actions, even though Abraham had wanted her to do it.  She had been wrong to even consider the sin as he made clear in Genesis 20:16.  “And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.”   Submission to her husband did not free Sarah from her responsibility to be faithful.  She should not even consider looking at other men in that way.  We cannot blame our sin on someone else. 

The consequences of sin often go much further than we expect, as Genesis 20:17-18 make very clear.  “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.  For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.”  Abraham’s lie endangered the lives of the entire population of Gerar.  It also led to complications in the women’s ability to conceive and bear children.  More than forty years later, Isaac would follow his father’s example, in Genesis 26.

If we are willing to take responsibility for our own sin and forgive others, God can work out the problems resulting from our sin.  Isaac prayed for the Philistines, and God restored their health and peace.   I John 1:8-10 tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  If we refuse to accept responsibility, we are only fooling ourselves, and God’s promises of forgiveness do not apply to us.