Genesis 20: Protecting the Promise

Key Verse
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.
 
Meditation
God is faithful when we are faithless, and He will protect His promise even when His people reject Him and His word (2 Timothy 2:13). 
 
Human nature instinctively turns toward self-preservation when circumstances become difficult or dangerous. In today’s reading, Abraham is no exception. Abraham journeys with Sarah to Gerar, in the southern region of Palestine. Seeking to protect himself, Abraham twists the truth to deceive the regional king, Abimelech, claiming that Sarah is his sister. This self-protective decision places Sarah in harm’s way, as she is taken into the king’s harem. God intervenes to protect Sarah and her womb, preserving His covenant promise that through Abraham and Sarah, God would bring offspring to bless the nations.
 
Sarah’s submission to Abraham is later commended in 1 Peter 3, not as weakness but as sacrificial trust. Her willingness to place herself in danger for the sake of her husband foreshadows the steadfast love of Christ for His Church. Sarah’s costly kindness points forward to the self-giving love of Jesus, who placed Himself in harm’s way to secure our life and hope.
 
A holy and just God remains faithful to His promise not because of human faithfulness, but because of His own. God Himself would ultimately come as a servant, offering a substitutionary sacrifice in our place so that we might believe and receive His promise. Sarah’s willingness to substitute for Abraham anticipates God’s greater provision through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

God’s covenant faithfulness protects His promise to bless His people and, through them, to bless the nations.
 
Today’s Reading
From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” 
 
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “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.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ” 
 
14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. 
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially regarding Abraham’s stupid choice and God’s covenant faithfulness?
 
-Where do you identify with Abraham, choosing to be self-protecting and self-preserving rather than trusting God and His promises?
 
-How can you respond to God’s grace by turning from your self-protecting schemes to return to God, renewing your trust in Jesus and His promises? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.