GENESIS 20

GENESIS 20:1-3 "And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thow art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. (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. (10-12) And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 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. 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."

I've often thought how great it would be if my children could learn from MY mistakes. How much easier their lives would be! Many times I've tried to tell them what happened to me when I did something and advise them against going down the same path. Almost every time they went on and made their own mistakes anyway. As I was thinking about this chapter this week I realized that many of us cannot even learn from our OWN mistakes, let alone the mistakes of others! Abraham had been at this same crossroad once before. In chapter 12 we read the same sad story. He went to Egypt and told everyone that Sarah was his sister because she was beautiful and he was afraid he would be killed over her. I wonder about Sarah's age here. Seems her beauty did not fade with age.

Even though Abraham knew that God had promised him a son by Sarah, he was willing to let another man take her to save his own life. This would seem to be the act of a coward, yet we saw Abraham fearlessly pursue Lot's abductors earlier, fighting against overwhelming odds to save his nephew. So we know he was not cowardly. Could it be that he reasoned that God had rescued him once before and He would surely do it again? We must not tempt God! We should never knowingly get ourselves in a place such as this thinking that God will save us from ourselves. Who can know the mind of God? He works when is pleases Him, not when we EXPECT Him to. He might surprise us sometime and leave us in our sorry situation just to teach us a lesson. Oh how weary He must become of our foolishness sometimes!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1) Why do you think Abraham told the same story about Sarah this time? Do you think he didn't believe God would protect him or that he assumed God would save her if she was taken?

2) Have you ever been in a bad situation such as this more than once? Did God intervene? Explain.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE QUESTIONS. PLEASE CLICK ON THE MAIL BUTTON BELOW TO SEND CORRESPONDENCE OR CLICK ON THE "SIGN GUESTBOOK" BUTTON. YOU MAY ALSO CHOOSE TO LEAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT ON THE MESSAGE BOARD (see link below).

Take the test!

Now you can take a test after each 5 chapters.
Click here to go to Exam 4

[BIBLE STUDY bar]

THANK YOU FOR VISITING
MEME'S BIBLE STUDY.

BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS PAGE
SO YOU CAN FIND YOUR WAY BACK.

LOVE, MEME