The document discusses the story of Abraham and Abimelech from Genesis 20, highlighting Abraham's recurring sin of deception regarding his wife Sarah. It explores themes of human fallibility, God's grace, and the consequences of sin, noting that even the righteous can struggle with imperfect behavior. The narrative emphasizes that faith and God's grace ultimately provide security despite human failings.

1. Genesis 20

2. I can relate to all its heroes.
With the exception of Jesus they are all
sinners, and have the same issues I
have.
Even Abraham and Sarah.
Abraham has a sin he doesn’t want to
let go of.

3. Before we come down too hard
on Abraham, lets look at
ourselves.

4. Alcohol, drugs, excessive eating
Gossip, anger, slander
Lust, bitterness, resentment
Debt, a lust for money, reluctance to give to the
Lord
Sexual sins
Wasting time, neglecting time for God

5. Genesis 20:1–2 Abraham
journeyed from there to
the Negev region and
settled between Kadesh
and Shur. While he lived
as a temporary resident
in Gerar, 2 Abraham said
about his wife Sarah, “She
is my sister.” So
Abimelech, king of Gerar,
sent for Sarah and took
her.
Abraham is on the move
He was in Mamre for
about 20 years, living
among the Oaks.
He left immediately
after the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abram uses the same lie
of protection in all his
travels. “Sarah is my
sister”.
Abimelech may be a
name ascribed to kings in
this area.

7. Chapter 12 Chapter 20
Place: Egypt Place: Gerar
Time: Early in Christian Life Time: Late in Christian Life
King: Pharaoh King: Abimelech
Abraham’s response to rebuke:
Silence
Abraham’s response to rebuke:
Excuses
Result: Abraham left Egypt Result: Abraham stayed in Gerar

8. Maybe, because he has used this lie everywhere he
has traveled and there were seldom issues. It’s a 25
year old lie.
Maybe, because he prospered in Egypt last time he
used it.
Maybe, though he had the lack of faith the tell the
truth, he had faith that God would pull him out of
it.
Even though Hagar and Ishmael resulted from the
last lie, Abraham doesn’t grasp the negative
consequences.
Why do you repeat your sins?

9. 3 But God appeared to
Abimelech in a dream at
night and said to him,
“You are as good as dead
because of the woman
you have taken, for she is
someone else’s wife.”
He protects the promise.
He protects Sarah.
By revealing the lie, he
protects Abimelech from
unintentional sin.
The Revelation is an act
of God’s Grace (Revealing
Grace)

10. 4 Now Abimelech had not
gone near her. He said,
“Lord, would you really
slaughter an innocent
nation? 5 Did Abraham
not say to me, ‘She is my
sister’? And she herself
said, ‘He is my brother.’ I
have done this with a
clear conscience and with
innocent hands!”
Abimelech uses almost
the same argument
Abraham used in the
previous chapter, “will
you slaughter the
innocent (Abraham said
‘righteous’)?”
Abimelech appeals to
innocence by ignorance.

11. 6 Then in the dream God
replied to him, “Yes, I know
that you have done this
with a clear conscience.
That is why I have kept you
from sinning against me
and why I did not allow you
to touch her. 7 But now give
back the man’s wife. Indeed
he is a prophet and he will
pray for you; thus you will
live. But if you don’t give
her back, know that you will
surely die along with all
who belong to you.”
Restraining Grace – God’s
revealing grace restrained
Abimelech from
unintentional sin.
Protecting Grace – God’s
restraining grace protected
Sarah from defilement by
Abimilech’s household.
Directing Grace – God
directs Abimelech on how
to save himself and his
household.

12. 8 Early in the morning
Abimelech summoned all
his servants. When he told
them about all these things,
they were terrified. 20:9
Abimelech summoned
Abraham and said to him,
“What have you done to
us? What sin did I commit
against you that would
cause you to bring such
great guilt on me and my
kingdom? You have done
things to me that should
not be done!”
Chastening Grace –
Abimelech (the unbeliever)
rebuked Abraham (the
believer).
How embarrassing is that?
What about Abraham’s
testimony?
The unbeliever seems
more righteous than the
believer.
God used Abraham’s sin as
a means of revealing
Himself to Abimelech.

13. 10 Then Abimelech asked
Abraham, “What
prompted you to do this
thing?”
11 Abraham replied,
“Because I thought,
‘Surely no one fears God
in this place. They will kill
me because of my wife.’
What did I do to you that
you would do this to me?
Abraham’s excuses:
He assumed (made a
generalization) they don’t
fear God (remember
Sodom?).
He assumed they wouldn’t
respect the truth.Do we make generalizations that everyone
around us is so bad they won’t listen to the
truth. Instead of sharing our faith, we withdraw
in fear. We are to fear God, not man.

14. 12 What’s more, she is
indeed my sister, my
father’s daughter, but not
my mother’s daughter.
She became my wife. 13
When God made me
wander from my father’s
house, I told her, ‘This is
what you can do to show
your loyalty to me: Every
place we go, say about
me, “He is my brother.”’”
Excuses continue
I didn’t lie, I just twisted
the truth, “she is my
sister”. It’s just a little
white lie (half sister-half
truth).
Little lies can cause the
innocent to stumble.
“Don’t take it personal.
We’ve always done it
this way.”This was a
general scheme, it wasn’t
directed against you.
A twisted truth is still a lie.
The best lie is one that
contains just enough truth to
make it believable.

15. 14 So Abimelech gave sheep,
cattle, and male and female
servants to Abraham. He
also gave his wife Sarah
back to him. 15 Then
Abimelech said, “Look, my
land is before you; live
wherever you please.” 16 To
Sarah he said, “Look, I have
given a thousand pieces of
silver to your ‘brother.’ This
is compensation for you so
that you will stand
vindicated before all who
are with you.”
What were the
consequences? Out of fear
of God, Abimelech
Gave Abraham sheep,
cattle, and male and
female servants.
Gave him permission to
live anywhere in the land
he wants.
Gave him 1,000 pieces of
silver.
Sarah is vindicated.
There is no indication from Abraham’s three lines of
defense that he accepted responsibility or repented for
his behavior.
Though his arguments probably didn’t satisfy
Abimelech, and they certainly don’t satisfy us, they did
seem to satisfy Abraham.
Isaac would commit the same offense in Gen 26.

16. 17 Abraham prayed to God,
and God healed
Abimelech, as well as his
wife and female slaves so
that they were able to
have children. 18 For the
LORD had caused infertility
to strike every woman in
the household of
Abimelech because he
took Sarah, Abraham’s
wife.
What does Abimelech get
out of all this?
Abraham intercedes for
Abimelech and God
healed his wife and
servants of their inability
to have children.

17. The most godly of believers are
fallible.
Sinless perfectionism is not taught in Scripture.
Privileged position does not preclude failure.

18. A generalization that everyone is evil
can be a rationalization to disobey
God
Abraham’s fear of the people caused him to
withdraw from being a proper testimony
for God. He underestimated God’s desire
to show his grace to others.

19. Sometimes believers need to be
rebuked by unbelievers
In this chapter, Abimelech is more righteous
than Abraham

20. Our rationalized excuses for sin are
transparent to others.
Difficult circumstances are not an excuse for doing wrong.
A half truth is a lie. Telling part of the truth and
withholding part of the story is a sophisticated lie.
“We’ve always done it this way” may be merely and
admission of persistent sin.

21. Our failures will won’t necessarily
keep a person from coming to faith
in the Lord.
God spoke to Abimelech in spite of Abraham’s
hypocrisy. God’s grace was manifested to
Abimelech in the midst of Abraham’s failure.

22. Our salvation and security is based
on God’s Grace, not our works.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to
him for righteousness. Even when he failed his
position within God’s promise was secured.
Faith saves and secures us!