A. Genesis 20:1 - And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
1. Thence? – The last location of Abraham was “where he stood before the Lord”
a. Why did he leave? Could he have thought that Lot and his family were destroyed with Sodom
b. Was he departing because he was angry at the Lord?
c. “probably to seek for better pasture” Keil & Delitzsch, commentary on the Old Testament.
2. Kadesh – קדש Qadesh, "holy"
3. Shur - שור Shuwr, "wall"
a. Where the angel of the Lord visited Hagar
4. Gerar - גרר Gĕrar, "a lodging place" This is in the land of the Philistines
B. Genesis 20:2 – And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She [is] my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
1. Once again Abraham resorts to deceptive tactics as a result of his fear
a. Could his fear have originated with the possibility that He was not communing with God as a result of His judgment upon Sodom Gomorrah
b. Was Abraham in God’s Will by journeying to the south? Did he feel that he was out of God’s Will due to some ill feelings toward God?
c. Abraham returns to his fearful flesh
2. Abimelech - אבימלך 'Abiymelek, "Melek is father" or "my father is king", a title much like Pharoah, Caesar, etc.
3. Why would an old man fear that his old wife would be coveted by a king?
a. Sarah is near 90 years old yet Abimelech thought enough of her to take her as his wife, this tells us that either:
· Abimelech had strange taste in women, or
· Sarah looked much younger than her age
o Possibly God renewed Sarah’s youth in preparation for her conception in order to carry Isaac and nurse him after birth
C. Genesis 20:3 – But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife.
1. God reveals His Will in dreams throughout scripture (20 separate instances) some of the more prominent include:
a. Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven - Gen. 28:12
b. Jacob dreams of separating cattle - Gen. 31:10
c. Joseph dreams of sheaves and stars - Gen. 37:5
d. The baker and butler Gen. - 40:5
e. Pharoah dreams of cows and stalks - Gen. 41
f. Solomon’s request for wisdom - I Kings 3:5-9
g. Nebudchadnezzar - Daniel 2:3
h. Daniel’s dream of end times – Dan. 7:1
i. Joseph is told to remain with Mary – Matt. 1:20
j. Wise men warned of God not to return to Jerusalem 2:12
k. Pilates wife before Jesus’ crucifixion – Mat. 27:19
l. Last days prophecy – Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17
2. That would be fairly convincing
a. How many of us have dreams that we just blow off?
b. Do all dreams have meaning?
· Probably, but interpretation is not simple
· There is far more to our subconscious than we know
· We can see from scripture that this is a frequent method of communication from God. Are all dreams from God? Probably not.
· How are our minds affected by subliminal messages?
D. Genesis 20:4 – But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
1. Abimelech expected that God would destroy the entire nation
2. Or sees himself as so important that the nation would not be able to survive without him
3. We can see later in the chapter that the Lord actually prevented women from becoming pregnant until Sarah was returned to Abraham.
E. Genesis 20:5 – Said he not unto me, She [is] my sister? and she, even she herself said, He [is] my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
1. Sure he is innocent of knowing that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, but it appears that he is a tyrant
2. We often act as though we are innocent, but we are all guilty of something
F. Genesis 20:6 – And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
1. God withheld him from sinning…
a. God will sometimes withhold us from sinning when we do so out of ignorance
· God has a reason for everything He does, why would God prevent Abimelech from sinning here and allow countless other sins similar to this to occur?
· God was preserving his chosen bloodline
b. Would have corrupted God’s promise in that he promised that this time Sarah would conceive and give birth to Isaac.
· Satan is very aware of God’s promises and tries his best to undermine them
2. Sinning against me
a. God would have considered a union between Abimelech and Sarah as a sin against him, why?
· There has yet to be any law given to man
· Is it only a sin against God because it is Sarah or is that irrelevant? Seems is would be more of a sin against Abraham
· What law would Abimelech have been held to? Appears there is support for Natural Law here.
G. Genesis 20:7 – Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.
1. Abraham called a prophet for the first time
2. Prophet – נביא nabiy', masculine noun, spokesman, speaker, prophet
3. Prayer associated with prophecy and delivering from God’s judgment, calling upon His mercy.
4. Abraham acted as an intercessor, God instructed Abimelech that he would hear prayers from Abraham suggesting that he would not hear prayers from Abimelech.
5. Christ is our intercessor allowing us the ability to make our requests known, we no longer need an earthly intercessor:
a. Philippians 4:6 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
H. Genesis 20:8 – Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
1. Only the men were afraid? Why not the women? Did Abimelech only have male servents for it said that he called “all his servents”?
a. Verse 14 confirms that he did have female servants
2. men - אנוש 'enowsh, masculine noun, man, mortal man, person, mankind
a. Seems to be a noun that can be used to represent a mixed group of men and women
b. Seems that all of the servants were afraid, both men and women.
I. Genesis 20:9 – Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
1. Abimelech is upset that he was deceived, Abraham would probably have been in danger of losing his life if not for the fact that Abimelech knew that he was a prophet of God.
2. We see that Abraham, a man of great faith, even he had shortcomings and found it difficult to be honest with confronted with the possibility of losing his life.
J. Genesis 20:10 – And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
1. Why did you do this to me?
K. Genesis 20:11 – And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God [is] not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
1. Abimelech asked what Abraham saw, Abraham replied with what he thought.
a. What would Abraham have seen to lead him to this conclusion?
b. Were Abraham’s actions justified?
2. The enemy can place fearful thoughts in your mind
a. Abimelech knows if what Abraham is saying is true or not
b. Would expect some truth to this since Abraham was called a prophet
c. Abimelech would have been convicted in his heart
L. Genesis 20:12 – And yet indeed [she is] my sister; she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
1. Abraham confirms that Sarah is his half-sister
2. Daughter of Terah Abraham’s father
3. The book of Jasher says that Sarah was Haran
M. Genesis 20:13 – And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This [is] thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He [is] my brother.
1. When he left Ur
N. Genesis 20:14 – And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave [them] unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
1. Strange that he lavishes these gifts upon a man who deceived him, was this out of fear?
2. We see here that Abimelech did in fact have female servants
O. Genesis 20:15 – And Abimelech said, Behold, my land [is] before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
P. Genesis 20:16 – And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver: behold, he [is] to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that [are] with thee, and with all [other]: thus she was reproved.
1. Abimelech refers to Abraham as Sarah’s brother instead of her husband
2. brother – אח 'ach, brother,
a. brother of same parents
b. half-brother (same father)
c. relative, kinship, same tribe
d. each to the other (reciprocal relationship)
e. (fig.) of resemblance
3. “he is to thee a covering…” a concealment, an article of clothing used for covering
a. I Corinthians 11:5 – But every woman that prayeth or prophecieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven”
b. I Corinthians 11:10 – For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Q. Genesis 20:17 – So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare [children].
R. Genesis 20:18 - For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
1. Must have been there for a while for this to have been noticeable
2. The parallels of Sarah on a micro level foreshadowing the children of Israel
a. When Sarah was first taken to wife of Pharoah she clearly represented Israel Egypt
b. Here we have a similar foreshadowing in that in the coming years the Philistines will be a formidable opponent as God called up a deliverer in Moses against the Egyptians He called a deliverer Samson against the Philistines after they were in bondage to the Philistines 40 years.
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