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Preacher: Ross Macdonald
Scripture: Genesis 20:1-18
Well this morning we look to complete chapter 20. It's been a while since we've done a chapter in a go. But we started out Genesis with that as our prerogative. We want to try to keep an eye on the bigger storyline of what God is doing.
What's being unfolded not only about the Lord and his character, but also the Lord's redemptive plan and purpose in history. Last week we considered lots legacy. We remember the distant smell of salt and brimstone that would have wafted toward the tents of Abraham.
Reminding him that though God was indeed a friend to Abraham. He was also a consuming fire and a holy judge. And as Abraham continues to know more and more About the character of the Lord this knowledge this understanding of the Lord continues to shape.
Abraham begins to shape and mold Abraham's own character. This is what we call sanctification in the Christian life. The more we behold the Lord the more we look unto Jesus. The more we lay hold of the means of grace and understand more about who he is and what he's done the more We are made to be like him.
Yet as we'll see this morning That does not always go smoothly consistently. Does not always go from strength to strength. It is not without its stumbling and its failure. We said last week as believers.
We should never become so comfortable with failure. That we lose sight of God's holy wrath. That we tremble under the hand of God that we take to heart his warnings. And we are we guard against being presumptive about our safety.
Remember we don't identify ourselves as lot scarcely saved as we said we identify ourselves with lots wife. Always prone to look back. We remember Paul's great warning. God is not mocked. And I realized perhaps last week was a was a heavy sermon maybe the past two weeks as we considered God's wrath poured out upon the cities of the plain and.
And one of the things that we love about expository preaching of course is that you you're forced to grapple with the text you're forced to engage the text as the whole counsel of God and That means all the warps and whoops.
That means when it's in season and when it's out of season and. So beautifully we have this great contrast emerging where we've seen God's judgment so heavily in chapter 19. We turn to chapter 20 and in many ways we see God's profound grace.
And so we see these themes they're yoked together throughout scripture. The ferocity of God's judgment and the extravagance of God's grace. And so as believers as we said last week at the same time we should never be so fearful meaning terrified.
That we lose sight of God's long-suffering love. His designs patient designs. To renew his mercy to his people every morning without fail. Because he cannot deny himself. And so perfect love casts out fear.
What we're going to see this morning is God's covenantal commitment. Genesis 1929 we got a preview of this and it's going to help us understand Genesis 20. It came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God Remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the midst of the overthrow and so we said that's a covenantal remembering.
It's not that God had somehow forgotten Abraham and then he said, oh, what am I doing? I forgot I had to save lot. I just remembered Abraham. No, this is a way of saying God looks to his covenant. God stood upon the covenant He had established with Abraham and out of that covenantal commitment.
He delivered lot. Now the same dynamic is at play when God delivers Abraham and Sarah this morning in chapter 20. We see that beginning in verse 1 with Abraham's sin. We read Abraham journeyed from there to the south that would be the Negev a literal region called the south in Hebrew I think better translated a be Abraham journey to the Negev.
That's how Moses audience would have understood it and dwelt between between Kadesh and shore and stayed in Gerar. We don't know we don't have recorded what exactly prompted Abraham to move out from the the great terebinth trees of Mamre.
Perhaps he had witnessed the destruction of Sodom and his heart was so heavy. He couldn't bear to see this scene of Destruction knowing what had happened to so many of his relatives through lot and he decided it was time to leave.
That that could be it may be that as Abraham is now heading south heading to a city. It's the same time that lot is leaving the city of Zoar and heading into the mountains. There's a whole dynamic as we've seen of the wilderness as opposed to the city Throughout Genesis.
There's this great theme. It the city is almost always a sign of trouble and that's setting up a biblical Storyline of the coming of the city of God. Remember Abraham is the one who's looking for the maker and builder of that city yet to come.
But here he's heading like lot into a city that I think seems to provide for him. The city called Gerar was in the western part of the Negev. Negev is south. It's another way of talking about an arid land or a dry land.
It's a desert land so to speak but there are fertile plains like a patchwork in certain sections of it and that's where Gerar a royal city near the settlement of what would later become the Philistines and So it's it's toward the Mediterranean.
It's a fertile plain and we forget that Abraham is a sojourner. He's given to us and presented to us as a wanderer as a pilgrim. And so unlike Lot he did not establish a Home between the Terebinth trees so much as he pitched his tent there for a really long time.
But remember he's a he's a very wealthy man. He has This was decades ago 318 servants 318 male servants able to fight and that was back then. How many more servants does he have now and how much more cattle does he have now?
He's a very wealthy man with a very large retinue and When the rain rainy season is is dried up and he has these herds that need to be led to pasture. It's it's time to move on. He lives in a tent. He lives like a Bedouin.
So his name Sarna speculates it may be that a lack of rain Prompted him to move south to find a place that he could bring his animals to pasture. Now keep in mind where we're heading into Genesis 12 memories here.
There was a famine in the land and that prompted him to head down to Egypt to find safety and security in Egypt and it seems to be the same dynamic here if we can speculate and I think this is Good speculation if we can speculate.
That he felt it was time for the sake of his flocks and his possessions to find a better place to provide for them. Then we should realize this transition is going to also bring with it testing. These kinds of transitions these kinds of circumstances in the Christian life.
Allow God the opportunity to test our faith. So he deprives us of something. He takes away something. He brings us to a new circumstance or a new challenge and our red flags go up. God is going to be testing me.
God wants to show wants to show me his work in my life. Have I been here before? How am I going to handle it this time after so much more of his grace being wrought into my life? Hopefully Abraham would be able to see that.
Oh, I remember last time we we had a big move because the going was tough and we needed some provisions. That didn't turn out very well. I better be on guard. I better really make sure my heart is solid before the Lord.
I better avail myself of good counsel and means of grace. I don't want to stumble and fall and so that's that's instructive for us as Christians, isn't it when we get to these places in our lives where a Circumstance comes our way or when we make a transition we expect that God is going to test us.
And Abraham between verse 1 and verse 2. It almost reads nonchalantly. Completely utterly fails this test. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife. She is my sister and Abimelech king of Gorar sent out and took Sarah.
So just like Egypt the same dynamic here. When Abraham moved into Gorar he immediately lied about Sarah. He said she is my sister and as we'll see later on. This is a scheme that he had worked out. This was his old alibi his old excuse.
This was just what he said to people who inquired about Sarah if those people happen to have armor and Swords and a lot of power in a land that was foreign. And so once again, we have this dynamic a pagan ruler in this case.
Not Pharaoh, but Abimelech took Sarah into his royal harem. Now as readers of Genesis we go. That's an interesting marriage. What's conspicuously absent here in Genesis 20 is what was there in Genesis 13?
Sarah was so profoundly beautiful. She was irresistible and all the men of Egypt were groveling after her and of course Pharaoh Being the the top dog in Egypt was able to secure her into his royal harem.
But we've been reading Genesis. She's well past the age of childbearing. That's not a very good prospect for a royal harem. The whole point of gathering many wives is you want as many offspring as possible?
Well, she's self-evidently past the point of childbearing and We don't read that her beauty was so desirable that the men of Gorar were groveling after her. So why? Does this king of Gorar take Sarah into his royal harem?
Well, some ancient rabbis said that part of the promise that was given right at the tent. No, Sarah, you did laugh this time next year I will come and you shall have a son. That part of that promise was a rejuvenation a miraculous rejuvenation of her physical body.
So that she could not only sustain the pregnancy but nourish the child afterward. And so the ancient rabbis saw this as maybe Evidence they speculated it could be that she was so rejuvenated to her former beauty in preparation for God's fulfillment of his promise.
That's possible. But scripture does not say that. I think it's far more likely That a beemalek does what many other rulers would have done not just at this period in ancient history. But even well through some of the great ancient empires even through the Roman Empire you secure your own power and your own stability by Marrying or intermarrying with foreign foreigners, especially wealthy powerful foreigners.
And remember Abraham appears very wealthy and very powerful. Perhaps there was some renowned about this man who delivered the Sodomites from the hand of Keter Laomer. This is a powerful man and God goes before him.
And so perhaps there is something of this display of I need to secure an alliance with him. And therefore I will marry his sister. I will take his sister his elderly sister into my harem so that we have this compact.
Remember that in the next chapter there's actually going to be a covenant that Abraham cuts with a beemalek and so already we see these dynamics of power and Establishing a relationship and marriage was used in the ancient world among rulers and elites to establish this kind of solidity.
I think that's far more likely. So he was happy to take Sarah and his understanding Abraham's sister that he would have an alliance a certain Security, you wouldn't have to worry about Abraham being up to no good.
He wouldn't have to worry about there being some instability or Abraham joining forces to undermine him. And so that's what how marriage was used. We see this in Genesis later on. We'll see this with Solomon.
Most likely this is why Solomon marries Pharaoh's daughter to secure some sort of alliance. This is why Roman Emperors often married and divorced women much older. It's why Cleopatra so famously married multiple men across many decades.
It wasn't the former beauty so much as the power the stability that could be offered through marriage. Abraham said of Sarah his wife. She is my sister. He lied. Lying was the sin that Abraham typically succumbs to.
When he was in this situation filled with the dread of what might happen to him otherwise and so this is a deceit that's fueled by the fear of man and This fear of man is for Abraham an utter lack of faith.
He has just seen the Lord By the tent had a feast with him heard the promise within the year your wife will have the son of promise and Look at faithless Abraham now say you're my sister and now she gets taken away into the harem again a complete and utter disaster.
Though the promise is less than a year off this is coming off the heels of a promise that within a year would have flooded Abraham's life with the Miraculous power of God the fulfillment of all of the promises that began initially when he called him out of her of the Caldeans.
But out of this fear of man, he willfully Endangers the arrival even the fulfillment of this promise. It's as if he bargains it away. I'm so worried about my own neck. I've forgotten the promise of God.
In fact, I'm willing to completely jeopardize that promise. So more than just the promise from the picnic the picnic promise.
God also said.
Abraham I'm going to bless those who bless you. I'm going to curse those who curse you. He also forgot that He could have walked in there like Untouchable. I remember seeing this video of Vladimir Putin.
Remember Vladimir Putin, of course was a former KGB officer. I can imagine the kind of training he had. He probably was not a pencil pusher and he he was on some Recording for television was a live television recording.
Of course. He's got bodyguards everywhere and This group of protesters rush at him and they literally get within two he turns around and they're rushing at him. They look like they're about to tackle him and he does not even flinch.
He literally just turns them and kind of just stares at them coldly while his Security completely devours them and like tackles them to the ground and they get hauled off probably never to be seen again.
That could have been how Abraham walked around Gerrard. Completely unfazed untouchable. Do what you want. If you bless me my God the maker of heavens and earth. He will bless you. You curse me. It's not gonna go well for you.
God is my shield. God's my very great reward. What shall man do to me? Therefore I will not fear. That's how he could have walked around Gerrard, but he lost his faith in God's promise. He lost sight of God's presence and now he began to panic.
He really felt that now man could do much to him and that God was not going to secure him not be his shield not. Protect him though. God had already delivered him from the hands of Keter Leoma in his armies.
He's completely thinking I have to fend for myself. And the only way I can do that is by lying. So Sarah, please do what we've always done say you're my sister. Abraham in other words tries to be his own shield.
Now we can sympathize with that because that's very common for us to do isn't it we try to be our own shield. We fend for ourselves when it seems like there's no way God's Word can come to pass. It's too difficult.
It's too hard. The circumstances are too extreme. God himself could sympathize with my plight with my position. Surely surely I'm the gray area of his word applying here. Surely I'm the exception that proves the rule.
Surely anyone would understand given where I am in my life and where we've been and what we've been through and what my health is. Like surely God would understand why we cannot do this. We try to become our own shield we try to be our own provision and so one example of this.
Someone's rather lonely rather isolated. I Had I had a very close friend very very close friend and a brother someone who would rebuke and exhort. Someone who would often point things out in my life and encourage me to repent.
I remember taking a week to go up and do some street evangelism and in New Hampshire and Vermont and Maine with him and It was just glorious. We'd pray every night and throughout the day. We would have times of devotions together.
We've got on the street pass out tracks sit on the benches try to talk to these crusty New Englanders about the Lord. But he was a very lonely man very lonely and I could see in his heart this wrestling.
Okay, Lord, I've given you my life now. I've turned from my former ways Lord. Don't you owe me a relationship now? Don't you owe me the desire of my heart a wife? Want to have a marriage Lord and.
And.
He became clouded in his judgment where he was so desperate for a relationship that he began to doubt God actually would give him this desire that God would lead him and be faithful to him. And so he began to turn a blind eye and he began to build a relationship with someone who really was not Equally yoked to him.
It's really not someone who loved the Lord had a pretense to it. But it was clear to anyone within three feet after five minutes. This was not a Christian God. I I'm I'm so alone and I'm so despairing.
This is the only chance I have. I Know what your word says. I know what my friends are counseling me. I know what pastors. No, no, no God will work this out. It'll be okay. She'll come around. At at root is Lord.
I don't trust you. I don't believe your word. I don't believe you'll provide for me. I don't believe you're enough for me Lord, I can't be faithful here. I have to provide for myself and then maybe you can work that out.
And so he ran off. He's no longer walking with the Lord today. Last time I saw him asked if we could meet he gave me a fake phone number. We say.
Lord.
You don't care about me. You wouldn't allow this to be in my life right now. You've given me promises. You said there'd be a way out. You said you'd be an ever-present help in a time of need Lord. You promised to deliver me and to help me Lord.
You seem to be moving and now you seem so distant Lord. You don't care about me. And so like Pharaoh we harden our hearts against God. We begin to doubt his goodness or.
All I've ever done is try to follow you and now look at my look at my life. Look at my reputation. Look at what people say about me. Look how people view me Lord and you're not doing anything about it.
And so I'm gonna vindicate myself. I I won't be patient. I'm gonna be bitter. I'm gonna lash out because I'm tired of waiting on you in humility becoming a Rad for everyone else to stomp on Lord. We we do this.
We try to become our own shield. We try to fend for ourselves provide for ourselves. Abraham has been walking with the Lord for 25 years. He's had triumphs of faith when God said go circumcise all of your household all that dwell within your tent.
He wasn't like oh, it's kind of a highly, you know, can we negotiate this a little bit? He just did it. That's faith. That's that might be one of the most shocking examples of faith in all Genesis as far as I'm concerned.
Adult circumcision.
In.
Genesis 18 when those Angels visited him. He was so generous. He rushed around to prepare this great feast and and then when God said shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? And he told him of the destruction that was going to be poured out upon the cities.
Abraham stepped in his way. No Lord. He began to intercede and so we see this great triumph of Abraham's faith. He's been a model of faith as soon as he was called out of or of the Caldeans dwelling in a tent.
Not not allowing his heart to be like lots heart pandering after the things of the world. But here is this triumphal failure. He completely lacks faith and the New Testament says he's the father of our faith.
He's the father of all we who believe and you realize boy that's true in more ways than one, isn't it? He really is the father of our faith. Because our faith is prone to wander our faith does stumble and fail and falter.
There's many ways and times in our lives where we we fend for ourselves and we try to become our own shield and As Greg alluded to we we don't think that God's the watchman for us. We think it's up to us.
And so we're gonna make it happen. Even it's even if it's a little dodgy on what God shows in his word. He's like me. He's prone to wander Lord. We feel it. Abraham's a lot like me. Look at Abraham here.
Are you dealing with old sins. Abraham should have known once this trying time came and it was time to move, you know, Sarah, let's get on our knees. We know what God has promised and we're about to head south and last time we traveled things didn't go so well.
Let's get on our knees. Let's fast before we go. Let's let's drown ourselves in prayer. Let's ask for a lot of people to pray for us. We know this is going to be a real time of testing. Are you dealing with old sins?
Are you aware of old patterns? Recurring sins as we see here. They have this they have this effect not just on our relationship with God, but on all of our other relationships. Think of what these kinds of times did to Sarah's feelings for Abraham how that war like a burden on their marriage this great man of faith.
Willingly sending her into a harem to be used as property from some tyrant. Think about the destructive Seeds that he brought into his marriage because of this recurring sin, you know later on in Genesis when we get to Genesis 26 We're gonna see he passes this sin on to Isaac.
Isaac will do the same thing sin. It's it's never just about us in our individual relationship with God. It always has collateral damage. And so Abraham's sin is now affecting Sarah and it's affecting his whole household.
It's affecting a be Malek and that whole nation. It's affecting that whole people group. It's affecting his progeny. It's affecting the accomplishment of God's promise all of that because of this pattern of sin that Abraham has not dealt with.
Are you dealing with your patterns of sin? Are you dealing with habitual sins in your life? What we sometimes refer to as the Fox's in the vineyard. They they trip us up. They so easily as Hebrews says entangle us.
Sometimes they're very hard to identify. Because we use the language and the concepts of the world to try to identify them. We attribute to our personality our upbringing that which God says is sinful and it may well be our personality.
But it's a sinful trait within our personality and therefore we need to repent of it. We need the Lord's grace to purge it. Oh I've always had a temper. I've always been a hothead. I grew up in a house, you know I should have seen my father my mother if they could really get into it.
And so, you know, this is just kind of what I grew up with. This is what I'm like. That's nice, but you're a Christian now. That can't fly anymore. That needs to be repented of you need to see that recurring pattern and all of its destructive power.
Oh Well, you know. We've always we've always been a very Prideful family, I suppose we've always really put all of our emphasis on our great achievements and our great goods and our worldly ambitions.
That's okay. If that was part of your lifestyle then it cannot be a part of your lifestyle now. You're a Christian. Are you dealing with sin? Are you identifying and rooting out sin? What easily entangles you when you identify it according to God's Word you begin to pursue the Lord toward it Lord.
Help me to see this help me not to excuse it not to allow the Circumstances to be something to hide behind help me to take action Lord. Let me see your power at work in my life Lord you also realize that when you think you've conquered an old sin an old habit something that was recurring and then you've experienced that deliverance as Paul says in 1st Corinthians 10 12.
Don't think you stand.
I.
You're always just one step away from falling right back into a pattern that you thought was dead. And you thought was dormant. And usually when you fall back into it, it's far worse.
Far worse.
The chains are that much stronger The enemy is not as willing to let you out The guilt is so much stronger. Therefore the the deadening effects of sin and conscience all of that is at play.
So don't think you're standing lest you fall. I.
Know there's Christians in this room that there's certain recurring things that were part of their former life or even maybe their early life in Christ and they finally repented and the Lord gave them deliverance and I haven't even thought about that in 20 years.
When you hear yourself saying something like that, I would never I haven't thought about that in 20 years. 1st Corinthians 10 12. But I could do it tomorrow. Could fall right back into that, you know, here go I by the grace of God Abraham had been faithful to God in all of these spectacular ways.
He had shown great faith, but he's still so vulnerable if the circumstance is just right. And that's very instructive to us. We can be on the mountaintops of faith. We can think now that I've seen this I'll never stumble.
I'll never doubt. I'll never struggle again.
Beware.
Abraham's last vision of where he had pitched his tent was the cities that God had destroyed. You would think that would have instilled Something of the fear of God that would have prevented him from stumbling like this in Genesis 20, but it doesn't.
But it doesn't. And and you and I know what that's like. We might not have physically seen something on the scale of Sodom and Gomorrah. But surely if we're Christians there's been times where we have trembled at the Word of God trembled at it where we felt like we could lie down.
Like the reports of Under Edwards preaching and Enfield when he preached sinners in the hands of an angry God, maybe you've had something of that experience. Was that experience that profound encounter with the reality of God's holiness and his judgment upon sin?
Was that enough to turn you back from sin even just later that week? So don't be too hard on Abraham see yourself in Abraham, but notice secondly, even though Abraham's faith is faltering God's faithfulness is not.
Even though Abraham's faith is faltering God's faithfulness is not Genesis 20. Verse 3. 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've taken.
She is a man's wife. So God here in verse 3 intervenes on Abraham's behalf. I kind of titled this God's rebuke and you're expecting God's rebuke to come to who?
Abraham.
You know Abraham lied saying this is my sister and now God's gonna rebuke. Okay, let him have it Lord. I can't believe he messed up like this. All right, Lord, let him have it. All right, Abimelech. You're a dead man wrong guy Lord.
He was the one that was lied to you should be rebuking Abraham. He's the liar Abimelech sort of the victim here. He doesn't know it's not right for him to take it. It's not right for him to have this plurality of wives, but Lord, you know, if anyone's gonna be rebuked it surely it's going to be.
But God is intervening on Abraham's behalf. God in his grace is Preventing the consequences of Abraham's sin. And that reminds us that God's grace is often intervening on our behalf Preventing us from the consequences of our own sin.
I'm sure if you give some time to consider it. All of you here who walk with the Lord can have a testimony of how the Lord in his grace Delivered you from the consequences of your sins.
That.
Though there should have been some effect in your marriage because of your life in your children because of your life. Certain consequences to your health because of your life. That God and his mercy spared you of the consequences of your sin.
God and his grace intervenes on our behalf because of his covenantal love. And so even the problems that we create even the messes that we make so often God restrains us from the full consequences of it and where he brings a consequence into our lives.
He even allows that to be part of his loving chastisement part of his faithful correction. He does not turn the consequences of his people's sins upon their head as judgment for the judgment of their sin as to the guilt of it was dealt with on the cross of Jesus and Therefore the consequences are restrained unless the consequences are meant to train correct or rebuke.
This is extravagant grace it's as shocking to us as It is here that a beemalek is the one getting rebuked. Notice that God comes to a beemalek in a dream. There's a few instances in the Old Testament where God does Come in dreams to his people, but those are relatively rare.
More often than not God comes to dreams and those who are not his people Non-israelites he comes to Pharaoh. He comes to Nebuchadnezzar. He comes to hear a beemalek. A Modern day counterpart to this interestingly enough is that God seems to do this often to Muslims.
Especially Muslims living in parts of the world where there's no access to the gospel. No access to to Christian revelation whatsoever where maybe there's believers in Iran for instance or in Saudi Arabia and You'd be executed if you ever made any efforts to evangelize people with the Christian faith.
And it seems that there's Muslims that are brought to faith in the Lord. Initially by some dream some revelation. I know of at least three testimonies to this and what strikes me about those testimonies is.
They never depend upon the dream as a basis for their assurance. They say they're very private about it and very secretive about it. They don't want to come out as oh, I had this great dream. It's usually a very traumatic experience for them.
And if you get them to admit it It was a dream that led them to this openness to. I need to know who Jesus is and then they find the word. They find someone who can share with them something about Jesus and from there on they become devoted followers of him.
We have a modern-day counterpart to this that God often does not work in dreams in the lives of his people who have access to his word and his presence, but He will often do it to reach those who do not.
God warns Abimelech in the strongest terms. You are a dead man. That that's a completed action in the Hebrew verb. It's a complete you're dead.
You're dead.
Doesn't say you will be. I'm warning you you better not go through. He says you're a dead man. You are dead. That's how strong the threat is. You're a dead man. This isn't this isn't someone for you to take.
This is a man's wife. You're you're a dead man. Now think of the terror of that. The terror of that you are a dead man, and it leads Abimelech to cry out in protest verse four and five. 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's my brother. Yeah, I was lied to I'm the victim here in the integrity of my heart. And the innocence of my hands. I've done this so that's his plea.
That's his testimony Lord. I was lied to by him and by her. I didn't do this. I didn't steal in the integrity of my hands in the innocence of my heart. I have done this essentially. He's making the same plea that Abraham made in Genesis 18.
Do you remember when God said that he was going to destroy the cities on the plain? Do you remember what Abraham said Lord? Would you slay a righteous people? Lord, would you slay a righteous nation and The answer to that began this negotiation.
No if there's even ten righteous I will spare it notice that Abimelech is acting a lot like Abraham here Lord. Would you slay a righteous nation in other words that the question is how am I the one that has to face the guilt of this?
Lord, will you slay a righteous nation? And then he puts it on them. Did she not say did he not say? So he's protesting about his blamelessness his integrity his innocence. Now, we realize as good Calvinists.
He has nothing of this. He has no blamelessness. He has no innocence. He has no integrity in the ultimate sense of things. But he's using it in a more narrow way as to this. I have integrity as to this.
I've acted innocently we find the psalmist using the same narrow concept where they protest their righteousness or their innocence in Terms of what they're suffering. So Abimelech is not saying he's perfectly righteous.
He's not saying he's perfectly blameless. He just says as to this I acted in integrity. They lied to me. I'm the victim notice verse 6. Yes God says.
Yes, I.
Know you did this in the integrity of your heart. You see God affirms that as to this you acted in integrity.
Yes, I know that you did this.
For that's an explanatory for I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. And so now we have even more revelation given to Abimelech. It's not that he's this stand-up guy and with integrity he did not compel himself upon Sarah.
It was rather the sovereign power of God Restraining him from the sin that he would otherwise do. I know you did this in the integrity of your heart for I withheld you from sinning and So God is at work restraining evil in the world.
We have an example of that here turning back sins that people are capable of for the purpose of his own glory. In other words Sarah is preserved from all that Abimelech would otherwise do because God's promise must come through her and Sarah's Savior must be the promised seed that ultimately will be in the bloodline.
She delivers the seed of the serpent crushing woman. Now notice what the Lord says I Withheld you from sinning against me. That's interesting, isn't it? He doesn't say I withheld you from sinning against Sarah.
I Withheld you from sinning against Abraham. He says I withheld you from sinning against me. It's just recognition that every sin is Ultimately a sin against the Lord. The most offended party when it comes to a sin is God himself.
It's the basis of David's great psalm of repentance. Against you only have I sinned it's this recognition Lord. You alone are the one that must avenge sin all guilt stands before you. Because you are the creator you are the judge you are the one who is holy.
So even though there's real sin that could have been committed against Sarah God frames it in terms of Abimelech's Responsibility toward him. I restrained you from sinning against me. Sins always ultimately the act of sinning against God no matter how personal or outward or Neighbor oriented the sin is it's always at first an offense against God.
That's very important to understand. If we lived the Christian life in light of that if we lived the Christian life. Not as though well, I you know, I guess I'm a little gossipy toward this person or I guess I'm kind of yeah I'm begrudging to this person.
I'm a little irritable toward them or I have a lack of love toward this person. I feel bad I don't want to sin against them. Usually that's not enough to sway us. Because then we think but they kind of have it coming to them or well They did this and of course, I'm gonna respond like that and people agree with me about this person.
In other words if we're only ever thinking of sin in a horizontal way. It's gonna be very hard to have a shock factor or to see something repulsive about sin. But when you recognize that every sin is first and foremost a vertical offense.
That it's not just about this person and what they're like and what they did and how you're gonna respond. It's about God and whether you will offend God. That's the issue. If you approach the Christian life in this way, it should radically change the way we treat each other the way we love our neighbor.
God is the most offended party when it comes to our sin. Lastly notice verse 7 God says here that Abraham is a prophet. Abraham is a prophet. It's the first time the word prophet is used in Scripture is here in Genesis 20.
So we begin with an understanding of what a prophet is. Prophet to us means a discloser of God's revelation, right? And there's a sense in which Abraham is discloser of God's revelation. Certainly anytime anyone asks him about who he is and where he's from and why he's here.
He's disclosing something of God's revelation. That's more of a testifying or a testimony here God says he's a prophet and we understand that a major definition for a prophet is one who intercedes. One who intercedes.
So here God is going to refer Abimelech to Abraham as a prophet for the sake of Abraham interceding restore the man's wife for He is a prophet. He will pray for you and you shall live. So we have to have a definition of prophet as one who intercedes.
Now I say that because I hope there'll be some application about how this relates to the church and often we talk about the church having a prophetic stance in the world the church being Prophetic in the world or having the mantle of a prophet.
We don't mean the church as a discloser of revelation pure and simple. We also mean the church as an interceder. The church interceding for a wicked world the church praying for and asking God's mercy upon the offending world.
In that sense the church is a prophet like Abraham. And The church like Abraham is a failure messy stumbling unstable in many ways and yet that intercession is effective. Look at Abraham's testimony beginning in verse 8 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've brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin. That great sin by the way is adultery. Thank God at this period in time adultery seems to have been seen as a great sin as a reproach upon any people In our in our day and age.
It's losing some of that.
Shock, unfortunately.
You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham What did you have in view that you've done this thing? You notice this repetition in verse 10. It's it's a way of intensifying the narrative.
He's not being casual about this. He's he's wild-eyed. What have you done to me? Well, you know if I didn't just have the dream I had I would kill you. How dare you threaten me how dare you bring this reproach to me.
But I can't touch you because I'm gonna. I'm a dead man if I touch you. It's meant to emphasize that and Abraham now has to put together some kind of response. Can you imagine the shame he felt? The shame he felt when Gerard brings His wife out to him and his wife meekly humbly goes by his side tear-stained face.
How his heart would have been in his feet he would have felt that the nausea of disgust. How could I have done this thing? What have I done? What have I become? How could I have lapsed this far? It's just like Egypt all over again.
And so he fumbles out a response. I thought Surely the fear of God is not in this place. It's not an amazing thing to say it gives you a little window into how he was rationalizing this scheme as They're approaching Gerard.
You can see him going. Oh This this place is gonna be like Sodom. It's gonna be like more and we know how wicked that place is. We know the outcry and I don't know what they're gonna do to us. I don't know what they're gonna do to you.
They're gonna kill me and take you. And so he begins to rationalize it. There's there's no fear of God in this place. I mean, it's one thing I would not lie if we were going to you know, Idaho. But surely there's a fear of God in Idaho.
But there's no fear of God in this place and therefore we have to be our own shield we have to protect ourselves. Instead of realizing what he's saying. Where's your fear of God Abraham? You're going to lie because you say there's no fear of God in that place.
Where's your fear of God? You're willing to lie. Where's your fear of God Abraham? He's worried about a lack of fear out there. He should have been concerned about a lack of fear in here. I'm not fearing God.
It's better that they do what they must do. God will judge I must fear him fear God keep his commandments. This is this is all that he requires. This is the substance of life. But instead he allows the fear of man to become bigger than God.
He allows his concern for the outcome of his actions to cloud the outcome of what God might do. And.
So this is part of his response. I.
Said I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place. They'll kill me on account of my wife, but indeed. Now another justification. She is truly my sister. She's the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother.
She's my stepsister 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's my brother. That was a wrong thing for him to ask. She should have said Abe I love you. I. But I'm not gonna lie for you. I'm not gonna sin against God for you. So God is now using a pagan king a pagan king.
To confront his prophet to confront his man of faith. To confront righteous Abraham. Righteous Abraham is being exposed and shamed and Prosecuted as it were by a pagan godless King Abraham said I thought surely there's no fear of God in this place and yet notice what we read at the beginning in verse 8.
The men were very much afraid when that dream came now, there's now there's not just a fear of God like a reverence. There's a terror. We're all dead men because Yahweh is going to judge us. Abraham had feared these men more than he feared God and he uses these excuses these Rationalizations this white lie this half lie.
Well, technically it's true. Yeah, technically it's true, but you're not using it that way. You're stretching that technicality in order to deceive you're just lying. The motive is what counts the heart is what counts a Technical lie is a lie.
A white lie is a lie. A Half lie is a lie. A half truth is half lie.
He's lying.
He's a liar. What scripture says liars have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. One whose life is habitually given over to lying. They have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. It's amazing to me.
How.
Far someone can go being caught in a web of their own lives and how hard it becomes to admit to them that they're a liar. No, no one here. No one. I don't think anyone would even know but I know someone.
Never met someone that so definitively could be called a liar whose whole way and approach to life is Lying lying about everything. Lying so much that you're lying about things that don't even need to be lied about and you begin to question.
I know that's a lie, but I don't know the motivation you just lying to lie now. Just pulling stuff out of thin air. I Forget the Puritan who said it it was sage advice. He said if you if you struggle with lying.
Using little white lies or half-lies to try to give yourself a better appearance a reputation to prevent some consequence. He said as soon as it comes out of your mouth and you feel that twinge and you're kind of going on.
It's done now. He says no. No, no, it's not done now. Immediately expose it Sam. I'm sorry. What I just said to you is a lie. So you'll be so humiliated so embarrassed. That you'll stop lying if you make that a habit you'll stop lying.
I'm sorry I just lied to you and people are kind of like, oh, okay. No, I'm sorry. I just I had to tell you spontaneous confession. If only we had that kind of sensitivity to sin. Notice also that he compelled his wife to lie.
Does that does that sound like Ananias and Sapphira? Does this scheme they work out together and you always wonder who was really? Maneuvering who was pulling the levers here. No matter they but they both face the same judgment.
And so even submissiveness is no excuse for sin, right. Even submissiveness is no excuse for sin fear. God keep his commandments and I think. Sometimes a wife is kind of happy to go along with something that I know this is kind of wrong.
My conscience is perking me, but hey, you're the leader. I'm just gonna I'm going along with you. You know, you're the one that's gonna get struck by this not so God puts a spouse in our life as a as a means of grace.
As a splash of cold water. You can't do this. What are you thinking? You can't do this. Sometimes Alicia to me is is is that I love her so much for it. She's just well, I hope you're not thinking that.
Okay. She's like a watchdog a bulldog. We need that we need that encouragement that transparency in our relationships. Notice that we begin to sympathize with the B Malek even more. We're frustrated with Abraham we see all of his excuses amounting to nothing but a lack of faith fueled by a fear of man.
But we're sympathetic to a B Malek in a lot of ways and we can't forget that God said no I restrained a B Malek. We can't forget that unless we become too sympathetic, but notice there is this dynamic.
Abraham is acting like we would expect a B Malek to act. A B Malek is acting like we would expect Abraham to act. It's a very sad thing. When? Someone who's not a believer who has no testimony of salvation someone whose life is in rebellion against God acts the way that a Christian should act and A Christian acts the way we would expect them to act.
Let's say that's a sad tragic display to the world. A B Malek confronts Abraham about this sin. A B Malek the pagan king confronts the Prophet. Notice that God will often do that in our lives. God will use wayward people Godless people to expose sin in our lives.
He will do that to humble us. He will do that to to bring us low. So we never puff ourselves up in our own self-estimation that we see just how far we can fall and how easily that pressure. Or that circumstance can bring us to our knees.
But despite all that. Though we're sympathetic to a B Malek though a B Malek has integrity. Though a B Malek is acting like Abraham should despite the fact that Abraham is this is this not a mess of failure.
This man who allows his wife to go into a harem this liar who gets caught in his own lies. He can only hang his head in shame. He he doesn't even seem very repentant. He just seems to be fluttering with excuses still and though he's this failure.
Isn't it amazing? That this man of integrity still must go through him. To receive blessing it is a B Malek nevertheless. Who needs Abraham's intercession? Though though a B Malek has the integrity here though in many ways He's the victim though Abraham is the guilty sinner though.
Abraham is the failure. A B Malek needs Abraham. A B Malek must go through Abraham. There is no other intercession that will do. God has said you must go to him. He's a prophet if you want to be delivered if you want to be spared if you want to be cleansed.
You must go through him. You must go through my Failing stumbling son because he's my son and so we see this intercession verses 14 through 16 a B Malek took sheep oxen male and female servants gave them to Abraham and He restored Sarah his wife to him and a B Malek said see my land is before you dwell where it pleases you.
Do you notice that he came in afraid that everything would be stripped from him. How much of my possessions will the king of Gerard take? What will I be left with? Will I even be allowed on the land? Will he just plunder me utterly and I'll be cast out on my own.
The most I can do is sacrifice my wife. Maybe that will build an alliance and he'll at least me allow me to dwell in the land. And then I don't know what will happen. He's just so consumed by a theory can't even think a year ahead a year ahead to God's promise.
But what does God do? Does he allow Abraham to be plundered? Is there a raid on his servants as his wife and and all of his protection and all of his possessions? Carted off as he punted out of the land.
No.
He's added to. Here's more cattle. Here's more servants. Now pick any part of my land you want and set up shop. It's all yours. This is utter blessing. This is beyond Abraham's wildest dream. Times are tough.
That's why we're here. I'm expecting to get stripped away and now I get blessed. Now I get more and a B Malek said to Sarah behold I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Indeed. This vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.
Thus she was rebuked. What's the rebuke there? If rebuke is a thousand pieces of silver. I want to be rebuked by the king of Gerard. What's the rebuke? Well, the thousand pieces of silver would have been a token a bride price.
He's saying here's your bride price back. Right. I have not violated her. I. You know, you can have her back. Nothing has happened in the eyes of all. She is returned to her honor to her place with integrity.
So he does that as an outward display of the fact that though she was taken as a bride now. She's being returned and here's the full amount. This is an extravagant bride price that it. Calculations vary over time for how to calculate pieces of silver which would relate to a shekel a Conservative estimate is this is 25 pounds of silver.
Thus she was rebuked. Well, what does that mean? I think it's in this little exchange behold. He says to Sarah he looks at her eyes. This would have stung Sarah to behold. I've given to your brother a thousand pieces of silver.
Words, I I know he's your husband. But he doesn't say I've given to your husband. He says it's a rebuke. I've given to your brother. That must have stung for Sarah.
My brother.
My husband a.
Thousand pieces of silver. It's given to cover the offense and so we see Abraham sinned. But Abraham is blessed. God keeps Abraham from the consequences of sin not sparingly but abundantly. Not only does he prevent the consequences.
He returns blessing upon Abraham. And who's the one that suffers a Beamelech though a beamelech acted in integrity for what he knew. He's the one facing judgment. He's the one that is a dead man. So to speak it almost seems unfair.
We almost questioned God said will you slay a righteous? How about you just you know deal with the offender here? It's Abraham not a beamelech. But we remember this covenantal commitment. We remember Genesis 19 God remembering Abraham.
I've committed myself to bless him and to bless those who bless him and to curse those who curse him. Whatever my servant does I've committed myself by my word by my honor to bless him and so Blessing I will bless him.
So as a result of his failure Abraham somehow Incalculably becomes wealthier more established more secure. God is abundantly gracious to Abraham when the direct result of Abraham's sin. Should have been punishment should have been stripping away should have been worse than he hoped to gain moving to Gerar all but for God's Covenantal commitment Abraham would be ruined.
Sarah would be ruined and the promise would come to nothing. But all because of God's covenantal commitment. Abraham is blessed. Sarah is blessed and the promise is sure. Do you know that it is the kindness of God that is meant to lead you to repentance?
This was not to be the parade to a new dwelling place in Gerar. I guess we better start messing up more. Huh, why don't we go tell a few more lies and see if God's gonna bless us? That's Roman six, right?
Shall we sin that grace may abound? No, this would have been a lot like Egypt a lot of new servants a lot of new cattle some camels. Like we said the Ferraris of the ancient world a lot of silver now you know, I don't know the poor servant had to carry 25 pounds of silver and Then a lot of humility and sorrow a lot of humility a lot of repentance.
Would you bless me still my god? Would you bless me still? Surely there were sodomites that wouldn't have done what I just did. Surely there were sodomites that would have acted with more integrity than I just did.
And that's without the revelation. Without the promise without the feast I shared with you and you would bless me still. How do you think Abraham would have responded to that kind of blessing? It couldn't have been with this triumphant boast.
It couldn't have been with this jubilation. It must have been with contrition. And shame in a tenderness toward the Lord a real searching of his soul. How could this kindness be shown to me still and I think that's what Paul's after in Romans 2 4.
It's this kindness of God that is meant to lead you to repentance. There's not a Christian here that shouldn't think of the ways that God's kindness is meant to bring you to repentance. Do I still deserve to have these things that I have to live the life that I live.
A life packed in with so much undeserved mercy. How could I still be receiving this kindness Lord? Unless you're leading me to repent more and more to see you as more gracious than I imagine you to be more loving and constant to see your fierce covenantal commitment despite all my failures.
To never doubt that your purpose is to bless. And When you bring famine in the land or when you bring a trial Lord, I'll never doubt. I'll never doubt your purpose to bless because you filled my life with good things.
There's not a covering over of Abraham's sin here at all it really is a Presentation of his weakness his failure and yet he's still a father of our faith. Now things that are recorded about Abraham in the New Testament don't include chapter 20.
You know Romans 4 doesn't talk about Genesis 20, but Of course anyone who was being taught about Abraham would understand the context of Abraham's life of faith. And we realize that just like Abraham.
When we think we're standing we're prone to fall in when we think we're past that it will never come back. We stumble right into it when we think that well now surely I've been taught enough and I'm aware enough and I'm secure enough.
And then all it just takes is some trial some health. Some some tragedy some depression. To go back on all that you thought could never happen again, but look at God's covenantal commitment. If that doesn't motivate you.
To fight the good fight of faith. To resist sin in your life. To chase out the foxes in the vineyard. I don't know what will. Look at his graciousness. Look at his covenantal jealousy. It's all meant to lead you to this kind of repentance.
To encourage you on the way. Keep conquering. Don't don't lose heart. Keep advancing in your life. Look at the God who serves. He remains sovereign over us even when we're doubting him. His care is sovereign.
He restrains those who would wound us or hurt us. He remains gracious even when we sin. Who could imagine serving a god like this who blesses our failures? Who pours out blessings upon us despite our stumbling and this is the god we worship and the god we enjoy the god.
We come to know and all of that goodness and kindness and abundance is meant to lead us to more and more humility more and more repentance. We read the last verses of our chapter verses 17 and 18. Abraham prayed to god and god healed abimelech his wife and his female servants and they bore children.
For the lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of abimelech because of sarah abraham's wife because of sarah abraham's wife god used sinful abraham to pray. For abimelech. It was sinful Abraham's prayer that brought healing to abimelech and his household and arguably his kingdom.
It was sinful abraham's prayer. That god used to restore life. And a generation to come in abimelech's family. It was sinful abraham's prayer. Remember in genesis 19 that delivered lot.
From sodom.
So even though his faith is faltering God uses sinful abraham to bring blessing to the world. Abimelech must have been shocked by all of this. You can imagine him around the banquet table some months later.
You know some relative or something comes to visit him and he's telling about it. I don't even I still don't know what happened. All I know is I was lied to. And I take this elderly woman into my care into my harem.
This should be a good situation. Then god comes to me in a dream says he's going to kill me. Says I have to go to the guy who lied to me. So he can pray for me so that he won't kill me. That's all I know.
You make sense of that.
I don't know.
It must have been shaking his head. But abraham is a prophet. Abraham now has a testimony. Abraham would have had an opportunity to tell abimelech. You must understand why god called me out of herb the caldines and why he came to you in that dream and why he Won't allow this to happen to sarah.
You must understand though. I failed and i've doubted but please please hear this. He came to us and said within the year a child is coming a child of promise and I know what the the faithful of old have said this child Will be a means of delivering those who are in the bondage to sin.
This child will be a serpent crusher. And so it's not because of my failure. It's not because of my faith. It's not because of my success. It's because of his promise his covenantal commitment. King of garrar.
You must know. It's not really about me. It's really about him. It's really about his covenant and his promise and oh king that you would humble yourself and cry out and become part of that covenant. In his sovereignty god protected sarah.
In his sovereignty god protected abraham. In his sovereignty god protected his promise despite our failures our stumbling as Wild as they may be god sovereignly keeps his promise. And so though we are sinful God will use our intercession our prophetic stance in the world as a means of blessing, you know.
Like I know there's many people in the world who say the church. The church. I don't want to go to the church. It's full of hypocrites. It's I know christians I grew up in a church that people are there are worse, you know.
I have a group of friends. They might not believe in god, but they're authentic. They're genuine. We all love each other and support each other and we just want each other to have the best life. And i'm not going to A church i'm not going to be judged and by a bunch of people whose lives are in some ways worse than mine.
No, i'm not going there. I have integrity. I'm authentic. I'm not going to go to the church. Point them to genesis 20. No argument the church is full of hypocrites. The church is full of sinners. The church is full of people who have all sorts of catastrophic failures in the very moment.
You'd expect them to have the greatest success. No one's arguing that. But god said you will not be cleansed. You will not be healed. You cannot be saved. Unless you come to church. Because church is where you're going to hear about the lord.
Jesus christ and what he's done. On the cross to save sinners like you. And like all the sinners who come to church every week. And so you might feel like the church is the last place you want to be. Just like abimelech thought abraham's the last person I want to go to.
But it's the one place you must. And that ought to encourage our hearts brothers and sisters that our father in the faith faith was also a failure. And though we as a church we as god's people. We as the faithful often fail often fail badly often fail miserably.
God's promise will not be swayed will not be turned aside. The consequences of our sins will be restrained and the blessing will be poured out on our heads all because of god's Covenantal commitment. I'm looking at the time I Have so much left and i'm just going to pass over it.
We've had so many long weeks. So let me try to tie this up. There'll be another day where i'll have five points about the fear of man. Today is not that day. Spurgeon said sometimes the lord leaves his children.
Withdraws his divine and flowings of his grace. Permits them to begin to sink in order that they may understand that faith is not their own work. It's at first the gift of god. And they must always be maintained and kept alive in the heart by a fresh influence of the holy spirit.
Recognize in these times when you're heading south because the going is tough. But these are the times that god is going to test you and he may test you by bringing your hearts low. Allowing that opposition to seem really fierce.
Those those situations to come to just fill you with dread and anxiety. For you to start to think I need to become my own shield. I need to fend for myself. I know what god's word says, but i've just got to make things happen.
Be aware that God is testing you and wants to show his faithfulness to protect you and provide for you. Don't don't lose sight of that. Remember also that when and where you fail god's mercy will not abandon you.
When and where you fail not as a license to sin we always have to be careful. We could easily qualify this and make it a very different point, but that's not the point I want to make Christian only christians christians.
When you fail god's mercy does not abandon you. His promise is sure not because of your success or your failure his promise is sure because of christ's blood. And so in our ongoing battle with sin. Even the sins we fully well know we should not commit.
But we do commit those romans 7 dynamics in our lives the sins that we're even ashamed to admit. The habitual sins that still in many ways have those chain marks over our flesh. Sins that damage us and the people that we love and people beyond that.
Even those failures even those sins even those struggles will not prompt god to abandon us. And to to make his mercy forsake us. And therefore we ought to keep hard and we ought to strive we ought to resist sin.
We ought to turn to the one who's able to keep us from stumbling. We ought to depend upon the grace that he provides. And when you do that, you'll find that these sins actually become in a very strange way.
They actually become part of the way that god blesses your life. Because they keep you so low so dependent upon him. So that he even allows the sins and the failures. To be these milestones in your life as a testimony of his grace to you.
It's a lot to wrap our minds around. Why would god if god's able to restrain the sin of abimelech? Why can't he restrain my sin? If god can sanctify abimelech in that instance and i'm crying out to him to sanctify me.
Why won't he? I've been walking with him. Why won't he deliver me? I've been plagued by this and he knows it doesn't he care for me? And we say yes, but in his mercy which has not abandoned you though you feel it in his mercy.
He desires you to see more and more and more of him. And so he will not heal you that you might go away and never turn to him. He'll allow you to see your flesh for what it is. To live your life in prayer and repentance to turn to him and see his marvelous care and the grace that can never be extinguished to you.
The scottish covenanter james fraser. This is a journal entry he said. Lest you think i'm going somewhere weird with this. This is. This has puritan backing to it. You remember james fraser the covenanters faced such extreme persecution.
In scotland in the 17th century. And this is what he said. I find advantages by my sins. I find advantages by my sins. I may say as mr. Fox, that's john fox of the book of martyrs. I may say as mr. Fox.
My sins have in a manner. Done me more good than my graces. Grace and mercy has abounded where sin has abounded and i'm made more humble more watchful. More zealous against myself. To see a greater need to depend more upon him.
And to love him all the more you see in that way.
You see.
Those those failures in the christian life Become means of blessing. And when you're failing and you're brought low and that shame is exposing you and you have nowhere to turn but to god and repentance know That you're a breath away from 25 pounds of silver.
In other words god will flood your life with blessing. And we began the service with this.
And we begin the service with this.
For this says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place With him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble To revive the heart of the contrite ones if we are faithless brothers and sisters.
He remains faithful He cannot deny himself. Let's pray Father we thank you that indeed so often we are faithless, and always you are faithful, and we recognize it is not because of us, of what we deserve, but only because of your commitment, because you cannot deny yourself.
And therefore, Lord, how great is the reward, because it's sure, it's established not on our efforts, whether good or bad, not on our successes or our failures, but it's established upon what you've done in and through your son Jesus, our Lord.
We thank you, Lord, that in the greatest failures of our lives, Lord, you have a design of grace when our lives belong to the Lord Jesus, when we submit to him and surrender to him, Lord. And I pray, Lord, that if there's an Abimelech here this morning, in other words, someone who feels that they've had some integrity, some success, someone who's perhaps curious about the faith but not subject to it, someone who has not actually entered into this covenant, who has not found this presence in this mercy, we pray that you would make an Abimelech into an Abraham even this morning.
We pray, Lord, as we see in our father in the faith, we pray, Lord, that you would help us to put aside these sins that so easily entangle us, to recognize the habitual sins, the foxes, to see the patterns of sin, to be more aware and on guard when our lives face trials or circumstances, to see that you are a God who tests us in order that you might prove the work that you're doing in us, and that proving comes as a result of bringing us low, of humbling us, Lord, of bringing us to repentance, for indeed the Christian life is a life of repentance.
I pray, Lord, if there's a brother or sister in a dry place, in a dry season who's despairing, who's beginning to doubt, strengthen their resolve, Lord. Let them see your purpose to bless even in the midst of their failures, Lord.
Might they see your loving kindness, your fierce covenantal commitment poured out to them, Lord. It's unimaginable to think of the glory that awaits us, Lord, and the awe that ought to melt us before you and fill us with a fervent desire to be renewed after your own image, to walk in holiness, Lord, to put aside lawlessness.
Help us, Lord, to see these things. Help us to find your grace at work in our lives, your mercy renewed every morning, Lord. Prevent us from having these catastrophic stumbles, this poor witness and testimony to the world, even as we're thankful, Lord, and we rejoice that despite our failures you still use your sinful, failing people as the means to bring blessing and the revelation of Christ into the world.
We thank you, Father. It's in his name that we pray.
Amen.