I can't get past Chapter 20 though, there is so much that makes me wonder in this chapter. We read about Abraham telling King Abimelech that Sarah is his sister, just like he did with Pharaoh 25 years earlier. Abraham once again asked Sarah to agree to this so that he would live. He thought he would be killed so that Pharaoh could have Sarah, because she was so beautiful. It didn't go so well, but Abraham was spared and so was Sarah. Here he is doing the same thing again. So King Abimelech of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
God comes to Abimelech in a dream and tells him what is going on. Abimelech is completely surprised, he had no idea Sarah was married. He even confesses to God that he is a man of integrity and innocent. He appeals to God to hold back His wrath. God says He knows the integrity of his heart and therefore kept him from sinning against God, "lest he touch her".
This isn't even to the part that wows me, but I have to stop here and make some notes. First, God knows our hearts. He knew that Abimelech's heart was pure. Second, God was able to stop anything from happening between Abimelech and Sarah. There would be no question who the father of Isaac would be in the next chapter. God's plans cannot be thwarted. And the last thing, that breaks my heart, when we sin - it is against God. Genesis 20:6 says, "...I kept you from sinning against Me...". When we sin, we hurt others and ourselves, but ultimately it is God we are offending. Oh boy.
Back on track. God tells Abimelech to restore Sarah to Abraham. And then he says Abraham will pray for the king and he will live (there is that "life" theme again). This is the first mention of prayer that I have noticed. Some have "called on the name of the Lord", but we haven't seen anyone pray yet.
When the king follows through, Abraham did indeed pray for the king. This is verse 17:
And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.
Did you notice the progression? God said that Abraham would pray. He prayed. Then God healed. Why did God do this? What would have happened if Abraham didn't pray? God doesn't need our prayers to heal others. (And another side note: the first mention of prayer, is for healing, this also interests me...)
1 Peter 3:12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer..." Remember back in Genesis 15:6 when Abraham believed in the Lord, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness? And here we are, the eyes of the Lord are on Abraham and He heard his prayer. And God responded.
Abraham had just made the same mistake he has already made. He was trying to protect himself by saying Sarah was his sister and jeopardizes the lives of many people again. Then he makes excuses as to why he did this.
We are no different than Abraham, making excuses for our bad behavior. We also are going to stumble along. And yet God wants us to be a part of His story. He invites us in. He wants to hear from us and then He wants us to see Him at work. Opening up the wombs of those women is only something God could do. And as Abraham has a front row seat to see this miracle, He is on the verge of his very own.
No comments:
Post a Comment