Lesson 46

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Bible Study 1 - Genesis 20

 

Series # 4:         FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FAITH

Lesson 46:        Genesis 20.1-18  WE HAVE HOPE IN THE MIDST OF OUR FAILURES


Genesis 20:1-18(KJV) “1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.  2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.  4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?  5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.  6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.  7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. 8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.  9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.  10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?  11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.  12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.  13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.  15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.  16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.  17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.  18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.”

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

These verses portray a horrible failure in the life of one of God's choice servants. If you remember Abraham's journey down in to Egypt in Genesis 12:10-20, you will notice some similarities between this event and that one.

 

It is never pleasant to see failure in the life of one of God's children. However, because we are GROWING TOGETHER IN CHRIST’S LOVE I am thankful that God did not sweep Abraham's sin under the rug. I am grateful that He saw fit to record this event in the pages of Scripture. I am grateful because, like Abraham, you and I struggle with sin also. Sometimes, you and I struggle with the same sins over and over because we are still human, whether we are honest enough to admit it or not. What we need in the midst of our struggle is some encouragement! What we need is the blessed assurance that WE HAVE HOPE IN THE MIDST OF OUR FAILURES!

 

This passage I want us to study offers us that hope to our hearts today! It may seem like a passage of darkness, gloom and failure, but in reality, it is a passage filled with hope and help for you and me. As we study this chapter together I want to point out a few principles that are contained here that speak to your need and mine.

 

INTERPRETATION:

 

SINNING DOESN'T HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE

 

Remember that Abraham is 100 years old when this event occurs. When he did this same thing in Genesis 12, he was just beginning his walk with the Lord. Here, he should be at the height of his maturity as a believer. Notice also that this is a sin he has carried with him for many decades, v. 13 “And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.” For us the point is clear: there will never be a time when we will be beyond falling! Therefore, we need to avoid some of the mistakes that Abraham made.

EXPLANATION:

 

NEVER STOP TRUSTING GOD TO TAKE CARE OF YOU

 

Why was Abraham there in the first place? Well in Gen. 12, he went because of a famine, not believing that God would take care of him. This time, we are not told why he went, but my opinion is that he was getting away from Sodom and Gomorrah. He probably thought that all the area would be burned up.  When we come to the place where we no longer trust the Lord to meet our needs and to get us through the trials of life, we are headed for disaster! This a dangerous place and should be a red flag to us that we are about to start down the wrong road.

 

NEVER PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF TEMPTATION

 

Abraham had a fear that some man would kill him so that he could have Sarah. When he felt this fear, he was inclined to lie to save his own hide, not believing that God would be able to take care of him.  Only a foolish and unreasonable person subjects himself to temptation's lure and believes that he will walk away unharmed! If you know that you have a problem in a given area, you are foolish to place yourself in a position to be tempted! When temptation comes, you and I need to be like Joseph and Run! – As he did in Genesis 39)

 

We must never let down our guard! May we never come to think that we have arrived at a place where we cannot sin, or where we are free from the temptation to commit a particular sin. As sure as we let down our guard, we are headed for trouble. The Bible says in 1st Cor. 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” As long as we live in this flesh, we will never be safe from temptation!

 

REMEMBER THAT SIN CANNOT OVERCOME GRACE

 

ABRAHAM WAS BLESSED - EVEN WHILE IN SIN.

 

Even though Abraham is clearly out of God's will at this time in his life, he was still enjoying the Lord's blessings! That may mess up our theology, but it is still true! You see, even when Abraham is in a place of his own choosing and was not doing what God asked him to do, he was still being blessed by the Lord.

 

NOTICE THE BLESSINGS THAT CAME HIS WAY:

 

  1. The Bible implies in verse 17, HE FORGAVE HIM OF HIS SINS – “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.”

     

  2. The Bible says in verses 2-9 and verse 18, HE PROTECTED HIM FROM HARM – “2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. 8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.”

     

    18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.

     

3.     The Bible says in verses 14-16, HE BLESSED HIM FINANCIALLY – “And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.”

 

4.     The Bible says in verse 17, HE USED HIM FOR HIS GLORY – “So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.”

This same principle is witnessed in the life of Elijah - 1 Kings 19.

 

What does this teach us?

WHEN WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN WE ARE HIS – IN SIN OR OUT OF SIN.

Simply the truth that who we are in Jesus cannot be invalidated by our sin!

 

We all know that God chastens His children. Jesus says in the Bible in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” The Bible says in Hebrews 12:6-12, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;”

 

However, how many of us could testify to the truth that there have been times when we were miles away from the Lord and He still blessed our lives! What would you call this is this? This was nothing less than God’s grace! God’s unmerited favor toward undeserving sinners! Why in this world would God do such a thing? Just because He loves us, we are His children by virtue of the shed blood of His only begotten Son on the cross for our sins. Whereas we look back to the cross, Abraham looked toward the cross for the forgiveness of sins. This just serves to remind us that God deals with us on the basis of who we are rather than on the basis of what we do! This does not give us a license to sin! This does not mean I can go out and sin all I want to and it makes no difference! Friend, I sin every day more than I want to. A redeemed sinner is going to want to serve the Lord, live for the Lord, be as sinless as possible and will not rest until things are right between them and the Lord. There will come a time when at some point when God will deal directly and completely with the sin that resides within His children's heart. I thank God than even our sin is unable to separate us from the love of God that we have in Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

NEVER START THINKING GOD’S PLAN CAN BE DERAILED

 

SIN CAN HINDER THE PLAN OF GOD.

 

When Abraham left the promised land to enter Gerar, he placed the plan of God in jeopardy. You see, supposedly God had promised to send the promised seed within a year. The Bible says in Genesis 18:10-14, “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?” Abraham showed very poor judgment! If Abimelech had been allowed to sleep with Sarah, it could have short-circuited God's plan. Of course, the Scriptures tell us that God prevented anything like that from taking place!

 

Another problem is the fact that Abraham is the sole representative of God Almighty. The Bible says God said to Abimelech in Genesis 20:7, “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.” Abraham has been commissioned to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Instead of being a blessing and a witness for God, Abraham's life could have been a hindrance to prevent Abimelech from coming to God. However, in spite of Abraham's sin, God spoke to Abimelech and dealt with him anyway. Again, the Bible says in verses 6-7, “And God said unto him (Abimelech) in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.”

 

SIN CANNOT HALT THE PLAN OF GOD.

 

Regardless of what we do, God's plan will be accomplished! For too long, preachers and self-righteous people have tried to keep the people of God in line by using fear tactics against them. Children of God have been told to live right or God can't bless, He can't work and He can't save souls. Many have been told that they have sent others to Hell by the lifestyles they live. Many have been told that even after they have been saved, if they sin again they will go to hell unless they get saved again. That has always been a mystery to me because my Bible tells me that any person who says he has no sin is a liar. Well, I just want to set the record straight right now my dear friends! GOD IS BIGGER THAN THAT! God is bigger than any temptation! God is bigger than any sin! God is bigger than any self-righteous preacher, Sunday school teacher, deacon, momma or daddy or anyone else who is a religious know-it-all trying to use scare tactics to keep others traveling the path of their making. We can certainly hinder God from doing His work for a period! We might miss out on the full blessing of being a part of what He is doing, but GOD IS BIGGER and SIN CANNOT HALT THE PLAN OF GOD! God will accomplish His will in the church and in the world whether we obey or not or whether we cooperate or not!

 

Another thing, no one can "send anyone to Hell." Men go to hell when they refuse to receive Christ as their Savior and nothing you or I do can cause them to do that or prevent them from doing that! That may not be what you have heard all your life, but it is still the truth! Our job is to warn people, to tell them of the love of Jesus, and to live right before others, but the decision they make in the end in their decision and their decision alone. I cannot convict anyone of their sin and save them because that the work of the Holy Spirit and I cannot send them to hell if they refuse and reject God. The Bible says in Ezekiel 3:18-19, “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

 

Did you know that Abraham's sin should have shamed Abraham? But there is no indication that he ever acknowledged it or repented of it! Much like many in our world today! But, think about this: Abraham's sin was used as testimony to the greatness of God. Abimelech would have never known that God was a God of mercy, grace, forgiveness and restoration if that old saint had never fallen into sin! But, because he did, God was able to demonstrate His power through forgiving and restoring Abraham by grace.  This is not an excuse for sinning! It is just a reminder that our sin will not stop God from saving folks. People need to know that our God is a God who saves and keeps through grace not by works!

 

CONCLUSION:

 

WE ALWAYS TRY TO CAMOUFLAGE SIN.

 

While in sin the sinner never realizes that sins camouflage is flimsy and transparent. In fact, everyone can see through it, except the sinner. It is like a smoker who tries to cover up the fact or camouflage the truth that they smoke.  They may chew gum, use breath mints, brush their teeth, put on perfumes and all kinds of tricks.  However, for all of their efforts, those things are flimsy and transparent and they just magnify the tobacco odor and make it obvious that they are a smoker to those who do not smoke. When Abraham was confronted by his sin, he did not repent, but instead he offered up excuses. Here they were. They were not much, but they were the same excuses people still use today. Let’s take a look at them for a moment.

 

1  The Bible says HE CLAIMED THAT HE HAD ACTED OUT OF FEAR IN VERSE 11, “And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.”

  • It wasn't fear that caused this terrible event, it was a lack of faith!

 

2  The Bible says HE TWISTED THE FACTS IN VERSE 12, “And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”

  • Sarah was his sister, but she was more than that, she was his wife!

 

3  The Bible says HE HID BEHIND HIS PAST FAILURES IN VERSE 13, “And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.”

  • He tells the king that this is the way we have always done it.

 

 

Abraham's response to being confronted is to attempt to hide behind some very flimsy excuses. Like the Emperor, Abraham did not even realize that he was fully exposed. When we sin and are found out, we always try to make excuses for our behavior. We will either blame someone else, or we will blame the devil. We may try to pretend that we didn't do anything wrong. We may plead ignorance. We may act like we see no wrong in our actions. There are a thousand ways we can handle sin, but only one way will bring cleansing, restoration and the blessing of God.

 

Sin must be confessed! It must be dragged kicking and screaming into the open and it must be exposed for what it is: black, dirty and wicked! This is God's way! The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If there are some excuses we are hiding behind in our behavior, whether we know it or not, everyone already sees it for what it is and we will never get past it until we can see it for ourselves and deal with it God’s way.

 

We all battle sin! Some more than others, but we all fight it nonetheless. The question is, who is winning the battle, us or our sins? If we want to be free we can be! If we want to be a light to the world we can be. If we want our life to be blessed and to be a blessing, we can have it! All it takes is doing what Abraham refused to do: getting before the Lord and facing our sins for what they are! If we do, the Lord will forgive us and bless us. He will restore us and use us for His glory. That sound good to me! How about you?

 

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you.

rfdenning1951@gmail.com

 

ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord. Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word. Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Any other other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord. Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have. Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord. It is on loan to you – so manage it well! There will be an audit one day! Make sure the Books Balance!

 

All Bible Studies Are Prepared by Pastor Frank Denning And May Be Be Used By Permission.