In the last post we considered the benefits of the Old Testament, in obedience to God. One of the benefits was that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4). The scriptures lay bare the lives of the champions of faith, good and bad. Among them is Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. The apostle Paul revealed concerning Abraham, "For Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness…For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect: for the law worketh wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:3, 13-16). Abraham is set forth as an example of faith, yet he was a man and had his own set of difficulties.

One event in particular involved Abimelech, king of Gerar. Though Sarah was about ninety years of age, she was apparently still a fair woman to look upon (Genesis 12:11). As Abraham journeyed into the realm of Abimelech he feared because of Sarah his wife. Abraham thought, "Surely the fear of God is not in this place. And they will slay me for my wife’s sake" (Genesis 20:11). Therefore, Abraham said, "She is my sister" (20:2). Believing that Sarah was the sister of Abraham, "Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah" (20:2). As a result of this action, "God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken. For she is a man’s wife." (20:3). Abimelech having not come near Sarah, said unto God, "Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this" (20:4-5). God said, therefore, "I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou has done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine" (20:6-7).

There are many interesting aspects concerning this event. Even though Abraham is the father of faith, even though he was willing to offer up his own son Isaac, he was still man and had moments where he did those things that were not right. Now, what Abraham said was not a "lie," as we find that Abraham ultimately tells Abimelech, "moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife" (20:12). Though his actions are not to be taken as authorization to act in the same manner, they do nonetheless provide us with hope. The scriptures do not give all the details concerning this event but it is interesting to note Abraham’s reasoning: "Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place. And they will slay me for my wife’s sake" (20:11). One question that arises in my mind is the attitude of Abraham’s society regarding adultery. Adultery is defined as, "sexual intercourse of a man, whether married or unmarried, with a married woman" (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). Hundreds of years before God gave the law to Israel, in which He said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14), the laws of the land recognized adultery as a violation of God’s laws. The book of Job, believed by some to reveal events that took place during the patriarchal age, had this to say about adultery: "If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door; Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges." (31:9). What’s interesting about the case of Abraham and Abimelech is that Abraham believed the king would take his life in order to obtain his wife. Our society puts a high moral value on life, and rightly so, but not on adultery. Abraham’s society appears to put a higher moral value on adultery than murder.

Whatever the situation, God’s laws have not changed from the time of Abraham to the present. During the time of the Jewish kings, the scriptures reveal, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched? So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished." (Proverbs 6:27-29). And so, during our own era, Jehovah says, "Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men…shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

But all is not lost because God, being desirous to save the lost has made provision, through the gospel to those that have a "love of the truth, that they might be saved" (1 Thessalonians 2:10), and have applied to them, that which was also applied to the Corinthians, saying, "And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" (6:11).