Joel M Bradshaw

1From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3But 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.” 4Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5Did 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.” 6Then 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. 7Now 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.”–Genesis 20, with emphasis

You can’t read these chapters and be impressed with Abraham. He consistently made it his practice to lie about his wife and made her part of the scam. Abe had great moments of trusting God and then boneheaded ones like these. Scripture is relatable for that previous sentence also describes most of us. I know it does me. I just wanted to offer a few thoughts on this pivotal dream moment.

1. RESPECT. God met him in a dream and got immediate results. You wonder if God had sent a prophet to Abimelech if the king would have even responded. But in the dream, the king immediately respected God and took him at his word. You hear stories about Jesus meeting with non-Christians in their dreams and life changing decisions resulting.
2. GOD’S KNOWLEDGE. Abimelech didn’t need to defend himself before God. God knew all that happened. Abraham’s God showed himself to have knowledge of the situation. This would have stood out to the king who lived in a society that divined information using animal intestines and reading them like some do tea leaves. God knew Abimelech’s heart was innocent in this matter. He knows our hearts, too.
3. GOD’S POWER. God kept Abimelech from sinning. From a covenant standpoint, Isaac can only be seen as Abraham’s. If Sarah got a night with the king–even forced–Isaac’s father might be tainted in the eyes of others. This is a divinely sovereign flex. Abimelech had his ‘free will’ overruled by God. This is the type of God he was dealing with. God made a choice and still was holding Abimelech accountable for is further choices. An interesting almost Romans 9 moment in the sovereignty/free will discussion.–JMB