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Genesis Chapter
Twenty
I.
Content of the Chapter
Abraham Sojourned in Gerar
A. Abraham called his wife sister (v.1-2);
B. God kept Sarah (v.3-7);
C. Abraham was rebuked by Abimelech (v.8-16);
D. Abraham prayed for Abimelech (v.17-18);
II.
Verse by Verse Commentary
Gen. 20:1 “And Abraham journeyed from there to the South
and dwelt
between Kadesh and Shur
and stayed in Gerar.”
YLT:
“And Abraham journeyeth from thence toward the land of the south
and dwelleth
between Kadesh and Shur
and sojourneth in Gerar;”
Meaning
of Words: “Kadesh”: holy
separated; “Shur”: wall
bulwark;
“Gerar”: a stopping place
a sojourning place
ponder again and again
be
pulled out away;
Literal
Meaning: “journeyed
from there to the South”
the South was close
to
Spiritual
Meaning: in the Scriptures
“
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Even “the Father of faith” Abraham may sometimes
be drawn by the world. How should we “who are of little faith” not be more
careful?
2)
Believers should turn their backs toward the world (“Shur”) and lead a
separated life (“Kadesh”). We should not walk in a vague way ---- love both God
and the world and be dragged away by Satan (“Gerar”).
3) If believers walk by conscience (sojourn in
Gerar)
not by faith
they will be dragged away from God.
Gen. 20:2 “Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife
“She is my
sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.”
YLT:
“and
Abraham saith concerning Sarah his wife
`She is my sister;' and Abimelech king
of Gerar sendeth and taketh Sarah.”
Literal
Meaning: “Abraham
said of Sarah his wife
“She is my sister.” He repeated his former mistake and still
called his wife sister (Gen. 12:13). Therefore
lies with half-truth are
difficult to be rooted out of the mouth of believers.
Spiritual
Meaning: “Abraham
said of Sarah his wife
“She is my sister.” Abraham typifies faith
and
Sarah typifies the promise of God
namely
grace. Faith and grace are like a
couple that cannot be separated. Here it indicates that when believers are
weak
they may turn the relation of faith and grace to that of brother and
sister
thinking that they can be separated.
“Abimelech king
of Gerar”
Gerar typifies the realm of conscience and Abimelech typifies man’s
conscience. In the realm of conscience
everyone honors conscience as the king
and everyone is governed by conscience in walking.
“Abimelech king
of Gerar sent and took Sarah”
it typifies that some who has fine
conscience thinks falsely that one can obtain the grace of God through good
works only.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) That Abraham repeated the old mistake again
indicates us that if man’s mistake has not been utterly rooted out
he may
still make the same mistake when he falls into environmental temptations.
2)
Where there is the union of faith and grace
there is Christ. And believers
will thus be enabled to manifest Christ and bear witness to God.
3) Man’s faith cannot be without God’s grace. And
God’s grace cannot be without man’s faith.
4) Whenever our faith is weak
the grace that we
can partake of God will suffer loss.
5) Let believers walk in life
not in the knowledge
of good and evil.
6) Satan likes to draw men away from God and become
independent of God by the knowledge of good and evil.
7) Everyone desires to obtain the grace of God.
However
the grace of God can be only appropriated by faith
not by the
knowledge of good and evil.
Gen. 20:3 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night
and said to
him
“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have
taken
for she is a man’s wife.””
YLT:
“And
God cometh in unto Abimelech in a dream of the night
and saith to him
`Lo
thou
a dead man
because of the woman whom thou hast taken -- and she married to a
husband.'”
Spiritual
Meaning: it shows that God
withholds His grace
and He never allows men to obtain grace without faith.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) When man falls into severe darkness (“by
night”)
“God will come” keep the one who is of Him. Though man may change
God’s loving-kindness and faithfulness will never change.
2) God
not only guides His people evidently but also keeps those who are of Him in
secret.
3) He
who is senseless to his faults is a dead man in the sight of God.
Gen. 20:4 “But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said
“Lord
will You slay a righteous nation also?”
YLT:
“And
Abimelech hath not drawn near unto her
and he saith
`Lord
also a righteous
nation dost thou slay?”
Literal
Meaning: Abimelech was a king
who represented the whole
nation. Therefore
his activities were connected with the whole nation. The
so-called “righteous nation” was judged according to the world
not God.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) A good man often wants to be justified before
God by his good works.
2) The
world has its own evil and good
and even Satan Himself transforms himself into
an angel of light (2Cor. 11:14). Therefore
man cannot be justified by his good
works.
Gen. 20:5 “Did he not say to me
‘She is my sister’? And she
even she herself said
‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart
and innocence of my hands I have done this.””
YLT:
“hath not he himself said to me
She my sister! and she
even she herself
said
He my brother; in the integrity of my heart
and in the innocency of my
hands
I have done this.'”
Literal
Meaning: “integrity
of my heart and innocence of my hands”
it refers to the sound inner motivation and pure
works.
Spiritual
Meaning: in the so-called
realm of conscience
as long as one’s reason is right
he will feel innocent in
conscience and undefiled in works.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) If believers are careless in words
it will give
a handle of judgment to the world.
2)
Even though the husband and wife do not love the Lord or serve the Lord with
one mind
they may sometimes lie or sin with one mind (Acts 5:9).
3) The
world can at best walk in conscience. However
since man is dead in spirit (see
v.4)
the good words done in conscience can still not please God.
Gen. 20:6 “And God said to him in a dream
“Yes
I know that you did
this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning
against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.”
YLT:
“And
God saith unto him in the dream
`Yea
I -- I have known that in the integrity
of thy heart thou hast done this
and I withhold thee
even I
from sinning
against Me
therefore I have not suffered thee to come against her;”
Spiritual
Meaning: God does not allow
men to receive His grace by good works of integrity.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Without faith
it is impossible to please God
(Heb. 11:6). Though men walk in the integrity of heart
it is still impossible
to avoid offence against God.
2)
Many times
we have not offended or sinned because God withholds us from
sinning against Him.
3)
Grace is given to the one who has faith. Whatever is obtained by man’s works
it can never be grace.
Gen. 20:7 “Now therefore
restore the man’s wife; for he is a
prophet
and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore
her
know that you shall surely die
you and all who are yours.””
YLT: “and now send back the man's wife
for
he inspired
and he doth pray for thee
and live thou; and if thou do not send
back
know that dying thou dost die
thou
and all that thou hast.'”
Literal
Meaning: “prophet” refers to
the spokesman of God. Abraham was called a prophet for he often had fellowship
with God and heard the word of God and knew the will of God. The function of
“prophet” is on one hand to speak to men on behalf of God
commending himself
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God (2Cor. 4:2)
and on the other
hand to speak to God on behalf of men
bringing men to God and praying for
them.
Spiritual
Meaning: “restore…shall live;
if you do not restore her…shall surely die”
God gives the eternal life to all
those who believe in Jesus Christ by grace (
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Let us not possess ourselves of things of others
(Luke 19:1-9). We believers have to lead a new life after we are saved and
return things back to the owners (apology and repayment
Luke 19:1-9).
2)
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the
things that are God's (Matt. 22:21).
3)
Whoever has the word of God
he is a prophet. The most important ministry of a
prophet is to pray for men.
4)
Christians are supposed to speak for God and bear witness to God. However
if
we fail or commit sins in the sight of the world
what a shame it is.
5)
When the dark world does not know we are the children of God
it will not be
astounded by our sins. However
if we are known as evangelists (“prophet”)
it will be much shameful when we commit sins.
6) God
cherishes those who are of Him so much that He speaks for Abraham even in such
condition and gives credit to others.
7)
Knowledge and letter kill
and yet only the Spirit quickens (2Cor. 3:6).
Gen. 20:8 “So Abimelech rose early in the morning
called all his
servants
and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very
much afraid.”
YLT:
“And
Abimelech riseth early in the morning
and calleth for all his servants
and
speaketh all these words in their ears; and the men fear exceedingly;”
Spiritual
Meaning: he who has truly
walked in the conscience knows that there must be gods (Rom. 1:19) and fear
them (Acts 17:22). However
they worship false gods.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) The fear of God helps us to do less wrong
things. If man does not fear God
he dares to do everything.
2)
Many Christians cover their faults
but they are unable to cheat God. And such
motivation is even worse than the world.
Gen. 20:9 “And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him
“What have
you done to us? How have I offended 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.””
YLT:
“and
Abimelech calleth for Abraham
and saith to him
`What hast thou done to us?
and what have I sinned against thee
that thou hast brought upon me
and upon
my kingdom
a great sin? works which are not done thou hast done with me.'”
Literal Meaning:
“You have done deeds to me
that ought not to be done”
here he rebuked the bad works of Abraham of invading the rights of others
for
Abraham made him in sins without cause. The world pays much attention to “the
right of man”.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Let Christians manifest the glorious witness in
the sight of men in conversation (Phil. 2:14-15). If believers are rebuked by
the world because of evil works
it will mostly humiliate God.
2)
Every time when we commit sins
we have owed not only God and individuals but
also the whole group
for we make the group into sin. .
3) Let
us restrain from things that are unlawful in the sight of the unbelieving
world.
Gen. 20:10 “Then Abimelech said to Abraham
“What did you have in view
that you have done this thing?””
YLT:
“Abimelech also saith unto Abraham
`What hast thou seen that thou hast done
this thing?'”
Literal
Meaning: “What
did you have in view
that you have done this thing?” ---- “what had you seen here
that you
have done this thing?”
Enlightenment
in the Word: we walk by faith
not by sight (2Cor. 5:7).
Gen. 20:11 “And Abraham said
“Because I thought
surely the fear of
God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.”
YLT:
“And
Abraham saith
`Because I said
`Surely the fear of God is not in this place
and they have slain me for the sake of my wife;”
Literal
Meaning: this verse indicated
that Abraham was not honest in words
for he foresaw danger.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) It is easy to rely upon the grace of God in
peace and smoothness. However
it is easy to lose faith in the face of danger
for man may think God is not faithful.
2) “I
thought” ---- our thoughts are often untrustworthy
so problems often appear in
our walking.
3) It
is the greatest root of interpersonal difficulty of misunderstanding others and
measuring others by one’s narrow mind.
4) It
is easy for us to condemn and despise such a man who disregards the virginity
of his wife to keep his own life. However
when we face the matter of life and
death
how will we react on earth?
Gen. 20:12 “But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the
daughter of my father
but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my
wife.”
YLT: “and
also
truly she is my sister
daughter of my father
only not daughter of my
mother
and she becometh my wife;”
The Background: it was allowed in the ancient time that man could
marry the one who was the daughter of his father
but not the mother. However
it was later prohibited (Lev. 20:17);
Spiritual
Meaning: both faith and grace
are given by God (Eph. 2:8). We obtain the grace of God through the faith given
by God.
Enlightenment
in the Word: Sarah was both
Abraham’s sister and wife
and both were true. However
it was still not true
for half of the fact was concealed. Indeed believers should not lie nor
withhold half of the fact.
Gen. 20:13 “And it came to pass
when God caused me to wander from my
father’s house
that I said to her
‘This is your kindness that you
should do for me: in every place
wherever we go
say of me
“He is my
brother.”’””
YLT:
“and
it cometh to pass
when God hath caused me to wander from my father's house
that I say to her
This thy kindness which thou dost with me: at every place
whither we come
say of me
He my brother.'”
Literal
Meaning: this verse reveals
us that Abraham’s failure was not occasional
for he had planted the root of
failure decades ago. Even though it had been done when he was in
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) It is not occasional of committing sins. There
is the root of sin hidden inside first
and then there will be sins in proper
occasion.
2)
When believers deal with sins
we shall deal with both sins we have committed
as well as sins that have not been exposed.
3) The
experience of this chapter is previous to the birth of Isaac in chapter
twenty-one. Believers shall first deal with the deep-rooted wrong idea inside
and then experience the great power of God.
Gen. 20:14 “Then Abimelech took sheep
oxen
and male and female
servants
and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to
him.”
YLT: “And Abimelech taketh sheep and oxen
and servants and handmaids
and giveth to Abraham
and sendeth back to him
Sarah his wife;”
Spiritual
Meaning: this verse shows us
that when we truly realize that “the grace of God is given by faith only”
our
conscience will strengthen faith and help faith a lot.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Believers are justified by faith first and then
by works (Eph. 2:8-10) ---- once there is faith
there will be virtues and
knowledge (2Pet. 1:5).
2)
Believers need conscience and good works. But both of them will be efficacious
in the sight of God when they are in keeping with right faith.
Gen. 20:15 “And Abimelech said
“See
my land is before you;
dwell where it pleases you.””
YLT: “and Abimelech saith
`Lo
my land
before thee
where it is good in thine eyes
dwell;'”
Spiritual
Meaning: it indicates that when
the faith of believers and the grace of God are restored
their conversation
does not run against conscience. Therefore
in the realm of conscience
they
can walk freely.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Our God is the Lord of lords. The whole world is
of Him. As long as believers keep right relationship with Him
all things will
work for us (Rom. 8:28).
2) It
is better to let God choose the dwelling place for us than let us choose for
ourselves
for the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places (Ps. 16:6).
Gen. 20:16 “Then to Sarah he said
“Behold
I have given your brother a
thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you[a] before all
who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked.”
YLT: “and
to Sarah he hath said
`Lo
I have given a thousand silverlings to thy brother;
lo
it is to thee a covering of eyes
to all who are with thee;' and by all
this she is reasoned with.”
Spiritual
Meaning: this verse shows us
that when the gracious testimony of God (“Sarah”) is humiliated before the
world for the sake of our weak faith
we have to pay the cost and learn to
appropriate the achievements (silver) of the redemption of the Lord Jesus until
our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22).
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) Once believers have committed sins
we have to
deal with sins (“cover the shame”) and appropriate the precious atoning blood
of the Lord.
2)
Once our faith becomes weak
the gracious testimony of God will suffer loss.
3) Our
Lord is not being unable to sympathize with our infirmities (Heb. 4:15)
so let
us not dare not to life up our head for the sake of our weakness. Instead
what
is most important is to learn a lesson from weakness and failures.
4) Let
believers often keep faith and a good conscience. If there is a breach in the
conscience
it is just like shipwreck and faith will also leak away thereby
(1Tim. 1:19).
Gen. 20:17 “So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech
his
wife
and his female servants. Then they bore children;”
YLT:
“And
Abraham prayeth unto God
and God healeth Abimelech and his wife
and his
handmaids
and they bear:”
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) God’s work needs human cooperation. Prayer is
working together with God.
2)
Believers shall pray for others in not only common days but also in the time
when they are weak and stumble
for pray is not on the basis of one’s own
works.
3)
Abraham’s wife was barren
but he could pray for the wife of others
which
shows us that a believer does not pray for others on the basis of his own
experience.
4)
This prayer of Abraham has transcended his own infirmity and failure.
Believers’ prayer in faith is never based on themselves. Only such prayer
according to God instead of themselves will be granted by God.
5) God
will not hear selfish prayer. The more we pray for others
the more will we
experience God’s power and faithfulness.
Gen. 20:18 “for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house
of Abimelech because of Sarah
Abraham’s wife.”
YLT: “for Jehovah restraining had
restrained every womb of the house of Abimelech
because of Sarah
Abraham's
wife.”
Literal
Meaning: Abraham might stay
in Gerar for less than one year (see Gen. 18:14; 21:2). Therefore
the LORD
closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech for the sake of “Sarah”.
Therefore
God let Abraham learn to put aside his own difficulty of giving a
son and pray for others first.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) If a believer puts aside his own need and
considers the need of others
when God satisfies others
He will also satisfy
the need of his own.
2) God
lets all things work together for us to learn to be established in faith (Rom.
8:28).
3)
Whether one is able to bear a son is not determined by himself
but God.
Whether we are able to gain people in preaching the gospel does not depend on
our own power
but God’s power (Rom. 1:16).
III.
Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons
Know the Worldly Conscience
A. Confess to be righteous (v.4);
B. Innocence of one’s
hands (v.5);
C. Be afraid of God (v.8);
D. Dare not to offend men (v.9);
E. Be willing to consider for others (v.14-16);
F. Lack of life (v.18);
The Relations of Believers with the Worldly
Conscience
A. Believers may falsely think that faith and
grace can be separated in the conscience-upheld environment (v.2);
B. Once faith is separated from grace
testimony will be lost before the world (v.9);
C. If there is something wrong with our testimony
of being favored by faith
people will think the grace of God is obtained by
good works only (v.2);
D. Believers shall fulfill the ministry of
prophecy before those who uphold conscience (v.7);
E. Believers shall manifest the divine life to
the world through prayer (v.17);
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Mary Zhou