Genesis 20 Abraham and Abimelech

Abraham moved south to Negev. Negev means dry and south. There he once again asked Sarah to tell the natives that she was his sister.

Remember that Sarah was at this time in her 90’s. Yet she was still so beautiful that they were in danger if a native King wanted to take her from Abraham.

Also remember that, within this year, Sarah is supposed to become pregnant with Isaac and give birth according to the promise of the angels.

Abemilech, King of Gerar, did come and take Sarah from Abraham. Abraham apparantly stood by and allowed this to happen.

Abemilech, King of Gerar, This term was used as the term Pharaoh in Egypt. It is a title, not a specific man.

Abemilech, was a Philistine King. God came and spoke to him in a dream. He warned him by telling him, “You are as good as dead.”

That would certainly get my attention!! Abemilech addressed God as Lord or Master. 2) Lord - title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence

This curse was not only on the king, but as we see later, every person in his household became barren. The king’s lineage was doomed if he touched Sarah.

So would have been the covenant God made with Abraham and the promise of the coming Messiah. The lineage of the baby would have been in question!

This Philistine king was apparently a Godly man. He was a descendant of Noah. He was one of the sons of Ham. We know that there were other followers of Yahweh because of Melchizedek.

Verses 4 and 5 state Abimelech’s plea to his master, GOD, “Would you kill an innocent man?” This is a great point considering the future troubles that would come to Israel because of the Philistines. At this time, Yahweh was called Master.

Verses 6-7 God says, “I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her” because “your intentions were pure.” Can you think of a time in life when you feel God kept you from making a terrible mistake?

Verses 8,9 Abimelech obeyed quickly - first thing in the morning. He confronted Abraham “What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you?”