The following is a transcription of a teaching given on 6/16/20. It has not been checked for complete transcription accuracy.
1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.
A Familiar Episode
Now in this passage, in this movement, something's going to happen that is going to sound eerily similar to an episode that we've already covered in Genesis chapter 12. You might remember there that God had delivered to Abraham for the very first time the massive promise that through him and through his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And that Abraham himself would be a blessing. But eventually, a famine came upon the land. And because of that famine, Abraham moved with Sarah down into Egypt, which was fairly immune from famines because of their situation being positioned around the Nile River. It was fear. It was famine. It was worry. It was need that drove Abraham down into Egypt.
And there, he told his wife Sarah to tell everyone that she was his sister. Now it's very possible as we talked about in that study, that Abraham and Sarah or Abraham himself had contrived this strategy as a way to drive potential suitors for Sarah's hand once they thought that Abraham was her brother, to Abraham. So that Abraham could negotiate for Sarah's hand in marriage to this potential suitor and drive up the price. "No, that's not enough. No, that's not enough. No, that's not enough," until all potential suitors were driven away. And there is a hint in this chapter that this was their constant practice wherever they went. Of course we saw in chapter 12 that it was ineffective when they went to Egypt, because there was one figure in all of Egypt for whom no bargaining power even mattered. And that was of course Pharaoh. He was more powerful than the customs of the day. So God had to bail Abraham out and Sarah out of that difficult situation, because Pharaoh had attempted to bring Sarah into his harem. We're going to see a repeat of that similar scene in this passage today. There are however, some differences.
One major difference is that Abraham doesn't go to Gerar because of any bad situation. There's no famine. There is no fear. It just seems to be a nomadic decision that Abraham has made. Another big difference is that the previous episode occurred in Egypt. That of course was the place that the Israelites escaped from. This episode takes place in Gerar, which is on the coast of Israel in Philistine territory. This means it happened inside of the promised land.
So in a sense, what we're going to see here is this king who does try to take Sarah into his harem, a man named Abimelech. We're going to see him inside the promised land behave in a very godly, upright way. As he learns that he's actually going to potentially commit adultery by taking another man's wife into his harem. And for that, he repents to God, and he makes things right.
So I've decided that through this text, we're going to think about it from the angle of walking in the light. Walking in the light. And the reason for that is I think this was a major part of the lesson that the people of Israel who first read the Book of Genesis would have gleaned from this particular passage. They would have learned as they watched Abraham behave badly and Abimelech behave righteously. They would have learned righteous behavior, what it looks like inside of the promised land. So I'm going to show you eight things as we move through this text about a righteous life walking in the light or walking in the promises of God.
Okay. So there's Abraham, the scene is set up. He's moved with Sarah to Gerar. Now just a reminder of course that in our last episodes, God has reaffirmed the promise to Abraham through Sarah. And the Lord had actually said to Abraham and Sarah that within a year's time, Sarah would have a child and that they would name him Isaac, whose name means laughter. Because of course in chapter 17, Abraham laughed. And in chapter 18, Sarah laughed at the idea that in their old age, they would have a child.
So the promise is on its way. It is coming. And you would almost expect to find in chapter 20, the culmination of the promise in a beautiful story of Isaac's birth. But that's not what we find of course. We find Abraham faltering in his faith and getting in the way of the plans of God. And we're going to see God work and push through Abraham's error to get the job accomplished in spite in many ways, of his man.
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Their Custom Is Often Our Custom
Now as I mentioned already, this apparently was the custom of Abraham and Sarah, wherever they went. In chapter 12, Abraham gave the reason to his wife that she was so beautiful, that he was nervous that other men would want to bring them or bring her into their house. And that they would kill Abraham in order to gain Sarah. So that worry created this particular strategy.
Of course in a sense, we should consider the idea of repeated sin in Abraham's life. A repeated temptation that he buckled to within his life. This seems to be a battle that Abraham lost at least a number of times in his life. Succumbing to fear, manipulation, and thinking that he needed to control things and protect himself rather than being reliant on trusting in the Lord.
He's certainly seen that God is for him. I mean, he's gone out to battle against the foreign kings in chapter 14, and God has given him victory. He's heard the promise of God in various covenants and chapter 12, and 15, and 17. He's had a visit from the Lord himself in chapter 18, and he's seen the judgment of God on the unrighteous in chapter 19. He's become an intercessor for the nations. So he knows that God is for him. But even in the midst of that, he seems to fear and succumb to this practice of self-protection, self-preservation.
And I don't think we should be too shocked about this in Abraham's life, because this is the kind of thing that we so often find in our own lives. Isn't it? Even though we know so much about the Lord. Even though we're very conscious of who he is. And even though we might have great experiences in our past with him. And even though we might be very confident in the gospel that he's given to us, and the position that we have in Christ. So often, we struggle with the same basic temptations over and over again. And for Abraham, it seems that fear was a big issue in his life. So he rose up to self-protect.
Interestingly enough, his son Isaac, after he was born and became a grown man and married himself, committed this same error as well with a different Abimelech in his life and in his story. It says in Proverbs 26:11, that, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a man returns to his folly." And it's just good for us I think as humans and as believers especially, to ask ourselves the question or better yet to ask the spirit the question. What is my folly? What are those things that I am prone to return to? It's in those areas that we especially need God's grace and God's help that we might overcome.
The Plan Jeopardized
So here we're seeing a tendency of Abraham. And of course, what they were doing in this episode was jeopardizing God's plan. But the Bible says in Second Timothy chapter one that when we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. So even though they endangered the plan of God. I mean Sarah going into a foreign king's harem, having sex with another man. That would jeopardize the whole plan of God that through Abraham and Sarah together, they would have the promised seed who eventually would give birth to the serpent crusher that we saw way back in Genesis chapter three. But even though they jeopardized it, God will be faithful in this episode to see his plans through.
Sarah's Apparent Beauty
Now before we move on into verse three and really began looking at what it means to walk in the light through Abimelech's story and his efforts to get back into the light himself. There is an interesting question to be asked here about Sarah and her apparent beauty. I mean, we have been learning through this passage that Abraham and Sarah are old. She is about 90 years of age at this point. And foreign kings collecting harems were not normally going out finding 90 year old women to bring into their harems. They were finding young women who were in the flower of their youth and in the zenith of their physical outward beauty. So it does bring up the question, what's up with Sarah?
So there are some suggestions. My belief is that she was 90 years old, but that God had blessed her with a beauty that was so strong. Whether it was because of what was happening in her spirit, but also externally. That Abimelech was drawn to her. I also believe that the devil himself was involved in this story. All throughout the Old Testament, it's clear that the devil tries to put a stop to the line of Christ before Jesus can come. So I believe that that is happening here in this particular episode.
It's also very possible given the age lengths of the patriarchs, and we've talked about this previously. That you basically could cut the number in half and kind of get an idea for what they might have looked like physically at that point in their lives. It seems that they were living about twice as long as we would live in our modern times. So maybe Sarah had the looks more of a 40 or 45 year old woman. And with stunning beauty to begin with, you could start to see and understand how Abimelech might have been drawn to her in that kind of way.
Some people do think that this is an episode that occurred when Sarah was in her late teens or in her twenties. But that the author has inserted it here because of its poignancy to put the story or the promise in jeopardy.
I reject that view as do most conservative scholars. But some even wonder if what God did when he promised that a child would be born through Sarah, is that he began to reverse the aging process and made her in many ways young again. Not just look young again, but able to conceive. Actually young again. Of course we have no idea, but apparently Sarah was so beautiful that Abimelech wanted to bring her into his harem. And so Abimelech verse two king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3 But 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.”
Abimelech's Dream
Now this is quite the dream and quite the message that Abimelech receives. And it's actually very interesting because literature from that time and from that era, from that area helps us understand that it was a popular concept that the deities that existed in their minds would speak to people and especially kings and authority figures. In what are called authority message dreams. Authority message dreams. The idea that many of them held was that the gods would speak to the priests of various gods and the prophets of various gods in other ways, but would speak to common people and especially leaders through these authority message dreams.
And that's exactly what God delivers to Abimelech. He gives to him this powerful dream. Not where there's a vision of something that he's trying to discern. What does this vision mean? What did this dream mean? But just a direct word. And the direct word. I mean, it begins starting only with, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man's wife."
Walk In The Light -- 1. Hear God's Law.
Now the first thing that I think this draws out. If you were an ancient Israelite reading this particular passage. You've just come out of your slavery in Egypt. Moses has gone to Mount Sinai. The law has been distributed, written on the tablets of stone. You've received the ceremonial law. And you're starting to learn what this God who has just delivered you, who is the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, your forefathers. You're starting to learn what this God is like, what his commands are, how he sees you, and what he wants from you and what he thinks is best for your people.
And when you went to the tablets, the 10 commandments, and read the seventh commandment, you had read thou shall not commit adultery. And right here in this passage, we see that God rebukes a foreign king because he is in danger of committing adultery. He has taken another man's wife. It's very serious. That's the way that God expresses it. It's not a slap on the wrist sin. It's not a sin of low consequence. He says to him, "You are a dead man."
And all of this I think would have spoken to ancient Israel, that one of the elements that's needed in order to walk in the light is an understanding or a hearing of God's law. That's the first thing I wanted to point out to you. All through this passage, the law of God, the desires of God are going to be paramount. Held high, put at the forefront.
And I think for us, if we want to walk in the light, a part of walking in the light is knowing what the light is. And that's what we discover when we turn to God's law or to put it another way, God's holy word. God's scripture.
You see, as you look into the word of God, you're discovering God's will, God's desires. What it looks like to live a life that is in the light. And the whole series here in Abimelech, because he's going to respond very positively to this dream. And he's going to do everything he can to get right with God and get back in the light. But it all began with an acceptance of God's word. A respect and a reverence for God's command.
And that really is kind of the pillar cornerstone foundational element in the life of a person that wants to walk in the light. That they love the word, that they love the scripture. That it's their meditation, their hope, their belief, a place that they go to for not just comfort and encouragement, but for direction and structure. Guidance in the way that they will build their lives. So the first element here is the hearing of God's law or a love for God's word.
Might I just encourage you to be a lover of the word of God. All of the word of God. I've so delighted in the opportunity to be able to teach through the book of Genesis. To be able to on Tuesday nights, open up the pages of scripture and talk about God's word. But I'll be honest with you. The thing that I delight in so much about it, the thing that brings me so much joy in it is not so much able to declare it to you. Not so much being able to speak it to you or be in front of people. No, that actually doesn't really get me all that excited.
The thing that excites me is to wake up on those mornings where I know that I'm going to get to spend some time studying a new, fresh chapter in the book of Genesis. Opening up commentaries, or digging into scholars, or listening to studies. Thinking about God's word. It's just an exciting thing to me. Now I've had to guard over the years from just an intellectual or being excited about it from that kind of angle. Just I want to try to learn as much as I can. Now for me, it's just a love for the scripture itself. And I'd encourage you to be that kind of person who opens up the Bible and says, "I want to know who the Lord is." That's where it starts.
Let's see though, how Abimelech responded to this dream from God.
4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 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.”
Similar To Abraham
It says now Abimelech verse four, had not approached Sarah. In other words, he had not yet had a sexual relationship with Sarah. She was technically part of his harem. He had taken her into his household, but he had not yet known her sexually.
Now Abimelech's response is interesting because of course, God is giving Abimelech a chance to come clean. You see God doesn't just come in and judge Abimelech. He rebukes Abimelech for his sin and Abimelech interprets it correctly. He doesn't just say, "Woe is me. I guess I'm a dead man." No, man. He fights for his life a little bit. He responds. He realizes that God is providing an opportunity for him to be restored.
So he goes back to the Lord and he says something that should be fairly familiar to us because we saw it in chapter 18. Remember when God said shouldn't we tell Abraham what we're going to do in Sodom? And told Abraham that Sodom was about to be judged for its unrighteousness. And what did Abraham do? Well, it says in Genesis 18 verse 23, Abraham said, "Will use sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" Abimelech praise like Abraham did. "God really, will you kill an innocent people?" So he's appealing to the nature of God.
6 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.
Something Hindered Abimelech
Now this is fascinating because we don't know what it was. But apparently, there was something that kept Abimelech from putting his hands on Sarah. Something that kept him from having that sexual encounter with Sarah.
And again, it doesn't say what it was. There are some hints in the text, but it could have been something completely outside of the text. I mean, he's a king. So perhaps as he's trying to govern his city, his schedule is so full and he's so tired. There's no time. There's no space in his life for that kind of experience during the moment that Sarah is within his household. But it does seem given what we'll read at the end of the chapter, that the Lord had closed all the wombs within Abimelech's household because of Sarah and her presence there in his harem. It does seem that there was some kind of plague that had been brought upon Abimelech's household. Those closed wounds suggested that the Lord had done something to him. And I think Abimelech kind of knew that something was up, something was off.
Personally, I'm with those who wonder if when it says that God had closed the wombs, that it's possible that it's not just talking about an infertility in the women in the household. But that that is an expression used to describe just a general sexual dysfunction within the home. In other words, I'm wondering if Abimelech just had no ability during this time. And he was wondering now, "What is going on?" Some have even wondered if there was some kind of male and female discharge in the whole household that was keeping those sexual relationships from actually taking place. Somehow some way though, Abimelech was unable to engage with Sarah sexually.
Walk In The Light -- 2. God Will Provide A Way Of Escape.
Now, what do we learn from this? Well as God confronts Abimelech, and as Abimelech appeals to God's character and says, "Will you kill an innocent people?" And God says to him, "Yes, I know that you've done this in the integrity of your heart. It was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her." What this helps us remember is that part of walking in the light is understanding that God will give to his people a way of escape. God will give to his people, will provide for his people a way of escape.
It says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it."
Did you get that? For God's people, whenever a temptation occurs, there are certain things we can know. Number one, it is not beyond our ability to resist. Number two, it is not unique to us. Other people have experienced like temptations. And number three, God provides a way of escape inside of every temptation that the enemy holds out to us.
And here was Abimelech's way of escape. God had kept him from touching Sarah. And now, he had a window of opportunity with which to act. Now he could have resisted God during this moment. He could have said to himself in his heart of hearts, "This is a beautiful woman. I want to engage with her at some point. And though I cannot right now, I'm going to push through, even though God has revealed this to me. I'm going to push through and get what I want in my flesh." But God was giving him a window. God was giving him a way of escape.
The people of Israel when they read this would understand that in every temptation that they experienced there in the promised land, every idol that was tempting to them, every foreign power that tried to join together with them. Every licentious relationship that was proposed to them. There was a way of escape. God was involved with them. God would provide a way for them to get out of it if they so chose to walk with him. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Abimelech does.
Now for us today, we have to remember that in our own lives as well. We have to remember to take that way of escape. I find a lot of times, the way it works is that temptation comes. And by the way, when temptation comes, you shouldn't feel decimated by the presence of temptation. The temptation itself is not the sin. A temptation is a common experience. But temptation then begins to take root within the heart. And I find that it's in that moment that God will provide a window, a way, a staircase, a ladder, a parachute, an opening of escape.
But so often, we know that we want that sin. We want to engage with it. And rather than taking the way in that moment, we just stay there. Think about it, stay with it. And then the way passes. And we often enter in to the sin. But if you want to walk in the light, not only must you love the word, but you must also take the way of escape that God will provide.
7 Now 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.”
Walk In The Light -- 3. Respect The Prophetic Word.
Now, this is a fascinating little portion of what God says to Abimelech partly because this is the first time in the whole Old Testament that the title of prophet is used. Now it was used in that era, in other religions that surrounded the people of Israel. But this is the first time that the word prophet is used in the Bible, in the Old Testament. And it's attached to Abraham. And he apparently, if Abimelech did the right thing, would pray for Abimelech and his whole household would be healed. But if he didn't do the right thing and Abraham never had a chance to pray for Abimelech, then Abimelech and his household, they would die. This was also another lesson for the people of Israel on how to walk in the light.
You see, this was teaching Abimelech and teaching Israel that they needed to respect God's prophets. Respect God's prophets. You see, all throughout Israel's history after their exodus, God sent various prophets. And so often they rejected the leadership, the guidance, the teaching of the prophets. And there were times they rejected Moses. That's what kept them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, because they didn't believe Moses's word. There were times they rejected Joshua. And of course, most of the prophets, the classic prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Men like that, many of them were rejected, persecuted, even killed because of their prophetic ministries. They did not respect the prophets. And during the seasons that they didn't, they suffered as a people. But instead we should learn that when we're walking in the light, we have to respect that fresh message of God's word.
Now I'm not looking for you to look around for someone walking around in sackcloth, with a staff in their hands, declaring to you that they are a prophet from God. Nor am I necessarily saying that there are people in the church who have an office of prophet, although God has given to the church apostles, and prophets, and evangelists, and pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. And I think there are many pastors and missionaries throughout the world who have a title like pastor and missionary, who are actually a gifted in a prophetic kind of way from God. Not to author new scripture, but to speak the word of God in a very powerful and poignant way for our time.
And in those gifts, we have to respect them. But I'm also just talking about the fresh word of the Lord to you. Whether it's through your pastor, through a small group of believers that you're in, that you gather together with. Through a husband, a wife, a close friend, even your own child. Do not despise the prophetic word of God in your life. I find that some people just have a hard time walking in the light, because they're in constant denial regarding the truth that has often been spoken into their lives by the very people who know them the very best. But if you really want to walk in the light, you're going to have to open yourself up to the prophetic word and prophetic ministry. Israel didn't do that over the years, and it kept them in the dark in rebellion. So that helps us see what it's like to walk in the light. Respect the profit.
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”
Walk In The Light -- 4. Deal With All Known Sin.
Here you have the great man of faith. The father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The father of the Israelite nation. The great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, and so on grandfather of the messiah. The one who was blessed by the high priest of God Melchizedek. The recipient of God's promises that through him and his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Rebuked by the nations. Abimelech comes to him and says, "What have you done? And how have I sinned against you? Why have you done to me things that ought not be done?"
This is very similar to the Book of Jonah. Where in the Book of Jonah, the prophet behaves poorly, and the pagans behave beautifully as they repent after they hear the word of the Lord.
The thing that I want to point out here about walking in the light is that what you see Abimelech doing is dealing with all known sin. Dealing with all known sin. He was unaware that he was committing a sin. Now I realize that there is an overtone here of confusion for many of us, because God rebukes him for taking Sarah to be part of his harem. But doesn't rebuke him yet for his harem. The reality is we know that that was a sin as well. But God is dealing with first thing's first, so to speak. And this sin has now become known to Abimelech. "I shouldn't touch this woman. She cannot belong to me. She cannot be my wife. She is another man's wife."
Now it was an unintentional sin that Abimelech was committing. But did you know that in the Levitical sacrificial system, there was even a sacrifice for the unintentional sins of the people and the unintentional sins of the leadership in Israel, in Leviticus chapter four?
You see, there are just times where you don't know that you're committing a sin. You don't know that you're guilty of a prejudice. You don't know that what you're doing is wrong. But when God points it out to you, the response shouldn't be, "I didn't know and I'll keep on doing it." But, "I didn't know and now I want to make it right." We must deal with all known sin if we want to be people who walk in the light.
10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And 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.” ’ ”
Walk In The Light -- 5. Fear God.
So again, there's the plan that Abraham had concocted with Sarah. "Everywhere we go tell, them that I'm your brother. That will lead to a negotiation. I'll Jack the price up so high that you will not get married to anybody in these various communities that we go to. So provide cover for me. If they think I'm your husband, they might just kill me to take you." That's just the way the culture apparently in that era, and place, and time worked.
But notice the lameness of Abraham's response. I mean, first of all, he says, "this is why I did this. I thought there's no fear of God at all in this place." Now what he's discovering is that he's absolutely wrong. Abimelech receives this dream and responds to the dream. He fears the Lord. He respects the Lord. He has reverence for God. In fact if anything, what we're seeing in this passage is that the prophet Abraham, he is the one who's behaving in a lack of fear, or reverence, or respect for the Lord. Because Abimelech is responding to God.
You see, this is another element of what it means to walk in the light. To walk in the fear of God. To have a respect for God, a reverence for God, a love for God. Now, many people think of the fear of God as some kind of paranoia about God. And I am not talking about anything like that.
But the believer should see God as Holy and magnificent, the creator, majestic, and worthy of our respect and reverence. The biblical word for it, especially in the Old Testament is the word fear. Again, it has nothing to do with paranoia and everything to do with respect. Honor for the one that we worship.
And so often we get ourselves in trouble, we walk in the dark because we lose our respect for God. We take him lightly. We convince ourselves that his forgiveness is so free and easy and cheap, that it doesn't matter what we do. That he doesn't care. But instead, we should revere, honor, respect our God. And that's certainly what Abimelech was doing. In contrast in some ways to Abraham.
So we see the whole excuse from Abraham is rather lame. He gets into technicalities, even. Says, "Technically she is my sister because even though she's the daughter of my father, she's not the daughter of my mother." It's like she's my half sister. But we can see right through, and I'm sure Abimelech as well saw right through this excuse. That didn't make it right. Obviously he was just using that as a cover to not have to tell people that she was his wife.
14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”
Walk In The Light -- 6. Offer Sacrifices And Offerings.
Notice Abimelech's response. Rather than be angry at Abraham, he goes over the top, doesn't he? He takes livestock. He takes human servants, staff, and he just gives them to Abraham. He takes 1,000 pieces of silver and gives it to Abraham and tells Sarah, "Look this money. It's a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all. I want everybody to know that you are untouched by me or anyone else in my household, that you are innocent and that I am innocent as well."
This of course is really important to the whole story. Because the promise was endangered by Abraham's lack of faith, the promise that the child would come from Abraham and Sarah. So that 1,000 pieces of silver communicated even though the promise was jeopardized, it was not killed entirely. God can still fulfill his promise and do his work.
Let me say a couple of things here about what it looks like to walk in the light. First of all, notice how Abimelech just went over the top to make restitution and to make things right. You see, when we walk in the light, this is what we will do. When sin is uncovered in our lives, we will not only confess it. But we will want to do everything we can to make it right. The people of Israel would see the giving of livestock, and servants, and money as similar to their own worship system. Where they offered sacrifices that were animal in nature. They offered money to God. And they even offered themselves as servants to the Lord. All of that shows us what it looks like to walk in the light. We make things right, and we want to offer offerings and sacrifices. So often even of our own lives, in our service to God,. Walking in the light means that you'll live a sacrificial kind of life in other words.
Walk In The Light -- 7. Sexual Holiness Matters.
But another thing about walking in the light is found there in the way that Abimelech so wanted to broadcast the innocence of Sarah sexually. You see, if we want to be people who walk in the light, I'm just going to say it like this. We have to make the confession that sexual holiness matters. That sexual holiness matters.
In their story of course, sexual unholiness could have jeopardized the whole plan of God. And you an I, we might say to ourselves, "Well look. I don't have a promise that from me, from my line is going to come the messiah who will crush Satan's head when he dies upon the cross for the sin of the world." And that's true. That's not the plan that God has for you or for me.
But, God does have plans for our lives. He does have things that he wants to do to expand his kingdom, to promote his glory, to reach people here in this world. And it's not hard to imagine how sexual unholiness can so often keep us from the very things that God wants to do through us, for others. And sometimes that sexual unholiness can impact not just us and a few people around us, but generations of people can be impacted by sexual unholiness or uncleanness. Sexual holiness matters.
The people of Israel as they read this would have remembered and recalled that this was really important in their own lives. And they have all kinds of sexual temptation all around them. Of course adultery was a constant temptation. The desiring of another man's wife was a constant temptation. Intermarriage with other nations was a constant temptation. And that was not God's rebuke of interracial marriage, which is fine and can be beautiful. That was his rebuke of inter religious marriage. Marrying as an Israelite who feared God, someone who worshiped an idol and was outside of the covenant community.
They also had the sexual temptation that was attached to much of the idolatry all around them. Some people wonder how could people have given themselves over to so much idolatry? What is the temptation? What is the draw? Well, the draw wasn't in the little image itself so much, as it was to the practices around it. The spiritual practices that were attached to that idol, many of which were highly erotic and sexual in nature. And not only that, but they had the temptation of sexual desire that went beyond the design of God. All of those temptations God spoke to, all of those temptations were constantly knocking down their door. And whenever they gave in to those temptations, their strength decreased, their witness was lost, and they weren't as effective as they could have been. Now before we wrap up this study by looking at verse 17 and 18 and closing out our time together, let me just talk for a moment about the hindrance of pornography in our lives.
If we want to walk in the light, we have to rid ourselves of this terrible stain that's on humanity during this season. We are in a time where even what appears to be the most innocent social media platform can be used for light or even heavier forms of pornographic material. And men and women are stumbling headlong into addictive practices, which are destroying their souls.
So often in those moments, a person can feel alone. They can feel if they're a believer, that they've got nowhere to turn. Some will even excuse themselves and say, "Well self-control, or discipline, or victory. I just don't have a hope that. I think all I can really hope for is sin management."
Listen, I just want to say: Don't settle for sin management. God wants to give you victory. There are decisions that you can make. There are devices and platforms that you can live without. There are restrictions that you can bring into your life. I know that none of it will really occur without the fear of God in your life. But I've just found over time that often, it's not so much just the struggle that a person's having. But it begins in the realm of the mind, where they start believing that it's not that big of a deal. That it's not that big of an issue, and that it's not all that damaging in their life and in their witness.
You are not the person that God desires for you to be if you are habitually giving in to the temptation of looking at and responding to pornographic material. It is evil. It is one of Satan's greatest weapons to destroy humanity. If I had one button that I could push to evaporate one sin, I know that that would be one of the tempting ones for me to push, to just eliminate pornography. Because it leads to so much destructive behavior. Not just sexually, but the de-valuing of human life, looking down on others, objectifying people. And that runs its course in a million different ways. So please understand that to walk in the light, you must believe that sexual holiness matters.
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Walk In The Light -- 8. Restoration Comes From Crying Out To God.
And what we see here finally about walking in the light is really simple. Israel would have seen this. They would have seen the ultimately, restoration came about not through repentance, not through doing the right thing, restitution, making things right. Ultimately, full restoration occurred because of crying out to God. Crying out to God. That was ultimately how God did this.
So in a sense, what I wanted to say was that if we want to walk in the light, we must be a people who cry out to God. "God, would you restore us?" And the beautiful thing here is that though Abimelech had damaged himself in his household through this sin that he didn't even know he was committing. God by his power, had the effectiveness and the ability to reverse the things that had occurred because of Abimelech's sin. You've got to believe and trust that the Lord is able to reverse the effects of the curse in your own life. The things that you've done, the shameful things in your past, the guilt that you've experienced, you have to know that God is faithful to reverse those things.
And when I think back to my life before I was walking with the Lord. And when I think back to many of my lower moments even while I've been walking with the Lord, it's embarrassing. I'm ashamed of the things that I have done. But I have now lived long enough and walked with the Lord long enough to see that he is so faithful to do a restorative work that I never dreamed possible. He is able. He can do that work. So we must cry out to him.
Now the end of this story, we must revisit the major or meta narrative. And realize that God is trying to produce Isaac from Abraham and Sarah. And Abimelech though he almost thwarted that plan, could not ultimately stop it. God came in. His plans could not be stopped. And this is God's grace. God bless you church. Have a wonderful week.