Abraham, Abimelech, & Old Sins

Do you ever feel like you haven’t made any progress in your walk with Christ? Like you’re still struggling with sins that you should have defeated and left behind years ago?

In Genesis chapter 20 we discover that even Abraham, the father of the faithful, was similarly feeble. In fact, Genesis 20 feels like deja vu as we read an almost identical account to Abraham’s interaction with Pharaoh from earlier in Genesis 12 -- at the beginning of Abraham’s faith-walk, 25 years before!

However, Genesis 20 is not just the story of Abraham and his struggles; it is a story of suspense regarding the Promised Seed. God has promised a child to Abraham, through whom God will bless the nations and produce offspring more numerous than the stars! Yet there is one more great test for Abraham still before his son can be born. And he fails it!

What will happen to the Promised Seed, to God’s plan of redemption? If the promised son, and eventual promised Savior, is ever to be born, it will plainly not be because of the faithfulness of any man or woman. It will be due completely to the sovereign goodness and mercy of God to intervene and overrule on behalf of his people.