Genesis 20:1-7 – God values integrity

Earlier, when Abraham was in Egypt, he was fearful for his life so he deceptively said that Sarah was his sister without disclosing that she was also his wife. That almost got the pharaoh into trouble with the Lord for trying to acquire her for his harem. Abraham apparently again did the same thing when he came to Gerar. He should have learnt the lesson from his past experience, but he obviously had forgotten it totally. For this incidence happened 25 years after that one in Egypt. How could Abraham do this again when His faith in God must have grown? He had experienced the Lord’s deliverance on so many occasions since that episode in Egypt, so why did he do it again? We do not have the answer, except that the human side of him must have gotten a better of him. With so many interactions with people who did not have God, Abraham probably developed a distrust for people. Abraham thought that Abimelech had no fear for God. We read this in verse 11. He said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.” So he again chose self-preservation and safety at the expense of Sarah. So he said Sarah was his sister. We surmise that Sarah must still be very beautiful despite her age. It could also be that in those days, king would acquire more women for their harem for political reason. And Abimelech was no exception.

On God’s part we see His grace at work to protect Abraham, His prophet. His flaw was obvious. He did not consider the safety of his wife. Momentarily, he forgot that God had protected him 25 years ago in Egypt in a similar situation. How short our memory of God’s gracious dealing could be. We also see God protecting Abimelech, the king. Besides his fear for God, he was also a man of integrity. He would act conscionably. God would not allow him to commit a wrong knowing that he was a man of integrity. So God stopped him before he committed a wrong to Sarah. God preserved Sarah because of the plan He had for Abraham and Isaac. At this point Sarah had not conceived Isaac yet. Just imagine if Abimelech had intimacy with Sarah that night, His plan for Isaac the miraculous son would be greatly hampered. God was bent on keeping His part of the covenant though man might fail Him. How faithful is our God!  He will never allow us to ruin His plan. Let us be sensitive to God in His dealing with us. He values integrity so we must be people of integrity, and act like one.