Genesis 20: Leadership Demonstrated

Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless?  Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."  Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her." (Genesis 20:4-6 NASB)

One of the strange ironies of Scripture is how it provides examples of concepts.  For instance, in this chapter, Abraham says he feared that there was no fear of God in this country, Gerar.  What turns out to be the case is that Abimelech is not only a God-fearer, but an extraordinary leader.  Notice his response to God is on behalf of his nation, not himself.  "Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless?"  His appeal is for them and he qualifies them as blameless, or even righteous.

Secondly, he claims "integrity of heart" for himself, and God agrees.  This king, assumed to be pagan, is not only a God-fearer but one with God-confirmed integrity.  Two things found unexpectedly in this small city-state on the edge of the wastes of the Negev.

Already, in the life of Abraham, a priest-king, Melchizedek is found unexpectedly in the city of Salem.  Now a righteous king and people is found in Gerar.  The example of this leader is as tremendous as it is unexpected.

One more example of his leadership is found in verse 8, where he calls the household together to share the dream he just had.  Again, odd, but not as unexpected as their being there in the first place.

But notice something that Gerar shares with Salem in the Hebrew Scriptures.  While in the time of Abraham, these may be examples of righteousness among pagans, by the time of the Exodus and ensuing invasion these examples are no longer righteous.

What I mean to gain from that is the importance the leader has on the righteousness of the people.  While a righteous leader does not guarantee the righteousness of the people, the influence is unmistakable.  This truth is seen throughout the history of Israel and Judah.

So, in my life, my family, and my church, the importance of righteous leadership is just as unmistakable.  While there is again, no guarantee, the influence is unmistakable.  And the need is unmistakable; in my life, my family, and in my church.  I have roles in each, and I have a clear call to lead with integrity of heart.

Genesis 20: Righteousness Found in Canaan?

Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? (Genesis 20:4 NASB)

Two words used in this verse are interesting.  First, is the king's reference to God, Lord.  Unbeknownst to many people, but knownst to some, there are actually two Hebrew words used in the Hebrew Scriptures for a "lord" or "master".  One is "Adonai" which is commonly used to refer to human masters and God.  The other is "Baal" which is not as common, an older idiom, used in the Hebrew Scriptures for a "lord" or "master" and almost exclusively used to refer to the Canaanite god of thunder.  The word this Canaanite king uses when he replies back to God is "Adonai", not "Baal".  Interesting that he knew to do that.

The second word is what is translated here as "blameless".  The word is typically translated as "righteous", but has the connotation of being "just", "justified", or "vindicated" in court settings.  So this Canaanite king replies back to the Master of universe correctly, and refers to his kingdom as "righteous", or "right before God."  A pretty amazing thing to find in this passage.  And yet, in verse 6 God replies in agreement with this king in his assessment of himself (and by inference, his nation). 

Now before I leave this tidbit of detail, I want to also note that in verse 3, God Himself uses the Canaanite word for "lord", "baal" to refer to the relationship of Sarah and Abraham; "she has been married to a baal".  So there was plenty of room for this word to be used in the king's reply, yet he didn't.  So, this isn't necessarily a "writer's ploy" or just an idiom from the writer's day/perspective.  There's good reason to believe that this king and his kingdom were actually followers of Abraham's Master.

This is very similar to my entry a few weeks ago when I was impressed by these "pockets" of righteous people in Canaan during Abraham's sojourn there.  Perhaps this is what God was referring to when He said that the sin of the Amorite is not yet complete.  Perhaps there were at the time, more righteous in Canaan than were found in Sodom and Gomorrah.  It would seem that changed over time.  But there I dealt with religious prejudices I hold and am not necessarily aware of, here I want to look at God's "remnant" often found in strange places.

Abraham assumed that there was no fear of God in that place, and was wrong.  Another prophet later discovered that he was not as alone as he thought he was in the increasingly pagan Northern Kingdom of Israel.  What I derive from this is that I can find people on whom my Master is already working, and I can find them anywhere.  I found a worship leader in a guy who delivered coffee to me at a camp ground this past weekend.  It turned out we had other common interests as well.  Unlooked for, but welcome, brotherhood found in a very tiny mountain town.

But what about in my own neighborhood?  It is possible that I will find pockets of people already in a relationship with my Master.  It may look different than mine (again the prejudice could kick in), but it might still be there.  I found a guy and his wife at the camp ground in the site across from ours who is a Christ-follower, but practices and believes very differently from me.  We both rely on the grace of our Master, Jesus for salvation, but we differ over how we see church and how we view the Scriptures (the Hebrew Scriptures to be specific).  It's possible that he might not be saved, but the odds are good that he is.

So the challenge for me is find that remnant, and join my Master in the work He is already doing.  This is a "Henry Blackaby" "Experiencing God" -ism, actually the basic premise of that study.  This is specifically looking for a "remnant" of followers of my Master, but where they are, He is working.  Joining them instead of trying to re-invent ministry for or in place of them is a much more "kingdom-minded" approach.  So, in my neighborhood/community, where are other followers of my Master being used by our Master, and what can I do to further that work?  Perhaps later I'll look at filling a gap left by the work of others.  Right now, I believe that this is where the work is, among His busy servants and knights.  Tally-Ho!

Genesis 20: Why Here, Why Now?

Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar.  Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. (Genesis 20:1-2 NASB)

Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.  Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; 13 and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'" (Genesis 20:11-13 NASB)

This chapter in Genesis seems odd for a lot of reasons, only one of which is that Sarah is now 90.  It may be difficult to imagine a 90-year-old winning a beauty contest in our day, but perhaps, longer lifespans of that age would make it plausible.  She lives long enough after this to raise a son, so perhaps at this point she can win one.  But that's just one oddity.

Another odd piece is the placement.  Either this happens a lot or Sarah really can't win a beauty pageant.  Abraham and Sarah have used this ploy ever since they have been in Canaan.  It makes it seem as if everywhere they go, this is how they introduce themselves, as brother and sister.  This is one of the reasons it's difficult for me to believe that this is a response to fear or lack of faith.  If it is, it one that God seems to permit.

The position of this account is sandwiched between Sarah being revealed as the mother of Isaac and the birth of Isaac.  So, I have wondered whether or not this account really ocurred at some other time in the lives of Abraham and Sarah.  It's placement here creates some tension in the story of Abraham because there is suddenly the danger that Isaac would not be Abraham's son, or at least that it wouldn't look that way.  That Abraham would continue this ploy after the assurance that Sarah would bear Isaac also seems strange.

So, as I examine this passage, I am left with two possibilities that fit the character of both Abraham and God.  Either the passage is in the wrong place but placed here for narrative tension, or Abraham really isn't "scared" at all, rather he is shrewd.  In this account, as in Genesis 12, he is handsomely rewarded.  He comes out on the other end of it with more than he started with.  And God backs him up in this.  It seems oddly out of character for both Abraham and God, regardless of placement.

The character of both God and Abraham are where I find my application.  Abraham is not a "perfect" prophet, or at least not perfect in his assurance that God will protect him without his deception.  God is perfectly willing to protect his weak chosen one.  He has a specific plan and will even support the deception of his prophet to make it happen.  And God is perfectly willing to raise up a chosen people from one with such character.  I see in this relationship room for me to have this sort of walk with my Master.

In Abraham, I see someone who I can measure up to.  I see that God is willing to work with my strange lapses into weakness.  I see that I can't really mess up God's plan, at least not in specifics.  I see that God will choose to work with me regardless of gaps in my character.

So if the key is not "perfectly complete" faith, what is it?  What is the key to such a relationship with the Master of the universe, Creator of all matter?  From this passage the key seems to be the Master.  Even with the king, Abimelech, the key is the Master.  It's not me, my character, or my ability to meet a standard that continues the relationship with my Master, it is my Master who continues the relationship with me. 

The grace of my Master, once having initiated my relationship with Him, now is the mechanism sustaining that relationship.  The love of the One forming stars fashions a link with me that I cannot really control or break.  Perhaps it's the irresistable grace of Calvinists, but I think of it more in terms of an irresistable desire of an irresistable God.  It's not that I want Him or that I have "gotten His attention."  It is that He has regarded me for His own reasons. 

I believe that I responded and that this response of mine is crucial; like the obedience of Abraham in leaving Haran.  But that He has regard for me is not because of something I have done.  Whatever potential He sees in me, He put there in the first place.  It was never a potential "created" or "imagined" by me.  Again, and again, my prayers have to begin with, "You love me, You have my back, and I am at Your service."  For me in my walk with my Master, that is what it is about.

Genesis 20: Divine Conversations With Pagan Kings

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married."  Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless?  Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."  Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept 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 will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours." (Genesis 20:3-7 NASB)

Abraham leaves his buddies in Hebron and moves south to the deserts of the Negev.  There he settles by a place called Gerar.  Archeologically speaking, Gerar is a problem.  It's either in the wrong place, or the wrong time.  That Isaac and Abraham both come here and meet Abimelech is also odd.  But that doesn't bother me or teach me as much as the conversation God has with this king.

Abraham's explanation of why he lied starts with his belief that there was no fear of God in this place (v.11), and yet that God comes to Abimelech and that they have a conversation tells me otherwise.  There are a few clues that indicate to me that Canaan had "pockets" of faithful followers of God.  This is one of them.  Melchizedek may have called Him El Elyon, but Abraham understood him to serve the same One he served.  Later on, during the conquest, Shechem is never destroyed or faught againt, it's just included as if it was already part of the Tribes of Israel.  Even later, when David takes Jerusalem (the same city of Melchizedek), this priest, Zadok makes his apperence for the first time, as if he was there all the time, and he shares the high-priest duties with Abiathar.  He eventually takes over the role completely under Solomon.

I sometimes have to fight my religious prejudices.  They surprise me, ambushing me while talking with people I consider unlikely brothers or sisters.  Or rather, I discover them in those conversations, but they have unfortunately been there all along.  I pre-judge people on apperance, or on speech, or on some other measurement, and my Master shows me that I am so wrong. 

I like to think that I am fairly sensitive to spiritual discernment.  I like to think that I am a fairly good judge of character.  I like to think those things, but I sometimes need reminders that my "gift" of discernment or whatever judgment of character I have, I have from my Master.  They are from Him, and I need to depend on Him for my understanding of them.  I run into these "discoveries" of my mental limits when I am relying on my own wisdom and insight.  When I rely on His wisdom and His insight, I may be surprised by what I find, but not by my own prejudices.  Perhaps I will find a king in a pagan land who also knows and speaks with my Master; maybe a homeless person.

Genesis 20: But it was only sort of a lie…

Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.  Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.  Sarai was barren; she had no child.  Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.   The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 20:27-32 NASB)

And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What have you encountered, that you have done this thing?"   Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.  Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother.”’” (Genesis 20:10-14 NASB)

In Genesis 12, Abram has Sarai claim to be his sister while they are in Egypt, and the Pharaoh tries to take her as a wife, and Abram is amply rewarded.  The resulting plagues on Pharaoh’s house incline him to give Sarah back and expel them from Egypt.  When I recently reviewed that account, I proposed that Abram was actually shrewd rather than faithless.  My reasoning went like this:  Saying Sarah was his sister would lose her as his wife; as her brother, if he tried to keep her from being married, he would be in as much or greater danger than as her husband.  So, actually trusting that Yahweh would protect all that was his, Abram was confident that he could use this ruse and survive, perhaps wealthier than he had been.  In fact, God does seem to defend and bless Abram in this activity.

In this passage I’m running out of space to defend Abraham.  First off, where’s the danger?  Sarah is 90 years old and despairs of having the joy of her husband anyway, can she still be thought of as a “looker”?  Second, Abraham has a much more detailed explanation for his actions here.  In chapter 12, he said to Sarai that he was afraid the Egyptians would kill him for her, but an answer to Pharaoh is never recorded.  Here he does not explain to Sarah, he explains to Abimelech that he was afraid the people of Gerar would kill him for his wife.  But he also explains that she is his wife.  This is where I have a problem.  If she were actually his “half-sister”, I would expect a note to that effect in Genesis 11.

In Genesis 11 the children of Terah are listed descriptively.  Terah has three sons.  The youngest of Terah’s sons, Haran, seems to have died in his home country, but has three children; a son, Lot, and two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.  The eldest daughter marries her uncle, Nahor, Terah’s middle son.  Abram has a wife, Sarai, and the only description of her is that she is barren.  If she had a filial connection, it seems that it too would have been described since that sort of description was part of this account.  I suspect that Abraham is lying here, and I’ve may run out of room to defend him.

On the other hand, God seems to, again, bless this line of behavior.  God stops Abimelech from going near Sarah, and instructs Abimelech to have Abraham pray for him so that he will be healed.  Really?  If this was something involving lying, why does God seem to support it, defend it, and even participate in it?  Abimelech gives Abraham a bunch of stuff to make it right between them, and Abraham does pray for Abimelech.  It’s truly strange.

So, what does this mean for me?  I see a few things for my own use.  First off, I learn that I don’t have as many answers to Scripture and, therefore, the character of my Master as I would like.  This passage challenges me to trust that the things in Scripture I do understand are still true, and that, in this instance, I’m just not getting the whole story.  I just have to trust that, because this looks suspiciously like the Master of all matter and some Mesopotamian nomad are scamming the Canaanite locals (Abraham claims this is just what he does, everywhere).  I just find that hard to believe.  Maybe it’s a cultural thing I don’t understand or something.  Anyway, I need to continue to swing from the belief that my Master is the definition of Good, Pure, Righteous, and Holy.

The second thing I see in this passage is that my Master works with His people in odd ways.  If Abraham is really afraid, it’s interesting that he goes at all?  Why not stay in Hebron by the Oaks of Mamre where he spent over 10 years waiting on God to speak?  Whether it was Abraham just wanting to see the rest of the land his Master was giving his descendants or just because he needed more/different pasture land, God blesses him as he goes.  God seems to have used Abraham in Hebron with Mamre and his brothers, and here in the desert of the Negev, God seems to be using him again, this time to reach Abimelech.  And the reaching is wildly effective.  God used a lie to do it, whether it was God’s idea or just His ability to weave mistakes of His creatures into His plan, Abimelech speaks with God and is esteemed by God to be righteousness (or at least honest), or at least they talk together – which is good.

I suppose, I need to widen my understanding of how my Master works with His human creatures, what He might use them for, and stop condemning other servants for what I disagree with in their lives.  I can call them on it, but I have to leave room for God’s work in their lives.  He may be using what looks disagreeable to me for His wider, greater purpose.

So to sum up, I’m not as smart as I want to be about my Master, I’m not as wise as I want to be about Scripture, and I’m not as insightful as I want to be about my fellow followers of Jesus.  Well, okay then.  I suppose I have a lot of growing to do…I better get after it.