Genesis 20:1–18

Yet a marked season of favour and blessing may come just before a great humiliation through carelessness and sin. So it was now with Abraham, as he lived as a stranger in the land of the Philistines. Was it that he too, like Lot, was afraid to stay under the shield of the Almighty after seeing the recent judgments? What is certain is that he travelled away from the place where he once stood before the Lord in intercession. From that same place, a little later, he had looked with awe at the ruined plain, where the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace.

Following all this comes the very important and characteristic word "sojourn" (Genesis 20:1). It means day-staying, in contrast to "dwelling," which is permanent. Both words occur often throughout the Old and New Testaments, carrying important principles. So Peter urges believers, as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from the passions of the flesh, and to spend the time of their sojourning here in fear. They are to be only travellers in this world. They must not make it their home or dwelling place. On the other hand, these pilgrims dwell in God, and His word dwells in them, and His Spirit dwells in them.

He journeyed toward the south, which is typical of pleasant circumstances, but nearly always having danger in it. He dwelt between Kadesh and Shur. Kadesh means "set apart for a purpose," which beautifully describes God's work with Abraham, and is true of all Christians too. But Shur means "point of observation." Does this not tell us something? We know we are set apart for God, yet we sometimes look the other way to see what others may be doing.

Is it surprising that after this he lived as a stranger in Gerar? Gerar, a Philistine city, means "dragging away." If our own observation leads us, we are always likely to be dragged away from the place of devoted separation to God.

There is an obvious difference between Egypt and Gerar. Egypt expresses the world in its natural resources and its independence of God... Egypt lay further from Canaan than Gerar, and in moral terms it pictures a soul further from God... So Gerar was a step forward from Egypt. But it still lay within reach of very dangerous influences. Abraham got into trouble there, and so does Isaac in this chapter, and in exactly the same way.

It is remarkable to watch Abraham coming up out of Egypt — building an altar and pitching a tent... entertaining the heavenly visitors and interceding for his brother Lot. He passed through such brilliant scenes over a series of years. All that time this moral point, in which he had erred at the very start of his course, remained unsettled in his heart. True, it did not show itself during that period, but why not? Because Abraham was not in circumstances that called it out — yet it was there all the same.

Then, under the stress of famine, he had turned aside from the land and slipped into Egypt. Here, without any such trying circumstances, but simply from fear of man, he denies the one through whom God had definitely assured him the promised heir would come. In one case he gives up the testimony of the inheritance; in the other he clouds the testimony to the heir. Then, as now, behind every failure of the people of God the enemy is attacking some great truth connected with their calling.

Long before this, the pinch of famine led him to travel south, even into Egypt, and to stay there. Now he lives between Kadesh and Shur, and stays in Gerar; and now, as then, he denies his true relationship to his wife. "She is my sister," Abraham says of Sarah among the Philistines, just as at an earlier day he told her to say so among the Egyptians.

Again, Abraham himself tells Abimelech, king of Gerar, that Sarah is his sister — a lie blacker than the first. It was meant to hide the fact that she was his wife. He should have learned the lesson of his earlier failure of the same kind.

Abraham again shows the dread of circumstances that the heart knows so well. He stays in Gerar, and fears the men of that place. Judging that God was not there, he forgets that He is always with him. He seems more taken up with the men of Gerar than with the One who was stronger than they. Forgetting God's ability to protect his wife, he falls back on the same trick he had used years before in Egypt.

God said to Abraham, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless" (Gen. 17:1) — which means that he was to walk before God, always trusting in His almighty power. Abraham did not do so; he failed in this respect, for he told a lie (Gen. 20:2), precisely because he did not trust God's almighty power.

When a Christian fails to walk by faith, he will always give the wrong impression about his true relationships. Let us not be afraid or ashamed to show that we belong to the Lord Jesus, and are therefore set apart to please Him.

This time it was even more serious, for Sarah was just about to bear the child of promise. Abraham's failure might have compromised what God had promised and was about to perform. So God took what we may call drastic action to protect Sarah. He did not deal with Abraham, who had failed, but with the foreign king.

God made known in a dream how matters really stood, that he must not touch the man's wife. "He is a prophet, and he shall pray for you" — a most instructive example of the way God holds to His principles. He will still honour Abraham in front of Abimelech, even while He disciplines him. Abimelech might well ask, "How can Abraham be a prophet — a man who tells lies in denying his own wife?" Still, God said, "he is a prophet." … The Bible has recorded the sin of the father of the faithful for the good of all the children.

When Abraham fell into the same error in Egypt, we do not find that Pharaoh's reproof produced any visible effect. He left Egypt, but the root of evil stayed in his heart, ready to send out its harmful branches again. It is not so here. Here we get at once to the root of the matter — Abraham opens up his whole heart. He confesses that he had kept this thing in his heart from the very first moment of his journey. Twice it had betrayed him into an act that would not bear the light. He fully confesses the evil, and he fully renounces it — he is rid of it, root and branch. He listens to Abimelech's reproof and profits by it. It was God's instrument. Through it He brought the matter out and delivered the soul of His servant from the power of evil.

In the days of the patriarchs, we may say that the only revelation of God was what He gave to each person. God made His mind known this way to Noah, to Abraham, and even to those who knew little of Him, such as Abimelech and Laban. A dream or vision was often used, but it was a divine revelation… The same truth holds even more fully now. We do not need revelation by dreams and visions. We have it in the written word of God.

Marriage was God's provision for His creatures. He set it up before the Fall and kept it after the Fall. Before the law He upheld it as something no one may break (Gen. 12:17; 20:3). Under the law He guarded it with clear commands (Ex. 20:14, 17). The Lord confirmed its sanctity again (Matt. 19:3-9). And the New Testament declares it honourable for all (Heb. 13:4).

Abimelech had Sarah in his house, but he had not come near her. So he protests to the Lord: would He kill a nation that was blameless? The Lord had not said He would kill the nation, or even Abimelech. He said that Abimelech's condition was one of virtual death, because he had Sarah in his house.

He moved to Gerar and before Abimelech the king he used the same trick he had used years before in Egypt. This time it was even more serious, for Sarah was just about to bear the child of promise. Abraham's failure might have compromised what God had promised and was about to perform. So God took what we may call drastic action to protect Sarah, not dealing with Abraham who had failed, but with the heathen king.

God stepped in again in mercy. This time it was not by plagues, as He did with Pharaoh, but by speaking to Abimelech in a dream… Why did God not reprove Abraham Himself? Was it not because Abimelech's rebuke would make him feel ashamed before the man he had wronged?

In the case of Abraham and Abimelech, it was divine care over one He had called out to walk before Him. "He rebuked kings on their account, saying, 'Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!'" (Ps. 105:15). God cares for those He calls to walk before Him. Abimelech had taken a member of Abraham's family by tyrannical power. God shows that no one can touch His people on earth and go unpunished.

However great their failure, God does not give up His people. He will never throw away His pearls because of some grit that clings to them… God tells Abimelech that the very man who had so wronged him stands so near to Him that he can pray for him. Despite his failure, he is a prophet, and one who prays to God for others, and God does not withdraw these high privileges because of his failures.

Abimelech had Sarah in his house, but he had not come near her. So he protests to the Lord: would He kill a nation that was blameless? The Lord had not said He would kill the nation, or even Abimelech. He said that Abimelech was as good as dead because he had Sarah in his house — even though, as Abimelech said, both Abraham and Sarah had deceived the Philistines.

The Philistine king, though, could plead that his heart was sincere and his hands were clean. He counted his people as one with himself. "Lord, will you kill an innocent people?" Abraham and Sarah were both guilty of deceit. Yet note this: God allowed the plea, showing that He had kept the king from actual sin. Even so, He maintains the special place Abraham held.

Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart and the innocence of his hands," the king of Gerar was "but a dead man." What is more, he had to depend on the prayers of that erring and inconsistent stranger to get his household's health restored.

In Genesis 20 we get a glimpse of Abraham on a much lower level than he was in Genesis 18. He moved to Gerar, and before Abimelech the king he used the same trick he had used years before in Egypt. This time it was even more serious, for Sarah was just about to bear the child of promise. Abraham's failure might have put at risk what God had promised and was about to do. So God took what we may call drastic action to protect Sarah. He did not deal with Abraham, who had failed, but with the heathen king.

With Abraham and Abimelech, God was not displaying justice. He was showing divine care over one He had called out to walk before Him. "He rebuked kings on their account, saying, 'Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm'" (Psalm 105:14-15). God cares for those He calls to walk before Him. Abimelech had recklessly used tyrannical power to take a member of Abraham's family. God shows that no one can touch His people on earth without consequence.

With the fear of man before him, Abraham loses faith in God. Failing in faith, he falls back on his own resources and acts with the deceit of the flesh. He says of Sarah, his wife, "She is my sister." He tells the truth to hide the truth. Once again he exposes his wife to shame to save his own life.

In this scene the man of the world seemed, for the moment, to have a finer moral sense than the man of God… But notice how God enters the scene to vindicate His servant. He says to Abimelech, "Behold, you are but a dead man." Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart and innocence of his hands" — with all his fine moral sense of right and wrong, he was "but a dead man." It only had to become, for one moment, a question between him and even an erring child of God. In His grace, God was looking at His dear servant from a completely different point of view than Abimelech's. All Abimelech could see in Abraham was a man guilty of an obvious piece of deception. God saw more than that.

But the Philistine king could plead the sincerity of his heart and the innocence of his hands. He counted his people as one with himself. "Lord, will You slay also a righteous nation?" Abraham and Sarah were both guilty of deceit. Yet notice this. God allowed the plea, showing that He had kept the king from actual sin. At the same time He kept Abraham in the special place where he stood.

It was true enough that Abimelech had not done wrong in the way he treated Sarah, and God acknowledges this to him. But God adds that He Himself had kept Abimelech from sinning against Him, by not letting him touch Sarah. How gracious our God and Father is! He protects us even when we put ourselves in compromising positions. Yet this is no excuse for our failure, and we must not dare to count on God's protection when we deliberately do wrong.

Still, the privileges of being a prophet and an intercessor only increase the evil of his deceit. The world is quick to notice this. At once Abimelech calls Abraham and challenges him about what he has done. Abimelech is right when he says plainly, "You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done." Abraham had failed in faith in God. He had wronged his wife. On top of that, he had wronged the man of the world. Abraham had sunk, not only beneath the height of his calling, but beneath the conduct of a decent man of the world.

It was true that Abimelech had done no wrong in the way he treated Sarah, and God says so to him. But God adds that He Himself had kept Abimelech from sinning against Him, by not letting him touch Sarah (v. 6). How gracious our God and Father is! He protects us even when we put ourselves in compromising positions. Yet this is no excuse for our failure. We must never dare to count on God's protection when we choose to do wrong.

In Genesis 20 we see Abraham on a much lower level than he was in Genesis 18. He moved to Gerar, and before Abimelech the king he used the same trick he had used years before in Egypt. This time it was even more serious, for Sarah was just about to bear the child of promise. Abraham's failure could have put at risk what God had promised and was about to do. So God took what we may call drastic action to protect Sarah. He did not deal with Abraham, who had failed, but with the pagan king.

Apart from a faint hint in "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem," nothing showed which line the promised seed would come through. Then Abram was called, and Satan fixed his eye on him at once. On three different occasions Satan tried to swamp the separated line with the nations outside. Twice Sarah was put at risk: first in the house of Pharaoh (Gen. 12:14), then in the house of Abimelech (Gen. 20). His third try, with the same aim, was with Rebekah (Gen. 26)... All this was to prevent the coming of the true Seed.

So in Abraham's case, he might lower himself in the eyes of Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Abimelech might have to rebuke him. Yet when God comes to deal with the case, He says to Abimelech, "Behold, you are but a dead man"; and of Abraham He says, "He is a prophet, and he shall pray for you." Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart, and the innocence of his hands," the king of Gerar was "but a dead man." What is more, he had to depend on the prayers of this failing, inconsistent stranger to get his household well again. This is God's way. He may have many a private dispute with His child about his practical ways. But as soon as the enemy brings a charge against him, the Lord always pleads His servant's cause.

I do not know anything in scripture which gives a greater idea of the preventive watchfulness of God. We all know that He restores our souls when we fail. But do we think enough about the little things in our daily life that He has prepared and arranged so that we may not fail? It is "lest I should be exalted above measure" — not bringing me back after failure, but preventing its occurrence.

It is clear from this that "prophet" does not mean only someone who predicted the future. That was not the question here. A prophet is someone who told out the mind of God. He spoke by the evident guidance of the Spirit what no one could know by natural means, and so he put the soul all the more before God and His light. So Abraham is a prophet (Gen. 20:7), and the patriarchs generally (Ps. 105:15).

Being a prophet means having the mind of God communicated to you. That places a man in — and assumes — an intimacy with Him. Such intimacy lets him ask of God, and receive, and get what he asks. By its very nature it produces and implies a confidence, a claim in grace that comes out of intimacy, a possession of His mind that lets him intercede... And note this. The Christian is in the same position, so far as he values his place in Christ: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

Notice how God enters the scene to vindicate His servant. He says to Abimelech, "Behold, you are a dead man." Yes — he was a dead man, for all "the integrity of his heart and innocence of his hands," for all his fine moral sense of right and wrong. He was a dead man the moment it became a question between him and even an erring child of God. God, in His grace, was looking at His dear servant from a different point of view than Abimelech's. All the king could see in Abraham was a man guilty of an obvious piece of deception, but God saw more than that... What dignity is put upon Abraham here! God Himself vindicates him before the world! Not a syllable of reproof! Not a breath of disapproval!

The whole story suggests that at that time Abimelech the Philistine had more godly fear in his mind than Abraham the Hebrew — "the friend of God." Yet Abraham was a prophet, and had power to intercede such as Abimelech did not have! We may learn from this in passing that God does not take away our privileges as saints and priests even when our spiritual condition is low. For the time being, though, we are not enjoying them and cannot use them for the blessing of others.

Still, the privileges of being a prophet and an intercessor only increase the evil of his double-dealing. The world is quick to see this. Abimelech at once calls Abraham and challenges him about what he has done... Abraham had sunk not only beneath the height of his calling, but beneath the conduct of a decent man of the world.

Then the Lord tells Abimelech to restore Abraham's wife to him. Because Abraham was a prophet, he would pray for Abimelech. This itself would humble Abraham and teach Abimelech. Even a man caught up in a wrong without knowing it needs the grace of God. But the Lord also tells him this: if he would not restore Sarah to her husband, he would die, together with his household. Now that he knew the truth, he had to act on it.

Abimelech rose early the next morning. First he told his servants what God had said to him. This frightened them, for they were members of his household (v. 8). Then he called Abraham. He protested that Abraham had treated him and his kingdom so unfairly by this deceit. Had Abimelech sinned against Abraham that he should deserve to suffer in this way? What had Abraham seen among the Philistines to move him to do such a thing? (v. 10).

When faced by Abimelech with his deception, Abraham confessed that fear for his own safety, in a place not marked by the fear of God, had led him into it. The result, however, was that the fear of God showed more in Abimelech than in Abraham. God had appeared to Abraham so often. Yet now He passed him by and dealt with the king in a dream, showing him the true situation Himself. That was a clear rebuke to Abraham. God tells the king that Abraham is a prophet and a man who prays for others. Yet in this matter God ignores him.

Once again God stepped in with mercy. This time He did not send plagues, as He did with Pharaoh. He spoke straight to Abimelech in a dream. He told him he was a dead man because of the woman he had taken, for she was a man's wife. Why did God not directly reprove Abraham? Was it not so that the rebuke from Abimelech would make him feel ashamed in front of the man he had wronged?

It took twenty-five years for Abraham to get to the bottom of the unbelief hiding in his heart (Gen. 20). It also took much discipline to teach Peter where his danger lay. And so with us all. "The fear of man lays a snare" — and those who in one company have faithfully confessed Christ have in another, through fear of man, denied Him.

It was necessary for Abraham, however, that he should come under the rebuke of the world. The world hates Christ and those who seek to be true to Him. Even so, it expects a standard of behaviour far greater and higher than its own. And it watches such conduct with critical, disapproving eyes.

The Philistine king could plead that his heart was sincere and his hands were innocent. He spoke for his people as well as himself. Abraham and Sarah were both guilty of deceit. Yet notice what God does. He allows the plea, showing that He had kept the king from actual sin. At the same time He keeps Abraham in the special place he held: "Now therefore return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live."

The world is quick to notice such double-dealing, for at once Abimelech calls Abraham and challenges him about what he has done. In plain words Abimelech truly says, "You have done to me things that ought not to be done." Abraham had failed in faith in God. He had wronged his wife. He had also wronged the man of the world. Abraham had sunk not only below the height of his calling, but below the conduct of a decent man of the world.

That root had sprouted and produced its bitter fruit, but the sharp knife of self-judgment had never yet touched it. The root breaks the surface again in Genesis 20, in the matter of Abimelech, king of Gerar. Here the same scene plays out again after years of rich experience of God's goodness and loving-kindness. Trouble came on the king of Egypt and his house before. Trouble comes on the king of Gerar and his house now.

This was bringing the father to the point. There was no escaping such plain dealing. So Abraham opens his heart and unlocks the secret room he had kept shut for so many years. He tells it all out. He exposes every fibre of the root that had caused so much trouble to himself and to others.

As so often when a believer fails, there is the effort to soften the failure instead of the honest confession, "I have sinned." For a sinner or a saint alike, no three words in human language are so hard to say as those. So Abraham tries to excuse his double-dealing. He explains that Sarah was in fact his sister, though he had held back the truth that she was also his wife.

His deception got the same result that a deliberate lie would have. Deceit will likely lead us into embarrassing trouble, for it comes from weakness of faith.

Abimelech confronted Abraham with his deception. Abraham admitted his reason: he feared for his own safety in a place not marked by the fear of God. Yet in the end the fear of God was more evident in Abimelech than in Abraham. God had appeared to Abraham so often, yet now He passed him by. He went to the king in a dream instead and laid the true situation before him. That was a definite rebuke to Abraham.

However great their failure, God does not give up His people. He will never throw away His pearls because of some grit clinging to them... God tells Abimelech that the very man who had so wronged him stands so near to God that he can pray for him. Despite his failure, he is a prophet and an intercessor with God. God does not deny these high privileges because of his failures.

Have you any secret reserve in your soul? Do you have any hidden root of evil deep down in your heart and mind? Is there anything you are keeping back from the light and from the edge of the knife? Search and see! Search diligently!

"And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see, that you did this thing?" This was bringing the father to a point. There was no escaping such plain dealing. So Abraham frankly opens his heart and unlocks that secret room he had kept shut for so many years. He tells it all out. He exposes every fibre of the root that had caused so much trouble to himself and to others. Let us listen to the open confession of this dear and honoured man of God: "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."

When Abraham went down into Egypt, he made an agreement with Sarah his wife to conceal part of the truth. "Say, I ask you," he said, "that you are my sister" (Gen. 12:13). One evil always leads to another… The Lord struck Pharaoh's house because he had taken Sarah into it, and Pharaoh rebuked Abraham for what he had done. Even so, Abraham says nothing at all about the deliberate agreement he had made with his wife to hold back part of the truth. He takes the rebuke in silence and goes on his way. But the root of the evil stayed in his heart. It was ready to show itself at any time if circumstances arose to draw it out.

It is remarkable to watch Abraham pass through such brilliant scenes over a series of years. All that time this moral point stays unsettled in his heart — the point where he had gone wrong at the very start of his course. It did not show itself in those years, because Abraham was not in circumstances that would call it out. Yet there it was all the same. The evil was not fully brought out — not confessed, not got rid of. Here is the proof. The moment he again meets circumstances that could work on his weak point, the weak point shows itself at once.

We can never know what is in our hearts until circumstances arise to draw it out. Peter did not imagine that he could deny his Lord. But he got into circumstances that pressed on his particular weakness, and he showed that the weakness was there.

Why did God not directly reprove Abraham? Was it not because the reproof he received from Abimelech would make him feel ashamed before the face of the man he had wronged?

Still, the privileges of being a prophet and an intercessor only increase the evil of his double-dealing. The world is quick to notice this. At once Abimelech calls Abraham and challenges him about what he has done. In plain language Abimelech truly says, "You have done to me things that ought not to be done." Abraham had failed in faith in God. He had wronged his wife. He had also wronged the man of the world. Abraham had sunk not only below the height of his calling, but below the conduct of a decent man of the world.

Here was the root of the whole matter… Have we not all our roots? Yes, truly — deep, strong and bitter roots. They have brought a world of sorrow and shame on ourselves, and trouble to the people we deal with. Well then, we must reach these roots and judge them. As long as they stay unreached and unjudged, we simply cannot reach the higher stages of the path of devotedness.

θεοσέβεια (theosebeia) means 'worship or reverence of God' or 'reverential fear of God' (1 Tim. 2:10). The Greek Old Testament uses the same word for 'the fear of God' in Gen. 20:11, and for 'the fear of the Lord' in Job 28:28.

How low this man of God has fallen! He is carried away by his own thoughts, thinking only of himself and his safety. He acts with a double-dealing that shows he himself did not have the fear of God before him at that moment — however much he may charge others with lacking the fear of God.

Abraham's explanation sadly shows the weakness of his faith in the living God. If God had led him to that place, God would sustain him — whether the fear of God was in the place or not. But he says he thought the fear of God was not in the place. He reasoned that the men there might kill him for his wife's sake. So he concealed the truth that Sarah was his wife.

Because he thought the fear of God was not in that place, he chose a lie for his confidence instead of the God of truth and faithfulness. Dodging and lying are the natural tools of spiritual timidity. God is the believer's strength.

Abraham found that he was wrong in thinking that the fear of God was not in Gerar. It was the fear of God that moved Abimelech to restore Sarah to her husband. The same fear moved him to add gifts for Abraham: sheep, oxen, and servants, both male and female. The very receiving of such gifts would be a reproof to Abraham's fear, but a kind reproof.

So often when a believer fails, he tries to soften the failure instead of making the honest confession, "I have sinned." No three words in human language are so hard to say — for a sinner or a saint — as the words, "I have sinned." So Abraham tries to excuse his double-dealing. He explains that it was quite true that Sarah was his sister, even though he had held back the truth that she was also his wife.

Have we not all our roots? Yes, truly — deep, strong and bitter roots. They have brought a world of sorrow and shame to ourselves, and trouble to the people we had to deal with. Well then, we must reach these roots and judge them. As long as they stay unreached and unjudged, it is completely impossible for us to reach the higher stages of the path of devotedness.

When false sacred writings touch on real events, they praise their heroes and carefully hide their faults, even when they do not sink to outright fable. The Spirit of God deals very differently. In the Old Testament He deals with the conduct of the fathers or the people of Israel. In the New He deals with the sins even of an apostle, and with the shame of a whole assembly.

The simple trick that Abram suggested to Sarai was not a downright lie. Sarai was his half sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it worked out as a disaster. It was just that sort of half-truth, or half-lie, which has so often been a snare to true saints of God. People of the world may do such things and seem to gain by them. But if saints of God sink to that level, they always end up the losers.

He wanted Abimelech to understand that he had not told an outright lie. Sarah was his half sister, and she had become his wife. But his deception got the same result that a deliberate lie would have. When we practise deceit it will likely lead us into embarrassing trouble, because it comes from weakness of faith.

When a believer fails, there is so often an effort to soften the failure, instead of the honest confession, "I have sinned." No three words in human language are so hard to say, for a sinner or a saint, as the words, "I have sinned." So Abraham tries to excuse his deceit. He explains that it was quite true that Sarah was his sister, though he had held back the truth that she was also his wife.

Here was the root of the whole matter... Have we not all our roots? Yes, we have — deep, strong and bitter roots. They have brought a world of sorrow and shame on ourselves, and trouble on those we had to deal with. So these roots must be reached and judged. As long as they are left unreached and unjudged, it is impossible for us to reach the higher stages of the path of devotion.

Abraham found that he was wrong in thinking that the fear of God was not in Gerar. It was the fear of God that prompted Abimelech, not only to restore Sarah to her husband, but to add gifts to Abraham of sheep and oxen and servants, both male and female. The very receiving of such gifts would be a reproof to Abraham's fear, but a kind reproof.

Is it not humbling when an outsider can rightly rebuke the people of God? They failed to hold fast their privileges, and it ended in a breach of common truthfulness... How often has fear of the world been a snare like this! Those who should have been faithful witnesses spoke evasively. So they threw what belongs to faith into the hands of the world, to the confusion and danger of all!

When false holy books deal with real facts, they praise their heroes and hide their faults with great care, even when they do not sink to outright fable. The Spirit of God works in the opposite way. In the Old Testament He deals with the conduct of the fathers and the people of Israel. In the New He deals with the sins even of an apostle, and the shame of a whole church.

The old agreement between Abraham and Sarah is acted on again after so long a time — acted on now at Gerar, as before it had been in Egypt. It had been made between them before they left their native country. It was brought out with them from the very place of their birth. It was, I may say, in them older than anything of God; and after many changes and exercises it is in them and with them the same thing still.

Sarah is the wife of Abraham according to promise. He denies this position. Once again he calls Sarah his sister. This was worse than before, for to faith she is the mother of the heir of the world... There is another point to notice here. This was an arrangement of unbelief when he first started from his father's house (Gen. 20:13). So soon was the seed of unbelief at work in the one called according to promise.

Moreover, it comes out that this failure has an unjudged root of unbelief far back in his history. In a false position he lowers the testimony of God to the level of the world's understanding. He says, "When God caused me to wander from my father's house." He does not say, "When God called me to a heavenly country and a city which has foundations." Instead he gives the impression that God had caused him to wander from his father's house, like any mere runaway.

Is this Abraham's estimate of that sovereign call of the God of glory, which reached him when he was worshipping other gods? For a moment he lost sight of the call, the inheritance and the privileges of a heavenly man. He said only, "God caused me to wander from my father's house." Is this the thought or the confession of faith? But is Abraham alone in this? How often do we find words on our lips that do not rise above the level of natural men?

The simple trick that Abram suggested to Sarai was not an outright lie. Sarai really was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it ended in disaster. It was just that kind of half-truth, or half-lie, which so often has been a snare to true saints of God. Men of the world may do such a thing and seem to come out ahead. But when saints of God come down to that level, they always lose in the end.

Perhaps not everyone has heard this, but it is still true. In the original Hebrew "God" is in the plural, which naturally points to more than one Person. Yet "created" is in the singular... Cases like Gen. 20:13 ("God caused") where the verb is plural, like the noun, prove that God (Elohim) was known to be a true plural.

Do you have any secret reserve in your soul? Any hidden root of evil deep down in your heart and mind? Is there anything you are keeping back from the light and from the edge of the knife? Search and see! Search diligently! Do not deceive yourself, and do not let Satan deceive you. Deal honestly and truly with your own soul in this matter.

Abraham found that he was wrong in thinking that the fear of God was not in Gerar. It was the fear of God that moved Abimelech. He gave Sarah back to her husband, and he added gifts to Abraham of sheep and oxen and servants, both male and female (v. 14). Simply receiving such gifts would be a rebuke to Abraham's fear, but a kind one.

Not only had Abraham failed in faith in God, not only had he wronged his wife, but he had wronged the man of the world. Abraham had sunk, not only beneath the height of his calling, but beneath the conduct of a decent man of the world.

Here Abimelech gives Sarah back to Abraham with many sheep and oxen, male and female servants. He also gives him open permission to live anywhere in the land that seems good to him. Yet this comes with a severe rebuke to Sarah, and indeed to her husband. The Philistine had paid the price to put things right. But what a covering of the eyes the husband had been for his wife, in front of all who were with her and everyone else! Is it not humbling when an outsider can rightly rebuke the people of God for failing to hold fast their privileges, until it ends in a plain breach of truthfulness?

Despite Abraham's failure, Abimelech acts in a righteous and even generous way. He is a man of the world, yet his conduct stands in striking contrast to Abraham's. In the day of power and victory over the enemy Abraham refused to take "a thread or a sandal strap" from the king of Sodom. In the day of weakness and unbelief he will accept sheep, oxen, male and female servants, and a thousand pieces of silver from the king of Gerar.

It is often a sorrow to notice how the children of God dishonour Him. They lose the sense that He is enough for every emergency, and as a result they lower themselves before the world. As long as we live in the truth that all our springs are in God, we will stay above the world in every shape and form.

But notice how God enters the scene to vindicate His servant. He says to Abimelech, "Behold, you are a dead man." With all "the integrity of his heart and innocence of his hands", with all his fine moral sense of right and wrong, he was "a dead man" the moment it became a question between him and even an erring child of God. All that Abimelech could see in Abraham was a man guilty of an obvious piece of deception. But God saw more than that. So He says to him, "Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live." What dignity is here put upon Abraham! God Himself vindicates him before the world!

It may seem that, rather than Abraham giving gifts of sheep and oxen to Abimelech at this time, it would have been more fitting the other way around. This reminds us too that in Genesis 20:14 it was Abimelech who gave to Abraham sheep, oxen and servants at a time when Abraham was really to blame. Now it is Abraham's turn!

Abraham found that he was wrong in thinking that the fear of God was not in Gerar. The fear of God moved Abimelech to give Sarah back to her husband. It also moved him to add gifts for Abraham: sheep, oxen, and servants, both male and female (v. 14). Simply receiving such gifts was a rebuke to Abraham's fear — but a kind rebuke. In fact, Abimelech also gave Abraham permission to live wherever he wanted to in the land (v. 15).

Despite Abraham's failure, Abimelech acts in a right and even generous way. He is a man of the world, yet his conduct stands in striking contrast to Abraham's. In the day of power and victory over the enemy, Abraham refused to take "a thread or a sandal strap" from the king of Sodom. In the day of weakness and unbelief, he accepts sheep, oxen, male and female servants, and a thousand pieces of silver from the king of Gerar.

Famine made Isaac leave his place, and though not to Egypt, he went among the Philistines. Faith would have remained, and trusted in God, unmoved by famine. Isaac got into trouble among the Philistines. Gerar was no place for him… When Pharaoh found out that Sarah was Abraham's wife, he sent them away — "take her, and go." But Abraham did not leave Gerar when Abimelech gave Sarah back. Abimelech said, "Dwell where it pleases you." (Gen. 20:15.) Was it pleasing to God that Abraham should stay in that land?

Here Abimelech gives Sarah back to Abraham, with many a sheep and ox, and many a male and female servant. He plainly gives him leave to live anywhere in the land that seems good to him. Yet a severe rebuke came with it, for Sarah and for her husband too… Is it not humbling when a Gentile has good reason to rebuke the people of God? They failed to hold fast their privileges, and it ended in a breach of plain honesty. Still, God listened to the prayer of Abraham… "wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, He allowed no one to oppress them; He rebuked kings on their account, saying, 'Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!'"

With the root of their failure exposed, Abraham once again takes up his true place toward the world, as an intercessor (vv. 17, 18).

Abraham failed. Yet Abimelech, a man of the world, acts in a righteous and even generous way that stands in striking contrast to Abraham's conduct. In the day of power and victory over the enemy, Abraham refused to take "from a thread even to a shoe latchet" from the king of Sodom. In the day of weakness and unbelief he takes sheep, oxen, servants, and a thousand pieces of silver from the king of Gerar.

God had spoken, and Abimelech acted very rightly. He treated Abraham generously, even while rebuking him. Sarah too came in for his rebuke, as verse 16 records. Speaking of Abraham as her "brother" added a touch of irony to his rebuke. It is a sad situation when an upright man of the world can rightly rebuke the saint of God. But it is a state of affairs all too often repeated.

Still, though he gives gifts to Abraham, Abimelech does not hesitate to reprove Abraham's wife in terms of contempt: "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to you a covering of the eyes." Had she been veiled, as Abraham's wife, Abimelech would never have seen her or taken her into his house. The veil speaks of the woman being exclusively for the one to whom she belongs.

What a veil Abraham had been to his poor wife! He had better buy a veil for her with the thousand pieces of silver. It was a keenly cutting condemnation — a rebuke no doubt addressed to Sarah, but how it must have touched Abraham to the quick! The Bible has recorded the sin of the father of the faithful for the good of all the children.

All the varied beauties that mark the saints of God are for the eye of Christ alone. The moment anything sets out to attract the eye of man, the true character and beauty of the spiritual life are gone. When Rebekah saw Isaac she veiled herself; a very precious sign that she was to be for Isaac exclusively.

This is the way the church becomes a lure to the kings of the earth, when she puts on outward glory... When she leaves her place of dependence as the weaker vessel and becomes the unveiled harlot, she loses her honour in the sight of the Lord. She gains it instead in the sight of men. Sarah was reproved in just this way when the words came, "Behold, he is to you a covering of the eyes."

The Philistine had paid his reparation price... Is it not humbling when a man outside God's people can rightly rebuke the people of God? They failed to hold fast their privileges, and it ended in plain dishonesty. Still, God listened to Abraham's prayer, and lifted the judgment that had fallen on the house of Abimelech... He would relieve Abimelech only at Abraham's prayer. But Abraham had to bear shame before the Philistine first, and confess the sin that had exposed him to rebuke from a man outside God's people.

The very receiving of such gifts would be a reproof to Abraham's fear, but a kind reproof.

Then Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his household, and the Lord reversed the punishment He had placed on them in His government. None of the wives in Abimelech's court had been able to have children, because Abimelech had taken Sarah into his household.

Abraham evidently accepted the rebuke and, as God had said, he prayed for the king and his household, and the hand of God which had been upon them in His government, was removed.

Still, God listened to Abraham's prayer, and He removed the judgment that had fallen on the house of Abimelech... He would relieve Abimelech only through Abraham's prayer for him. But Abraham first had to bear shame in front of the Philistine, and confess the sin that had left him open to the blame and rebuke of a man outside God's people. How often has fear of the world been a trap like this! How often has double-talk from those who should have been faithful witnesses thrown what belongs to faith into the hands of the world!

Abraham might lower himself in the eyes of Abimelech, king of Gerar. Abimelech might even have to rebuke him. Yet when God comes to deal with the case, He says to Abimelech, "Behold, you are a dead man;" and of Abraham He says, "He is a prophet, and he shall pray for you." Yes, for all "the integrity of his heart, and the innocence of his hands," the king of Gerar was "but a dead man." What is more, he owed the healing of his household to the prayers of that erring, inconsistent stranger. That is God's way. He may have many a private dispute with His child about his practical ways. But the moment the enemy brings a case against him, the Lord always pleads His servant's cause.

This is remarkable. The whole story suggests that at that time Abimelech the Philistine feared God more than Abraham the Hebrew did — and Abraham was "the friend of God." Yet Abraham was a prophet, and he had power to pray for others that Abimelech did not have. We can learn from this that even when our spiritual condition is low, God does not withdraw our privileges as saints, priests and so on. For a time we are not enjoying them, and we cannot use them to bless others.

How different this is from the way we treat one another! We give each other up so easily, sometimes at the mere suspicion of wrongdoing, when faith would hold on to the people of God for God. How sweet and restoring this goodness of the ever-faithful One was for Abraham's soul! Grace alone restores: "sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

This time it was even more serious, because Sarah was just about to bear the child of promise. Abraham's failure might have compromised what God had promised and was about to perform. So God took what we may call drastic action to protect Sarah — not dealing with Abraham, who had failed, but with the pagan king.

Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues. Jehovah had firmly closed up the wombs of the house of Abimelech. In Abimelech's case the text adds one more thing. God knew Abimelech's integrity in the matter, and He warned him in a dream. Here the name Jehovah, the God of Israel, would have been out of place. Abimelech was a Philistine, and God had already called Abraham apart. Yet Elohim is gracious in nature and character. So He could discipline Abimelech for a time for his error, and warn him, while He preserved the integrity of the family He had chosen.

How gracious our God and Father is in the way He protects us even when we put ourselves in compromising positions! Yet this is no excuse for our failure, and we must not dare to count on God's protection when we deliberately do wrong.

God listened to the prayer of Abraham, and He lifted the judgment that had fallen on the house of Abimelech... He would relieve Abimelech only when Abraham prayed for him. But Abraham must first be shamed in front of the Philistine. He had to confess the sin that had left him open to the blame and rebuke of a man outside God's people.

God had appeared to Abraham so often. Now He passed Abraham by and dealt with the king in a dream, telling him plainly how things stood. That was a definite rebuke to Abraham. Abraham was a prophet and a man who prayed for others, as the king is told — yet in this matter God ignores him.

Sarah in the Philistines' house can never become theirs, whatever they do: grace will not be handled by men's hands. More than that, her presence there stops all the wombs of the house of Abimelech. Their barren claim to grace prevents all real fruit.

False sacred writings, when they touch on real facts, praise their heroes and hide their faults with great care. That is true even when they do not sink into outright fable. The Spirit of God works in a very different way. In the Old Testament He records the conduct of the fathers and of the people of Israel. In the New He records the sins even of an apostle, and the shame of a whole assembly.