The Bible is an honest book. After Genesis 18 and 19, in which we see Abraham's high attainment in his experience of God, there is a record of his weakness in Gen. 20. Can you believe that after having such intimate fellowship with God and after making such a glorious intercession, Abraham could have the experience recorded in chapter twenty? It is difficult to believe and understand how Abraham could have shown such weakness. Once again we see that the Bible is not man-made. If it were of human manufacture, the writer would not have included this record of Abraham's weakness and shortcomings. But the Bible is honest and it has Genesis 20 as part of the divine record.
When I was young, I appreciated chapters eighteen, twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-four, but I had no interest in chapter twenty. In this chapter two main things are recorded: the hidden weakness and a shameful intercession. Abraham, a man of God, had a weakness hidden deep within him. While in chapter eighteen he made a glorious intercession, in chapter twenty we find the record of a shameful one.
Let us first consider Abraham's hidden weakness (20:1-16). In verse 1 we are told that "Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country." Abraham's journeying toward the south meant that he had left the standing of fellowship at the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. He should have remained in Hebron because there he had intimate fellowship with God. Nothing is better than this. It was not too long after he had intimate fellowship with God that he left Hebron and journeyed southward. Between the time the Lord spoke to Abraham regarding the birth of Isaac in 17:21 and 18:14 and the time of Isaac's birth in chapter twenty-one, there could not have been more than a year. Why did Abraham suddenly leave Hebron and journey toward the south during that year? In figure, south signifies easiness and north hardships. The south is warm and the north is cold, but God dwells in the north (Psa. 48:2; 75:6-7; Ezek. 1:4). In the north we have hardships with God's presence. In the south we have easiness, but without God's presence. There is no hint in Genesis 20 that God told Abraham to journey southward. In making this journey, Abraham acted on his own.
Abraham might have wanted to have a change and take a vacation. Although you may be enjoying the church life in Anaheim, one day you may feel that you need a change and desire to journey southward to Mexico City. The church life is marvelous and we all enjoy it very much. But some may become a little bored and want to take a trip to Las Vegas. If you go to Las Vegas and meet someone there who asks about what you do at home, you will find it difficult to give him an honest answer. On two occasions, when Abraham was in such a situation, he was not truthful (cf. Gen. 12:9-12). In chapter twelve Abraham journeyed southward because there was a famine in the land. That famine gave him an excuse for going southward to Egypt. But in this chapter Abraham had no excuse. He and his wife might have been bored and wanted a vacation. If they had remained by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, Abraham would have had no need to lie. His lying was due to his wrong position. We see by this that the proper standing means a great deal. I do not believe that any brother can pray-read or give a living testimony in a casino in Las Vegas. He would not have the standing there to do such a thing. In order to do anything for God, we must have the proper standing. When Abraham left the standing of intimate fellowship with God and journeyed southward, he lost God's presence. The Bible does not say that in the south country God appeared to Abraham, nor that Abraham erected an altar and called on the name of the Lord. He had altogether lost the proper standing on which he could have fellowship with God. Young people, you must see that you need to stay in the right position. If you stay in the church, you will be kept and preserved. But if you journey southward, you will forsake the proper standing and lose God's presence. Spontaneously, your old man will return.
Before chapter twenty Abraham was circumcised. In chapter twenty, he should have been a circumcised person, not a natural person, for he had truly been dealt with by God. Some Christians claim that once they have experienced a certain blessing, they can no longer be in the flesh. But look at the example of Abraham. Although he had been circumcised both physically and spiritually, when he left the proper standing of fellowship with God, he was in the flesh again. After having such a high attainment in his experience with God, Abraham, the father of faith, acted the same as he did in Genesis 12, more than twenty years before. By this we see that as long as we are still in the old creation we are capable of doing anything in the flesh. If we do not remain in fellowship with God, we can do the same things that the worldly people do. Do not say that because you have been regenerated, have experienced the baptism of the Spirit, or have had a second blessing, you can no longer be in the flesh. However many are the blessings that you have received from God, if you do not remain in fellowship with Him, you will be in the flesh. Your experience proves that this is true.
We should never have any confidence in our self. The self is absolutely untrustworthy. We must put our trust in the presence of the Lord, telling Him, "Lord, if You take Your presence away from me, I am just a dog. But I praise You that in Your presence I'm a saint, one of the people of God." How much God's presence means to us! When Abraham was bringing God on His way in chapter eighteen, he was a wonderful saint, a man who could stand before God and talk face to face with Him as with an intimate friend. But in chapter twenty this wonderful person became very mean. After he had left the standing of fellowship with God, he could lie at the sacrifice of his wife. It seems unbelievable, but he did it. If we consider our past experience, we shall find that at least a few times we have done the same kind of thing. This shows us the importance of remaining in the presence of God. Our protection is not our self; it is His presence.
After Abraham had left God's presence and had journeyed toward the south, he repeated an old failure — lying by sacrificing his wife (Gen. 20:2; cf. Gen. 12:11-13). To lie is one thing, and to sacrifice our wife is another. Although many brothers may lie, perhaps none of them would sacrifice his wife. But Abraham did it. I admire Sarah for being such a good wife. She did not complain but was agreeable with her husband's lie.
In Gen. 20:8-13 we see Abraham's hidden weakness exposed. Abraham did not lie accidentally; it was planned from the day he first began to follow the way of God. Abraham told Abimelech, "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" (v. 13). This hidden weakness was kept within Abraham even after he had been circumcised. In principle, most of us are the same today. On the one hand, we are following the Lord in the church; on the other hand, we have a reserve. In case a certain thing happens, we have a reserve plan to deal with it. Do you mean to be absolute with the Lord? If you do, ask Him whether you still hold on to some hidden reserve. Although you may not believe that you have a reserve, when you take a vacation from the church life, it will be exposed. Many young sisters who are following the Lord in the church have a reserve deep within them. They say to themselves, "Maybe some day a certain thing will happen. If it does, I know just what I will do about it." This is the reserve planned from the time they first began to follow the Lord. Yes, we are living by faith in the church life. But what do we do when our faith fails? We use our reserve. Perhaps after a short while your weakness will be exposed. This will prove that in spite of your claim to be absolute, you are still not one hundred percent absolute.
I believe that the purpose of this record in chapter twenty is to show us that sooner or later our hidden reserve will be exposed. The Bible is different from any worldly book, for it is a genuine and honest record of a God-seeking people. However much we seek after God, we still have a reserve. I fear and tremble that perhaps there is still deep within me a hidden reserve that one day will be exposed.
In the Bible, Abraham, in figure, stands for faith and Sarah stands for grace. In other words, in the presence of God, a man always stands for faith and the wife always stands for God's grace. Abraham was the father of faith, and his life was a life of faith. Since Sarah is the figure of God's grace, for Isaac to be born of her meant that he was born of grace. Ishmael, on the contrary, was born of Hagar, of the law, of bondage. In figure, whenever faith becomes a failure, grace is damaged. This means that when faith fails on our side, grace suffers on the Lord's side. Each time Abraham failed, Sarah suffered, and when Sarah suffered, grace suffered.
Furthermore, grace and testimony go together. Whenever we have grace, we have the testimony. When Abraham lied, he did not have the enjoyment of grace. Therefore, he lost his testimony. Whenever faith fails, grace suffers, and the testimony of grace is lost.
God came in to rescue Sarah and to restore her. In figure, this means that God came in to take care of His grace and His testimony. God knows how to sovereignly protect His grace and preserve His testimony. We do not know how many times we have been in danger of damaging grace and losing the testimony because we have left the proper standing. But at a certain juncture, God came in to deal with the circumstances so that the testimony of His grace might be preserved. If this had been clear to Abraham, he would not have lied; he would have believed that God would care for His grace and His testimony.
Although Abraham's faith failed, God still preserved him by His sovereign care (vv. 3-7, 14-16). Because Abraham's experience had become abnormal, God did not appear to him. In chapters eighteen and nineteen, God appeared to Abraham but not to Lot. Here in chapter twenty, He did not appear to Abraham; He appeared to Abimelech in a dream (v. 3). In a sense, Abraham's standing in chapter twenty was nearly the same as Lot's in chapter nineteen. Therefore, God appeared to Abimelech, a Gentile king, telling him that the one who had lied to him was His prophet. Abimelech was surprised to hear that one of God's prophets had lied to him at the sacrifice of his wife. In this chapter, we see God's wisdom, sovereignty, fairness, and care. Leaving Abraham, the one who had lied, God spoke to Abimelech, the one who had been cheated, saying, "Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife" (v. 3). Abimelech was shocked. Then God told him that he must restore Abraham's wife and that Abraham would pray for him (v. 7). God did not inspire Abraham to pray for Abimelech; rather, He indicated to Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet and had the position to pray for the king and his family. In doing this, God did not rebuke Abraham.
Although Abraham was outside God's presence, God still preserved His testimony and gave Abraham many riches (vv. 14-16). When Abraham defeated Chedorlaomer and the other kings and rescued Lot, he refused to accept anything from the king of Sodom because he had the Most High God (Gen. 14:21-24). However, when Abimelech gave Abraham sheep, oxen, servants, and silver, Abraham did not dare to say, "I don't need your help. I have the Most High God." He did not have the position to say this, and his mouth was shut. I do not believe that Abraham thanked Abimelech for his gifts or was happy to receive them. When he received all those gifts from Abimelech in front of Sarah, he must have been ashamed. God wisely and sovereignly restored Sarah, taking care of His grace and His testimony, and at the same time He disciplined Abraham.
After receiving the gifts from Abimelech, Abraham prayed for him (vv. 17-18). Abimelech needed Abraham's intercession because the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech. Do you think that you would be able to pray in such a shameful situation? Abimelech might have said to Abraham, "Why did you, a prophet of God, lie to me? Look at what has happened! Now that everything has been settled and I have returned your wife, I want you to pray for me." Many times, after we have failed the Lord, we are unable to pray for days, even though no one knows about our failure. How much more difficult it was for Abraham to pray in the presence of Abimelech! Nevertheless, Abraham prayed, and "God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children" (v. 17).
In order to intercede for Abimelech, Abraham had to overcome two things: his memory of his failure before Abimelech and his consideration of his wife's barrenness. He had to forget his failure before Abimelech and not consider his wife's barrenness. If I had been Abraham, I would have said, "I'm sorry, Abimelech, but I have failed the Lord and now I don't have the faith to pray for you." We all must learn that interceding for others does not depend upon our success; it depends upon the need. Once a need has been designated by God, we must intercede for it. Abraham might have said to the Lord, "I have failed. I lied to Abimelech and he has rebuked me. How can I intercede for him?" When we intercede for others, we must forget about ourselves, our surroundings, and our circumstances and intercede as if there were no one on earth except us and God. In spite of our failures, we must exercise our spirit and pray with boldness.
Although God was forced to leave Abraham and go to Abimelech, Abraham was higher than Abimelech. Although he had failed, Abimelech was far below him. The Bible says that the greater always blesses the lesser (Heb. 7:7). Because Abraham was higher than Abimelech, he could intercede for him.
Furthermore, we should not think that because God has not answered our prayers for our own needs we cannot pray for others. If I had been Abraham, I might have said, "Abimelech, you ask me to pray for you. I have been praying for my wife for years without receiving an answer. Because of this, I'm not sure that God will answer my prayer for you and I don't have the boldness to pray." We need to forget about our unanswered prayers and pray for others. If we would not pray for others, God will probably not answer our prayers for our own needs. Do not say that since your own need has not been met, you cannot pray for others. When Abraham forgot his need and interceded for Abimelech and his house, not only were their needs met but also his. If you forget your need and pray for the needs of others, God will not only answer your prayer for them but also your prayer for yourself. He will take care of your needs.
Abraham's intercession for Abimelech was a shameful one. In such a shameful situation it is difficult for anyone to intercede. The Bible does not give us a full record of Abraham's intercession for Abimelech like it does of his intercession for Lot. Perhaps Abraham was not bold or strong in spirit. Nevertheless, he interceded for Abimelech and his prayer was answered. By this we see that although we may not be bold in our spirit, as long as we intercede for others according to God's designation, our intercession will be answered. I can testify to this from my experience. A number of times I was in difficulty and prayed about it. But I received no answer. Suddenly people came to me who had the same difficulty and asked me to pray for them. After I prayed for them, God not only answered my prayer for their need but also my prayer for my own situation.
We all must learn not to pray according to our victory. It is easy to pray after we have been victorious, but not after we have failed. Although I do not encourage anyone to fail, I do say that we should not be bothered by our failures. God does not count on our failures; He counts on what we are. In the presence of God, we are the new man. This is what we are, and we must pray according to it. Because we are still in this old creation, we may fall back and fail. But we can forget that failure in the old creation and stand upon our position in the new creation. When Abraham stood on his position of being God's prophet, he could pray for Abimelech.
Genesis 20 is a very dear chapter, and we need to spend time to consider all its main points: the hidden weakness of God's seeking one; the way he was rebuked by Abimelech and was temporarily set aside by God; his intercession for Abimelech and his family; and the way God answered his prayer. If you dwell on this chapter for a few hours, your spirit will be richly nourished. As I consider this chapter today, I find it more needful than chapter eighteen. Although chapter eighteen is sweet, chapter twenty is precious, teaching us some precious lessons.
It teaches us that interceding for others does not depend upon our condition. It depends upon our standing. It depends upon who we are. We are the prophet of God, the new creation, the members of the Body of Christ. Being in the church life as a member of the Body of Christ gives us the standing to intercede for others. Forget about your environment and your failures. If you hold on to your feelings, your mouth will be shut, Satan will be victorious over you, and you will be deadened for days. This is very serious. We must forget our failures and our needs and take the proper standing to intercede for others according to God's designation and believe in God for others.
We also must learn to know ourselves. Do not think that if you have attainments as high as those recorded in Genesis 18 and 19, you will have no problems. We cannot afford to take a vacation from our fellowship with God. Do not have any confidence in your old self. Although your old self has been dealt with by God, it is still untrustworthy, even if it has been fully circumcised. Whether we are aware of it or not, deep within us there is a certain reservation in following the Lord. One day this reservation, this reserve of our natural weakness, will be exposed. Do not be surprised when it happens. Be prepared to take grace, forget your failures and your needs, and intercede for others. Stand on your position as a member of the Body of Christ, as a part of the new man, and as a saint in the Lord's recovery and pray, even if you pray with a sense of shame. Your intercession may be shameful and there may be no glory in it, but God will still answer it. Along with His answer to your shameful intercession, He will also answer your previously unanswered prayers for your own needs. How wonderful this is!
When, as God's prophet, Abraham lied to others, they became deadened. But when he forgot his failure before them and interceded for them, they received life and he himself was revived. Likewise, if we forget our failures and intercede for the needs of those before whom we have failed, we shall not only minister life to them but also to ourselves. May we all learn the lessons contained in this chapter.
