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Genesis 20:14-18: ‘In all things…’

^“14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelek 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 offence against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.’ ¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, ¹⁸ for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.” NIV UK

It’s necessary to read verse 3 in the light of verses 17, 18. The last two verses explain the third verse. It has been pointed out that Abimelech showed great integrity in dealing with Abraham. First of all, he rebuked him to his face. He didn’t go behind his back. But he didn’t make any excuses either, and he sought to put things right, to make restitution (14-16). So Abraham came out of this fiasco better off than before (in one sense). I am reminded of the great truth that ‘’we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’’ (Romans 8:28). This includes their sins and failures. It doesn’t excuse or justify their misdemeanours, but it does embrace them. We see in the Bible how God even uses the bad things His people get into to further His purposes in them, and in the world at large. Nothing goes to waste. But that doesn’t mean we can ever be blasé about sins. While they can be forgiven, we are not necessarily shielded from their consequences. Always remember that God hates sin and is utterly hostile towards it.  Is there someone you need to get right with today? It may be that, as was the case with Abimelech, you feel you have been wronged by the other party. Don’t let that prevent you doing what you can to sort things out from your side.

PRAYER: Lord, please give me grace to do what I know to be right, even though it may entail self-humbling.

Genesis 20: 8-13: Talking to yourself is no bad idea – but make sure you tell the truth!

^“8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelek 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 never be done.’ ¹⁰ And Abimelek asked Abraham, ‘What was your reason for doing this?’ ¹¹ Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself, “There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.” ¹² Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And when God caused me to wander from my father’s household, I said to her, “This is how you can show your love to me: everywhere we go, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’”’ NIV UK

Abraham was wrong, wasn’t he? (11). Incorrect thinking precedes defective behaving, and we will get it wrong if we tell ourselves untruths. Actually, we are always talking to ourselves, and we often get it wrong. If there was ‘’no fear of God in this place’’ (11), there certainly was now (8)! It is a sad thing when unbelievers appear more righteous than believers; when a Christian needs to be legitimately rebuked by someone outside the faith. Abraham was called to be a blessing, but in this incident he had become more of a curse.

‘…God’s chosen people are not totally righteous…people outside God’s covenant are not totally evil. All people have the capacity to respond to God, and many of them do so to varying degrees.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.161.

Here is a fascinating insight into how human-beings can stick with sinful patterns of behaviour, even when they have suffered previously because of them (11-13). It surely was obvious, after the Egyptian fiasco (12:10-20), that this was not the way for them to go in the future. But, it seems, Abraham’s original request to Sarah was not rescinded. Whenever we cease trusting and take up scheming, we will end up in trouble.

Patterns of sin can not only be deeply rooted; they can also reiterate down through generations (see chapter 26).

PRAYER: Lord, may I not bring your Name into dishonour among heathen people. Enable me, please, to live a godly life that honours you and blesses people.

Genesis 20:6-7: Kept from sin.

^“6 Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.’” NIV UK

Who can say how many times God has graciously and mercifully kept us from crossing the boundary line into sin. We can only thank Him that He does.  Here are three quotes from a daily devotional I read recently:  ‘We ought to thank God daily for the sins we have not committed.’ F.W.Faber;  ‘We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us not to do, not to be.’ F.R.Havergal;

‘You are surprised at your imperfections – why? I should infer from that, that your self-knowledge is small. Surely, you might rather be astonished that you do not fall into more frequent and more grievous faults, and thank God for His upholding grace.’ Jean Nicolas Grou.

PRAYER: Lord God, this morning I feel incredibly grateful for your keeping power. Help me, this very day, to grow more and more in holiness. Please restrain my feet from taking wrong roads. Lead me in right paths for your Name’s sake.

Daily Bible thoughts 1661: Monday 30^th April, 2018: Genesis 19: 30-38: Trickle-down effect. Sorry everyone this is yesterdays note I somehow put on todays twice!

^“30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ One day the elder daughter said to the younger, ‘Our father is old, and there is no man round here to give us children – as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.’ ³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the elder daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁴ The next day the elder daughter said to the younger, ‘Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.’ ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The elder daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.”

This could be a lovely story of family harmony; of a lonely man being comforted in his later years by the pure, familial love of his daughters. But it’s not. It is rather a tale of woe; of shame and ignominy. Note the role played in it by too much ‘’wine.’’ Although you cannot make a case for teetotalism from the Bible (at least, I don’t believe you can), it is more than obvious that we need to be careful around it. Too much alcohol can lead to lowering of inhibitions, and even loss of control altogether. It can make sexual sin much more likely. (This story reminds me of an earlier one in Genesis, about Noah: 9:18ff). From this sordid episode, the Ammonites and Moabites entered the world, and they would be thorns in the side of God’s people. Our behaviour has consequences.

Like it or not, the father sets the spiritual tone and atmosphere for the family. God has made him a leader, and who he is will affect the quality of life in the home. There will be a trickle-down effect, from his example, to his children. Lot’s family life was dysfunctional. I believe this stems from his being a worldly, compromised believer. Someone observed that although Lot had been saved from Sodom, he had not been saved from himself. It was easier to get Lot out of Sodom than to get Sodom out of Lot. In a previous chapter, Lot wanted to give his daughters to a rabid rabble at his door who were clamouring for sex with men. We can only begin to imagine the effect of that on these girls. Also, you wonder what else went on under that roof to damage them. This is not to excuse the daughters for their blatant sin. I believe it’s true to say that every culture in the world condemns incest (A little bit like Abraham with Hagar, they were scheming rather than trusting). But the parents have a major influence on their children, for good or for ill. Lot had sown a lot of bad seeds in his own back garden. We should not be surprised to see the moral weeds which sprang up in due course.

There are some bad dads in the world, sad to say. Bad men, who you feel should never have children. There are also many great dads. Somewhere in the middle, most of us carry on with good intentions, knowing we don’t always get it right. We are conscious we are flawed. There are occasions when we sense we’re getting it wrong, but we’re not quite sure how. But it’s tough being a parent. Most of us grow up reacting against certain things our parents did, and our children will undoubtedly repeat that pattern- given the chance. Even with the best of intentions, none of us gets it right all the time. We regularly experience the pain of seeing our sinful selves in the mirror of our kids’ behaviour, and a rebuking voice says, ‘Thou art the man.’

I read this sad, sad, story today, profoundly humbled by my own imperfections, but also grateful for the grace and mercy of God. Can any earthly dad fail to feel this? As Jesus put it, we are ‘’evil.’’ We have sinful natures, even though we love our children and want to give ‘’good gifts’’ to them. There is only one perfect Father, and He is ‘’in heaven.’’ Today we can count on His love, and cast ourselves upon His mercy, asking Him to ‘’forgive us our trespasses.’’ The fact that we’ve missed the mark often, as dads (and mums), does not disqualify us from His loving embrace, as we find our refuge in Christ.

Genesis 20:1-7: Marriage matters.

“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. ³ But God came to Abimelek 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.’ ⁴ Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, “She is my sister,” and didn’t she also say, “He is my brother”? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.’ ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.’” NIV UK

The great heroes of the Bible, as we have noted before, were flawed. They had feet of clay. Here we see Abraham repeating an earlier sin (Genesis 12). He had fallen off his horse at this fence before. Here he was again, chewing turf! He had displayed such godly, prayerful behaviour in recent times. Why should he once again resort to deceit, to scheming? Like all of us, Abraham was a ‘mixed bag.’ Of late, I’ve been re-visiting the history of early Pentecostalism. I have seen clearly that some of the great men who were used to bring many people to Christ; who performed notable miracles, were flawed and failing. They could say things which were not nice. They could quarrel and compete. They were not totally free of personal ambition. Yet God did use them. You see, a gift is a gift. It’s not a reward. It’s not necessarily a sign that someone is particularly godly, or that all their theology is correct. In spite of his sin, it is still the case that Abraham was a ‘’prophet’’ (7), and he was powerful in prayer. ‘The best of men are men at best.’

I also take heart from this story that God can reach anyone He chooses (3).He can call them up at any time. He has their private number. Both in Bible days and now, God speaks to people in dreams-especially in areas where people don’t have easy access to the Bible. When you try to talk to a person about Christ, you may find their line ‘engaged.’ But the Lord can get through. Don’t doubt it. To you they may be ‘ex-directory; but not to Him!

Once again, this story brings us face to face with the sanctity of marriage. It is a serious thing to violate it. Marriage matters. It is much more than a physical, biological coming together of two people: a man and a woman. It is a covenant. God is involved. To attack marriage is to declare war on God. He conducts the wedding, effectively, and He is deeply invested in these two people staying together through life. If you read what ‘Proverbs’ has to say about fidelity and infidelity in marriage, you are bound to see that adultery is a self-destruct mechanism. If you hide the book of ‘Proverbs’, alone, in your heart, you will not venture into that territory. It sets up a clear, strong fence at the top of the cliff. As someone said, a fence at the top is better than an ambulance at the bottom.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for your good gift of marriage. Graciously help us to guard our marriages, and walk in faithfulness before you and with each other.

Genesis 20:1-7: Marriage matters.

“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.  ³ But God came to Abimelek 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.’  ⁴ Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, “She is my sister,” and didn’t she also say, “He is my brother”? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.’  ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.’” NIV UK

The great heroes of the Bible, as we have noted before, were flawed. They had feet of clay. Here we see Abraham repeating an earlier sin (Genesis 12). He had fallen off his horse at this fence before. Here he was again, chewing turf! He had displayed such godly, prayerful behaviour in recent times. Why should he once again resort to deceit, to scheming? Like all of us, Abraham was a ‘mixed bag.’ Of late, I’ve been re-visiting the history of early Pentecostalism. I have seen clearly that some of the great men who were used to bring many people to Christ; who performed notable miracles, were flawed and failing. They could say things which were not nice. They could quarrel and compete. They were not totally free of personal ambition. Yet God did use them. You see, a gift is a gift. It’s not a reward. It’s not necessarily a sign that someone is particularly godly, or that all their theology is correct. In spite of his sin, it is still the case that Abraham was a ‘’prophet’’ (7), and he was powerful in prayer. ‘The best of men are men at best.’

I also take heart from this story that God can reach anyone He chooses (3).He can call them up at any time. He has their private number. Both in Bible days and now, God speaks to people in dreams-especially in areas where people don’t have easy access to the Bible. When you try to talk to a person about Christ, you may find their line ‘engaged.’ But the Lord can get through. Don’t doubt it. To you they may be ‘ex-directory; but not to Him!

Once again, this story brings us face to face with the sanctity of marriage. It is a serious thing to violate it. Marriage matters. It is much more than a physical, biological coming together of two people: a man and a woman. It is a covenant. God is involved. To attack marriage is to declare war on God. He conducts the wedding, effectively, and He is deeply invested in these two people staying together through life. If you read what ‘Proverbs’ has to say about fidelity and infidelity in marriage, you are bound to see that adultery is a self-destruct mechanism. If you hide the book of ‘Proverbs’, alone, in your heart, you will not venture into that territory. It sets up a clear, strong fence at the top of the cliff. As someone said, a fence at the top is better than an ambulance at the bottom.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for your good gift of marriage. Graciously help us to guard our marriages, and walk in faithfulness before you and with each other.

Genesis 19: 26-29: Take God seriously.

^“26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah, towards all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” NIV UK

‘The inhabitants of the cities of the plain had no idea that they were awakening that morning to the last day of their lives (Genesis 19:23). Life was going on as usual, and then the fire fell (Luke 17:26-30).’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible                 Commentary (OT)’, p.79.

Here are at least 3 lessons from this short passage:

• Sin is serious (The sin described in Genesis 19 is a serious matter);
• God’s judgment is real. We should look and learn, and fear God. We should recognise that contemporary cities could suffer a similar fate, for God has not changed. He never will. One day we will all have to face God as our Judge, if we do not trust Jesus to be our Saviour;
• A praying person, however, can make a major difference. God listened to Abraham and He saved Lot. In wrath, He remembered mercy. Don’t fail to pray for your relatives – however lost they may seem. One intercessor is a difference-maker. ‘In the same way, God will remember our intercessor prayers. He may not grant our exact requests; He did not spare Sodom as Abraham had asked. Instead, he rescued Lot out of Sodom, which – at least for Lot – was better. So it was God’s mercy, activated by Abraham’s prayer, that resulted in Lot’s salvation.’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.160.

Never forget that although God hates sin, He loves sinners, and wants to save them.

Genesis 19:14-25: ‘Hurry’

“So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. ¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.’¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!’ ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, ‘No, my lords, please! ¹⁹ Your servant has found favour in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it – it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.’ ²¹ He said to him, ‘Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.’ (That is why the town was called Zoar.) ²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah – from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities –                                                              and also the vegetation in the land. ” NIV UK

The gospel message carries with it an urgency, because those who reject Jesus Christ, and his offer of salvation (rescue) are ‘’condemned’’ (John 3:18). This wonderful passage in John’s gospel shows that it is not God’s desire to judge the world, but to save it. However, by our stubborn refusal of the light, we condemn ourselves to perpetual darkness.

The note of judgment must be sounded in gospel preaching, otherwise we are not proclaiming the full gospel. We must say what the Bible says, even though some people may treat it as a ‘joke’ (14).

Our message also is that people should ‘’Flee’’ for their lives. In our case, we are not saying, ‘Flee from your country, your city, your town, or your village.’ But we are most definitely saying, ‘Flee to Jesus.’ In Him alone we find refuge from the judgment we so richly deserve.

PRAYER: Lord, we live in a day in which there is pressure on us to not say that certain things are wrong. Many people do not want to hear that they are accountable to Almighty God. So please strengthen your people to ‘stay true to truth’; to remain solidly faithful to you.

Genesis 19:4-13: Which Bible are you reading?

^“4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom – both young and old – surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.’ ⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, ‘No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.’ ⁹ ‘Get out of our way,’ they replied. ‘This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.’ They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. ¹² The two men said to Lot, ‘Do you have anyone else here – sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³ because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.’” NIV UK

A famous preacher was quoted as saying words to the effect that if God does not judge America, He will have to apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah. It was a graphic way of making his point. The same thing could be said with reference to the entire western world – for starters. In reading this story, the predominant sin of Sodom is obvious. It is also clear that the judgment of God fell on the city because of it. When some professing Christians say they read their Bibles, but can’t see what’s the big deal with this kind of behaviour, I have to wonder, ‘Exactly which Bible are you reading?’ Genesis 19 is NOT advocating such conduct.

What a contradiction Lot is. Part of eastern hospitality included a strong sense of the duty to protect one’s guests. But how could a father treat his daughters in such a careless fashion? Lot was a foreigner in Sodom, as was pointed out to him. But too much of that city had entered his own soul. He was a deeply compromised man.

‘What had happened to Lot’s personal values that he would offer his daughters to satisfy the sensual appetites of a mob? (In contrast, Abraham would offer his son to the Lord.)’ Warren Wiersbe

PRAYER: ‘The world is ever near me, around me and within; O Jesus draw thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.’