Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April 1, 2007
Introduction
Illustration
You know, sometimes people aren’t quite as
“sane” as you think they are. We’ve come
to know Abraham as the “father of faith”, one of the heroes of the Bible. But we’re going to see that he’s still a man
with problems…
Genesis 20
:1-7 Abraham goes to Gerar
:1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh
and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
South … Kadesh … Shurt – these are all places far to the south,
almost to Egypt.
Gerar – a city on the plain between the Mediterranean
and the hills, about 30 miles southwest of Hebron,
about 11 miles east of Gaza. The
archaeologists have uncovered Gerar and found that it was a large town built on
merchandising – a great big Walmart.
:2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And
Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Abimelech – “my father is king”; in David’s time, this seems to not
just be a name, but a title for Philistine kings.
king of Gerar – he’s the ruler of the city.
This is what Abraham had done when they went down to Egypt
back in Genesis 12 –
(Gen 12:13
NKJV) "Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your
sake, and that I may live because of you."
Sarah – Sarah is 90 years old.
Abraham is doing this because he’s afraid that he’s going to be killed so
they can take Sarah for the king’s harem.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be too critical of Abraham. Perhaps we would do the
same thing if we were in his shoes???
Beloved, this clearly goes against the example that we’ve been given in the
Bible regarding husbands and wives.
(Eph 5:25
NKJV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for her,
A good marriage is not based upon survivor skills. It’s based on laying
down your life for the other person.
Jesus said,
(John 15:13 NKJV) "Greater love has no one than
this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
In context, Jesus isn’t talking about Him laying down His
life as much as He’s talking about the disciples learning to lay down their
lives for one another.
Our father of the faith, Abraham, is flat out wrong here.
:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him,
"Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for
she is a man's wife."
:4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You
slay a righteous nation also?
Back in Genesis 18, Abraham was interceding, haggling with God about the
issue of Sodom. Abraham was
wondering if God was going to wipe out these cities if there were righteous
people living in them.
(Gen 18:23
NKJV) And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the
righteous with the wicked?
Now these same words aren’t coming from Abraham, but from this pagan man
Abimelech.
There’s a bit of irony here.
:5 "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."
:6 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.
integrity – tom –
integrity, completeness; innocence, simplicity
This is the first time the word “integrity” is found in the Bible. And it’s
being used to describe this pagan king.
Lesson
Kept from sinning
Abimelech was a man of integrity.
God responded to Abimelech’s integrity by further helping him and keeping
him from blowing it big time.
I know that I sin a lot, but I’m not sure I’ve ever stopped to wonder just
how much God has kept me from sinning.
Does God always keep us from sinning?
Obviously not. Because we do sin.
But sometimes God stops us enough to give us a warning.
When Cain got angry with his brother, God gave Cain a
warning:
(Gen 4:6-7 NKJV) So the LORD said to Cain,
"Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? {7} "If you
do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the
door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
But Cain didn’t pay attention to God’s warning and he gave
in to his anger and killed his brother.
With Abimelech, it seems that his “integrity” played a part in God keeping
him from sinning.
Integrity causes me to set some boundaries in my life. It keeps me from
going down streets I don’t belong.
It’s when I lack integrity that I find myself in places of temptation.
Illustration
Like the guy who blamed God for ruining his diet after
said to the Lord, “Lord, if you don’t want me to get a donut, please don’t let
there be a parking spot in front of the donut shop.” But sure enough, there was
a parking spot right in front of the donut shop, the twelfth time around the
block.
A man of integrity doesn’t drive near the donut shop when
he’s on a diet.
Lesson
Integrity doesn’t equal knowing God
Integrity is important, but it’s not the same as knowing God.
Abimelech was a man of integrity, but he didn’t know God.
Abraham was currently lacking in integrity, but Abraham knew God.
Integrity alone isn’t going to get you to heaven.
You may be a good, moral person, but if you think that your morality is
good enough for God, you’re not even close.
It’s like the athlete who feels good because he can long jump 18 feet,
pretty good for an athlete.
But God’s standard isn’t for you to jump 18 feet to get into heaven. God’s
standard is a little more like saying you must be able to jump to Catalina
Island without getting wet, 26 miles across the bay…
Human style integrity is a good thing, but it’s far short of the standard that
God sets.
The only way you are going to get to Catalina without getting wet is to
have a boat or plane take you across the channel.
That’s what Jesus does for us. He does what we can’t. He owns the only
charter boat service to Catalina.
When we couldn’t do anything to pay for our sins, Jesus died on a cross to
pay for our sins.
Does this mean you can believe in Jesus and not have to have integrity?
God’s desire is that you be a person who knows God and who maintains
integrity.
:7 "Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he
will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that
you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
prophet – nabiy’
– spokesman, speaker, prophet; This is the first occurrence in the Bible of
this word.
It’s an interesting thing to see
how God has worked to protect Abraham, Sarah, and the promise of a special
child.
And even when Abraham has been such
a jerk!
(Psa 105:12-15 NKJV) When they were few
in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it. {13} When they went from one
nation to another, From one kingdom to another people, {14} He permitted no one
to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, {15} Saying, "Do
not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm."
This is God’s gracious hand of
protection on Abraham.
:8-13 Abraham’s excuses
:8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and
told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.
:9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done
to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a
great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done."
:10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that
you have done this thing?"
:11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is
not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.
:12 "But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my
father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
:13 "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my
father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do
for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my
brother."' "
Lesson
Excuses for sin
Abraham gives a couple of feeble reasons why he lied to Abimelech:
1. He was afraid they didn’t fear God in Gerar
In other words, he’s blaming Abimelech for the lie – it’s
Abimelech’s fault.
2. It wasn’t all a lie, Sarah was his half-sister
Is a “half-truth” still a true?
On the witness stand you are asked to tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
3. They had this long standing arrangement …
It’s such an old habit. Old habits are hard to break.
4. It’s God’s fault – “God caused me to wander …”
God’s the one that put us in this situation. We’re just
doing the best we can with the hand God has dealt us.
God wants to help us with our sin. God wants to forgive us of our sins. But
help and forgiveness don’t come until we stop making excuses and tell the
truth.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John didn’t say we needed to “make excuses for our sins”
or to “give reasons for our sins”. He said we needed to confess our sins.
I think that somewhere along the way we came up with the notion that we
need to have a good enough reason for our sin in order to be forgiven. And so
we work hard to make up quick excuses:
Illustration
There is a story about a new clerk in a supermarket. A
customer asked him if she could buy half a grapefruit. Not knowing what to do,
he excused himself to ask the manager. “Some nut out there wants to buy half a
grapefruit...” he began, and, suddenly realizing that the customer had entered
the office behind him, continued, “... and this lovely lady would like to buy
the other half.” The manager was impressed with the way the clerk amicably
resolved the problem and they later started chatting. “Where are you from?”
asked the store manager. “Ontario, Canada,”
replied the clerk, “home of ugly women and great hockey teams.” “Oh, my WIFE is
from Ontario,” challenged the
manager. Without skipping a beat, the clerk asked, “What team was she on?”
A good quote:
“He who is good at making excuses is seldom good for
anything else.”
:14-18 Restoration
:14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave
them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.
:15 And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it
pleases you."
:16 Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a
thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with
you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked.
thousand pieces of silver – this is a huge amount of money. Joseph
would be sold as a slave into Egypt
for 20 pieces of silver, this is 50 times that amount.
this vindicates – the Old King James is a little more accurate in
the translation, though it’s a little more difficult to understand:
(Gen 20:16
KJV) … is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee
Apparently in Abraham’s day, a married woman put on a veil to cover her
eyes. It was a sign of being married and also a way of not giving other men an
excuse so lust after a woman.
It could be that Abimelech is using a bit of sarcasm, “Now, here’s some
money so you can go buy a veil”
Another way of putting it: “If Abraham is stumbled because of your beauty,
go buy a veil.”
:17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his
female servants. Then they bore children;
:18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech
because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
It seems that this whole episode didn’t happen overnight. It takes time for
people to realize that the entire household isn’t getting pregnant. Sarah might
have spent several months in Abimelech’s harem.
Lesson
Restoration by praying for others
Sometimes the thing that finally brings a breakthrough in our own lives
comes when we learn to minister to others.
Job went through the most difficult of circumstances. He lost his kids, his
property, his wealth, and his health. And to top it all off, when his friends
showed up, all they did was try to figure out what Job had done wrong to deserve
all that misery. Instead of comforting Job, they just made it worse. But in the
end, God showed up and made things a little clearer, including a rebuke for
Job’s friends. But God wasn’t finished until Job did something:
(Job 42:10 NKJV) And the LORD restored Job's
losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much
as he had before.
Job found himself blessed when he prayed for those who had
given him a hard time.
What is the biggest thing that Abraham and Sarah have been wanting for the
last 75 years? They want a kid. They can’t get pregnant.
I find it interesting that God would use this very same situation to get
the attention of Abimelech.
And of all things Abraham is supposed to pray for, it’s for the women in
Abimelech’s household to get pregnant.
If I were Abraham, I’d probably say to myself, “That’s not something I’m
good at praying for!”
Yet God will not only use Abraham’s prayers for Abimelech, but God will
answer the prayers for Abraham at the same time.
The very next couple of verses:
(Gen 21:1-2 NKJV) And the LORD visited Sarah as
He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. {2} For Sarah
conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God
had spoken to him.
You might feel like you have nothing to give. You might feel that you’re
the one who is needy. Don’t let that be an excuse for God to use you to reach
out and help others.
Lesson
God uses flawed people.
It almost seems a bit backward. Abraham is the one who goofed up. You might
think that Abimelech should be praying for him!
Yet Abraham is the one who actually knows God.
The people God uses are sometimes a bit flawed.
We have this notion that the people God wants to use are perfect people. Wrong.
For some of us, this issue affects how people influence us.
Some of us have been disillusioned when we find out that some of the people
that were most instrumental in our life were in fact flawed people. One of the
most influential people in the early Jesus movement was a fellow who struggled
with homosexuality, and in fact died at an early age from AIDS. A TV preacher
influences people and then we hear of the hypocrisy in his life.
In truth, every person who has been used of God is flawed.
For some of us, this issue affects how we minister to others.
We have this notion that since God only uses perfect people, and I’m not
perfect, that God can’t use me.
Paul wrote,
(1 Cor 1:26-29 NKJV) For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called. {27} But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put
to shame the things which are mighty; {28} and the base things of the world and
the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to
bring to nothing the things that are, {29} that no flesh should glory in His
presence.
I’m not trying to make excuses for flawed people. It’s just the truth that
God doesn’t let our flaws stop Him from working.