Read the Passage: Genesis 20–21

Listen to the Redeemed Mind Podcast: Genesis 20-21

Abimelech is Deceived (20:1–18)

Genesis 20:1–18 narrates an interaction between Abraham and Abimelech. Abimelech was the Philistine king of the city of Gerar. Abimelech is mentioned 24 times in the book of Genesis, over several generations, thus it appears that that Abimelech may have been a royal title and not a proper name. In any event, as this narrative begins, Abraham and Sarah deceive Abimelech by concealing their marriage from him, as they claimed to be merely siblings. Note that they had engaged in a similar deceitful scheme 25 years earlier in Egypt. Yet, despite Abraham’s deception, God intervened by revealing the ploy to Abimelech, as well as by withholding him from Sarah. God’s threat to kill Abimelech at Gen. 20:3 is interesting, for Abraham and Sarah were the ones who behaved duplicitously, while Abimelech claimed to have acted “in the integrity of my heart and [with the] innocence of my hands” (Gen. 20:5).

Upon waking from the dream in which he had been confronted by God, Abimelech revealed the present danger to his servants and confronted Abraham over his deception. Perhaps understandably, Abimelech wanted to know Abraham’s agenda. In response, Abraham explained: (1) that he feared for his life, likely on account of Sarah’s beauty, (2) that Sarah really was his half-sister, and (3) that he and Sarah engaged in this ploy “in every place” (Gen. 20:13) they traveled. These reasons certainly did not justify the deception by Abraham and Sarah, yet on account of God’s earlier warning to him, Abimelech released Sarah to Abraham. Moreover, just as Pharaoh had materially blessed Abraham in the midst of his deception (cf. Gen.12:16), so here in Gen. 20:15–16 Abimelech granted Abraham the right to dwell wherever he wished in the land, and Abimelech gave Abraham 1,000 pieces of silver.

Isaac is Born (21:1–21)

Earlier, at Gen. 12:2, God had promised Abraham, “I will make you a great nation.” At that time, this personal aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant must have seemed unbelievable, for as Gen. 11:30 reported, “Sarah was barren, she had no child.” Yet, finally, after twenty-five years had passed, and after Abraham had tried to help God fulfill His promise by procreating with Hagar, God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a son. Indeed, after all that had transpired since the inauguration of the Abrahamic Covenant, the record of Isaac’s birth is very ordinary, as the text merely says, “Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son” (Gen. 21:2). Next, just as God had instructed at Gen. 17:19, so Abraham and Sarah named their son Isaac, which means laughter. This was an appropriate name, for both Abraham (cf. Gen. 17:17) and Sarah (cf. Gen. 18:12) had laughed upon learning of Isaac’s birth, Isaac brought joy to this elderly couple, and others would laugh upon hearing the news of Isaac’s arrival.

Gen. 21:8–21 narrates the events that transpired in Abraham’s family following Isaac’s birth. Gen. 21:4 mentioned Isaac’s circumcision (at 8 days old), and Gen. 21:8 records his weaning (at 2-3 years old). At this time the animosity between Sarah and Hagar, that had been simmering for seventeen years, flared up. When Isaac was weaned, Sarah witnessed Ishmael ridiculing Isaac. This scoffing may have been the result of Hagar’s hope that Ishmael would be Abraham’s inheritor. In any event, the ridicule resulted in Sarah’s demand that Hagar and Ishmael be cast out from the family. While it displeased Abraham to send away his son, God instructed him to listen to Sarah (cf. Gen. 21:12–13) with the promise of a blessing upon Ishmael too. Next, Gen. 21:14–21 narrates the departure of Hagar and Ishmael. Gen. 21:20 concludes, “So God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.”

Abraham is Respected (21:22–34)

Gen. 21:22–34 interrupts the story about Isaac, as here the narrative briefly returns to the topic of the previous chapter and reports an incident between Abraham and Abimelech. We might assume that, on account of the earlier deception, the relationship between Abraham and Abimelech was not especially warm. Yet, in this passage, Abimelech approached Abraham and recognized, “God is with you in all that you do” (Gen. 21:22). Therefore, Abimelech asked for a treaty or a covenant with Abraham specifying that Abraham would not treat Abimelech or his descendants unjustly. While this may seem like a passing narrative in the larger story of Abraham’s family, this covenant between Abraham and Abimelech is important, for it highlights the fact that when God later gave the Promised Land to Israel, and judged the Canaanites, He was not treating them unjustly, but justly.

Application Questions:

1. Why did God wait for twenty-five years to fulfill the personal aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant?
2. If Abraham and Sarah were the ones who acted with deceit, why did God threaten to kill Abimelech?
3. Assuming that Abraham’s deceptions were wrong, how can we explain his material flourishing?
4. Is it accurate to conclude that God oftentimes works slowly and unexpectedly? How else would you describe God’s workings?
5. Given Abraham’s earlier deception, how did Abimelech come to conclude that God was with Abraham?