†. Gen 20:4b . . He said: O Lord, will You slay people even though
innocent?
Right about now ol' Ab is scared to death; so he mounts a feverish defense
to save his hide. This man is highly motivated, and by no means ignorant of
Abraham's god. He knows exactly who He is; and no doubt informed of
Sodom's recent fate.
†. Gen 20:5 . . He himself said to me "She is my sister" and she also
said "He is my brother." When I did this, my heart was blameless
and my hands were clean.
This incident is an excellent example for juxtaposing humanity's sense of
right and wrong with God's.
†. Gen 3:22 . . And the Lord God said: Behold, the man is become as one of
us, knowing good and evil
Adam became "as" one of us. In other words; Adam became his own God in
matters of right and wrong; and every man since then has been his own God
in matters of right and wrong; for example:
†. Jgs 17:6 . . In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did
that which was right in his own eyes.
†. Isa 53:6 . . All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way
Ever wonder why the nine-man panel of the US Supreme Court is rarely
unanimous? It's because each one is his own God; and they're typically not
appointed for their wisdom; but for their politics: which is no doubt why they
don't render absolutes; but instead render opinions. Wearing those robes
doesn't make the justices eo ipso right; no, it only makes them the final say;
at least until they're replaced by new justices who then may, if they wish,
overturn the opinions of previous justices.
I can just about guarantee you that Abimelech is developing a very strong
dislike for the Abrahams right about now. He knew of Abraham's prosperity
and about his skill in war. But what he hadn't known till now was that
Abraham could be a bit dishonest at times. You can bet that really ticked
Abimelech off. He just never expected a man like Abraham to pull a stunt
like that. And the wife was in on it too! They were like grifters setting up a
mark for a sting. That had to agitate the old boy just a bit; don't you think?
†. Gen 20:6 . . And God said to him in the dream: I knew that you did
this with a blameless heart, and so I kept you from sinning against
Me. That was why I did not let you touch her.
If Abimelech had touched Sarah, God would have taken it very personal.
Those kinds of sins are the very worst because it's one thing to appear in
court for stealing a car, but it's quite another to appear for stealing the
judge's car. In other words: a sin against God is a trespass rather than just
an ordinary act of lawlessness and/or conduct unbecoming.
†. Gen 20:7a . .Therefore, restore the man's wife-- since he is a
prophet, he will intercede for you --to save your life. If you fail to
restore her, know that you shall die, you and all that are yours.
This is the Bible's very first appearance of a prophet; which in Hebrew is
nabiy' (naw-bee') and simply means an inspired man. But Abraham wasn't
the first of God's inspired men. The earliest was Abel. (Luke 11:50-51)
There's no record of Abraham ever foretelling future events like Isaiah and
Habakkuk. So then, just because someone is inspired doesn't necessarily
mean they're some sort of prognosticator. Divine inspiration is a very
mysterious thing. People can be inspired and not even know it because
God's influence is paranormal, and impossible to detect with the five natural
senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Every Christian is supposed
to be inspired (1Cor 2:11-15, 1Cor 12:7, 1John 2:26-27) which makes an
inspired Bible teacher's job a whole lot easier.
This is also the very first place in the whole Bible where the word "intercede"
appears. Webster's defines intercede as: to intervene between parties with a
view to reconciling their differences; viz: mediate.
When you stop to think about it; mediation between God and Man by a
human being is quite remarkable. It implies that the human being who
mediates has to first be at peace with God themselves or they would be in
need of a mediator before they could mediate for someone else (cf. Gal 6:1).
I think it goes without saying, that mediators, then, have to be righteous
first before they can qualify as candidates for the activity. This section in
Genesis says a lot about Abraham's standing before God in spite of his bad
habit of lying about Sarah.
Who mediated for Abraham in those days? There's but one textual
possibility: Mr. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God back in chapter
14.
But I don't think Abimelech was much impressed with Abraham's inspiration.
The man was now a proven liar; and lost whatever credibility he might have
once had in Gerar. However, do you think Abimelech needed to be told
twice? No way. He got on it lickety split at first light. But not because he
feared Abraham. No, because he feared Abraham's god. Maybe Abraham's
word was no good; but his god's word certainly was and Abimelech really
took it to heart.
†. Gen 20:8a . . Early next morning, Abimelech called his servants
and told them all that had happened;
Under normal circumstances Ab probably wouldn't have bothered to tell
them what was going on. But since they were all in the same boat as he,
and all inflicted with the same reproductive malady, I think he felt they
deserved an explanation. I think he also wanted to set their minds at ease
about their condition so they would know it wasn't permanent if only they
sent Sarah back to her husband; a move which they would certainly question
if he didn't give them a reason why.
†. Gen 20:8b . . and the men were greatly frightened.
They had good reason to be frightened. God gave them a token that He
meant business by tampering with their ability to breed. So they knew
something serious was afoot and that their king's nightmares weren't just
bad dreams brought on by cheap Russian vodka tainted with fall-out from
Chernobyl.
Cont.
/
innocent?
Right about now ol' Ab is scared to death; so he mounts a feverish defense
to save his hide. This man is highly motivated, and by no means ignorant of
Abraham's god. He knows exactly who He is; and no doubt informed of
Sodom's recent fate.
†. Gen 20:5 . . He himself said to me "She is my sister" and she also
said "He is my brother." When I did this, my heart was blameless
and my hands were clean.
This incident is an excellent example for juxtaposing humanity's sense of
right and wrong with God's.
†. Gen 3:22 . . And the Lord God said: Behold, the man is become as one of
us, knowing good and evil
Adam became "as" one of us. In other words; Adam became his own God in
matters of right and wrong; and every man since then has been his own God
in matters of right and wrong; for example:
†. Jgs 17:6 . . In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did
that which was right in his own eyes.
†. Isa 53:6 . . All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way
Ever wonder why the nine-man panel of the US Supreme Court is rarely
unanimous? It's because each one is his own God; and they're typically not
appointed for their wisdom; but for their politics: which is no doubt why they
don't render absolutes; but instead render opinions. Wearing those robes
doesn't make the justices eo ipso right; no, it only makes them the final say;
at least until they're replaced by new justices who then may, if they wish,
overturn the opinions of previous justices.
I can just about guarantee you that Abimelech is developing a very strong
dislike for the Abrahams right about now. He knew of Abraham's prosperity
and about his skill in war. But what he hadn't known till now was that
Abraham could be a bit dishonest at times. You can bet that really ticked
Abimelech off. He just never expected a man like Abraham to pull a stunt
like that. And the wife was in on it too! They were like grifters setting up a
mark for a sting. That had to agitate the old boy just a bit; don't you think?
†. Gen 20:6 . . And God said to him in the dream: I knew that you did
this with a blameless heart, and so I kept you from sinning against
Me. That was why I did not let you touch her.
If Abimelech had touched Sarah, God would have taken it very personal.
Those kinds of sins are the very worst because it's one thing to appear in
court for stealing a car, but it's quite another to appear for stealing the
judge's car. In other words: a sin against God is a trespass rather than just
an ordinary act of lawlessness and/or conduct unbecoming.
†. Gen 20:7a . .Therefore, restore the man's wife-- since he is a
prophet, he will intercede for you --to save your life. If you fail to
restore her, know that you shall die, you and all that are yours.
This is the Bible's very first appearance of a prophet; which in Hebrew is
nabiy' (naw-bee') and simply means an inspired man. But Abraham wasn't
the first of God's inspired men. The earliest was Abel. (Luke 11:50-51)
There's no record of Abraham ever foretelling future events like Isaiah and
Habakkuk. So then, just because someone is inspired doesn't necessarily
mean they're some sort of prognosticator. Divine inspiration is a very
mysterious thing. People can be inspired and not even know it because
God's influence is paranormal, and impossible to detect with the five natural
senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Every Christian is supposed
to be inspired (1Cor 2:11-15, 1Cor 12:7, 1John 2:26-27) which makes an
inspired Bible teacher's job a whole lot easier.
This is also the very first place in the whole Bible where the word "intercede"
appears. Webster's defines intercede as: to intervene between parties with a
view to reconciling their differences; viz: mediate.
When you stop to think about it; mediation between God and Man by a
human being is quite remarkable. It implies that the human being who
mediates has to first be at peace with God themselves or they would be in
need of a mediator before they could mediate for someone else (cf. Gal 6:1).
I think it goes without saying, that mediators, then, have to be righteous
first before they can qualify as candidates for the activity. This section in
Genesis says a lot about Abraham's standing before God in spite of his bad
habit of lying about Sarah.
Who mediated for Abraham in those days? There's but one textual
possibility: Mr. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God back in chapter
14.
But I don't think Abimelech was much impressed with Abraham's inspiration.
The man was now a proven liar; and lost whatever credibility he might have
once had in Gerar. However, do you think Abimelech needed to be told
twice? No way. He got on it lickety split at first light. But not because he
feared Abraham. No, because he feared Abraham's god. Maybe Abraham's
word was no good; but his god's word certainly was and Abimelech really
took it to heart.
†. Gen 20:8a . . Early next morning, Abimelech called his servants
and told them all that had happened;
Under normal circumstances Ab probably wouldn't have bothered to tell
them what was going on. But since they were all in the same boat as he,
and all inflicted with the same reproductive malady, I think he felt they
deserved an explanation. I think he also wanted to set their minds at ease
about their condition so they would know it wasn't permanent if only they
sent Sarah back to her husband; a move which they would certainly question
if he didn't give them a reason why.
†. Gen 20:8b . . and the men were greatly frightened.
They had good reason to be frightened. God gave them a token that He
meant business by tampering with their ability to breed. So they knew
something serious was afoot and that their king's nightmares weren't just
bad dreams brought on by cheap Russian vodka tainted with fall-out from
Chernobyl.
Cont.
/
