And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake.
Abimelech asks Abraham why he did it. Abraham gives his reason: he had already judged Gerar as a place with no fear of God, so he expected the men there to kill him over his wife. The verse opens up two questions at once — was his estimate of the place true, and what does it say about the man who made it?
Abraham's reason rests on one phrase: the fear of God. The word behind it is used elsewhere in Scripture too.
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.
Abraham makes an accusation against a whole city. One writer notes what that accusation reveals about the accuser at that moment.
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.
The chain in Abraham's sentence runs from a thought, to a fear, to a concealment. One writer points to the weakness behind it.
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.
So what did Abraham trust instead? One writer answers that, and shows where such evasions come from.
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.
The rest of the chapter tests Abraham's assessment against the facts, and the test does not go his way.
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.
Abraham does not stop at his motive. He goes on to argue that what he said was true as far as it went.
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.
Behind the excuse lies a deeper root. One writer turns that straight on the reader.
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.
Scripture records this episode without protecting Abraham's reputation. One writer sees that honesty as a mark of the Bible itself.
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.
- Thought — the trouble starts with "I thought": Abraham's own reasoning, not his faith, sets his course.
- Fear — the phrase means reverence toward God. The man who says others lack it is acting without it himself.
- Substitute — when confidence in God goes missing, something fills the gap. Here it was a lie. Timidity reaches for evasion.
- Correction — Gerar feared God more than Abraham thought. Abimelech's gifts were a kind reproof of his wrong estimate.
- Root — the cure is not explanation but honest confession. Roots left unjudged keep bearing the same fruit.
But she is also truly my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Abimelech, the king of Gerar, has discovered that Sarah is Abraham's wife and demands an explanation. Abraham answers with a fact that raises a harder question: can a true statement still be a lie?
Abraham's defence rests on a technicality. He had not invented a relationship. He had left out the one that mattered more. It is the half-and-half quality that makes this so dangerous to believers.
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.
One writer traces this habit to its source, and warns where it leads.
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.
Abraham gives an explanation, and skips the three hardest words a person can say.
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.
The excuse gives away more than Abraham intended. He traces the plan back to the day he left home, and he speaks of his calling in a way that drags it down.
The same question comes back to every reader.
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's reasoning began with the assumption that God was not feared in Gerar. Abimelech's behaviour disproved it.
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.
The reversal is complete: the outsider holds the moral high ground over the man of faith.
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!
A story this unflattering to its hero says something about the book that preserves it.
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.
- Root. The plan with Sarah dated back to the day he left his father's house — an unjudged root of unbelief, still alive years later.
- Fruit. From that root grew a half-truth: true as far as it went, and told to hide what mattered.
- Result. The deception got the same result an outright lie would have. The technicality protected nothing.
- Rebuke. An outsider had to correct the man of faith about plain truthfulness.
- Remedy. Not an explanation but "I have sinned." Roots left unjudged block every higher stage of devotion.