Scripture Daily

Context No. 3113 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 20:6-10: in context

6God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.” 8Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. 9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” 10Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”

Abraham has again passed off Sarah as merely his sister, and King Abimelech has taken her. But God comes to Abimelech in a dream: I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me; now restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you. In the morning Abimelech confronts Abraham: what have you done to us?

Two things stand out. God says he kept Abimelech from sinning; even a pagan king's clear conscience was, in part, God's own restraining hand at work, guarding against evil in someone outside the covenant. And the sharper point is the reversal. Abimelech, the outsider, holds the moral high ground here, rebuking Abraham, the man of God, for his deception: you have done things to me that ought not to be done. The believer's failure has put an unbeliever in the position of teaching him righteousness. God's people do not always hold the high ground; sometimes the outsider must rebuke us.

Am I humble enough to receive a rebuke even from an "outsider" when my own conduct has fallen short of what God requires?

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