GENESIS 20: Abraham Lies About Sarah Again & GOD rescues them AGAIN
THIS TIME IN ABRAHAM’S LIFE PERSONIFIES THE ADAGE… “THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE DESTINED TO REPEAT IT.”
BIBLICALLY SPEAKING… “THOSE WHO DO NOT REMEMBER THAT ALMIGHTY GOD DOES NOT CHANGE, ARE DESTINED TO WALK IN CIRCLES UNTIL THEY DO LEARN.”
GENESIS 2O ASKS YOU AND I THIS QUESTION…
WHO DO YOU SAY YOUR GOD IS?
WHO IS YOUR ALMIGHTY GOD…IT IS PRECIOUS AND PRICELESS…THAT THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER…JESUS CHRIST WILL ASK THE SAME THING OF HIS DISCIPLES…WHO DO THEY SAY I AM? BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?
EACH OF US NEEDS TO SIT DOWN AND PONDER THIS AND SEARCH OUR HEARTS AND MINDS…AND ANSWER THIS ONE QUESTION…ONCE WE DO…WE WILL KNOW WHERE WE NEED TO CHANGE…WHERE WE NEED TO GROW…AND WHERE WE NEED TO STRENGTHEN OUR WALK WITH JESUS CHRIST, AMEN.
TURN WITH ME NOW TO GENESIS 20...
Abraham’s lie, God’s protection.
Verses 1-2 tells Abraham lies in a similar manner as before.
“And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.”
After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham moved. Perhaps he did not want to live in the hills overlooking the destroyed region any longer, and be reminded of those people and the judgment visited upon them. But then WHO COULD BLAME HIM. I WOULD NOT WANT TO LOOK AT SCORCHED EARTH EITHER…BUT MOVING AWAY FROM THE REMINDER OF WHO OUR JESUS CHRIST IS…WILL PROVE DANGEROUS TO ABRAHAM.
OUT OF SIGHT…OUT OF MIND…SADLY PROVES TRUE EVEN FOR ABRAHAM…THE VISUAL REMINDER…THE SCORCHED EARTH ONCE REMOVED FROM HIS SIGHT AND THEN HIS MIND…LEADS ABRAHAM TO TRUST IN HIMSELF INSTEAD OF CONTINUING TO TRUST IN HIS FAITHFUL, POWERFUL ALMIGHTY GOD….
“She is my sister.” ABRAHAM WAS THE WEALTHIEST AND MOST GOD PROTECTED MAN ON THE PLANET…HIS PEOPLE KNEW IT, HIS ALLIES KNEW IT, AND HIS ENEMIES KNEW IT…TOO BAD ABRAHAM FORGOT IT…AGAIN!
THIS IS ALSO A REPEATED LESSON FOR YOU AND I TOO. THE BIBLE SAYS BE SLOW TO SPEAK, QUICK TO LISTEN. IF ABRAHAM HAD TAKEN A BREATH, REMEMBERED JUST WHO HIS GOD WAS AND WHAT HIS GOD COULD DO…HE WOULD NOT HAVE KNEE-JERK LIED…AGAIN.
ABRAHAM…WOULD HAVE PROBABLY BEEN MORE QUICK TO REMEMBER HIS GOD…IF HE HAD HAD THE SCORCHED EARTH PLAINS TO LOOK AT EACH DAY. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A VISUAL REMINDER OF JUST WHO AND WHAT HIS GOD WAS…AND REMIND HIM THAT ALMIGHTY GOD IS THE GOD WHO SEES EVERYTHING…AND HE WOULD HAVE NOT FEARED OR NEEDED TO LIE…BECAUSE HE WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED THAT HIS GOD WAS ABLE…IN ALL THINGS…AT ALL TIMES…HIS GOD WAS ABLE TO PROTECT, PROVIDE, HEAL, LEAD, GUIDE AND DIRECT.
BUT ONCE AGAIN THE FLESH, THE WORLD, AND THE DEVIL HIMSELF CAME CALLING…WHISPERING FEARS, WORRIES, AND DOUBTS IN ABRAHAM’S MIND…AND ABRAHAM REACTED TO WHAT HE SAW AND HEARD…INSTEAD OF WHAT HE KNEWWWWWWW ABOUT HIS GOD.
AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES…THE WORLDLY CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND HIM WERE VALID…IN THE FLESH.
WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT?
1. GOD WAS DOING, BEFORE HIS EYES, A MIRACLE WITH HIS WIFE SARAH…SHE WAS OUTWARDLY AND INWARDLY REJUVENATING. SHE WAS ALWAYS LOVELY, BUT NOW, SHE AT AGE 90, WAS BECOMING MORE YOUTHFUL…OUTSIDE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WITHIN HERSELF…AND EVERYONE SAW THE BLOOMING TRANSFORMATION.
2. ABRAHAM WAS the richest and most influential man of the region.
3. In that day, a harem was more of a political statement than a romantic statement. THEY CONSIDERED THE SIZE AND NUMBER OF A MAN OR RULERS HAREM, AS A TESTAMENT TO HIS POWER AND HIS WEALTH.
TODAY, AMBASSADORS MAKE CONCESSIONS, GIVE EXTRAVAGANT GIFTS, MAKE BACK ROOM DEALS USING THE “ONE THING” THAT PERSON WANTS OR DESIRES.
AND MEN DATE, AND AMASS BEAUTIES TO BE SEEN WITH…THEIR ARM CANDY…BECAUSE TO OTHER MEN, A MAN CAN BE UGLY AS MUD, MUCH LESS HANDSOME. BUT WHEN THEY ARE SEEN WITH A BEVY OF BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, AROUND THEM ALWAYS…IT SPEAKS TO THE MAN’S PROWESS, SUCCESS, AND POWER.
IT DOES NOT IMPRESS JESUS CHRIST…IT NEVER HAS, BUT NOW MAN, SATAN, AND THE WORLD AREEEEEEEEE IMPRESSED AND INTRIGUED BY IT.
SO INSTEAD OF TRUSTING AND BELIEVING ALMIGHTY GOD, WHOM HE HAD SPOKEN TO TIME AND TIME AGAIN, WATCHED HIM ASCEND BACK INTO HEAVEN…INSTEAD OF TRUSTING ALMIGHTY TO PROTECT HIM AND HIS SARAH…ABRAHAM LIES AGAIN…She is my sister.
This is the same lie Abraham told back in Genesis 12:10-13. He shows that it is all too easy, for EVEN THE HIGHLY FAVORED AND BLESSED BY JESUS CHRIST to slip back into sinful habits. Abraham stumbles in a place he stumbled before. Instead of trusting God to keep his family together AS GOD HAD DONE IN THE PAST, he devised his own plan to do it. His plan will fail completely.
ABRAHAM TRUSTED IN HIMSELF…HE DID NOT NEED TO BOTHER GOD WITH THIS…HE WOULD HANDLE IT HIMSELF…ABRAHAM LISTENED TO THE WHISPERS OF SATAN…DO NOT BOTHER GOD…YOU CAN DO IT…HANDLE IT YOURSELF…SHOW GOD WHAT A GREAT MAN YOU HAVE BECOME IN HIM…AND ABRAHAM LISTENS….
Verses 3-7 tells us God threatens judgment upon Abimelech for taking Sarah.
“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.” But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 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.” 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. 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.”
I MEAN THINK ABOUT IT…ALMIGHTY GOD’S FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THIS KING IS NOT A POLITE INTRODUCTION…IT IS…A BONE-CHILLING ABSOLUTE. “ “Indeed you are a dead man…ignore ME and you and your people are dead!”
TALK ABOUT A FRIGHTENING THING TO HEAR FROM GOD…even in a dream. But the point had to be made to Abimelech, even though he could truly say he was acting in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands.
SOME HAVE SAID OF THIS…GOD WAS WAYYYYY HARSH HERE…BUT WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT ABIMELECH DID NOT KNOW ALMIGHTY GOD…HE WAS BLIND, LOST, AND THOUGHT, LIKE PEOPLE TODAY, I MAKE MY OWN DESTINY…GRAB ALL THE GUSTO YOU CAN, TAKE WHAT YOU WANT AND NEED…LIVE IT UP…BECAUSE DEATH IS THE END…AND THERE IS NOTHING AFTER IT.
AND WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT ALMIGHTY GOD COMES TO EACH PERSON DIFFERENTLY…HE READS AND KNOWS THE HEART FIRST AND FOREMOST.
IF A WONDROUS VISION, BUT A KIND GENTLE VOICE AND TONE WOULD HAVE WORKED…ALMIGHTY GOD WOULD HAVE SPOKEN IT…JUST AS HE DID WITH LITTLE SAMUEL, WHILE UNDER ELI’S TUTELAGE…BUT THE FACT THAT ALMIGHTY GOD CAME WITH YOU ARE A DEAD MAN…TELLS US THAT ABIMELECH…WAS TIGHTLY IN SATAN AND THE WORLD’S CLUTCHES…A VISION, A FANTASTIC OR NOT…WOULD HAVE THIS MAN SAYING…
BOYYYYYY…NO MORE GOAT BURGERS FOR ME, NO MORE OF THAT WINE…I HAD THE WEIRDEST DREAMS…AND HE WOULD HAVE DISMISSED IT AS ONLY THAT…INDIGESTION, DRUNKENNESS, OR FATIGUE…AMEN
GOD KNEW THIS…SO ALMIGHTY GOD KNOWING THIS MAN FEARED DEATH/IMPOTENCY…TOLD HIM…YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!
AND THERE IS ANOTHER REASON…THINK ABOUT ALMIGHTY GOD’S PLAN…HIS ETERNAL PLAN THAT HE HAD SPOKEN AND WAS TO ACCOMPLISH THROUGH ISAAC.
ALMIGHTY GOD KNEW SATAN WAS TRYING ONCE AGAIN TO DESTROY AND DERAIL HIS PLANS…
AND THINK ABOUT THIS…Suppose Abimelech had taken Sarah SEXUALLY and God had not intervened? Two seeds would have been at the door to Sarah’s womb, and to this day an element of DOUBT TO ISAAC’S TRUE BLOODLINE HERITAGE COULD HAVE BEEN DEBATED…AND IT WOULD HAVE PUT A BLOT IN THE TRUTH OF THE BLOODLINE OF JESUS CHRIST WHO WOULD COME FROM ISAAC’S BLOOD.
ALMIGHTY GOD, EVEN THEN, SAW THE FUTURE, OUR FUTURE, AND THE DEBATES OVER ISRAEL’S GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO THE LAND….SO HE KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF DOUBT WERE ALLOWED TO ENTER IN…SO ALMIGHTY GOD MADE SURE THERE WOULD BE NONE, AMEN?
ALMIGHTY GOD COULD HAVE TAKEN THE EASY WAY AND JUST ZAPPED ABIMELECH. BUT EVEN WITH THE LOST, THE BLIND, THE EVIL…ALMIGHTY GOD IS HONORABLE AND JUST. HE KNEW Abimelech’s heart was INNOCENT OF KNOWING HIM OR THE PURPOSE OF SARAH IN HIS PLAN, AND THAT SARAH WAS ALSO ABRAHAM’S WIFE. SO GOD KEPT him from worse sin. God’s protecting power can guide even a pagan king.
AND WE SEE SOMETHING…ONCE AGAIN ABOUT OUR TRIUNE GOD…despite Abraham’s failure to really trust God in the situation, God was not going to abandon him. He would not let Abimelech touch Sarah. That womb was going to bring forth ISAAC, the son of promise, who would eventually bring forth God’s Messiah, JESUS CHRIST. God wasn’t leaving this matter up to man!
“For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you…” Even though Abraham is in sin, he is still a prophet and man of powerful prayer. God’s mercy did not leave Abraham, even though Abraham didn’t trust God the way he should.
AND ONCE AGAIN…A GENTILE, PAGAN KING REBUKES ABRAHAM.
Verses 8-10 tells us Abraham (just like last time) suffers rebuke from a heathen king.
“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. And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended 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.” Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”
“You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done…” DO YOU HEAR THE WONDER, THE FEAR, AND THE CERTAINTY IN THIS PAGAN KING AS I DO? It is sad to see that Abimelech - the pagan king - is in the right, and Abraham - the man of God is in the wrong, and Abimelech tells Abraham so.
What did you have in view, that you have done this thing? This is a logical question for Abimelech to ask Abraham. Abraham certainly did not have the Lord in view when he lied and failed to trust God.
Verses 11-13 tells us Abraham’s excuse.
“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. 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. 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.”
AGAIN…THIS HALF TRUTH GOT ABRAHAM IN TROUBLE.
AND THIS TELLS US THAT A HALF-TRUTH MAY BE ACCEPTED AND EXCUSABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE IN MAN’S EYES…BUT NOT IN ALMIGHTY GOD.
AND ABRAHAM TRIED TO JUSTIFY THE LIE WHEN HE SAID BASICALLY, LOOK AROUND YOU, YOU ARE ALL HEATHENS, GODLESS, YOU DO NOT KNOW MY GOD, SO WHY SHOULD YOU FEAR ME AND MY GOD.
BUT ONCE AGAIN…THE REAL PROBLEM WAS FEAR OF ALMIGHTY GOD WAS NOT IN ABRAHAM…WHOM ABRAHAM HAD SEEN, WALKED WITH, EATEN WITH, TALKED WITH…If ABRAHAM HAD REALLY UNDERSTOOD AND RESPECTED THE LORD, HIS COMMANDMENTS, HIS PROMISES, AND HIS PROTECTION, then Abraham would have NEVER LIED, NEVER TRUSTED IN HIS OWN ABILITIES AND HIS OWN FLESHLY POWERFUL REPUTATION, & THE MUTTERING OF SATAN….
ABRAHAM WOULD HAVE TOLD THIS PAGAN/HEATHEN KING…SARAH IS MY WIFE, I SERVE THE MOST HIGH GOD, AND YOU ENDANGER YOUR LIFE AND ALL YOUR PEOPLE, IF YOU DARE TO TOUCH HER OR TRY TO TAKE HER FROM ME.
AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE….WHEN ABRAHAM SAID….“When God called me to wander from my father’s house”…ABRAHAM IS INDIRECTLY BLAMING ALMIGHTY GOD FOR THE PROBLEM. Abraham claims that God sent him out on this dangerous journey upon which Abraham had to protect himself.
There is a terrible meaning in this verb “WANDER” which Abraham uses. The Hebrew word occurs exactly 50 TIMES in THE BIBLE….AND IT IS NEVER GOOD. It is used of animals going astray, of a drunken man reeling, or staggering, of sinful seduction, of a prophet’s lies causing the people to err, of the path of a lying heart. Six OTHER words are translated wander, any one of which Abraham might have used, but he used the WORST WORD available.
SO WHAT SHOULD HAVE ABRAHAM HAVE SAID?
Abraham SHOULD BEEN REPENTANT AND HUMBLE AND 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.
DO YOU NOTICE…ALMIGHTY GOD’S PATIENCE ONCE AGAIN HERE…HERE AGAIN…IS VISUAL PROOF OF OUR TRIUNE GOD’S PATIENT, LOVING TEACHING HEART.
Verses 14-18 tells us Abimelech’s gift recompenses Sarah, and Abraham prays for him.
“Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 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 reproved. So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”
In showing such generosity to Abraham, Abimelech is essentially heaping coals of fire on Abraham’s head as we are reminded in Romans 12:20. Abraham SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVING GIFTS TO ABIMELECH, because he was in the wrong.
Also, it is interesting to see Abraham ACCEPTS THESE GIFTS, when he had refused gifts from a pagan king previously in Genesis 14:21-24, because he wanted no one to think a man had made him rich. Here, because of Abraham’s TOTAL COMPROMISE, he finds it hard to reclaim the same high moral ground.
I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver…We can imagine ABIMELECH HAVING BROUGHT SARAH BEFORE HIM, LOOKING HER IN THE FACE, AND WITH POLITE REBUKE AND IRONY IN HIS VOICE, he refers to Abraham as Sarah’s brother.
Thus she was reproved…The ancient Hebrew word for reproved is “yakach.” It has the idea of “set right,” so it is debatable as if Sarah was “set right” by Abimelech’s rebuke, or if she was “found to be right” because of her humble submission in this occasion. In a sense, both are true.
AND REMEMBER WOMEN HAD TO RIGHTS IN THIS DAY AND TIME…THEY WERE EXPECTED TO BOW TO THEIR FATHER, THEN THEIR HUSBAND’S EVERY COMMAND AND STATEMENT…WHETHER IT WAS THE TRUTH OR NOT.
AND WE SEE SOMETHING ELSE HERE, ALMIGHTY GOD, KNOWING THE HEARTS OF ALL, MADE SURE ABIMELECH AND THE MEN AND THE WOMEN OF HIS FAMILY/KINGDOM WERE STRUCK IMPOTENT. NOT ONE MAN IN HIS KINGDOM COULD FUNCTION SEXUALLY…AND ALL THE WOMEN’S WOMBS/BODIES WERE SUDDENLY AND INSTANTLY CLOSED AS WELL.
WHY?
IN THOSE DAYS, IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON, FOR A POWERFUL MAN OR A POWERFUL RULER TO SEND A EUNUCH OR HIS “BEST MAN” TO BREACH AND BREAK THE MAIDEN HEAD OF A VIRGIN MEMBER OF THE HAREM OR EVEN HIS VIRGIN BRIDE. SO THIS IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL MAN WOULD NOT HAVE TO BE BOTHERED BY THE TASK OR SUFFER THE SHOW OF BLOOD UPON HIMSELF THAT THE DUTY WOULD REQUIRE.
MOST EUNUCHS COULD BECOME AROUSED AND RESPONSIVE TO STIMULI, BUT HAVING THEIR SCROTUM, THEIR SEED REMOVED, THEY COULD IN NO WAY ENDANGER THE BLOODLINE, BY IMPREGNATING ANY IN THE HAREM. THEY WERE SAFE PROXYS FOR THEIR MASTERS.
SO ALMIGHTY GOD KNOWING THEIR PRACTICES AND KNOWING THE HEARTS, KNEW THAT IF ABIMELECH COULD NOT PERFORM, HE MIGHT VERY WELL DECIDE TO SEND HIS “BEST AND TRUSTED MAN” TO TAKE SARAH’S SUPPOSED VIRGINITY FROM HER…SO ALMIGHTY GOD MADE THE ENTIRE KINGDOM IMPOTENT…NOT ONLY TO REASSURE ABIMELECH THAT IT WAS NO DREAM, BUT THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH…YOU ARE A DEAD MAN…AND THIS ALSO TELLS US THAT ABIMELECH MAY HAVE BEEN FRIGHTENED BY THE DREAM…BUT IT DID NOT STOP HIS FLESH…HE STILL PLANNED TO TAKE SARAH…OR HAVE HIS PROXY DO SO…SO ALMIGHTY GOD STRUCK EVERY MAN AND EVERY WOMAN IN THE KINGDOM.
WHY THE WOMEN TOO?
ALMIGHTY GOD DID IT TO PROTECT THE WOMEN. IN THAT DAY AND AGE, A MAN’S MASCULINITY WAS TIED TO HIS ABILITY TO SEXUALLY PERFORM OFTEN…ON A WHIM…WITH ANY NUMBER OF WOMEN IN ONE DAY…AND IN THAT CULTURE, IF A WOMEN, ALL WHO WERE TRAINED IN THE ART OF SEDUCTION AND PLEASURE GIVING TO THEIR MASTERS, BE THEY HUSBAND OR KING, IF THAT MAN COULD NOT PERFORM, COULD NOT RESPOND, THE PROBLEM LAY WITH THE WOMAN, THEY REFUSED TO ACCEPT OR BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM COULD LIE WITH THE MAN, SO WIVES, IF THEY WERE OF HIGH RANK WERE BANISHED, AND SOME EVEN KILLED, BUT THE HAREM MEMBERS, MOST GAINED BY INTRIGUE OR AS A BARGAINING CHIP TO SETTLE DISPUTES, OR UNITE KINGDOMS, FAMILIES, BUSINESSES…THEY WOULD BE PUT IN A SACK, WEIGHED DOWN WITH ROCKS, AND TIED UP AND THROWN INTO THE SEA TO DROWN, OR THEY WERE STONED TOO DEATH.
ALMIGHTY GOD DID NOT WANT THESE WOMEN TO SUFFER BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAD DONE…SO HE STRUCK THEM ALL…AND THEY STAYED THAT WAY, UNTIL SARAH WAS FREED THE HAREM, RESTORED TO ABRAHAM, AND ONLY AFTER ABRAHAM PRAYED FOR THEM DID ALMIGHTY GOD RESTORE THEM TO FERTILITY AND PROWESS.
SO WHAT DOES GENESIS 20 TEACH US…TELL US…
ONCE AGAIN..THOSE THEN AND NOW WHO SAY, YEAHHHHHH YOUR BIBLE TELLS US AND SHOWS US YOUR GOD IS SO KIND AND FORGIVING AND LOVING HE DESTROYED A REGION BY FIRE, HE FLOODED THE EARTH.
WHAT THEY CONVENIENTLY FORGET IS THAT ALMIGHTY GOD HAD BLESSED SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND WAS PATIENT WITH THEM FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS… OVER TIME, MANKIND PERSONALLY, ONE ON ONE SAW WHAT THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB COULD DO. OVER TIME, ALMIGHTY GOD SENT PROPHET, SIGNS AND WONDERS AND WARNINGS TO MANKIND…REPENT, REPENT, REPENT….TURN TO ME….AND THEN JUST LIKE NOW…AS WITH MOST RECENTLY THE TINY BIT OF A METEOR THAT HIT RUSSIA AND THEN HOURS LATER, HIT SAN FRANCISCO…MANKIND AND THE EXPERTS ARE NOT BEING CALLED TO REPENTANCE, NOR ARE THEY SEEKING ALMIGHTY GOD….THE NEWSPAPERS IN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD ARE CALLING IT….JUST A BLIP….JUST A COSMIC COINCIDENCE…ONE IN A MILLION TIME THING…NOT A WARNING…NOTHING TO FEAR AND WORRY OVER…RIGHT?
SO MANKIND HAS NOT CHANGED…BUT ALMIGHTY GOD WHO WITH A THOUGHT, COULD HAVE ERASED THE EARTH FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM, OR ERASED MANKIND AS A WHOLE FROM THE EARTH…DID NOT DO SO.
INSTEAD HE IS PATIENT WITH ABRAHAM…A MAN WHO HAD SEEN AND WALKED AND TALKED AND SHARED MEALS WITH ALMIGHTY GOD…HAS SEEN ALMIGHTY GOD DO THE IMPOSSIBLE…OVER AND OVER AGAIN…ALMIGHTY GOD REMAINS FAITHFUL TO ABRAHAM EVEN WHEN ABRAHAM IS NOT FAITHFUL AND TRUSTING.
THAT IS LOVE UNSPEAKABLE.
THAT IS PATIENCE PERSONIFIED.
AND IT ALSO TELLS US ONCE AGAIN…AND SHOWS US ONCE AGAIN…MANKIND THEN AND NOW…IS NOT MOVED BY SIGNS AND WONDERS AS A WHOLE…IT IS JUSTTTTTTT AN ABERRATION…AN BLIP…A ONCE IN A LIFETIME KIND OF THING.
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT AND REVELATION TELL US THAT SIGNS AND WONDERS AND MIRACLES CAN NOT AND DO NOT ALWAYS CONVICT THE HEART, CHANGE A LIFE…ONLY JESUS CHRIST CAN DO SO, AMEN?
IT SHOWS US THAT ALMIGHTY GOD DOES SEE AND DOES READ AND DOES KNOW THE VERY SECRET HEART AND THOUGHTS OF MAN…AND SO HE IS PINPOINT ACCURATE IN HIS ATTENTION GETTER.
ALMIGHTY GOD GAVE THIS PAGAN A VISION THAT SHOULD HAVE GAINED HIS FULL ATTENTION…SENT ABIMELECH TO HIS KNEES IN REPENTANCE AND CRYING OUT TO THE GOD WHO SEES…BUT IT DID NOT.
SO ALMIGHTY GOD THEN PATIENTLY GRABBED THE ENTIRE KINGDOM BY WHAT THEY REALLY VALUED MOST IN THEIR HEART OF HEARTS….AND THAT WAS THEIR MANHOOD, THEIR SEXUAL PROWESS…THEIR GOD…WHICH WAS SELF.
BUT GENESIS 20 ALSO SHOWS GOD’S LOVE FOR WOMEN, HIS CARE FOR WOMEN, AND HIS DESIRE TO PROTECT WOMEN, EVEN LOST AND HEATHEN WOMEN FROM BEING PUNISHED FOR SOMETHING HE HIMSELF DID… HE WOULD NOT ALLOW THE MEN OF THE KINGDOM TO BLAME THE WOMEN, THEIR HAREMS…AND HE WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO PUNISH OR KILL THE WOMEN FOR SOMETHING HE HIMSELF HAD DONE.
AND ALMIGHTY GOD REBUKED ABRAHAM AND SARAH BY LETTING A GODLESS MAN…A GODLESS HEATHEN REBUKE THEM AND TELL THEM WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN…AND SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED…AND SHOULD HAVE WARNED ABIMELECH AND HIS PEOPLE OF.
GENESIS 20 ONCE AGAIN TELLS US ALL, THEN AND NOW….THAT ALMIGHTY GOD DOES WHAT HE PROMISES TO DO. HE IS A PROMISE KEEPER. THE IMPOSSIBLE IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE FOR JESUS CHRIST, BUT IT IS EASYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TO DO.
ALMIGHTY GOD IS FAIR AND JUST.
HIS RESPONSE TO MANKIND DEPENDS ON MANKIND’S HEART.
GENESIS 20 TELLS US AND REASSURES US THAT ALMIGHTY GOD READS THE SECRET HEARTS OF ALL THINGS. HE CONTROLS BOSSES, COURTS, COPS, JUDGES, DOCTORS, LAWYERS, GOVERNMENTS, BANKS…SATAN AND EVIL MANKIND.
HE DOES KNOW HOW TO GET THEIR ATTENTION…AND HE CAN AND DOES LET THEM KNOW…YOU ARE DARING TO TOUCH MY ANOINTED…MY CHILDREN…YOU ARE IN PERIL….YOU ARE RISKING YOUR VERY LIFE…AND YOUR ETERNITY BY DARING TO DO SO.
OUR TRIUNE GOD LOVES US…WARTS AND ALL.
OUR TRIUNE GOD SEES US TO OUR VERY CORES.
JESUS CHRIST SAYS…I KNOW YOU…I LOVE YOU…I AM FAITHFUL EVEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT…YOU CAN TRUST IN ME…IN ALL THINGS…UNDER ANY AND ALL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ARISE IN YOUR LIFE…I RULE, I REIGN, AND I CONTROL….COME TO ME…LEAN ON ME…TRUST IN ME…AND ME ALONE…I WILL NEVER FAIL YOU!
BE BLESSED AND STAY BLESSED IN OUR AMAZING JESUS