NEW PLACE, SAME SIN
“From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.”
To sojourn means to temporarily live in a place that is not your home. It’s to live under someone else’s authority with limited rights and security. So, this is a reminder that Abraham is in a land that God has promised him, but a land that he does not yet possess.
The land of Negeb is a place that he’s been in before. And it seems to consistently be a place associated with scarcity and famine. Therefore, it’s a place of instability and dependence on God.
Unlike Negeb, this is the first time Gerar is mentioned in the Bible. We’re not exactly sure of the exact reason why Abraham journeyed here. But he did. It’s most likely the day to day demands of being a nomadic herdsman in a land not his own that he is here.
What we then see happen in verse 2 is Abraham tell those in Gerar that Sarah is his sister, which leads to the king taking her to be his wife.
Now, if you’re thinking, “Wait, did this not already happen?” the answer would be, “Yes!” You’re not having deja vu. This would be the second time that Abraham went into a neighboring country and told them that his wife is his sister, which leads to the king taking her to be his wife.
As the old saying goes, “Old habits die hard.” It seems that Abraham didn’t fully learn from his earlier mistakes. When pressure was applied, his old reflex returned. His sinful instinct to deceive rose right back to the surface.
I think Abraham’s actions remind us of the simple but sobering truth: no one is exempt from sin. No one graduates from Sin Struggle University.
Surely, after feeling the sting of his failure in Egypt, Abraham spent years pursuing honesty. Surely he felt the bitter realization of what happens when truth is hidden in the shadows of a lie. Surely he resolved, “Never again.” And, yet, when he entered an unfamiliar place and felt that familiar feeling of fear, he reached for the familiar refuge of deception.
Friends, we wade into some seriously dangerous waters whenever we begin to think we’ve mastered sin. If father Abraham was not beyond falling, neither are we. If father Abraham wasn’t exempt from sin, you’re not exempt from sinning. You never outgrow the need to seriously wage war against your flesh. Every second of every day is a battle to remain faithful to Jesus.
I think we also wade into equally dangerous waters when we think that someone is exempt from sinning simply because of their status. Titles don’t sanctify the hearts, and positions don’t purify the soul. Pastor… priest… principal… president… none who hold these title are immune to sin. All remain vulnerable to the same subtle and persistent pull toward sin.
So, oh what a dangerous place to be whenever we are willing to overlook someone’s sin simply because of the title next to their name.
Titles don’t remove us from temptation, but neither does age.
Let’s do the math.
In Genesis 17, Abraham is 99 years old. In Genesis 21, he will be 100. So, that means, if my calculations are correct, Abraham is old.
Yet, even as he’s grows in faith over the years, fear still at times shows its ugly head.
Abraham believes God. This much is clear. But, at this moment, he is still struggling to trust God. His faith is real, but he’s not perfect. So, a long life and spiritual maturity does not make us immune to old sins. Old habits die hard.
But, there can be a subtle temptation to think that with enough time, enough years, enough experience, we will somehow outgrow sin, that one day we’ll arrive at a place where the battle quiets down, where vigilance is no longer necessary. But, Abraham’s life seeks to correct that illusion. Abraham’s life teaches us that no one is exempt from sin. Even in maturity, our flesh can still whisper. Even after decades of walking with God, we can fall back into the same sin we struggled with whenever we first became Christians.
You will never arrive at a place where you get to coast in your walk with Jesus. After all, Jesus, himself, said, “If anyone were to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This command applies to seven year olds, seventeen year olds, and seventy year olds. As long as there’s breath in our lunges, there is a cross to bear. As long as there is life in our bodies, there is a flesh to deny. Daily we are to follow after Jesus with our cross on our back. Not once a week, not a few times a year, not early on in our youth… daily! Every single day, we nail our flesh to the cross again and again and again.
GOD ACTS ON BEHALF OF ABRAHAM
Now, let’s begin to look at what happens next.
“3 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.” 6 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.”
What a profound exchange here!
Abimelech takes Sarah to be his wife.
***And can we just pause for a moment and highlight how Sarah still has kings chasing her as a 90 year old woman??? As Proverbs says, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting,” except, apparently, if you’re Sarah!
Then, before Abimelech ever touches her, the LORD appears to him in a dream and says, “You’re a dead man because you’ve taken a woman to be your wife who belongs to another man.”
Abimelech is like, “Woah, woah, woah! Lord, will you kill me even though I’m innocent? I haven’t slept with her yet and I didn’t even know she was married! She herself said, ‘He is my brother!’ You know my heart, and you can see that I am innocent here!”
In other words, “God, you know me, and you know my heart. I didn’t act in rebellion; I acted in ignorance.”
God responds, “I know that you are innocent, which is why I’ve kept you from sinning against me at this moment in time. I didn’t let you touch her. So, return her to her husband. He’s a prophet and he will pray for you so that you will live. But, please know that if you do not return, then you and all of your family will die.”
So, Abimelech’s innocence was real, and it was protected. God offered him a way out of judgment.
There’s a couple things worth highlighting here.
First, I want us to see the omniscient and omnipotent nature of God here. God is omniscient, which means God is all-knowing. He is omnipotent, which means he is all-powerful. And he is omnipresent, which means he is all-present.
In verse 6, God said, “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.”
So, God was able to see what no one else could see. He looked beyond Abimelech’s actions and deep into his heart and motives.
Let us never forget that God knows all things. There is no hidden corner of the heart, no concealed motive, no private thought that escapes the gaze of the all-seeing, all-powerful, all-present God of the universe. God doesn’t just see what you do; He sees why you do what you do. This is why David prays, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, O God!”
Second, I want us to see that God has a moral standard. In the midst of a world that seeks to redefine what is right and wrong, we have to remember that it is God who gets to determine what is right. God is the fixed standard of righteousness— he is righteous— and he cares about how we live. And, in this passage, we’re able to catch a glimpse into that standard, especially in regard to marriage. God here holds Abraham’s marriage in high regard. In a world that holds loosely the defining measures for marriage, God holds them tight. God did not permit Abimelech to take Sarah as his own. Why? Because she already belonged to another! Marriage, in the eyes of God, matters! It’s sacred! It’s binding!
Third, I also want us to see the grace and mercy of God here.
On the one hand, God could have brought immediate judgment to Abimelech, and he would have been just in doing so. Yet, he graciously provides a way for Abimelech to escape the coming judgment— “Return the woman and you will live!”
Fourth we see the faithfulness of God here!
Abraham has blown it! Yet, God remains faithful to the covenant he has made with him! When Abraham wasn’t faithful, God was. He’s actively working to save and preserve Sarah and Abraham so that they might be able to receive the promise he’s made to them.
God’s promises are not dependent upon Abraham’s perfection! The work that God has begun with Abraham, he would bring to completion for Abraham! He is working hard to ensure Abraham and Sarah receive the promise he has given them! And this faithfulness is rooted in grace!
Church, the same is true for us! You, like Abraham, will blow it! But, like with Abraham, there is grace on the table for you! The work God has begun in us, he will bring to competition! And if God promises to do something, he will be faithful to do it. Nothing will ever hinder him from carrying out his promises. Our plans may falter, and our faith may waver. But our God will never fail!
THE RIGHT RESPONSE FROM A PAGAN KING
Let’s continue reading.
“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. 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?” 11 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.”
Notice first the immediate response of Abimelech. He took God’s word seriously, and he responded immediately. There is no rationalizing with him, no hesitation. He goes immediately. As soon as we woke up, he rose early in the morning and responded with obedience. He went and told all of his servants about the conversation he had with the LORD, and the men were very much afraid (take a mental note on the fact that they were afraid).
Following this, he calls Abraham, and is like, “Dude! What in the world!? What have I done to you to make you do this to me? How have I sinned against you to cause you to do this to me?”
Notice here that Abimelech’s acknowledgement of wrong doing. He acknowledged how what he had done was wrong. But he also wants Abraham to know that his actions were wrong, and he is to blame. So, he is asking him, “Why?”— “What did you see, that you did this thing?”
To which Abraham responded, “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.’”
I want us to pause here and notice the irony.
Abraham is saying that there was no fear of God amongst the people. But, judging by Abimelech’s response and his people’s response, there was a fear of God among the people. But, the irony here is that Abraham is guilty of the very thing that he was accusing the people of. The man who feared God least in Abraham’s mind is the very one who responds with immediate obedience, and the man who was supposed to be a prophet of God was using his words to deceive his neighbor. The prophet deceived while the pagan king acted with integrity.
Friends listen. The unfortunate reality of the sinful heart is that we are often guilty of the very sins we are most disgusted by in others. We condemn in others what we quietly tolerate in ourselves. And that’s what we see with Abraham. Abraham judged Gerar to be a people that didn’t fear God when in reality the fear of God was distant from him at this point and time.
And here’s the uncomfortable reality of this passage. It’s possible, at times, for those outside the church to act more morally upright than those within the church. And, although God will always preserve his promise and remain faithful, shame on us if this is ever true of us. Shame on us if the world displays a greater reverence for righteousness than the people of God. May we be a people who are quick to examine our own hearts, may we be slow to assume the worst in others, and may we be a people who are committed to live in such a way that displays God’s good character!
Following this, Abraham seeks to justify his actions with semantics.
He essentially says, “Well, actually, I didn’t really lie because technically Sarah is my half sister. We share the same father, just not the same mother. And whenever God called us to follow him, clinging to the promise of God to be made into a great nation, I made her tell everyone in a new place that she is my brother.”
So, again, Abraham felt safer hiding behind a half truth than full obedience. He began to believe that darkness is safer than the light. When hardship came, he allowed fear to rule his heart. When hardship came, faith took the backseat and fear took the wheel.
Friends, fear is a dangerous thing that leads us to do some foolish things. And I think Abraham’s example teaches us that we can either walk by fear or faith. You can’t do both. You can either walk through life gripped by fear or you can walk through life grounded in faith. Faith is rooted in trust and confidence in God’s ability to do what he said he will do. But fear is rooted in a trust in our own works over God’s.
Over and over and over again we hear the phrase “do not fear” in Scripture, and this command not to fear is always tied to the reality that God is with you.
“Fear not… for I am with you.” — Genesis 26:24
“I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” — Psalm 23:4
“Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” — Isaiah 41:13
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.” — Hebrews 13:6
If the consistent command is there, it’s there for a reason. The command “do not fear” is consistent because the struggle not to fear is constant. If God continually tells his people “do not fear,” it’s because he knows how often we will be tempted to fear.
We will all feel what Abraham felt. And, out of that fear, we will all be tempted to sin. We will all be tempted to sin like Abraham sinned when we feel what Abraham felt. But, we don’t have to give in to fear because we are not alone! God is with us always, until the end of the age!
Following this, Abimelech does something that I found to be shocking! Instead of cursing, he blesses Abraham and Sarah— “14 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.”
This passage is full of irony where the pagan king is acting more morally upright than God’s chosen instrument of blessing. Where Abraham was called by God to be a blessing to the nations, he is instead deceiving the nations… all while the nations are the ones blessing him. And as Abimelech is blessing Abraham and Sarah, I love the subtle sarcasm he uses in verse 16, “To Sarah he said, ‘Behold, I have give your brother a thousand pieces of silver.” As he’s seeking to restore her innocence, he’s subtly reminding her of her husband/brothers deception.
Then, in verses 17-18, we see the prophet pray for Abimlech and God do exactly as he said he would— “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”
God was faithful and gracious to carry out his covenant, even when Abraham sought to sabotage it!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What stands out to you most about Abraham’s actions in this passage? What surprises you about how he responds in a familiar situation?
Why do you think Abraham fell back into the same sin he committed earlier? What does this reveal about human nature?
In what situations are you most tempted to act out of fear rather than faith?
How can titles, positions, or spiritual maturity create a false sense of security in our walk with God?
What does this story teach us about God’s faithfulness—even when His people are unfaithful?
If Abraham—a man of great faith—was still vulnerable to sin, how should that shape the way you approach your walk with Jesus this week?