Abraham and Sarah's Sin (Gen. 20:1-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/14/2006

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  Abraham & Sarah’s Sin

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 20:1-7

            Message of the verse:  “1 Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar.  2 Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.  3 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.’  4 Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, ‘Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless?  5 ‘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.’  6 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.  7 ‘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.’

When I first read this it is hard to find out who is the one who is righteous before God and who is the one who is condemned by God, or will be.  This is a repeat of what happened when Abraham and Sarah went down to Egypt and Abraham lied about Sarah to the Pharaoh there and God stopped the Pharaoh from sinning, by not allowing him to touch Sarah, and that is the case in this section of Scripture too.

There seems to be a number of factors in why both Abraham and Sarah sinned this time:  1. They both had a sin nature; 2. They had moved into enemy territory.  Even though there move did not take them out of the land that God had promised them, it was still away from where it was that they were safer.  3. They had not taken care of this sin from the last time and therefore it was easier to repeat it this time.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose the question comes up as to why it seems that God was not doing anything about the sin that Abraham and Sarah were committing, and that He was about to punish Abimelech for seemingly not doing anything wrong, however Abraham was a very big part of the plan of God along with Sarah, and Abimelech was an unbeliever, and therefore God was not going to allow anything to stop His plan of bringing His Messiah into the world.  Sarah was only going to have one child, and there was not going to be anyone else to have relations with her. Abraham and Sarah’s sin was wrong, and sexual sin is a sin of the body writes Paul, and therefore it is even more harmful to those who commit it.

God has a plan for me and if I sin and still am allowed to fulfill the plan that He has for me then there will still be consequences for that sin.  Bottom line is that sin is always wrong, and can never be justified before God.

The Word of God has been both a challenge to my heart, and convicting to my heart as I read and studied the Scriptures this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I do not want to ever take sin lightly, because all sin is sin against the God I love and serve.  Trust the Lord to continue to work out the details of our investments, to continue to teach me contentment, and to continue to direct my path.