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Sermon preached on Genesis 20 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/08/2023 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
We continue working through our sermon series on Genesis, and particularly on the life of Abraham. At this point, we find him on the move again, journeying south to the Negeb and from there also sojourning west into the Philistine town of Gerar. It is there that our passage suddenly takes a turn to the familiar. What I mean is that the events that unfold remind us back to Genesis 12 when they had sojourned down in Egypt. There, we also saw Abraham present Sarah as his sister instead of as his wife, and similar events unfolded from there. To be clear, these are two separate historical incidents, separated by quite some time. So then, God’s Word thought it important to record for us these repeated incidents. Whenever there is anything in Scripture that gets repeated in some fashion or another, that is a call for us to pay close attention. Are there lessons here that God thinks need repeating? Are there subtle differences between the two incidents that bring out new or nuanced lessons? There is some of both here. As we study this passage, we’ll see again God’s continued faithfulness to his promises to Abraham, even as we see Abraham’s own continued struggle with besetting sin.
Let us begin in our first point by considering Abraham and his sin here reprised. Again, I refer to Genesis 12 when we saw him do this same sin. I refer to the sin whereby he deceived someone by presenting his wife Sarah as merely his sister. In Genesis 12, he deceived the Pharoah of Egypt. Here he deceives Abimelech, King of Gerar. In both cases, Abraham’s reason for this was to protect his own life, fearing the people of each place, that they would kill him to take his wife. Now, if you recall when I preached on Genesis 12, I made this same point then, that this was sinful of Abraham. Let me also note, that while we can compare this passage back to Genesis 12, we can also compare it to last chapter too. There, we see Lot wanted to try to save his guests by offering to surrender his two daughters to a gang-raping mob in Sodom. But we saw last week that the end doesn’t justify the means. We learned that we should not seek godly goals with ungodly means. That same truth would apply to Abraham here.
And so, this was sinful of Abraham. Yes, he lied, and that was bad. But worse, he put the protection of his own life over the protection of his wife. His plan could result in his wife being forced into adultery. These are things I pointed out back in Genesis 12. But now, it is all more a problem because think of what God has told him since then. In chapters 17 and 18, God has revealed to Abraham that he would have the promised child specifically through Sarah. God’s covenant promises to Abraham would be fulfilled not through Hagar or another wife, but through Sarah. And when he was last told that, God said it would happen in a year’s time. So, for Sarah to be taken now by Abimelech to become his wife, threatens that key promise that they have waited so very long for.
I would note that like back in Genesis 12, you do not see either the narrator or God calling out Abraham’s sin. Yet, as I pointed out then, you actually have a condemnation of his actions by the outsider, the person Abraham thought was godless. That was true back with the Pharoah and chapter 12, and it’s even more pronounced here. What I mean is that Abimelech’s rebuke of Abraham is even more detailed than how the Pharoah had chided Abraham. We find this in verses 9-10. Abimelech’s words are a series of both questions and accusations. He’s asking Abraham why he would do such a thing to him, to pretend that he’s not married to Sarah, so that he in good faith takes her for a wife only to get in trouble when the truth comes out. Why would Abraham do something like that to him? Notice how Abimelech makes one charge after another. “You have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin.” “You did this.” I think especially convicting is what he says in verse 9 when he says, “You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” When an outsider Gentile like this gives you such a rebuke, I think it is pretty searing, particularly when it is true. I think here how of Paul later in 1 Corinthians admonished the church for not discipling a member who did something so bad that not even pagan Gentiles would behave such a way. Well, that’s what’s going on here. Abraham thought Abimelech and this people were so godless, yet they are saying here that not even them would think to do such an evil thing.
This is not a good moment for Abraham. It is bad for all the reasons we said. And it is bad that this is a sin he already committed. Chronic besetting sins are particularly evil. Yes, they may be particularly difficult for us, that is why they are besetting. But because we’ve struggled so much with them in the past, they are particularly bad when we keep returning to them. We need extra vigilance when it comes to sins we’ve struggled with in the past.
It seems all this gets worse when you see how Abraham responds to Abimelech’s rebuke. Abraham basically makes excuses for his sin. Abimelech’s questions included what did Abraham see in them that he would do this. Abraham replied that he saw that they were not a people that feared God and so he was afraid of them. That’s interesting because God calls Abraham a prophet here, and one way a prophet is described is a seer, i.e. one who sees. Abraham did not see clearly these people. In fact, there is some fear of God in that place, as we see in the story. Abimelech responds with a fear of God when God confronts him. His servants also express fear of God in verse 8 at the report of all this. So Abraham, misjudged them, and that too was wrong of him. Yet, even if he had judged them correctly, that would not excuse his sin, even if it did explain it. Furthermore, we see him try to explain that he wasn’t really lying, because Sarah does happen to also be his half-sister. But that of course misses the point. The lie was bad, but what was especially sinful was using the lie so that it resulted in Sarah being surrendered to them and the potential for adultery. We also learn that Sarah’s involvement in all this, that she too told the lie, was because Abraham requested it of her, verse 13. So, Abraham is also guilty here of leading his wife into sin. So then, verses 11-13 that record Abraham’s response to Abimelech are a textbook example of ways not to apologize about your sin. Abraham should have simply acknowledged his sin and humbled himself to repent and ask for forgiveness.
Let me conclude this point, that we have in Genesis many positive accounts of Abraham. We’ve seen and will see his faith and also obedience shine at different points. But the Bible also includes this, that he too was a sinner, and even after knowing God’s grace so much, he still struggled with certain sins. This is not the action of a young immature man, even though we saw that he did this same sin when he was younger too. He is a mature man of God who yet still has sins of his youth that he struggles with. But it is in such an honest account that we are reminded of the grace of God. God has promised grace to Abraham. And he will continue to be faithful to give such promised grace, even in Abraham’s own failings. Indeed, while we are never to seek this, Abraham’s sin does cause God’s grace to abound. God saves sinners, even sinners like Abraham here, and even sinners like us.
Let us turn next to consider how we see God’s faithfulness to Abraham even in how he intervenes with Abimelech, so that Sarah is saved. In verse 3, we see that God appears to Abimelech in a dream and informs him of what Abimelech has done and the punishment associated with it. The translation of “Behold, you are a dead man” might be misunderstood. I don’t think this means to say, “I hereby pronounce you as a dead man and will execute this punishment shortly.” I think rather, it is meant as a warning to Abimelech of what will befall him if he doesn’t correct things now that he knows the truth. Indeed, Abimelech himself clarifies in his response to God, asserting his innocence in that he took Sarah as a wife without knowing she was already married. It is also noted that they had not yet consummated the marriage, either, anyways.
God does acknowledge Abimelech’s ignorance, and now gives him an opportunity to make things right now that he knows the truth. But the other wonderful thing we see that God did here, is that God is the one who somehow restrained Abimelech from consummating the marriage. Verse 6 records God saying that he was the one who somehow kept Abimelech from consummating the marriage. We aren’t told how that happened. The end of the passage mentions Abimelech needing to be healed, so maybe God made Abimelech somehow sick as a way to protect Sarah, but that is only informed speculation. But there is a beautiful truth in general here, that we see God’s common grace that restrains humans from acting out their sinful natures to the full.
Let us not miss that this conversation again revisited the theme of God’s justice. That was a conversation Abraham and God had back in chapter 18. Abraham asked about God’s justice in regard to the destruction of Sodom, seeking to confirm God wouldn’t wipe out the righteous along with the wicked. God there affirmed his justice. Here then, it is now Abimelech asking God about his justice, that God wouldn’t kill himself when he is innocent of the charges. God indeed affirms his justice to Abimelech.
So the point here is simply that God is true to his character, and that is why he will keep his covenant promises to Abraham. God is a promise-keeper. He promised that Abraham would have a child with Sarah, even within a year, and so he protects that marriage from failing. God is faithful, so he shows his faithfulness here. Likewise, God is just, and so he acts justly here at the same time. Likewise, God is all-powerful, so he is able to keep Abimelech from sinning against Sarah.
Psalm 105 would later recount how God protected Abraham and the patriarchs in situations like this saying of God, “He allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, ‘Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!’”
So then, in our second point, we’ve seen God faithful to protect Abraham and Sarah and thus protect the integrity of coming promised son, Isaac. Indeed next chapter will announce his long-awaited birth. And just as God would protect such a promise to bring forth Isaac, God would ultimately fulfill the full extent of the promise by one day bringing forth Jesus from that lineage.
Let us now turn in our third point to see another aspect of how we see God is being faithful to his promise to Abraham, considering this from the vantage point of blessings and curses. What I mean is to direct your attention back to Genesis 12 where God first made these promises to Abraham. If you look at 12:3, you will be reminded that God promised to bless those who bless Abraham, and to curse those who curse Abraham. That is what we see going on here in this chapter. God is fulfilling that, right here, even while Abraham is falling into his sin.
So then, God said that people would be cursed if they curse Abraham. We see that here. To take Abraham’s wife would be to curse Abraham. So, we see that there was already a measure of curse that had come upon Abimelech’s house. Even though the marriage had not been consummated, they had already taken Sarah into the royal harem and separated her from Abraham. Thus, we find there was some way in which Abimelech became in need of healing, verse 17. We also see that the women in Abimelech’s royal harem also came under curse with their wombs somehow closing. That initial curse would have just been the beginning, as we see. For God had threatened upon Abimelech that he would ultimately be killed if he did not return Sarah. Of course, committing adultery was typically punishable by death among ancient society, so this should not have surprised Abimelech. But God is saying that he himself would make sure Abimelech received that punishment if he didn’t resolve the issue. This all describes God being faithful to his promise to Abraham to curse those who curse Abraham.
But then we also see God blessing those who bless Abraham. Abimelech responds in a very commendable way to God’s intervention. After professing his ignorance and integrity, and after confronting Abraham about this, he does ultimately correct things and even blesses Abraham. We see this starting in verse 14. He gives Abraham many gifts. Of course, he returns Sarah to Abraham. He also specifically gives a large gift of silver which he describes as being a sign of Sarah’s innocence in the matter. Interesting, there the theme of seeing comes back into play, with Abimelech basically saying, this is all done to clear your name and to show your innocence in all this, so that people would see her as such. But then also notice verse 15. Abimelech also blesses them by saying they can continue to sojourn in his land. If you remember that back in Gensis 12, after Pharoah discovered the truth that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, he sends them out of the land. Pharoah is not going to let them continue to stay any longer in Egypt after Abraham tried to get away with such an evil deception. But Abimelech does differently here. And again, surely, it’s is because of God’s direction to him. God told Abimelech that Abraham was his own prophet, and that he needed to go to Abraham to pray. Abimelech wisely discerns that this shows the importance to bless Abraham even in spite of the circumstances. Abimelech’s actions show that he seeks Abraham’s favor despite all that had just happened. God then responds to Abimelech’s blessings of Abraham with blessing upon Abimelech. God heals Abimelech. God heals his women, opening their wombs. This all shows that God is yet faithful to the promise he had given Abraham, that he would bless those who bless Abraham.
Let us not miss here how God uses even Abraham to be the means of that blessing. God had Abimelech go to Abraham and get Abraham to pray for him. It was only through Abraham and his intercession that this blessing ultimately was bestowed upon Abimelech and his house. That is wonderful to consider because it teaches us how we need to find our blessing from God in Abraham’s seed, Jesus. But I think this is also wonderful in light of today’s passage. After Abraham’s sin and after he is so confronted and shamed for it by this Gentile king, God still uses him. God does not reject Abraham as a prophet, despite such a sin. Let us not take such for granted. We know elsewhere, God is seen rejecting certain leaders because of their evil deeds. That should not surprise us. What should surprise us is when God doesn’t do that. God’s grace is surprising. Be surprised at the grace of God shown here to Abraham. God not only keep his promises to Abraham, but God also continues to use him as a prophet to bless others.
Our passage ends with yet more testing for Abraham and Sarah. After all this, it ends with these Gentiles having their wombs opened. And yet still no baby for Abraham and Sarah. But while Abraham’s failings are seen here, God’s continued faithfulness is simultaneously seen. And so, they wouldn’t need to fear. Indeed,
Isaac was soon to be there, as we will see next chapter.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, I hope by now the application of our passage is clear. As we’ve seen Abraham’s failings versus God’s faithfulness, we find that we can relate to this. We can relate to Abraham’s failings because we too still fail. Becoming a Christian doesn’t immediately take away all your sins. Indeed, the besetting sins you struggle with might indeed be a lifelong struggle in one way or another. While that is never an excuse for sin, it does magnify God’s grace to us. While that is never a reason to just give in to our sin, let trust God’s faithfulness through it all. Indeed, he is teaching us through these tests.
Yet, today’s passage does confront us on these sins. Let us not try to justify them or excuse them. Let us own them in the sense of really admitting that they are wrong and really seeking to repent of them. Where needed, let us seek forgiveness from others that we have sinned against, and make things right if we can. We Christians need to really own that we are still people who struggle with sin. So, we have this simultaneous encouragement and exhortation. We are exhorted to continue the fight against such sin, all our days. And we are simultaneously encouraged in our God for his grace and mercy that he so wonderfully holds out to us in Jesus Christ. Let us by faith hear both this exhortation and this encouragement today.
Amen.
Copyright © 2022 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
