Genesis 20

aaaaand he did it again. Just like Abraham said Sarah was his sister back in chapter 12 when he was Egypt (but failed to mention the little detail of Sarah being his wife!), Abraham did the same thing now that he was living in Gerar. Would Abimelech have killed Abraham had he not dissimulated and pretended he was not her husband? Perhaps.

For though Abimelech acted "in the integrity of his heart" as confirmed by God himself in the chapter when he took Sarah, there is no telling what evil might have entered his heart had he beheld Sarah and not known she was protected by the Almighty God. Furthermore, what kind of culture allows a man to just take a woman without asking permission. Nowhere do we hear that Abraham was asked for Sarah, merely that she was taken.

Thus, although God deigns to "talk baby talk" with his chosen beloved whom like a father he teaches and disciplines by accommodating himself to the cultures of the people he interacts with, yet this accommodation is never contrary to his divine nature. He does not hesitate to kill Abimelech dead even though Abimelech might be acting in accordance with his conscience in taking Sarah.

So we should never assume, as some do, that God will always show mercy because we were doing the best we knew. Such is not always the case, and cannot be taken for granted. God is all just, but justice is not always nice. The best policy is to do the very best you can to abide by the law of God, and so protect yourself and those you love as best as you can.

I find it interesting that God never rebukes Abraham for lying to the Pharaoh or to Abimelech. Maybe they would have killed him indeed had they known he (and not God) was standing between them and his beautiful wife. The text is ambiguous on this point. What is not ambiguous is that "God hates lying lips." and the command to "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no."

Abraham may have been permitted to lie, to practice polygamy and even (as we will see) to prepare to give a human sacrifice, without receiving God's rebuke. But Christians are given a higher standard. To whom much is given, much is expected. Abraham's struggles, coming out of paganism and into the worship of the true God should inspire us, but we should never limit ourselves to his standard, or the standard of any of the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets, of whom we learn in this chapter, Abraham is both.