Here We Go Again - Genesis 20

Do you ever find yourself making the same error over and over? Maybe at work or in school? Perhaps with something around your house?

Just this past week at my house, we had a laptop that wouldn’t connect to the wi-fi in our home, but all of our other computers and phones would connect to the wi-fi. So we brought the computer here to the church, and it would connect wirelessly here. And my wife took it to a coffee shop, and it would connect wirelessly there.
I knew the internet and wi-fi router system at my house was working, because all the other computers and phones would connect. So I called our internet provider twice to make sure the modem was up-to-date, I looked for help on various websites and message boards that dealt with this kind of computer, I tried to update the computer, and I typed in our internet password and clicked “Connect” over and over and over. Each time, it would say “Connected” and when I opened a browser, it would say “You are not connected to the internet!” It was driving me crazy.

Now, we actually have three little routing devices set up throughout the house, and your computer or phone is supposed to connect to the internet through the closest one. But this one laptop didn’t want to do that. And after all of that effort to figure out the problem, it turned out that one of the three little wi-fi routers (which for some reason was the only one this computer wanted to connect to) - that router had accidentally been unplugged from the wall! That was it! The thing had no power! So it was obvious why, no matter what I did, I kept getting the same frustrating result over and over.

In a similar way, each of us gets tripped up by the same sins over and over again. We often fail in the same ways again and again. And that is very frustrating too.

But through the person and work of Jesus, God’s grace covers the sins of His people again and again. This is the good news of the gospel: the news that in Christ, God no longer counts the sins of His people against them, and He enables us to obey.

The news of God’s grace must be the primary comfort and encouragement for those who are born again, especially when we are faced with the guilt and the frustration of repeated failures in the same areas of faith and obedience.

But why is it that we often fail in the same ways over and over?

Part of the answer is that even those who are born again are not yet completely free from the influence of sin during this life. A true Christian is able not to sin, but also still able to sin. That is true and must be understood.

But to understand why we fall short of God’s glory again and again, I would direct your attention also to the providential plan of God.

Throughout Scripture and here in Genesis 20 we learn three things about His plan. You can see them outlined for you on page 6-7 in your WG. We learn that God’s providential plan produces similar situations, reveals particular sins, and confirms abundant grace over and over again.

You are not failing repeatedly outside of the bounds of God’s sovereign plans for your life. Actually, God is working in your life and has ordained all things to work together to transform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

This week our attention turns again to Abraham. Notice the end of verse [1], “he sojourned in Gerar.” Abraham is still an alien in the land. He does not have all the rights and privileges of a citizen. God promised to give the land to His descendants, but He must live there as a foreigner.

Naturally, there was a certain insecurity that came with that. He fears that the men of the land will kill him and take his wife. Abraham found himself in a similar situation in Egypt, recorded in Genesis 12, and here he resorts to the same dishonest scheme as he did back then. He tells a half-truth.

Notice verse [2] And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abraham and Sarah had different mothers but the same father. This kind of marriage was common in the ancient world. And so yes, she was his sister. But she was also his wife.

Abraham was correct though, because “Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.” Now, this is a major problem. They were in the window of time when Sarah was to conceive and carry the promised child of the covenant. And now the king of Gerar has taken her for his own household.

But just as God did before, here again He will get Abraham out of a mess in order to fulfill His covenant promises. God afflicts Abimelech just as He did the pharaoh of Egypt. God reveals that Abimelech’s affliction is the result of Abraham’s dishonesty.

Abraham caused Abimelech to sin against God. And so Abimelech found himself in the path of God’s wrath. Notice in verse 3, God tells Abimelech that he is “a dead man.” What this means becomes clearer at the end of the chapter, as Moses states, “God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. [18] For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”

Apparently they were all stricken with some kind of plague which ensured and confirmed that Abimelech did not consummate his relationship with Sarah. Otherwise, the father of Sarah’s child would be questionable.

God confronts Abimelech in a dream, telling him that he took another man’s wife, Abimelech exclaims that he didn’t know Sarah had a husband. Notice verse 6 “Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.” God preserves Sarah’s honor and commands Abimelech to return her to Abraham or suffer terrible consequences.

Once again, God intervenes to keep His plan of salvation moving forward.

One interesting thing about this episode is that it doesn’t cast Abraham in a positive light. It’s a bad look, and not only does he do something foolish, but it’s a repeat offense. He was in the same situation before and behaved in the same way, walking by sight not faith. But God springs to action; in fact, clearly God has engineered this situation in Abraham’s life. God presented Abraham with the same challenge once again.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes the Scripture’s teaching on many things, including God’s control of all things and His work in the world. Listen to these three questions and answers from the catechism.

What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

How does God carry out his decrees? God carries out his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

What are God's works of providence? God's works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

God governs all his creatures, and all their actions. But to what end; for what purpose? For his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, for his own glory. God has a providential plan. He has foreordained everything that happens.

People still make decisions, but only under God’s control and within His providential plan. God works in our lives, just as He worked in Abraham’s. And one characteristic of God’s providential plan is that it produces similar situations over and over again.

Clearly, that’s one reason why God led Moses to include the account for the people of ancient Israel, who were the first to hear it. And that’s why it is preserved for us to hear it. We often find ourselves in the same types of situations over and over, faced with the same types of decisions, faced with the same dilemmas and same temptations.

You’re likely familiar with the term “deja vu.” This is the term referring to the feeling you get that you’ve experienced some before. It’s commonly thought that we get this feeling because our brain is recalling similar experiences from memory, even perhaps things we don’t recall observing.

This is partly why the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Same things, over and over. And these similar situations reveal particular sins.

In these next verses, Abimelech confronts Abraham with what God has revealed. Verse [9] Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”

Just as we saw with Lot in Genesis 19, actions have consequences. Abraham’s reason really is beside the point, but he has one. Verse [11] Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Abraham was afraid for his life. Abraham saw the people of Gerar as ruthless and immoral. And I don’t doubt that they were. But he did not trust that God would preserve him and his household in that place.

He appeals to having told half the truth in verse 12, and then look at [13]. He says, “And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Did you catch that? Why does Abraham say he had to lie? Because God put him in this situation. These are the kinds of things people say when they are making excuses. “I lied because your people are evil; I lied because God made me come out here.”

Obviously, Abraham’s behavior does not surprise God. God governs Abraham’s life and all his actions. God governs the lives and actions of those all around Abraham. And just as the circumstances revealed Abraham’s sinfulness before, here they do again. God’s providential plan reveals particular sins over and over again.

The Puritan pastors referred to habitual sins that continually nag us and snag us as “besetting sins.” These are the sins that are the most difficult for us to put to death. They are like deeply worn grooves in our souls. They are the ruts that are so hard to get out of.

Do you find yourself committing the same sins over and over? Same knee-jerk reactions to your circumstances? Same poor decisions? One advantage of getting older is recognizing when you’ve experienced something before.

We all live very routine lives. One day normally looks much like the last. One week typically goes very similar to the one before, and the one after. There will be somewhat unique challenges interspersed throughout your days. And of course, some situations will be totally unlike what you’ve gone through in the past. But even then, the temptations will be the same.

Also, your previous experiences will come to bear in how you respond. You see, all of it is God’s providential working in your life, bringing His plans to pass. And you should understand: we all have a long list of failures to trust and obey God. But for God’s covenant people, for those who trust in Him, God’s providential plan also confirms abundant grace over and over again.

Maybe you’ve heard mercy and grace explained like this: mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is receiving what you do not deserve. That is what we see here in these final verses in Genesis 20. God shows mercy and grace to Abraham. Abimelech realizes that the favor of God is on Abraham. And so Abimelech bestows wealth on Abraham and allows him to live peaceably in the land, and he understands that the honor of Sarah is important to God, notice verse [16],

To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”

It’s not entirely clear the reason for referring to Abraham as “brother,” but by doing these things, Abimelech is making things right. Then Abraham prays for them, and they are healed. Just as these situations were ordained to reveal Abraham’s sin, they were ordained to confirm God’s grace: abundant grace.

This morning in our prayer together confessing our sinfulness, I chose some words from The Valley of Vision, that great compilation of Puritan prayer. This one is from a prayer titled, “Calvary’s Anthem.” Calvary refers to the hill where the cross of Jesus stood, where He bled and died.

Look back at the prayer, on page 3. At the end of line 4: “There is power in the blood of Calvary to destroy more sins than can be counted. The blood of the Lamb is like a great river of infinite grace. Though my spiritual state is frail and poor, I will go on singing Calvary's anthem.”

God’s grace was the only hope for Abraham before a holy God. It is the only hope for the heirs of Abraham. And In Galatians 3, the apostle Paul writes, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Do you find yourself in the same situations, committing the same sins, and becoming overwhelmed with the same frustration or guilt or even apathy? In other words, do you care less and less? Are you thinking about just giving up on obedience?

Don’t do that. Instead, return over and over again to Jesus Christ, to the foot of His cross, to the floor before His glorious throne, bowing before Him who lived and died for sins in the place of His people.

Have you trusted in Jesus as the Lamb sacrificed for your sins? Not just that He died for wickedness, but for your wickedness? That He died for your selfishness, and for your faithlessness and for your pride?

As we go to the Lord’s table today, we come to worship One who also experienced similar situations over and over in God’s providential plan. Repeatedly, people rejected the Lord Jesus. Repeatedly, He was tempted to disobey the will of God. And repeatedly, He perfected obeyed the will of God on behalf of those He came to save.

This is why Jesus is the end of all our study and all our preaching and all our efforts to obey, because we can only have peace with God on the merit of Jesus’ righteousness. We have no righteous on our own merit. Though God’s people may stumble in the same faithless errors, and though we may succumb to the same faithless fears, we will always encounter the covenant love of the same gracious God.

Come to Him today.

Let’s bow in prayer.