Genesis 20: the same mistake again?
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| Credit: stevepb | Pixabay |
Read: Genesis 20
You would have thought Abraham would have learned by now - here we read of him making exactly the same mistake he made earlier in his travels. Back in Genesis chapter 12, very near the beginning of his call, Abraham travels down to Egypt, and fears that due to his wife Sarah's beauty the Egyptian king would kill him in jealousy in order to obtain her in marriage. He therefore pretends that she is just his sister (possibly soothing his conscience by reminding himself that technically they are related), so that if the king wants to take her, his life will not be seen as standing in the way. It's quite incredible really - the man of God puts his own life above the dignity and purity of his wife. But God punished the sin that ensued - not because the king was knowingly guilty, but because it broke through the boundaries that God had put in place, and therefore must be corrected.
Many things have happened since that episode - Abraham has met God, talked with him as with a friend, but also had times of doubt and trying to choose his own path. And then, having only recently had this intimate interchange with God about Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham still proves himself to have moment when its his life that comes first and he's going to trust in his own action in order to achieve. The whole escapade is repeated with Abimelek, King of Gerar.
And yet it's so easy to judge when looking on, and so easy to conveniently forget what we might do if we felt our lives were in danger. Would we lie? Would we take the easy way out - even if it broke God's laws of love and was at a cost to the life and dignity of others?
I don't know what I would have done if I was in Abraham's position, but I do know that I've failed every day of my life. But I also know that the great father of faith, Abraham, also failed spectacularly. I also know, that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). God's grace covers Abraham - who turned to him for righteousness - and it it covers me. As Paul writes to the Ephesians: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). And John writes in his first letter: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
One of the biggest mistakes we can make (or maybe even the biggest?) is to not realise the gravity of our sin. When we read of the colourful characters in the Bible, it's like holding up a mirror - we see all our weakness presented back, in the small things, and in the more extreme situations. But we also see something else presented back in the mirror, and that is the steadfast love of God and his abounding love and grace, calling and keeping fallen and flawed people into his family and letting them play an amazing part in the coming of his kingdom.Any Christian who looks down on another because of their sin has got it all wrong. We may recognise plenty of wrong behaviour in those around us, but if we respond to that with pride ("thank goodness I'm not like that"), then we've completely missed the mark, as we are no better. We have no reason to boast - only a gospel of salvation to share: one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.
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