Complex and Complicated
One of the main characters in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, is a man named Lee. Unfortunately, he doesn’t even make it into the 1955 movie with James Dean. Lee is the son of two Chinese railroad workers and ends up as a house servant. But it turns out that he’s wiser and stronger and more affectionate than any of the other main characters.
As a servant, he’s observed humans his whole life and has a good read on human nature. He understands that we’re complex and complicated beings. He understands that our lives are more grey than black and white.
Toward the end of the book, Lee says, “We are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous…We all have that heritage, no matter what old land our fathers left. All colors and blends of Americans have somewhat the same tendencies…We’re overbrave and overfearful – we’re kind and cruel as children. We’re overfriendly and at the same time frightened of strangers. We boast and are impressed. We’re oversentimental and realistic. We are mundane and materialistic…We eat too much. We have no taste, no sense of proportion.”[1]
Do you see what he’s saying? Lee is saying that, although we all come from different lands, we all have the same tendencies. We’re a mixture of courage and cowardice, of virtue and vice. We’re made in the image of God and fallen in sin. Both are true all the time.
Walking and Stumbling
This reality doesn’t magically disappear when someone starts walking with God. The Lord does indeed change us, from one degree of glory to another the Bible says. But this change is a slow and arduous and often unnoticeable process. Our walk with God often feels more like a roller coaster than a cruise around the lazy river. Walking with God includes stumbling in sin. This is true with us, and it’s true with every person we meet in the Bible, except one of course.
As we’ve been studying Genesis, we’ve gotten to know Abraham as a man of great faith and a man of great foolishness. We’ll see that again in chapter 20.
God’s covenant with Abraham doesn’t exempt him from sin and unbelief. Abraham’s walk with God included stumbling in sin. In Genesis 20, we’ll see Abraham choose self-preservation instead of trusting in the Lord. I want to read the chapter then talk about what we learn from the events here.
God’s Plan Doesn’t Depend on Perfection
The first thing we learn from this story is that God’s plan doesn’t depend on perfection. Despite the Lord’s demand that Abraham be blameless (17:1), the fulfillment of his plan didn’t depend on the moral perfection of this agent. Throughout the narrative of Abraham’s life, there are many illustrations of his less-than-perfect moral character. But the Lord knew, as one scholar says, that “he’d placed the burden of his saving agenda on his shoulders and he wouldn’t discard him for occasional failures.”[2]
Abraham was “counted righteous” because of his faith (15:6), not because he was righteous. Abraham was a man of remarkable faith, but he also had massive character flaws. If we were to plot the ethical performance of this “righteous man” on a graph, the line would not be a straight line going higher and higher. Rather, it’d be more like a yo-yo line alternating between extraordinary highs of faith and lows of unbelief.
Whatever spiritual maturity he had, the post-covenant Abraham wasn’t much different from the pre-covenant Abraham. The Bible is full of people who, though they’re in a covenant with God, sometimes live as if they’re still pre-covenant.
The Christian’s Civil War
Have you ever noticed how many ethical and moral commands are given to churches and Christians in the New Testament? In Colossians 3:5-14, for example, Paul commands a church to stop doing certain things and start doing other things. Why? Because they were still doing those things and not doing the other things.
The Christian life, like Abrahams, is a mixture of moments of greatness and moments of shame. Paul says that the Corinthian church was “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:2), yet they were more interested in following their favorite preacher than being united in Jesus. There was all kinds of immorality, litigation, division, and theological confusion in that church. Yet, they were “holy ones” in Jesus.
In Romans 7, Paul talks about the civil war within his heart that resulted in him failing to do the good and his inability to not do the evil (vv. 21-25).
A Warning
The story of Abraham and Abimelech is meant to encourage us that we aren’t the only ones who stumble while walking with God. But it’s also meant to warn us, to show us that left to ourselves we would make a tragic mess of God’s work in our lives.
Remember the context of this story. In the previous chapters, the Lord has told Abraham several times that Sarah will have a son within the next year (17:19, 21; 18:10, 14). Then at the beginning of chapter 21, Sarah gives birth to Isaac. She could be pregnant with Isaac during the events of chapter 20.
Even after the Lord specifically told Abraham that Sarah would give him a son, within a few months he hands her over to Abimelech, which would’ve meant the end of the promise of a son for Abraham. On the brink of Isaac’s promised birth, his birth is put in jeopardy
Abraham is trading the promises of God for personal safety. Instead of protecting his wife, he protects himself. Instead of protecting her purity, he relies on his own cunning to get out of difficult circumstances. In fear, Abraham’s faith falters.
If God’s promise is to be fulfilled, it will not be because of Abraham. Morally and physically it will be the result of the grace of God.
What areas of your life are you not trusting the Lord and trying to maneuver things around to your advantage? Maybe there’s the temptation to cheat on your schoolwork so that you can keep your scholarship? Or the temptation to lie or break the rules so that your business doesn’t suffer? Maybe it’s spreading information that you know isn’t true about someone else? Maybe it’s slothfulness or laziness because you’re afraid of attempting something that may lead to failure or you looking bad?
Professor John Currid says, “Each of us has deeply worn channels of a corrupt nature – besetting sins that refuse to let us go. And these sins come in cycles. They revisit us time and time again. Similar situations lead us to act in a similar vein. But, as in the case of Abraham, God continues to bring the situations upon us so that we should see our sin, and that we should turn to him, that we should trust him and realize he will protect us. Such repetitive cycles highlight our besetting sins, but they also point to a solution, which is complete trust and faith in God.”[3]
Abimelech Better than Abraham
In contrast to Abraham’s moral failure to protect his wife, the second thing we learn from this story is that Abimelech, an outsider, embodies what we should’ve seen in Abraham.
After the Lord confronts Abimelech in a dream, he asserts his innocence to God, asking in verse 4, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people?” This is the same question Abraham asked God in chapter 18 about destroying the righteous in Sodom.
Verse 4 says that Abimelech “had not approached her,” meaning that he hadn’t touched her or had any sexual relations with her. He confesses in verse 5 that his heart is pure and his hands innocent since he received Sarah. He’s saying that he hasn’t sinned in thought or action.
There’s great irony here, a reversal of roles. The insider to the covenant, Abraham, was supposed to be blameless but was faithless and self-serving, while the outsider to the covenant, Abimelech, the representative of the world under the curse of sin was acting righteously.
Abimelech’s willingness to return Sarah, his granting Abraham the ability to move around and even settle in his land, and his lavish gifts all confirm his virtuous character. I wonder what Abimelech thought when the Lord told him that Abraham was a prophet (v. 7)? How could this lying, scheming man be a prophet and pray for me?
In verses 9-10, Abimelech asks Abraham three questions to try to figure out why he did what he did. In verses 11-13, Abraham responds with three excuses to justify his actions.
He says in verse 11 that there was “no fear of God” in Gerar, which seems unwarranted given the reaction of Abimelech’s servants in verse 8. Often when things aren’t going someone’s way, they’ll start accusing everyone else of being in the wrong.
Then in verse 12 he says that Sarah is his sister, which is a half-truth. But he had conveniently left out the part about her also being his wife.
Then in verse 13 he says that “God caused him to wander,” or to become a sojourner. Abraham is in such a sorry spiritual state that he’s blaming God for even being there. He’s saying that it was God who removed him from the security of his father’s house and caused him to wander around as a sojourner.
Abraham is willing to do everything except tell the truth. Abimelech’s willingness to be open and honest (v. 8) is contrasted with Abraham’s deception.
The Lord had earlier promised to be Abraham’s shield in the face of danger (15:1), here he had to shield Abimelech from the danger that Abraham created for him. Verse 6 says that it was the Lord who kept him from sinning.
The reason Abimelech didn’t touch Sarah is because God didn’t let him. His integrity and God’s sovereignty aren’t mutually exclusive. He did the right thing. And he did the right thing because of God’s grace.
We Act the Miracle
We are responsible to obey God. God commands us to obey him. And when we do, we give him praise and thanks because our obedience was the result of his grace. Here are a couple of New Testament texts on this: Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” And Hebrews 13:20-21, “Now may the God of peace…equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Listen to how John Piper explains the Philippians 2 text: “We work, because God is at work in us. We will and do, because God is willing and doing in us…What Paul makes plain here in Philippians is how fully our own effort is called into action. We do not wait for the miracle; we act the miracle. We are not deluded into thinking that our action is unnecessary, or that it is decisive. It is neither. On the contrary, our effort in the pursuit of final salvation is necessary. And God’s willing and doing are decisive.”[4]
Elsewhere Paul says, “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). God’s grace, his divine power, is why Paul was enabled to do all that God required him to do.
Praise God for His Restraining Grace
Abimelech is acting righteously in this story and Abraham isn’t, but Abimelech is only doing what’s right because of God’s restraining grace (v. 6). The reason God must enable his work in us is that we can’t do it ourselves. Abimelech couldn’t and we can’t either. Apart from God’s restraining grace, we would only and always sin.
Have you ever stopped to thank God for his restraining grace, for keeping you from doing all the evil that you could’ve done?
This text should lead us to pray what Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Mt. 6:13). God has the power to keep us from sinning. Ask him to do it.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, he can keep us from stumbling and deliver us from evil. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).
Abraham the Prophet
The third thing we learn from this story is that, despite Abraham’s failure, the Lord still confirms him as his covenant partner and representative. In Abimelech’s dream, the Lord calls Abraham a “prophet” (v. 7). This is the first time this word is used in the Bible.
God doesn’t excuse Abraham’s actions by saying that he’s a prophet. But he lets Abimelech know that Abraham, as a prophet, has special access to God’s mouth and ears. He should therefore ask Abraham to pray for him so that he’ll live.
Abraham prays and God intervenes and heals Abimelech and his household (vv. 17-18). God is again blessing the nations through Abraham.
It’s ironic that Abraham prays and the wombs of these Philistine women are opened, while his own wife has remained barren for decades. The personal name for God, Yahweh, is used in verse 18, letting us know that he’s the one who opens and closes wombs (v. 21:1). The Lord sovereignly decides who and when people have children.
Abraham’s sin didn’t disqualify him from serving the Lord or blessing others. He was still able to intercede effectively on Abimelech’s behalf. Despite his failure, his standing as God’s covenant representative is confirmed. God will bless a cursed world through this sinful man.
God Rescues Abraham
A better subtitle for this chapter in our ESV Bibles would be, “God Rescues Abraham.” God is the one who sends the dream to Abimelech to let him know what’s happening.
The point of this story is that Abraham isn’t some sterling, spiritual superstar that God wanted on his team. Abimelech is the righteous man in this story. Abraham is just another guy who struggles with self-absorption and sin. He’s just like everyone else, but the Lord mercifully calls him to himself and uses him to bless the world.
This story shows us that God’s purposes will come to pass by God’s sovereign grace, not by our righteousness. Nothing can thwart God from fulfilling his purposes, even our sin.
We will always regret our sin, but we’re encouraged by this text to remember that walking with God always includes stumbling in sin. There’s only One person who walked with God without sin. Only by trusting in the righteousness of Christ will we be counted righteous.
[1]John Steinbeck, East of Eden (New York: Penguin Books, 1992), 570.
[2]Daniel I. Block, Covenant: The Framework of God’s Grand Plan of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), 95.
[3]John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Genesis, Volume 1: 1:1-25:18 (Leyland, England: EP Books, 2015), 370-1.
[4]John Piper, Providence (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 652, italics his.