3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
Ignorance is no excuse! Abimelech has been lied to by Abraham and his wife Sarah. They have both said that Sarah is Abraham’s sister. As a result Abimelech has taken Sarah to be his wife. But God doesn’t like married people sleeping with someone other than their spouse and he comes to warn Abimelech in a dream. He has not acted improperly and God wants to prevent him from sinning. Abimelech must have been a good guy. Abraham and Sarah, on the other hand, have both dishonored the Lord with their lie. It is strange that Abraham has not learned his lesson. He was rebuked by the Lord when he did this same thing with the Egyptians earlier in his life. Just so you know, his son ends up doing the same thing with his wife Rebecca. Some things get passed from parents to children even if we don’t want them to be. Abimelech pleads with the Lord, much the same way that Abraham pleaded on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. And justice prevails. Abimelech has not sinned and is not punished because of the actions of Abraham and Sarah. That is a powerful principle. God does not punish the innocent. God brings judgment on those who are guilty. Abimelech was not guilty of this offense so the Lord did not punish him. But God used Abimelech to teach Abraham, the man of faith, an important lesson. Abraham had still not learned that he could completely trust the Lord in every area of his life. He still was learning to trust. It is OK to learn to trust. Trusting can take time to learn in a world where so many are not trustworthy. But Abraham needed to be trustworthy himself. We can’t expect others to be trustworthy until we ourselves are trustworthy.
The Arnold Journey 