Abraham grew through failure ... but not in the way we commonly think. Germany after her disastrous engagement in two world wars grew through through her failure, producing an economic miracle, and yet the German people by and large did not grow in the knowledge of God If anything, Germany continues to move away from her Reformation heritage.
We can grow through our failures, but not necessarily in a God-ward direction. Many people learn from their mistakes, because pain can be a great teacher. But Abraham grew through his failures, and by the pure grace of God he grew, step by step in godliness.
We shall see in a future sermon from Genesis 22 , that Abraham's faith and confidence in God will have grown significantly by the time that Isaac has been born.
We have previously seen that Abraham’s spiritual walk
with God (Chapters 12 -25) is a series of ups and downs. Our walk with God – our experience of
sanctification is like climbing one of our famous Namibian sand dunes … three
steps forward, one step back. But at least there is progress, and that is what
we see essentially in Abraham’s life. Nothing in the Genesis narrative gives us the
indication that Abraham was a perfect man in himself. What we do see however is
a wonderful example of a man chosen and loved by God and therefore kept by the grace of God, and by this grace he
was always advancing with God. Essentially, Abraham grew through his failures, and
not because he was a good learner, but because God was so very gracious to him.
It is significant to note that God seldom intervened when His chosen people, and particularly his
leaders were about to make mistakes. He allowed them
to fail, but because of His love for
them He was always ready to redeem them, and so they did grow and grace and faith. As already mentioned, the radical faith of Abraham in the 22nd Chapter of Genesis shall humble us greatly. And so Abraham’s understanding of God was not merely a
theoretical thing. He did not learn God from books. He learned God from
experience. Abraham learned the painful
way that shortcut’s did not ultimately make things
easier for him. In the struggles with
childlessness, the birth of Ishmael did not bring about a solution. In fact the
shortcut had made things more difficult. Obedience does not come naturally to fallen
people. We will try anything before we trust God and His Word. And it does us
no good. If it were not for the great grace of God, none of us would stand!
So,
then let us trace the developments as they unfold in this chapter:
(i)
Vv.1-2 : Abraham's deception of
Abimelech
We are not told why Abraham moved away from Mamre, but in all
likelihood the memories associated with God's judgment against Sodom had
something to do with it. Should he have moved away, from Mamre near Hebron, in
the Promised Land where he had built an altar to the LORD (13:18) in the first place?
All we know is that by moving away he moves to renewed
trouble, renewed temptations, when he moves away from his spiritual haven
into the territory of Abimelech[1],
whose kingdom is located on the southern boundaries of Israel, towards the
desert, the Negev. There is a spiritual lesson here for all of us. One of our
great temptations in this life is to give way to our fear and insecurity, and
with it the associated thought that the grass is greener on the other
side. We tend to move from our fruitful
and familiar place far too soon when we
sense discouragement, and we get
ourselves into sticky situations. The safest and best place is close to the altar of God - close to the people of God, close to the church. Moving into pagan territory is associated with many temptations , as we see here
In Chapter 20 we
find a repetition of a spiritual problem
found in Chapter 12:10-20.
Abraham and Sarah were on the move, and as they
moved through different kingdoms
Abraham feared for his own life, (“They
will kill me” - 12:12; 20:11), and that for
a very strange and unusual reason. He feared for his life on account of his
wife Sarah, who must have been a particularly attractive woman, even in her
older years. In those years of the
patriarchs, people lived much longer than they do today. The genetic material
was purer, because the effects of the fall had not yet taken its full
toll. Abraham feared for his own life on
account of beautiful Sarah. He failed to
trust God for His protection against the covetous heart of Pharaoh with respect
to Sarah in Chapter 12. And so it is again here with Abimelech
of Gerar
in Chapter 20 who took Sarah into his Harem. The problem was that Abraham
told both men a lie. He told them that
she was his sister , which was true,
but it was half true, and a half truth is also a lie. He really struggled to trust God in these
situations.
And it was a terrible thing to do to Sarah at this time – the year before the promised child was to be
born to them. But you see, there is much more going on here
than meets the eye. The world , the flesh and the devil
conspire to keep the Messianic line going , and
in this Abraham own urge towards self –preservation, is rooted
in a much more idolatrous problem than that : GOD CAN’T BE TRUSTED IN MY SITUATION. I HAVE TO SEE MYSELF THROUGH THIS. I AM IN CHARGE! This is
the lie by which Satan originally tempted Eve.
This really begs for further thought. Abraham, highly esteemed in the 11th
chapter of Hebrews, the so called Faith Chapter, fails to trust in God. How then can God continue to love this man?
The answer is important! God had
declared Abraham righteous. He had
sovereignly chosen Abraham. God had justified Abraham, but he had not yet been
delivered from his body of sin, and from his sinful environment, and from the
influences of Satan. And so Abraham
provides Paul the perfect example of a sinner saved by grace and not by
Abraham's perfect righteousness. We know he wasn’t! Right now he is not trusting God. Right now
he is lying. Right now he is putting his wife into a very difficult spot. And
therefore there was another basis that commended Abraham to God. Thank God for His free Grace!
(ii)
Vv.3-7: God comes to Abimelech in a dream and reveals to
him what has happened and what he must do.
God’s grace becomes immediately visible as God speaks to
Abimelech in a dream. God will not allow
His promises to and through Abraham and Sarah to be thwarted.
They are crucial instruments in the fulfillment of the Messianic line. And so
the grace of God intervenes, when all seems lost.
Abimelech of course has no clue that Sarah was not Abraham’s
sister but his wife and he claims innocence in the matter. But ignorance has never been an excuse in the
eyes of God and the law. Abimelech is being called to account for coveting the
wife of another man, and God is threatening to kill him. We find here an ironic contrast between the
relatively righteous behaviour of a pagan, Abimelech, and of Abraham, a so called friend
of God. And ultimately, the difference between the two men is not their relative
righteousness, but the grace of God, and the position and promises that
God has assigned to Abraham. The glory of God is at stake here. And so Abraham is what he is , by the grace of God and for the glory of God . There is nothing meritorious in Abraham himself.
And s o God says to Abimelech here, that Abraham is
a prophet, a spokesman , a mouthpiece of God. This is first
time that the word prophet
is used in the scriptures. Abraham is called the prophet of the Lord, not so much because he has the powers to foretell the future, but because Abraham has a
special relationship with God, and this is highlighted in his intercession at
the end of the chapter.
(iii)
Vv. 4-13: Abimelech confronts Abraham.
Abraham's sinful heart is exposed by Abimelech. Abraham makes
three pathetic excuses to Abimelech.
· v.11 There is no fear of God in this place –
which is not true. God has just caused Abimelech to be very afraid .
· v.12 Sarah
is technically my sister. Yes, that
is true – but she is also his covenant wife.
· v. 13. “When
God caused me to wander from my father’s house I said to her , “This
kindness you must do to me: at every place to which we come , say of me , he is
my brother.” He says God
has caused me to wander like this, and “Sarah
and I had this prior arrangement” ! He’s
blame-shifting and he is not taking responsibility for his cowardice !
(iv)
Vv. 14-18 : Abraham intercedes for
Abimelech.
God in His grace uses Abraham for His glory and in spite of himself.
Abimelech’s (unknowing) sin is exposed
in turn, and God is gracious to forgive this pagan king who has sinned in ignorance. Abraham is appointed by
God to pray for Abimelech and for his people who have been afflicted by God for
this sin, and as a result of his command and Abraham's prayer to the God who has called him and commanded him , God heals Abimelech and his people.
Isn't that an example of God in His grace using us for His
glory in spite of ourselves, in spite of our sin? And what is amazing is that God never mentions
Abraham’s unfaithfulness again – not in those texts and expositions concerning Abraham in Romans 4, not in Galatians 3 &4, and
not in Hebrews 11. In fact in Hebrews 11 Abraham is highly commended for having
an extraordinary faith. Never does God refer
to his past sin again. Again we become
aware of God’s amazing grace in Christ, and in the end we do see that Abraham
grew through failure, not because of his own efforts, but because of the amazing grace
of God.
Never stop magnifying the grace of God, and never cease to wonder that
God loves you despite your many sins and trespasses. God loves you in the Christ in whom you
have placed your faith and hope. God loves you because of Jesus who has kept the law for you, and who has forgiven you all yours sins and iniquities. And the reason why you can grow in grace at all is because God is at work in you even in your failures.
And
Jesus, because of His work on the cross is so very worthy of our praise! And with that thought we now come to the Communion Table spread for us. Amen!
[1] lit.
"father" and "king," and may be interpreted in a variety of
ways, including "Father-King", "My father is king," or
"Father of a king. In the
Pentateuch, it is used as a title for kings in the land of Canaan. Abimelech was probably a dynastic title. We see that name being applied to another king of
Gerar in Genesis 26 : 8 in the time of Isaac. It is also applied to Achish, the king of
Gath, in I Samuel 21: 10 cf. Psalm 34.
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