Genesis 20 returns to the story of Abraham.
Abraham calls Sarah his sister (again?)
Abraham and Sarah were living in Gerar for awhile (I don’t know where that is, but I don’t think that’s really the point):
For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
Sound familiar? Abraham did the same thing in Egypt, leading to Pharaoh taking Sarah, until God revealed to him that Sarah was married. Oy!
Abimilek wasn’t too happy about this either:
Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
That’s exactly what I’m wondering. Why would Abraham, prophet of God, father of nations, make this silly lie, twice?
His reply:
“I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
Whoa, some weird details have risen the second time around. Sarah is apparently Abraham’s half sister? And he used some clever manipulation to convince her to go along with the lie, “This is how you can show your love to me.”
Bad, bad, Abraham. God must be made, especially after this happened twice right? Let’s see the punishment:
Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Abraham gets sheet, cattle, slaves, and gold and silver. Both time Abraham has got caught lying to kings, God punishes the kings, and Abraham walks away much richer. Abraham did pray to God, to ask forgiveness perhaps? Let’s see:
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
So, Abraham lies to a king, as a result the women of the household cannot conceive, and the king’s life and all of his people’s lives are threatened by God. And Abraham walks away richer, again, after manipulating Sarah and sending into harm’s way, and from the looks of it, he did nothing wrong in God’s eyes.
This story is entirely unjust, I don’t get it…