Abimelech: The Sin Problem in "The Best of Men

1. ABIMELECH Sin in “the Best of Men” Genesis 20:1-18

2. ABIMELECH: Early Depiction of Sin Problem, Even in the Most Faithful

3. Think about this as we read the story: Who deserved to be punished? Abraham or Abimelech

4. In the Bible, Abimelech was most prominently the name of the king of Gerar (a major Philistine city). • The name is mentioned in two of the three wife/sister narratives in Genesis (chapters 12, 20, 26).

5. Tyre • Hebron • Gerar

6. Etymology of the Title • Abimelech or Avimelech • Ăḇî = father; māleḵ = king • A common name of the Philistine kings. • Like Pharoah was a common name for the rulers of Egypt.

7. The Haggada identifies the two kings of Gerar as separate people: the second (Gen. 26) being the first Abimelech's (Gen. 20) son.

8. Abraham and Sarai • Genesis 12 records passing his wife Sarah off as his sister when they were living among strangers, this time with Pharoah in Egypt. • Genesis 20 with Abimelech at Gerar. • Sarah was 65 in first & 90 in the second !!!

9. By an interposition of Providence, Sarah was delivered from the harem of the Philistine king of Gerar (Gen. 20:1-18), and was restored to her husband Abraham.

10. As a mark of respect, he gave valuable gifts to Abraham and offered him a settlement in any part of his country. At the same time he delicately but severely rebuked him for having practiced a deception upon him in pretending that Sarah was only his sister.

11. A few years after this, Abimelech (and his army commander, Phichol) visited Abraham, who had removed to Beersheba and entered into a league of peace and friendship with him (Gen. 21:22-34).

12. Isaac and Rebekah • Another Abimelech was king of Gerar in the time of Isaac, probably the son of the preceding king (Gen. 26:1-22). • Abimelech rebuked him for the deception, which he accidentally discovered.

13. Isaac settled for a while here, and prospered. • Abimelech visited him when he was encamped at Beer-sheba, and expressed a desire to renew the covenant which had been entered into between their fathers (Gen. 26:26-31).

14. The earlier version of the Abraham/Sarah doublet cited her beauty as the reason why Abraham presented Sarah as his sister rather than his wife. • "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance," Abraham said to Sarah as they approached the Egyptian border. "Therefore, it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, `This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you" (Gen. 12:11-13).

15. Although the text doesn't say so directly (in chapter 20), it implies that Sarah's beauty was the reason for Abraham's duplicity while they were in Gerar. • Abimelech, who had taken Sarah with obvious intentions, demanded an explanation when he discovered that Sarah was actually Abraham's wife. • "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place," Abraham explained, "and they will kill me on account of my wife" (20:11).

16. God’s Concerns: • 1. Sanctity of Marriage • (particularly Abraham’s marriage to Sarai through whom the seed promise would come)

17. Sanctity of Marriage an issue – God steps in! • "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, `She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, `He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live" (Gen. 20:3-6).

18. Let's consider what we have here. • Abraham had lied about his relationship to Sarah. • Now Abimelech was the one who was in hot water, described as "a dead man.”

19. Where's the fairness in this? Does the inscrutable Yahweh expect people to be mind readers? • In terms of modern moral standards, this whole incident involved nothing that warranted killing anyone. • But if anyone deserved to die, then surely it was Abraham because he lied.

20. Furthermore, if anyone was to pray for another, Abimelech should have been instructed to pray for Abraham whose conduct had precipitated the entire affair.

21. The story ends with Abraham praying to God, who then "healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants" (v:17). Why did Abimelech's wife and female servants need healing? Yahweh "had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah" (v:18).

22. God’s Concerns: • 1. Sanctity of Marriage • 2. Sanctity of One’s Word • It was a deception even though she was his father’s daughter but not his mother’s daughter (Gen. 20:12).

23. What Abraham illustrates in this story: • The weakness, inconsistency, and sin of man… • Pre-covenant – Genesis 12 • Post-covenant – Genesis 20

24. Some think the same story is told twice (Gen. 12 & 20) But, it is not the same incident and there is a good reason why two such similar incidents are to be found in the Bible. Two doctrinal messages come through in Genesis 20.

25. 1. Infirmity of Man Throughout Genesis, we see the weakness, the infirmity, the sin of man. Even Abraham, God's chosen covenant partner, tells a lie. We look at Genesis 20 and we see there an issue that concerns all of us – the issue of recurring sin.

26. Our Sins: Maybe our struggle is with an unholy anger Maybe it is substance abuse (drugs, alcohol) Maybe it is gluttony (you can't control your appetites) Maybe it is sins of the mind and heart (lust, greed, covetousness) Maybe it has to do with money and possessions Maybe it is a character fault (impatient, rude, self-seeking) OR MAYBE OUR STRUGGLE IS WITH TELLING THE TRUTH !!!!

27. Abraham is not alone in illustrating moments of greatness intermingled with moments of disobedience and shortsightedness.

28. Abraham's sin, his fallenness also is evident in his fear and lack of faith.

29. Here is a reminder that we must always be conscious of the fact that we carry the name of Christ wherever we go, in every action we undertake and in every word we speak. Whenever we give the world a just reason to admonish us for our behavior, we dishonor that name.

30. 2. Grace of God Genesis 20 also gives us an awesome display of God's most wonderful grace. We see God's grace at work in both Abimelech and Abraham.

31. Abraham damaged his character and reputation. • In chapter 20 we see Abimelech, a child of the world, admonishing Abraham, a child of God: (Gen 20:9-10) • "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 not be done." (Gen. 20:10)

32. The End

33. There is the story of the man who came down from the North Carolina mountains. He was all dressed up and carrying his Bible. A friend saw him and asked, "Elias, what's happening? Where are you going all dressed up like that?" Elias said, "I've been hearing about New Orleans. I hear that there is a lot of free-runnin' liquor and a lot of gamblin' and a lot of real good naughty shows." The friend looked him over and said, "But Elias, why are you carrying your Bible under your arm?" And Elias replied, "Well, if it's as good as they say it is, I might stay over until Sunday." This man, like Abraham, did not practice what he believed.