Genesis 20 Events
After the great conflagration of the cities of the plain, Abraham moved south and west into the region of the Negev. Perhaps after a while, the smoke and stench from the fiery destruction tainted the air and affected the agricultural prospects in Hebron, forcing him to move. It was not beyond his view; as the Scripture reports, he saw the dense smoke rising from the land, like the smoke from a furnace, when he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Negev was within the boundaries of the land promised to him by the Lord, but its inhabitants were quite aggressive, for once again in Gerar, a town in the northern Negev, he said of his wife, “She is my sister.” (Gen 20:2) The king there took her into his household (a 90-year old woman!!); however, before he could touch her, God came to him in a dream and said, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” (ibid., vs 3)
Abimelech, the king, had not gone near her, so he said,
“Lord will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother.’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” (ibid., vss 4, 5)
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.” (ibid., vss 6, 7 NIV)
Once again, Abraham sinned by failing to claim Sarah as his wife in the critical moment, introducing her as only a sister, and this after the promise of the son! Nevertheless, the purpose of the Lord would be established, for when God has begun to do a great work, nothing can stop him. As it is written in Isaiah:
“I AM GOD AND THERE IS NO OTHER; I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE LIKE ME. I MAKE KNOWN THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, FROM ANCIENT TIMES, WHAT IS STILL TO COME. I SAY: MY PURPOSE WILL STAND, AND I WILL DO ALL THAT I PLEASE.” (Is 46:9, 10 NIV)