Day 8: Genesis 20-22
Today's morning devotion is Genesis 20-22, which neatly captures the birth of Abraham's son Isaac and God's test of Abraham's faith. Along the way Abraham also makes a covenant with Abimelech, securing peace between Abraham's people and the Philistines.
Abraham lives under a divine covenant with God, and so I assume that when Abraham went to Gerar and gave his usual "Sarah is my sister" spiel to Abimelech there's nothing to condemn about Abraham's actions. But regardless of whether Abimelech knew the full truth that Sarah was Abraham's wife, his laying with Sarah would have been an affront to God.
Knowing this, and acknowledging that Abimelech was in general a morally upright individual, God saves Abimelech from committing an irreversible sin.
My takeaway from this observation is that God is fair. God knew that Abimelech acted with integrity, and so God protected that integrity by preventing the sin.
No undue punishment
Abraham lives under a divine covenant with God, and so I assume that when Abraham went to Gerar and gave his usual "Sarah is my sister" spiel to Abimelech there's nothing to condemn about Abraham's actions. But regardless of whether Abimelech knew the full truth that Sarah was Abraham's wife, his laying with Sarah would have been an affront to God.
Knowing this, and acknowledging that Abimelech was in general a morally upright individual, God saves Abimelech from committing an irreversible sin.
Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did 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.” Then 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. (Genesis 20:4-6 ESV)
My takeaway from this observation is that God is fair. God knew that Abimelech acted with integrity, and so God protected that integrity by preventing the sin.
God's will above all else
The account of Abraham (almost) sacrificing his precious son as a burnt offering is incredible.
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (Genesis 22:2-3 ESV)
No doubts. No questions. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his own son, whom Abraham loved, Abraham wasted no time in performing God's will. I'm a father now, and I love my own son. Even if God told me directly to offer my son as a burnt offering today, I'm not sure I could bring myself to do it.
I think ultimately the point, which readers should take away, is that Abraham understood two of the most important principles about this life:
- Everything in this life is a gift from the LORD. Accept the gifts from God humbly, and reply in kind when God asks something, anything, of you.
- No matter what trials and tribulations afflict the faithful in this life, God's kingdom awaits in the next life. Jesus's teachings in the New Testament reinforce this message, teaching man to never grow inconsolably attached to anything or anyone. Place nothing above God.
I think Job said said it best, about how man owes everything to God.
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21 ESV)
Perhaps Abraham's actions convinced God that, eventually, the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus for mankind would be worth the cost.