just Did your know that Sarah, Abraham’s wife,
was Abraham’s half-sister? I didn’t! I missed it! But I should have guessed it! It seems that most humans, back in the day, intermarried and had lots of children. I think the DNA of humans had to be more resilient than it is today! Anyway, in chapter 20 of Genesis, it is recorded that Abraham said, “Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ Abraham said this Abimelek, the king of Gerar. in response to the king’s question, “Why did you lie?” You see, after God displayed his wrath, in Sodom and Gomorrah, “Abraham moved into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur.” Kadesh was an ancient city on the Orontes River in western Syria. The site is located about 15 miles southwest of modern-day Homs. Shur was the location given to wilderness area East of Egypt and the Red Sea - on the Arabian peninsula - what we know today as Saudi Arabia. Gerar was a Philistine town in what is today south central Israel, and Abimelech was it's king. We have to remember how it was back then. Kings had the power to take whatever they wanted - including women! Scripture says, “For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.” “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.” As we saw in Genesis 2, God defines marriage as one man and one woman becoming one. God apparently does not approve of another man taking a married woman as his own. “Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?” Let’s break that down! Since the king ruled a nation, he knew the individual choices he made had an effect on everything and everyone that extended from him. Abimelech said to God, “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.” 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. 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.” Dang! God really is sovereign! God took responsibility for being the reason why the king had not yet touched Sarah! “Early the next morning Abimelek summoned ALL of his officials, and when he told them ALL that had happened, they were very much afraid.” God is so good! He uses every opportunity to show himself as sovereign! Everyone knew that the God of Abraham was omnipotent! Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” Then Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?” Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ You see, Abraham knew that Sarah’s beauty was irresistible to most men, and he knew that she would draw the attention of kings who had eyes to see the desires of their lands. He knew without fear of the Lord, they would just take what they wanted. Apparently Sarah was like Bathsheba, the woman whose beauty triggered David to sin. This is when Abraham responded “Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ Abraham wanted the king to understand that he told a half lie because he knew the king did not have a relationship with the Most High God. The half lie could be seen as a moral failure - or it could be seen as a reason to live. What do you think? Do you think any of God's people were moral? “Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.” Abimelech recognized Abraham not only as Sarah’s husband, but he also said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver to cover the offense I have committed against you.” He acknowledged both the divine and the human sin. “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.” Genesis 20:1-18 God is so good! He gave all them grace - for the wrongs they had done. And in the end, a Babylonian man who God turned into a prophet, and his half-sister, who was an extension of him, and a Philistine king who came to his knees to repent and pray unto God - we’re all saved by grace through their faith that God was the sovereign king.
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