Abraham’s Fifth Failure: Gerar and Repeated Deception – Part 1

Welcome back to our study of Abraham’s failures. I am honored to have this opportunity to share this series of lessons with you. All of us who study the Bible know the story of Abraham. To many people, Abraham is their favorite character in the Old Testament. This man, whom God called “my friend” (Isaiah 41:8), was a man of faith, a man who was willing to leave everything behind to follow God.

The Humanity of Abraham

Sometimes, we forget that Abraham was a human being, and like all humans, he faced his own problems. One of Abraham’s main struggles was believing that he would become a father in his old age. We can all relate to Abraham. When God called him, Abraham was already an elderly man. He was seventy-five years old when he left Haran to go to the land of Canaan.

Several years later, as he traveled through Canaan, Abraham still had no children. Because Abraham owned many possessions, he adopted a trusted slave, Eliezer, as the heir of his house and of the promise God had made to him. Abraham failed to trust that God would fulfill His promise to give him a son. But God came to Abraham and told him, “No, this man shall not be your heir. Instead, you will have a son of your own who will be your heir” (Genesis 15:4). God’s “No” was a rebuke to Abraham for his lack of trust that the promise would be fulfilled and that he would become the father of a son.

Ten years later, Abraham remained without children. He was now eighty-five, and Sarah, his wife, was seventy-five. It was Sarah who believed she would never become a mother because she had been barren since the day she married Abraham. Desperate to have a son and to give her husband an heir, Sarah followed her homeland’s customs and gave her servant Hagar to Abraham as his wife (Genesis 16:3), hoping she could become a mother through her. Hagar then became a surrogate mother to Abraham’s son, Ishmael. Abraham and Sarah tried to help God by producing a son who would be the heir of His promise.

Neither of the plans was acceptable to God. Neither Eliezer nor Ishmael could fulfill the purpose God had for Abraham: that through him and his descendants, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Eliezer could not inherit the promise because he was not a son of Abraham. Ishmael could not inherit the promise because, although he was a son of Abraham, he was not a son of Sarah, to whom God also made the promise.

Abraham also failed God when he did not trust that God would protect him, especially when he put his wife Sarah in danger by surrendering her to become another man’s wife. Abraham used Sarah to safeguard his own life. Twice, Abraham told Sarah to say she was his sister, and because of this misrepresentation, Sarah became another man’s wife. Abraham’s choice to pass Sarah off as his sister posed a serious threat to God’s promise, since it opened the possibility that Sarah could conceive a son with someone other than Abraham.

When Sarah became the wife of Abimelech, God told Abimelech, “it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her” (Genesis 20:6). But when Sarah was sold to the Pharaoh of Egypt, nothing is said about Pharaoh not touching Sarah. Thus, there is a possibility that he indeed touched her, because, as Pharaoh told Abraham, “I took her for my wife” (Genesis 12:19).

Abraham and Abimelech

Today, we will look at Abraham’s fifth failure in more detail. This failure repeats his first mistake of passing Sarah off as his sister to Abimelech, the king of Gerar. The passage for today’s lesson is in Genesis 20:1–2.

“From there Abraham journeyed toward the region of the Negeb, and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While residing in Gerar as an alien, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ And King Abimelech of Gerar sent and took Sarah” (Genesis 20:1–2).

Once again, Abraham is outside the land of Canaan. Abraham traveled to Egypt because there was a famine in Canaan. In this story, Abraham went to Gerar and lived there as a foreigner. The text says that Abraham went “from there.” We do not know where Abraham was when this event took place, but he was probably in the land of Canaan. We also do not know why Abraham headed toward the Negev and settled in Gerar. Gerar was in the area where the Philistines lived. When Abraham went to Egypt to live as a foreigner there, he did so because of the famine in Canaan. As a stranger in Gerar, Abraham had to follow the laws and customs of the place where he resided. For this reason, Abraham faced the same problems he had in Egypt.

Abraham did not learn much from his experience with Pharaoh in Egypt. In Egypt, Abraham asked Sarah to pretend to be his sister because he was afraid the Egyptians would kill him and take Sarah. Abraham was also afraid of Abimelech, king of Gerar. So, once again, Abraham asked Sarah to say that she was his sister. The same thing that happened in Egypt happened again in Gerar, where King Abimelech took Sarah to his harem to be his wife.

Abraham faced the same situation in Gerar that he had in Egypt. He still had not fully learned to trust God to protect him and Sarah. Despite all God had done for him, those deeds did not influence Abraham’s decision.

Through his actions, Abraham once again put Sarah in danger by making her another man’s wife. By giving Sarah to another man, Abraham risked God’s promise. He also placed Sarah in a risky situation because she might have become pregnant by a man who was not her husband.

Why did Abraham act as he did? The text never provides an answer. It is possible that Abraham believed Sarah would not get pregnant because of her age. Perhaps he thought he would be killed and Sarah would be taken from him. Although no reason is given for Abraham to give his wife to Abimelech, his decision is reprehensible. His actions demonstrated his unfaithfulness to Sarah and to God. Furthermore, Abraham never considered how his actions would affect this pagan king. Abraham failed to be a blessing to others, and because he chose to lie again, Abimelech was not blessed through him.

God Intervenes

The intervention of God on behalf of Sarah is told in Genesis 20:3–7:

“But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, ‘You are about to die because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a married woman.’ Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands. Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return 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 that are yours” (Genesis 20:3–7).

The context of Abimelech’s dream presents a unique situation.

Abimelech is a foreigner who has a personal revelation of the God of Abraham, in which God shows His grace to him. When God spoke to Abimelech in a dream, the king defended himself by claiming his innocence. Abimelech told God that Sarah was involved in the plot. Abimelech said to God: “Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’” Abimelech insisted he was not guilty: “I did this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”

Abimelech expected God to vindicate him because his question to God shows that not only he but also his people were at risk of judgment. Abimelech asked God, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent people?” This question indicates that his nation was in danger. Once again, Abraham failed to be a blessing to the nations.

The trouble that may have fallen on Abimelech and his people was Abraham’s fault, not God’s. Innocent people are often caught in the sinful actions of others. Abraham’s failure to trust in God put the lives of hundreds of people at risk.

God knew that Abimelech was innocent: “God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart.’” The biblical text mentions Abimelech’s integrity twice. The first time, Abimelech himself mentions the integrity of his heart when he takes Sarah to be his wife. The second time, God affirms Abimelech’s integrity by declaring him not guilty, thus indirectly placing the blame on Abraham.

God did not allow Abimelech to touch Sarah: “furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her” (Genesis 20:6). This shows that God was working with Abimelech. Abimelech responded to God by refraining from touching Sarah. “The plague that struck the king was not a divine punishment but was meant to prevent the consummation of the sin of adultery. Abimelech’s acquittal, therefore, is serious in intent: God shows that he is just towards the innocent” (Westermann 1985:323).

God then told Abimelech that he was about to die, but the threat of punishment was not final. The action that Abimelech committed—taking Sarah as his wife—affected not only him but also his people. This reveals the interconnectedness of creation. Sometimes, the actions of a wicked person can impact many innocent people. Other times, the actions of a righteous person can benefit wicked individuals who deserve punishment because of their evil deeds. Abimelech did not blame God for what was happening to him and his household; he blamed Abraham.

God knew that Abimelech was innocent, but to avoid judgment for himself and his household, God required him to do two things. First, Abimelech had to return Sarah to Abraham because Sarah was his wife, not his sister.

Second, Abimelech must acknowledge Abraham as a prophet (Genesis 20:7). The statement that Abraham was a prophet indicates that he is an intercessor. God will ask Abraham to pray for Abimelech and his household, and they will be spared. Abraham’s prayer would bring healing to Abimelech’s wife and his female slaves.

In the morning, Abimelech called all his servants together and shared his dream and what God had told him. When they heard the king’s words, his servants were frightened. After explaining his dream, Abimelech summoned Abraham, confronted him, and rebuked him for his actions.

To be continued: Abraham’s Fifth Failure: Gerar and Repeated Deception – Part 2

Completed Studies on Abraham’s Failures

The Five Failures of Abraham (June 14, 2022)
Ur and Haran: Abraham’s Background (February 16, 2023)
The Failures of Faith in Abraham’s Journey
Abraham and Terah: Family Dynamics and Divine Calling
Abraham Before His Call: The Mesopotamian Context
The Call of Abraham: Divine Initiative and Human Response
Abraham and Lot: Separation and Its Implications
God’s Promises to Abraham
Abraham’s First Failure: Egypt and the Wife-Sister Deception
Abraham’s Second Failure: The Eliezer Solution
Abraham’s Third Failure: The Hagar Alternative
Abraham’s Fourth Failure: Laughter at Divine Promise – Part 1
Abraham’s Fourth Failure: Laughter at Divine Promise – Part 2
Abraham’s Fifth Failure: Gerar and Repeated Deception – Part 1
Abraham’s Fifth Failure: Gerar and Repeated Deception – Part 2
The Testing of Abraham: From Failure to Faith

NOTE: For several other studies on Abraham, read my post Studies on Abraham.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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