Verses 1-2 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
The name “Kadesh” means “holy” and was a city located in the south of what became Judah. Once again Abraham tells a half truth to the king of Gerar and Sarah is again taken. One can only imagine that Sarah was extremely beautiful because she was an older woman and yet still desirable to other men. The name “Gerar” means “a lodging place” and it was a Philistine town.
Verses 3-5 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
God had made a covenant with Abraham and He was going to protect Abraham and Sarah from harm. It is interesting to read that Abimelech knew who the LORD was and that he was comfortable enough with the LORD’s presence to present his case and claim his innocence. It is often thought that the LORD only communicated with His “chosen people”, but verses like the ones above show that He communicated with other kings and nations as well as with the descendants of Abraham, the Hebrew people.
Verses 6-7 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
The Hebrew word translated as “prophet” is “nabiy”, pronounced as naw bee. This is the first reference to a prophet in the Scripture. Abraham was called a prophet by God, and as such, he was to be a spokesman or speaker for God. Abraham was the first of many prophets of the LORD.
God, who knows everything because He is omniscient, agreed with Abimelech that he was indeed innocent, but only because He, God, had stopped him from touching Sarah in a physical manner. Abimelech had lusted after Sarah and would have made her one of his women if the LORD had not intervened. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus states, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Since Jesus is God in the flesh, He views adultery or sexual sin as occurring in the mind before being acted upon. So Abimelech believed himself to be innocent, but in the LORD’s view base on the verse above, Abimelech was guilty. Since there was no law at this time, Abimelech was innocent because no law had been broken.
Application: Why did the LORD say, “I also withheld thee from sinning against me”? Wouldn’t it seem that Abimelech was sinning against Sarah and Abraham or against any wives he may have had? Believers should remember that how mankind views an issue is not necessarily how God views it. Sin is rebellion against God and so Abimelech would have been sinning against the LORD had he been able to go through with his plan to have Sarah in an intimate way. Fallout from sin effects people, but the sin act is always against the God of Heaven. Think about this. Do your angry words hurt God as well as the person or persons they were directed to? Do you hurt God when lies are told or you fail to keep promises made or fail to read His Word and pray?
Verses 8-10 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
Abimelech was a king and therefore used to dealing with other people. He was not shy in confronting Abraham with his very poor behavior dwelling as a guest in his city. Notice that Abimelech acknowledges that a great sin has occurred. Abimelech, to his credit, wanted to be obedient to the LORD.
Verses 11-13 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. 12 And yet indeed she is 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 unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
Abraham admitted that it was the fear of being killed that motivated him to not be truthful. Then he tried to justify his actions by explaining that he and Sarah were indeed half brother and sister. Abraham also admitted that he prejudged Abimelech and his people as not knowing or fearing God.
Application: It is easy for the believer to judge people based on their outward appearance or age or education or socioeconomic position rather than on facts. No one can know a person’s heart unless time is spent getting to know the person and discovering what he/she thinks or values in life. The believer must never be like Abraham and assume someone does not know or fear the LORD without evidence of this being so.
Verses 14-16 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
Abimelech was truly a gracious and merciful man towards Abraham and Sarah and he not only restored Sarah to her husband, but he gave them gifts of money, cattle and servants just to be sure that the wrong was righted thoroughly. Then he gave them free run of his land to settle where they wanted.
This writer has no clue as to what Abimelech meant when he spoke to Sarah regarding Abraham being a covering of the eyes. Based on the rest of the sentence, it would seem that Abimelech was rebuking her for her part in the deception. Not really sure.
Verses 17-18 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. 18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
As a prophet, Abraham called on God to remove His judgement of barrenness from Abimelech and his people, and God listened to Abraham.
Application: As believers, we can call on the LORD to help childless couples or to help with any other problem that needs His intervention. As He did with Abraham, God listens to His people when they pray.