Kingdom Covenant Part 4
At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Covenant’, which we are posting here on Online Bible Institute. Our main discussion at church this week will focus in on Genesis Chapter 22 as we talk about what sacrifice is. To help prepare for that let’s take a few minutes to look at a situation that occurs with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis Chapter 20.
Genesis 20:1–2 (NIV)
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
In this passage, Abraham again engages in the sin of deception by misrepresenting his relationship with Sarah, his wife, and presenting her as his sister. This incident with King Abimelek of Gerar mirrors an earlier episode in Egypt with Pharaoh and underscores a profound human tendency: our propensity to repeat our mistakes.
The narrative unfolds as Abraham moves into the region of Gerar. Fearing for his life due to Sarah’s beauty, he tells Abimelek that Sarah is his sister. This act, motivated by fear and perhaps a lack of faith in God’s protection, leads to God intervening directly to prevent Abimelek from sinning by taking Sarah as his wife. God appears to Abimelek in a dream, revealing the truth and thereby averting potential disaster.
This repeated sin of Abraham reveals a deep-seated human frailty—our inclination to revert to familiar behavior patterns, especially under stress or fear. It highlights how individuals might cyclically fall into the same sins despite previous experiences or knowledge of consequences. Each repetition of the sin affects the sinner and those around them, as seen by the potential harm to Abimelek’s household, which God prevented.
Ultimately, the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelek teaches that sin often recurs in our lives until we confront it with genuine repentance and seek divine assistance in overcoming it. It underscores the necessity of faith and the willingness to trust in God’s protection and guidance rather than relying on deceit or manipulation. Each instance of failure is a call to repentance and an opportunity for growth and redemption, demonstrating God’s ongoing willingness to work within human history, guiding and shaping it toward His purposes.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
