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.
3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
Genesis 20: 1-3
Abraham is at it again with his little narrative. It saved them last time, why not try it again with this king! Even though Abraham's narrative about being Sarah's brother is the same, how is all plays out is quite different. God spoke to the king Abimelek in a dream to warn him not to lay a hand on Sarah. This leads me to believe that Abimelek's heart may have been a bit softer to the Lord than Mr. Pharaoh. But, let's move on to what we can learn about being a woman from this particular story.
14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Genesis 20:14-18
The tone of this chapter is very different to me than the tone of Genesis 12 that we talked about in the last blog. From the passage above I just get a sense that Abraham and Sarah are more one unit. The Lord is protecting them both, and taking care of them as a couple. And there is even more of a focus on Sarah here. The passage says that the LORD kept all the women in Abimelek's household from conceiving because of Abraham's wife Sarah. I don't know whether this was for Sarah's protection or as more of a curse on Abimelek's house because of him taking Sarah as a potential wife. But, God acted on behalf of Sarah, that much is clear.
This makes complete sense to me based on what happens in Genesis chapter 17...
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17: 15,16
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Genesis 20:14-18
The tone of this chapter is very different to me than the tone of Genesis 12 that we talked about in the last blog. From the passage above I just get a sense that Abraham and Sarah are more one unit. The Lord is protecting them both, and taking care of them as a couple. And there is even more of a focus on Sarah here. The passage says that the LORD kept all the women in Abimelek's household from conceiving because of Abraham's wife Sarah. I don't know whether this was for Sarah's protection or as more of a curse on Abimelek's house because of him taking Sarah as a potential wife. But, God acted on behalf of Sarah, that much is clear.
This makes complete sense to me based on what happens in Genesis chapter 17...
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17: 15,16
God officially blesses Abraham's life, and his wife's! He even changes her name from Sarai to Sarah! What a beautiful and personal thing for the Lord to do for woman. He is saying, "You are mine, you are now DIFFERENT. Your life will never be what it once was because you belong to me, and I am your God, and you can count on me." And in Chapter 20, the Lord proves that He meant what He said.
What can I learn here about being a "different kind of woman"? When the Lord calls us women to follow after Him, and we choose Him, we are officially different. Sarah got a different name, and sometimes I think it would be beneficial to us to rename our own selves, or to at least think of ourselves as completely different than the women we were yesterday. If we are seeking the Lord and following hard after Him, He is changing us, protecting us, and blessing us daily. We are extremely important to Him, and He will go to great lengths to make sure that we know that, and that the world around us knows that we belong to Him.
Thanks for reading. Be different today you beautiful women, be different.
No comments:
Post a Comment