Abraham and Abimelech 

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.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 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.” (Genesis 20: 3 to 5) 

After Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed by God, Abraham moved to Negev, a desert region south of Canaan. Since he feared for his life, he claimed that Sarah was his sister. So, king Abimelech sent for Sarah and took her.  Then God came to Abimelech in a dream and reproved him.   

This was the second time that Abraham made such an equivocal claim about Sarah to be his sister because he feared for his life. The first time was when they went down to Egypt due to a big famine. We may wonder what kind of a person Abraham was? How could he put Sarah in danger to save his own skin?  Not only once but twice? How could God pick such a coward?  Not only that, God reproved Abimelech but didn't even say a hush word to Abraham. Instead, God told Abimelech to ask Abraham to pray for him so that he could be healed because Abraham was a prophet.   

To understand it, we may ask why did Abraham go to the Negev? It's a desert region. If Abraham wanted to find a better place to live, then that's the last place on earth he should go. One explanation is that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah caused a big impact on Abraham. When he bargained with God to avoid the destruction, he had a high hope that he could save them. Otherwise, he won't stop at 10 righteous people. However, the destruction still occurred.  He must feel that he had failed those people dearly. He must be so heartbroken that he just wanted to go somewhere that he won't have to see or hear about what had happened. I think God understood how he felt because God must have felt the same. That's why God didn't reprove Abraham because he knew that Abraham is not a coward but a righteous man with such a broken heart that he just wanted to banish himself. Therefore, God not only saved Sarah from the danger but also called Abraham a prophet because Abraham shares God's heart and feelings.   

As for Abimelech, he was quite a character. When he took Sarah, Sarah must be close to 90 years old. No wonder God called him as good as dead. Who in his right mind would take such an old lady. Nonetheless, when God reproved him, his first reaction was not to deny the sovereignty of God, but to admit it. He pleaded that God should not destroy an innocent nation first. Then he pleaded that he himself was a victim of Abraham and Sarah's equivocal claims. And God accepted his pleas. The rest is history.   

This gave us something to think about. We often made mistakes, intentionally or not. Nonetheless, the first thing is to admit God's sovereignty that we are all sinners, and the wage of sin is death. Understand that we are victims of our own sin, the knowledge of good and evil, and Satan's falsehoods. Then accept Jesus as our savior, cleanse our sins with His blood, submit ourselves to Him, then claim as Jesus promised below. 

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10: 28) 

That's how strong and assured salvation is. Immanuel.

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