Truth or Dare?

I've started working my way through the many commentaries covering the chapters in Genesis that tell the life of Sarah.  There is one, well really two, events that cause me to shake my head at the thinking of Abraham!  It starts in Genesis chapter 12 when Abram and Sarai sojourn into Egypt:

11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

God had called them out of their country and promised to make a great nation of him.  I do want to point out, though, that at this time God had not promised that the seed would come through Sarai. Sarai is 65 years old at this time. Albert Barnes commentary put it this way, "But we are to remember that beauty does not vanish with middle age; that Sarai’s age corresponds with twenty-five or thirty years in modern times."  (I like that part about beauty not vanishing with middle age!)  The Genesis Record says, "If Sarai were recognized as his sister, both she and Abram would be treated with respect and his life would not be endangered. It is true that this might mean she would be approached by the Egyptians for sexual purposes, but that would be true also if Abram were killed for her sake; so this seemed the best of a bad bargain."  

Sarai definitely was on the bad end of this bad bargain, but she went along with it.  God spared her but it did not come without rebuke to both her and Abram.

Let's fast forward twenty four years to chapter 17.  God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah.  Ishmael had been born and is now about 13.  God said in verse 19, "Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac."  He repeats the promise in chapter 18, "I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son." (verse 10)  Chapter 19 tells the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Then we come to chapter 20...

1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

Haven't we been here before, Abraham? Twenty five years later, Sarah is ninety and Abraham still recognizes her beauty.  She must have been quite the looker!  The Genesis Record puts it this way:

In many respects, Genesis 20 is one of the most difficult chapters in the Bible to understand. The narrative is simple enough, of course; but how could Abraham and Sarah, at this time, repeat the very same sin they had committed many years ago in Egypt? It might be understandable that, in those days when their faith had not yet really been tested and God’s faithfulness fully confirmed, they could have fallen into such a trap; but how could they do it again? They had, over and over again, seen many wonderful answers to prayer, many miraculous proofs of God’s care and protection. Their faith had stood many tests, and God had never failed them. And now, finally, they were about to have their long-promised son! Sarah may even have been actually pregnant with Isaac, and it would only be a few months more. This is what the Bible records, however, so it must have happened, just this way. 

Sarah was ninety years old, and it is perhaps surprising that she would still be physically attractive to a heathen king. Regardless of their mistake, however, God would not allow His promise to Abraham and Sarah to be broken. Before Abimelech had touched Sarah, God struck him with some kind of lethal infirmity.

Abimelech quickly sent for Abraham, not really in repentance for taking his “sister” away from him, but rather in fear that his God would destroy him and his land if he didn’t. Before he asked Abraham to pray for him, as God had instructed him, he first delivered Abraham and Sarah a stinging rebuke for their deception, which had almost resulted in such calamity to his nation.

There is no indication that God Himself rebuked Abraham, though certainly He was not pleased with what he had done. No doubt God knew that Abimelech’s rebuke was enough. If indeed Abraham and Sarah had allowed the experience in Egypt to grow cold in their remembrance, this new, almost identical, experience in Gerar brought it all back to them in a flood of bitterness and shame.

As a wife, I can't imagine how I would feel in Sarah's shoes.  But as a human being, I'm so thankful that God shows us that His mercy extends through the years even when we repeat our sins.  I too have seen over and over many wonderful answers to prayer, but memories fade and I falter.  I look in the mirror and say, "Haven't we been here before?"  Yet Abraham is called the Friend of God (James 2:23) and Paul says, "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." (Romans 4:20)  There's hope for us!