Genesis 20 – Abraham and Abimelech

Abraham and Abimelech, Abraham Lies AgainShow more

For reasons not revealed, after being given the promise that in a year’s time Sarah will have a son, and after sodom & gommorah were destroyed, Abraham moved his caravan south near Gaza.
Abimelech was king in that area. Like Abraham did twenty years before, he lied (or half truthed) about Sarah being his sister. Abimelech took 90 year old Sarah as a wife.

This was a precarious situation because it was during this time that Sarah needed to be conceiving through Abraham so they could have a child within the year that God promised they would.
One might excuse Abraham for not initially remembering the events of 20 years before when he did a similar thing with the Egyptian Pharaoh. One might excuse Abraham for being fearful for his life if it was known that Sarah was his wife. But when Abimelech took it to heart and indicated he was going to take Sarah as his wife Abraham should have spoken up.

All is well that ends well?

By the end of this Biblical account it looks like Abraham made out pretty well. But surface reading could be deceiving. This was not a time when Abraham was a good example.

More to the story

One might wonder why this story is in the Bible. Certainly we can learn from Abraham’s mistakes, but is there more to it than just that? Yes there is, and this story is no exception.
There are some very profound insights hidden in this story that demonstrate that this story is bigger than just Abraham lying and everything working out fine in spite of it. This account, like everything in the Bible, has deep significance in understanding God’s work for humanity, and for God’s calling upon us individuality.

Good news

Once again in this sermon Rabbi Jeff Zaremsky helps us find the “good news” in the story. Join us in finding out what that good news is and how it applies to your life.

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