GENESIS 20

Fear of man will prove to be a snare. (Proverbs 29:25)
God is relentless in exposing and rooting out sin in his people. Genesis 20  "Did he not say to me, & 39;She is my sister,& 39; and didn& 39;t she also say, & 39;He is my brother& 39;?" (V. 5)

This is the same sin Abraham (and this time Sarah - v.5) committed in Egypt (Gen. 12) but God knew they still had not truly repented so He takes them around the mountain once again. God is relentless in exposing and rooting out our sin and our weaknesses so we will depend on Him completely. "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh   the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit . Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice." (Rom. 8:3 Amp.; Also see Rom 7:14-25; Also see 2 Cor. 1:8-10; 12:7-10)

V. 18 "the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech& 39;s household because of Abraham& 39;s wife Sarah."  "Three things are indicated by these words. 1) The stay of Abraham and Sarah had been prolonged in Gerar before Sarah& 39;s identity became known. Some months would have had to pass before the people realized that they were no longer conceiving at normal rates. This means that Sarah had lived in the harem of the king for several months. 2) The Lord reached out to these people in a way they would find difficult to resist; the wish to procreate was relentless in the ancient world, as these accounts consistently emphasize. 3) God graciously protected Sarah-and Abraham. The chapter ends with irony. Because of God& 39;s desire to protect Sarah (and her soon conception), He had closed the wombs of the women of Abimelech& 39;s house." (Nelson& 39;s New Illustrated Bible Commentary.)

"God came to Abimelech 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." God takes adultery (the seventh commandment) very seriously. "God& 39;s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor-not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you." "Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery."(1 Thess. 4:3-8; Heb. 13:4 NLT)

Vv. 6-7 - God said to Abimelech, "I have kept you from sinning against me (not just Abraham and Sarah). That is why I did not let you touch her." God sovereignly intervenes to bring about His plan for Abraham and Sarah to have the promised son which would have been thwarted if Sarah had remained with Abimelech. We will never know till we get to heaven how many times He has done the same for us to bring about His good purposes in our lives. (Rom. 8:28)

Vv. 8-10 - "Then Abimelech 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 not be done." 10 And Abimelech asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?" These are some questions we may ask those who sin against us when we lovingly confront them. But in this case it is an unbelieving king rebuking a prophet of God no less. Maybe this is what finally brought Abraham to true repentance.

 V.11- "Abraham replied, "I said to myself, & 39;There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife" "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.")Prov. 29:25) "The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:6 NLT) The fear of man stems from our lack of faith in God and proper fear of God. Abraham was in essence thinking, "God won& 39;t come to this place (Gerar -later came to be known as the land of the Philistines) and I must take control over my life." Doubting God& 39;s presence and power to bring about our highest (spiritual) good is the same sin Adam and Eve committed and we commit all the time. We wrongly think we know what is best for us and that we can bring it about better than God can.

V.12- "Besides, she really is my sister." It is true that she was his half-sister but Abraham withheld the whole truth (Sarah was his wife) with the intention to deceive. We too have to see the intent to deceive as sin even when we are "technically right."

Vv.14-16 - "Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, "My land is before you; live wherever you like."  16 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." Abimelech& 39;s generosity must have been an even greater rebuke to Abraham. Whether he did this out of the fear of the Lord and respect for Abraham as His prophet is not clear. But showing respect to God and His representatives is wise.

V. 17-18 - "Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech& 39;s household because of Abraham& 39;s wife Sarah." God alone is the author of life and creates every child that is ever born.  God says, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother& 39;s womb." "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother& 39;s womb." (Jer. 1:5; Psalm 139:13 NLT)

God used Abraham as His intercessor in spite of Abraham& 39;s sin. And thanks be to God He uses us in spite of our many sins.

                          Discussion Questions FOR APPLICATION OF GOD& 39;S WORD

Read Romans 7:14-8:4 and discuss how you can identify with Abraham& 39;s sin and the only way to overcome it.

God takes adultery (the seventh commandment) very seriously. Read Matthew 5:27-30 regarding lust and adultery. What does Jesus mean by self mutilation? 

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe." "The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" (Psalm 118:6 NLT) The fear of man stems from our lack of faith in God and proper fear of God.  Doubting God& 39;s presence and power to bring about our highest (spiritual) good is the same sin Adam and Eve committed and we commit all the time. We wrongly think we know what is best for us and that we can bring it about better than God can. What does Scripture mean by the fear of man is a snare? How can we wrongly fear man? How does that relate to the fear of the Lord?

I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Do you always tell the whole truth? Now, tell the truth. Why or why not?

Scripture Memory verse: "For God has done what the Law could not do, its power being weakened by the flesh the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit . Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, God condemned sin in the flesh subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice." 
(Rom. 8:3Amp.)