Genesis 20:1-7. 1From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
If this story sound very familiar that’s because it is. Abraham’s journey south to Gerar and his deception of Abimelech (a title, not a name) mirrors Abraham’s conniving back in chapter twelve when he journeyed to Egypt, lied to Pharaoh, risked Sarah’s physical and emotional wellbeing, and failed to trust God.
Why do we tend to fall back into our same sins over and over? Especially after such spiritual successes. Abraham just met God in his front yard. He served him lunch and received, with Sarah, the promise of the son that would be born to them within the year. He heard God’s plans regarding Sodom as a friend of God. He even acted as a High Priest, praying for and receiving the salvation of Lot. In many ways Genesis 19 was Abraham’s spiritual high ground so far. You would think that after how the story of Lot ends, the story of Abraham would continue in great contrast as one of continued growth in faith.
I guess we need to think again. Maybe Abraham didn’t see any of it this way. Maybe the destruction of Sodom was destroying him. And what about Lot? Why didn’t he return home to Abraham? For the third time Abraham has lost his nephew.
The great heroes of the faith are not those without failures and frailties, that’s for sure. And great moments of faith don’t necessarily weed out the sinful and habitual ways that we deal with moments of stress, fear, or shame. Abraham reveals that lying about his wife Sarah was his pre-planned strategy for preserving his own life.
Genesis 20:13. when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, “This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, ‘He is my brother’.”
This wasn’t Abraham taking matters into his own hands because God has been so slow and silent. The Abrahams have a due date – next year Sarah will have a son. So why is he wandering south again? Lying again? Endangering Sarah again? And maybe worst of all, endangering the godly line, the offspring of the woman, the child of the covenant. Abraham is about to fulfill his life’s purpose, and he puts it all on the line for his selfish self-preservation.
When does a saint outgrow their selfish, sinful desires. Surely by 100 years old. The Bible says otherwise. Relapsing into our habitual self-preservation strategies is always a possibility. Wisdom comes when we reject living in denial about our sin and instead ask the Spirit for the awareness to know when and how our selfish responses are most likely to return. Paul warns us to not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes. Hopefully, Abraham’s story can keep us from such ignorance, including knowing when and how the Enemy is likely to attack us.
When.
The pattern throughout the Bible, and the Abraham story, is that Satan attacks just when things are on the upswing for us spiritually. Just when there is about to be a breakthrough in the plan of God. Abraham makes it to the Promised Land and almost immediately he’s leaving it for Egypt (ch.12). God cuts his unconditional covenant with Abraham, then he sleeps with Hagar (Ch.15-16). God visits Abraham and tells him specifically that Sarah will have a son within the year and Abraham goes south again (literally) looking for God knows what amongst the pagans (ch.18,20).
Wherever the kingdom is advancing, wherever the seed of Christ is being planted, rest assured you will find Satan there tempting us to look for something ungodly from fear or frustration. Maybe you just started a new ministry, or have recently chosen to forgive an offense against you. Maybe you’ve moved into a new neighborhood with a commitment to share Christ with your neighbors, or you’ve seen the fruit of your spiritual labors in the home. Maybe your Bible study has gotten deeper and richer, or your witness for Christ at work is baring some fruit. This is when the battle lines will be drawn, and you, my friend, will be in the cross hairs of the fiery darts of the wicked one. Do not be surprised, Christian, at these attacks that come just as you should be celebrating victory in Jesus.
How.
More importantly than the “when” is the Enemy’s “how.” How does Satan attack us? The clear answer is that Satan attacks us at our point of greatest weakness. What was Abraham’s weakness? What situation would cause him to relapse into his deceitful self-preservation strategy with Sarah? It seems clear that he had a disproportionate fear of losing his wife, but maybe more so of losing his own life because of the beauty of his wife. Now, ironically, Abraham is about to lose his wife once again. Instead of self-control, Abraham reverts to self-preservation due to his inordinate fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15. 14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Abraham failed to guard his heart against temptation with the “gospel” truths of his covenant with God. God’s promises should have removed all fear, but they didn’t. God’s promise of a son from Sarah should have kept him at home enjoying his wife, but it didn’t. Why not? Because Abraham failed to specifically apply truth to temptation. Not to mention he placed himself in a situation, in Gerar, where giving into the temptation was reasonable to him. Somehow he needed more, more than what God would give.
To live is Christ means that any and all temptation is able to be overcome. Not by “white-knuckling” it through to the other side, but by trusting in the New Covenant truths that remove all fear. Fear of dying and fear of living. Whatever our greatest fear may be, and hopefully you can identify yours because Satan sure can, it can be overcome by faith in the life giving work of Jesus. A saving work that always provides the way of escape by telling the truth first to our own hearts and then to everyone else.
You: Can you name your greatest fears?
You in Christ: How does union with Christ keep us from self-preservation?
Christ in you: How can the truth set you free today from a specific fear that you are facing?
Prayer: Father, I know I have headed “south” in my faith when I let fearfulness keep me from the truth. Jesus be my truth today. Set me free from self-preservation and give me self-control. Amen.
To Live is Christ 