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GENESIS 20
The LORD does not change, no matter how much his servants fail. -- (DATE: Between 1852 and 1851 before Christ)
DISCOVER Genesis 20: After all this has happened, Abraham journeyed with his people south towards the territory of Negeb to live between Kadesh and Shur before sojourning in Gerar. There, Abraham said to his wife Sarah that she was again to say she was his sister, which led the event that when Abimelech, the King of Gerar saw her, he took her to become his wife. That night, however, God came to the king in a dream, proclaiming that he was a dead man because of the woman he had taken, for she was another man’s wife. Because he had not yet even approached Sarah, Abimelech dared to plead with God, asking whether he would slay an innocent person. Abraham himself had told him that she was his sister. And hadn’t Sarah told him that Abraham was indeed her brother? By the integrity of his heart and the innocence of his hands he had taken her into his house only because of these testimonies. And while God agreed that the integrity of his heart had been indeed righteous, the fact that his hands were innocent was only because of His interference, else he would have sinned against Him. As long as Sarah was in his household, God cautioned, Abimelech and all his people were sure to die. Therefore, he was to return Sarah to her husband, Abraham, who was a prophet, and let him pray on Abimelech’s behalf. Then his actions would not be punished. Thus Abimelech rose early the next morning and gathered his servants, to tell them of what had transpired in his sleep. And everyone was very afraid. -- Then Abimelech called for Abraham and demanded to know what he had done to him that he and his kingdom deserved such a treatment. Abraham answered that he had seen no fear of the LORD in this land, and therefore had feared that he might get killed for his wife’s sake. He also vindicated his lie by pointing out that it was only implicit, for he and Sarah were indeed brother and sister, from one and the same father but from different mothers. (Thus it had only been Abimelech’s desire that had made him jump to conclusions. -- Unable to argue his point,) Abimelech then called for sheep, oxen and slaves, both male and female, to be given to Abraham together with his wife. And he told Sarah that he also gave her husband a thousand pieces of silver as a sign of her innocence in the eyes of all, so that she would be vindicated of his deed before everyone. And he also told Abraham that his kingdom was open to him and that he was allowed to dwell therein wherever it pleased him. Then Abraham prayed to his God on Abimelech’s behalf, and God healed the king and also his wife and all the female slaves the king had, for the Lord had closed off their wombs for Sarah’s sake.
PRAYER: Holy Father, from this teaching we learn that you take marriage very seriously. Any action, which compromises or destroys wedlock is punished by your righteous judgment. Thank you for intervening on behalf of Sarah so that there could not be the smallest doubt, who the father of Isaac was. Thank you that through these events you established forever that you are the God of Abraham and of his promised descendants. Thank you for allowing Gentiles, who do not come from the family-line of Abraham, to become part of your chosen people by faith in Jesus Christ your only begotten son. And thank you for foreshadowing this aim you had by speaking to the Gentile king Abimelech. Amen.
QUESTION 20: Why did God intervene on behalf of Sarah, so that Abimelech did not touch her?