(5/13/15) And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

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Meagan Sherman
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1 Genesis 20:1-21:34 (5/13/15) Genesis 20:1 (NKJV) 1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham no longer wanted to live in the hill country looking down on the devastation of the cities that God had destroyed so he pulled up stakes and moved to the South. The south country is the, "Negev Desert," which is down toward Egypt. After staying there for a while he moved to the royal city of Gerar which was located near the border of Egypt just south of Kadesh which was on the border of the Promised Land. Archeologists have uncovered Gerar and it seems to have been a prosperous merchandising city. It could be that Abraham went down there to do a little trading and merchandising of his own being a wealthy man. A powerful king lived in Gerar whose name was Abimelech. 1

2 Genesis 20:2 (NKJV) 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. This is amazing because twenty-five years earlier Abraham did the very same thing as recorded in chapter 12:1-17. (Explain) Now Abimelech sees the beauty of Sarah and thinking she s only Abraham s sister takes her and puts her into his harem. Apparently Sarah doesn t tell Abimelech the truth to protect Abraham her husband and allows herself to be placed into his harem. Now Abimelech no doubt had many young beautiful women in his harem many in their early twenties. At this point Sarah is 90 years old and for Abimelech to want her for his harem I have to believe that God had rejuvenated her in preparation for Him causing her to conceive Isaac. Who knows if Sarah at 90 now looks like she did at forty drop dead gorgeous! She lives another 37 years and when she dies Abraham marries again at 140 and father s six more sons and who knows how many daughters demonstrating how God turned the clock back on both of them! Genesis 20:3-5 (NKJV) 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." 2

3 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." If you will notice Abimelech addresses God as Lord and not LORD (the covenant name of God). In other words he didn t have a personal relationship with God as did Abraham but he still believed that Abraham s God, Whoever He was, was a very powerful God a God that judges sin. No doubt he had heard it was the God of Abraham that had judged Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain for their wickedness and pleads for mercy based on the fact he didn t know Sarah was Abraham s wife when he took her into his harem. Genesis 20:6-7 (NKJV) 6 And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours." What s interesting to me about this whole thing is that God seems to side with Abraham a lying, compromising prophet against a man that really hasn t done anything wrong. It wasn t that God condoned the deception of Abraham (and Sarah) it was just that He chose not to focus on it because God had declared him righteous because of his faith (we see this clearly when he is mentioned in Hebrews 11). So God is harder on this pagan king than He is on His people but especially because He didn t want Abimelech to have physical relations with Sarah causing people to think that Isaac was Abimelech s son and not Abraham s the son of promise. 3

4 Genesis 20:8-10 (NKJV) 8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended [sinned against] you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done." 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?" This is the second time that Abraham has to be rebuked by an unbelieving king for his lack of integrity the first time it was Pharaoh in chapter 12. Here after Abimelech rebukes Abraham for telling him a lie he says to him "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?" Or in other words, What were you thinking when you did this? Genesis 20:11-13 (NKJV) 11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother." ' " So Abraham is saying that twenty-five years ago when God told me to leave my homeland and begin my pilgrimage I really didn t believe He would protect me from those that would want to kill me to take my wife because she was so beautiful. So I asked her to tell everyone she was my sister which is only half a lie because she is my half-sister. First of all a half-truth is still a full lie and demonstrated that Abraham didn t trust God to protect him in the journey He had called him to not back then and still not twenty-five years later. 4

5 Donald Grey Barnhouse comments, Abraham should have said: Forgive me, Abimelech, for dishonoring both you and my God. My selfish cowardice overwhelmed me, and I denied my God by fearing that He who called me could not take care of me. He is not as your gods of wood and stone. He is the God of glory. He is the living God, the Creator, the most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. He told me He would be my shield and my exceeding great reward, and supplier of all my needs In sinning against Him, I sinned against you. Forgive me, Abimelech. But there s an important lesson we need to learn here (beside it s wrong to take matters into our own hands and resort to deception to protect ourselves) and that is we can set ourselves up to fail in our walk. We do that when we plan in advance to use deception or purpose to take things into our own hands instead of trusting God when things get difficult or scary. Now just as it s possible to program ourselves for failure it s also possible to program ourselves for victory in advance by purposing to trust God when adversity comes our way to trust in His character, His promises, His power and faithfulness. I guess the only good thing about failing in our walk with God is that it reveals our weaknesses and allows us to depend more on God for His strength in the future And that s why Paul said, When I m weak, then I m strong. Genesis 20:14-15 (NKJV) 14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you." It s amazing that both times Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister instead of his wife he gets gifts and is made richer first by Pharaoh and now by Abimelech. 5

6 However Abimelech didn t give Abraham gifts on his account he gave him gifts because he feared the God of Abraham and wanted to get on His good side by blessing him so that as Abraham s God blessed him maybe some of the blessings would spill over onto Abimelech also. I think in some ways this could be applied to something Paul spoke about in 1Cor.7 when he talked about how an unbelieving spouse is blessed because they re married to a Christian (finish) Genesis 20:16 (NKJV) 16 Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked. The expression this vindicates you is literally it is a covering of the eyes. In other words what Abimelech is saying to Sarah is, I ve given your brother enough money go buy a veil to cover your eyes and make yourself a proper wife. Today he would have said, Tell your husband to take some of the money I ve given him and buy you a wedding ring so people know you re married in this way Sarah was rebuked. Genesis 20:17-18 (NKJV) 17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. Apparently Abraham and Sarah had been in Gerar long enough for Abimelech to realize something was wrong, some god had been offended, because the women in his household were no longer getting pregnant. 6

7 It just tells us that when we sin the consequences often affect innocent people around us as when a family is destroyed by marital infidelity or as when a business owner embezzles money from the company and people lose their jobs because the money is not there to pay them etc. Chapter 21 Genesis 21:1-2 (NKJV) 1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV) 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: God is never late He is always right on time when it comes to His purposes in our lives. Solomon also wrote in Ecclesiastes 3 Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 (NKJV) 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; Well the years of mourning and weeping over Sarah s barrenness were over and the time of laughter and dancing had come! 7

8 Genesis 21:3-7 (NKJV) 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him--whom Sarah bore to him- -Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me." 7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age." Sarah is able to nurse Isaac at 90! Again, I believe God rejuvenated Abraham and Sarah s bodies but kept their minds the same. I ve often thought would I like to be 25 again only if I could still know all that I know now. Genesis 21:8 (NKJV) 8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. This would have been when Isaac was around three years old. Genesis 21:9 (NKJV) 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 now he s 103 which means that Ishmael was about 16 or 17 years old. For all of those years he has been the center of his father s attention (I don t think he and Sarah were ever that close). 8

9 But now Isaac is the center of everyone s attention and as a teenager Ishmael is having a hard time with that and so at this party for Isaac s weaning Ishmael starts making fun of him. Sarah sees him mocking her son and goes ballistic Genesis 21:10 (NKJV) 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac." Paul the apostle picked up on this and used it to teach an important spiritual lesson Galatians 4:21-31 (NKJV) 21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written: "Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband." 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. It may seem to us a trivial offense that Ishmael should mock Isaac, but Scripture records it, and Paul sees in it a principle that still abides the enmity between the flesh and the Spirit. When Sarah observed Ishmael mocking Isaac, she asked Abraham to expel the slave woman and her son lest Ishmael become a joint heir with Isaac. And God granted Sarah s request. 9

10 This reminded the readers that those born under the Law had no inheritance in the family of God with those who were children of promise by faith. It also charged the Galatians to excommunicate the Judaizes and those who accepted their false doctrines. A fundamental incompatibility remains between Law and grace, between a religion based on works and a religion based on faith. Isaac means laughter only when we are children by promise can we have joy (laughter). The law produces no joy only condemnation, worry, fear and misery. Genesis 21:11-12 (NKJV) 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Even though Sarah is operating out of vindictiveness and cruelty God allows it because He is teaching that those that law and grace cannot coexist in the family of God together. Genesis 21:13 (NKJV) 13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed." As we have said the Arab people are descendants of Ishmael. 10

11 Genesis 21:14 (NKJV) 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. He could have sent them away with servants to protect them and with enough supplies to last them for 6 months but instead Abraham simply sent them away with bread and water. Was this what Sarah told him to do or did God tell him to send them away with only bread and water because He would take care of them we don t know. Genesis 21:15-16 (NKJV) 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. We can t help but feel for Hagar she was at the end of her ropes the situation couldn t have been any more desperate. Remember she didn t suggest that Abraham and her have a child together that was Sarah s plan and now it seems she s being punished for obeying her masters and for doing right by them. Let me just say that people can be fickle, you can do right by them but they can still turn on you and treat you like you ve done wrong. I just know that even God s people can treat other Christians with vindictiveness and cruelty but God will take care of us. 11

12 Genesis 21:17-18 (NKJV) 17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation." This was an angel of God not the Angel of the LORD. (Explain) Ishmael s name means God hears and the Lord heard Ishmael s prayer. I believe that God especially hears the prayers of children Genesis 21:19 (NKJV) 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. It s interesting that it doesn t say God created a well of water but that He opened her eyes to see a well that had always been there. This is exactly what He did for us while we were in the wilderness of the old life we were blind to the well of Life (Jesus) until we cried out to Him and He opened our eyes to the Fountain of Living Water that had always been there but we couldn t see Him. Genesis 21:20-24 (NKJV) 20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt." 24 And Abraham said, "I will swear." 12

13 Henry Morris, Abimelech, well aware of God s blessing on Abraham, wished to enter into a nonaggression pact with him. Taking his army chief of staff with him, he reminded Abraham that he had dealt kindly with him and had allowed him to dwell in his land. In return, he wanted Abraham to promise that he would not try to injure him or his people. There is a subtle rebuke here Abimelech pressed for a formal covenant so that Abraham would not deal falsely with him (21:23). All Abimelech knew of this man was that (a) God blessed him (v. 22) and (b) he was deceptive (v. 23) this sad contradiction called for a binding contract. Abraham had compromised his witness with Abimelech (chap. 20) and so Abimelech didn t feel he could take Abraham at his word alone but had to enter into a legal covenant with him to get him to keep his word. Today believers should speak the truth without using oaths (Matt. 5:37; James 5:12). Genesis 21:25-34 (NKJV) 25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today." 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?" 30 And he said, "You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well." 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba [ Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven ], because the two of them swore an oath there. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days. 13

14 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree something like an evergreen near the well, and there called on the name of Jehovah, El-Olam, meaning Jehovah the Everlasting God. Though he had made a covenant with an earthly king a covenant of peace, he recognized that God Himself had made an everlasting covenant with him, to give him and his seed all this land for ever. He would eventually come back to Beersheba to dwell (Genesis 22:19); but for the present he went back to the place where he had been living in the land of the Philistines, where he continued to live for the next 30 years until Isaac was a grown man. 14

2/20/05. Genesis 20-21

2/20/05. Genesis 20-21 1 2 2/20/05 Genesis 20-21 It has been twenty-five years since God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. He has had many experiences that have revealed his trust in God and those of not having faith