griffin comments gen 20

GRIFFIN COMMENTS—GEN 20

(Gen 20:1) And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

It is a puzzle why Abraham took this trip. Everyone has his idea and none of them can be certain, and none really are good reasons:Keil says he was in search of pasture, as on a previous

occasion.Calvin says it was in consequence of the hostility of his

neighbors. Calvin, Wilier and Murphy say that perhaps it was because

he longed to escape from the scene of so terrible a calamity as he had witnessed.

A. Lapide says maybe it was in order to benefit as many places and peoples as possible by his residence among them.

Poole and Kalisch says that perhaps God, who designed thereby to remind him that Canaan was not intended for a permanent habitation, but for a constant pilgrimage, impelled him.

One thing is certain, it did not benefit him in any way and caused the usual problem of lying about his wife and thus could hardly be said to be in the will of God.

(Gen 20:2) And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

This was not the first time he had violated his wife’s security, and this time she was a pregnant woman, and was brought into the harem of the king. Twenty-four years had passed from the time he first failed in this area, and still he had not gotten the victory over it. Some have a difficult time learning from their mistakes of the past.

(Gen 20:3) But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 20—PAGE 1

Even though Abraham was foolish to thus abuse his wife’s privacy, God was good to him and gave Abimelech a dream so that he would know not to commit adultery.

Great as the wickedness of men is upon the face of the earth, it would be much greater, were it not that God by His providence in innumerable instances "withholds " them from it. The conduct of intelligent beings is influenced by motives; and all motives which are presented to the mind are subject to His disposal. (A. Fuller.)

(Gen 20:4) But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

Not only did Abimelech live for God and fear Him, apparently his entire nation was righteous and served the Lord, which tells us that there were still a few in the world in that day who served the true and living God. He showed more concern about the righteous nation than about the protection of his own life.

God's justice is not a blind, arbitrary, mechanical reaction to evil or the appearance of evil. God's justice takes into account the circumstances involved in each individual situation. Instead of pouring harsh judgment upon Abimelech for unwittingly taking Abraham's wife, God tempered His judgment with understanding and mercy. We can always count on God to understand our circumstances at any given time. He is a loving heavenly Father, just as Jesus taught. This does not mean, however, that we can manipulate God or make flimsy excuses for our disobedience. God's justice is informed by His perfect knowledge of us. We cannot deceive God, but we can depend upon Him to deal with us justly. (Disciple's Study Bible)


(Gen 20:5) Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

Abimelech had nothing to go on except what they had said. That is the problem with lying. The person lied to has no other information but the lie with which to make his decision, so a problem often snowballs, the lying causes a wrong decision, which usually causes repercussion, and it just keep on increasing problems

(Gen 20:6) And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.That is exactly why God intervened. He had two servants involved in a situation and both of them will have to hear His counsel.

GOD'S CONTROL (Gen_20:6)Gen_20:18 He closed the wombsGen_31:7 He kept Jacob from harmGen_35:5 He placed terror on the citiesExo_34:24 None desire their land when they were gone1Sa_25:26, 1Sa_25:34 David was kept from shedding bloodPsa_84:11 He will not withhold good to those who walk uprightlyPro_21:1 The king is in God's handHos_2:6-7 He hedges up your way

ADVANTAGE OF BEING GOD'S FRIEND(Gen_20:6; Joh_15:14-15)

We let friends in on specialsknowledge of good thingswarnings of dangerous thingswarning of bad products

Kids get special attentionServants must obey orders


Acquaintance: We're courteousBut to a child—Open to his needsShare secrets

TO WHOM DO WE TELL SECRETS?Amo_3:7 ProphetsPro_3:32 RighteousGen_18:17 "Shall I hide from Abraham?"

Told us of end timesPsa_37:4 "Delight thyself"Psa_116:8 "You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes

from tears, and my feet from falling.1Co_10:13 "There is no temptation taken you but such as

is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it."

1Th_3:3 "The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil."

Psa_125:3 The Rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Luk_22:31-32 "satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not."

Rom_8:31 "If God be fore us who can be against us?2Co_1:10 "Who delivered us from so great a death, and

does deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us."

2Ti_4:18 "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom."

1Pe_1:5 "You who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."

2Pe_2:9 "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation."

Jud_1:24 "Unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."


1Sa_25:34 "Kept David from Killing Nabal."Hos_2:6 "I will hedge up your way with thorns, and make a

wall, that she shall not find her paths."Hedge about Job (Old Blue)

1Th_5:9 "For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

Isa_26:20 "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be over past."

LOT FROM SODOMNOAH FROM WORLDHEBREW CHILDREN FROM FIREDANIEL FROM LIONSPAUL FROM DROWNING

Psa_124:7 "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made the heaven and earth.

Heard Daniel the first day he prayed. He waited 21 days.

ACCOMMODATE US: Met us on our level.Woman with twisted face (Husband kissed her and said, "I

like it, it's sorta cute.")

Peter: Lovest thou me?He has gone through what you have

"Not willing that any should perish" (2Pe_3:9)

(Gen 20:7) Now therefore restore the man his 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.

The consequences of this mistake were very serious, all in an attempt of Abraham to save his own hide. Now he had to


pray for this man he deceived so that his life could be restored. He was in a very humiliating situation because of his selfish thinking. The honor of a man in the world was greater than that of the man of God in this case.

(Gen 20:8) Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

No one had made any wrong moves. Thank God they were a righteous people who sought after the Lord. They were now grateful that they have obeyed God in their lives and could easily see where, because of their faithfulness, God had kept them from wrongdoing. God protects those who put their trust in Him. Here was also an example of the influence of right leadership.

(Gen 20:9) Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

Abimelech was absolutely right in this and did what should have been done. Only by someone confronting Abraham with the seriousness of his wrong could it ever be possible for him to change his manner of doing things. Abimelech showed a right spirit through the entire episode. He remained calm instead of getting angry and exhibiting a wrong spirit.

(Gen 20:10) And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

Abimelech must have wanted an answer to this so that if he was not acting in the right way he could correct it. He saw that Abraham had failed to learn his lesson and he did not want to make the same mistake, so he sought to find out if it was because of some attitude he had that Abraham would act this way.


A suspicion of our goodness is justly reckoned a greater affront than a slight upon our greatness. (Matthew Henry)

(Gen 20:11) And 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.

How we misjudge people at times. We just know that because they live here, or that they are of this type of people, or that they have this kind of employment, or that they go to that church, or for some other reason, surely they are not godly people. We need to inspect fruit not opinions. It is for that reason the Lord has warned us against judging others.

(Gen 20:12) And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Abraham tried to justify his actions with his half-truth. It would be obvious to Abimelech that this was just an excuse and that he was not justified. Abraham could not seem to see the problem of relying on this half-truth, and that such deception was not favorable to him or to the reputation of the God he served. Half-truths were still a lie and the worst because there was truth involved.

(Gen 20:13) And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.Abimelech could see through the problem that Abraham was making for himself, but Abraham probably never could see it. His mind clouded out the adverse results this lying was having on his own character and the security of his wife. By mentioning that God caused him to wander he implies that it was not all his own fault, but that if God had not placed him in this situation it would not have happened.


(Gen 20:14) And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

Abimelech was a man with a wonderful spirit, and did all that he could to remedy the situation. Abraham should have been grateful that this had happened in the area where the people knew God, otherwise it would have ended up as he feared. He would have been killed and his wife and all his possessions taken. But it turned out for the good because Abimelech was a man who feared God.

(Gen 20:15) And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

Again Abimelech showed a good spirit. Pharaoh sent him out of his land when he saw he was lying, but Abimelech recognized that he was a man of God, a prophet and treated him with great respect. There was a kindred spirit between him and Abraham in their relation to God so he did not want to cause any damage to this relationship.

(Gen 20:16) And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

He handled the case well, rebuking both Abraham for his lying and Sarah for taking up for him and joining in on his deception. He called Abraham her brother, which would be a rebuke to them both and showed that he realized the hypocrisy of their schemes. He could have shown a wrong spirit but instead made the best of a bad situation.

(Gen 20:17) So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.Then the prayer had to be made. This was to be done by the man of God, even when he had made a mistake and was far more in the wrong than the man he was praying for. God honored his office more than the individual who filled it, and


the best of us make our mistakes and have our shortcomings. That should also answer those who wonder if the prayer of their preacher who is living in sin is still effective.

(Gen 20:18) For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

Once the prayer was made everything began to work right again. That is the power of prayer and the reason it should be continually going up. Abraham's prayer earlier for the doomed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was not answered, but this prayer was heard and answered in full, for now the Lord restored the productivity of this man and his nation.


griffin comments gen 20

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