Welcome to our new site!

Sermon
Genesis

Human Failure and Divine Faithfulness

Listen on

February 25, 2024
Genesis 20:1-18
Nick Whitehead

Faith

The Sovereignty of God

Sin & The Fall

Transcript

0:14Good morning. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Nick Whitehead. I serve here on staff as a pastor for Global Outreach. And it is a serious delight to lead us in worship over God's word this morning. So you might be feeling a little bit of deja vu if you've been tracking with us in our sermon series. This is not the first time that we've seen Abraham lie to a pagan ruler about his wife being his sister. We've already heard a very similar account in Genesis 12, and I'll just start by saying this. I found while I was studying some critical scholars, or in other words some unhelpful scholars and my opinion claim that this is actually the exact same story repeated two times.

1:03So the details have somehow gotten a little tweaked. But Genesis 20 is the exact same account as Genesis 12. It just got thrown in there twice. And they ultimately make this case on the ground that there's no possible way a man could repeat a lapse of this kind. Twice They, they say there's no way a person could make the same mistake twice. And I laughed out loud when I read that just like you're laughing now, because this goes against everything that we understand about human nature, both from what the Bible tells us, but perhaps probably most predominantly from our own experiences, right? We read this story, we do find it unbelievable that the patriarch would try to pull off this same stunt again.

1:53But what if we hold this up as a mirror to our own lives, right? Is this not common? In our own experience as Christians, we become so blind to God's faithfulness, so fearful of our present circumstances that we run repeatedly to the same old sins deceived into thinking that this time they're gonna promise better results for us. So with some of my own repeated sins, in my mind it's actually not that hard to believe that Abraham would pull off the old wife sister trick twice. In fact, this sin pattern is so embedded in him that it actually even gets passed on to his son. Genesis 26 is coming up, Isaac's gonna do the exact same thing.

2:37And you might be thinking, I would never pull off that particular stunt. But what seems like a unique sin to Abraham is at its root one we likely all struggle with from time to time. It's faithless fear. And we may feel this to be a very disappointing story, far too reminiscent of our own repeated failures. But as we work through this narrative, what we're gonna begin to see is not in the foreground Abraham's failure, but in incredible display of God's steady faithfulness to his people. And so my one sentence summary of Genesis 20 is this, when God's own prophet fails, God intervenes to preserve his promises even through the surprising acts of a pagan king.

3:28And here's the big zoom out takeaway. God's faithfulness is never disrupted by human faithlessness. God's faithfulness is never disrupted by your faithlessness. And so I'm eager to see that reality and be encouraged by it with you. So let me pray and ask the Lord to meet us. Father, we do need your help. We don't come to this story of a patriarch and hero of the faith just to see him, how unfulfilling that would be if all we got was Abraham. Instead we come to see you. So would your faithfulness pierce through this story of faithlessness and encourage us as we seek to kill sin by trusting in your superior promises?

4:21We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So we're gonna work through this narrative in five main movements, sort of following the flow of the text. And we're gonna start by looking at Abraham's failure in verses one and two. Then we'll watch as God intervenes in verses three through seven. Then we will see a bialek rebuke of Abraham in verses eight through 10, Abraham's excuse in verse 11 through 13. And then we'll close in the final verses seeing God's favor upon all who are involved in this story. So let's look at verses one and two and see the problem that arises here. From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the naab and lived between Cadesh and sure, and he sojourned in Garra.

5:10And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister, and ab bialek, king of Garra sent and took Sarah. So here again, another low point of Abraham's life and these opening verses, last week we saw Abraham Tower in faithfulness as this prophetic intercessor who comes and prays to God on behalf of the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. And it seems like Abraham's come such a long way since Genesis 12, 25 years before. And so we think, oh, here he is in the same situation. Surely this time Abraham's not gonna trade away the promises of God and his wife for his own personal safety, but he does it again.

5:54Four quick words in verse two. She is my sister. And we need to feel the weight of what Abraham is risking here. Remember what God has just promised in chapter 17 and 18. God has just told Abraham and Sarah that the child he has promised will be born to them within the year we're on the brink of Isaac's birth. We're gonna see it next week, which means that during the time of this narrative, Sarah could be getting pregnant at any time with the promised offspring. If there's ever a time that Abraham needs to protect his wife as right now, and in the ancient world, it was typical in the case of adultery for the aggrieved husband to demand or threaten death to anyone who touched his wife.

6:43And yet out of fear to save his own skin, Abraham neglects those husbandly duties and he lets ab bialek shuffle Sarah often to his harem. But God, verse three, God acting as the aggrieved husband intervenes into this situation to protect Sarah when her husband won't. So look at verse three. God came to ab Alek in a dream by night and he said to him, behold, you are a dead man. Meaning your death is eminent abbe like I'm going to kill you. And here's why. Because of the woman whom you have taken for she as a man's wife talk about a horrifying nightmare. The God of the universe pops into your bedtime thoughts.

7:32He accuses you of taking another man's wife and he threatens your death. This is terrifying. But of course, because Abraham had lied, ab Bialek is totally unaware of Sarah's marital status. And so ab bialek defend in himself, but before he gives that defense, the author of Genesis Moses here gives us the inside scoop. So look at verse four. Abimelek had not approached her. He had committed no sexual act with her. So as readers, we actually can believe abimelech's defense and verse four and five, when he says, Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, she's my sister?

8:12And she herself said, he's my brother. And the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands, I have done this, abbe appeals here to God's justice. Will you really destroy someone who has done no wrong in this situation? And that's the echo. If you remember of Abraham's prayer and Genesis 18 for Sodom, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? So God has put a bialek on trial. He's listened to a bili defense. And now God responds. Verse six, 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.

8:56Therefore I did not let you touch her. So God confirms ab bili righteousness says, I know, I know you acted with integrity and you know how I know I kept you. I kept you from sinning, I kept you from touching her. God is the one who intervenes and restrain aek sin. And what this shows us is that God has sovereign control, not just over nature and weather and sickness, but even over the wills of sinful men. Proverbs 21, 1, the king's heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He will direct it wherever he wills. God can restrain sin like he does here. He can even bring about sin like when he hardened Pharaoh's heart in Exodus.

9:49And for some of you, this raises the question, if God can restrain a bili sin, why doesn't he keep me from sinning? And the ways that so easily entangle me? Why doesn't he keep others from sinning against me in the ways they so frequently hurt me? And there's so much I could say in response to those types of questions, but I just want to quickly ground us with three quick thoughts on this to help us understand how human sin relates to God's sovereignty over the wills of men. So first, it is okay to wonder about these things, but we must be careful never to blame God for our sin or the sin of anyone else.

10:30God can ordain sin to come about through the acts of willing creatures, but he himself never directly sins. The Bible is very clear about this. He's perfectly righteous, perfectly holy. One John three, five says in him, there is no sin. So God never sins and we cannot blame him for it. Second, humans are entirely responsible for their sin. So even though God causes all things to happen, even providentially directing the wills of human beings, he does this in such a way that humans are still held accountable for their sinful choices. Here's an example. Second Samuel 24. God works through Satan to incite King David to sin by taking a census.

11:20But scripture still regards David as being responsible for that sin. God is not to blame. David is responsible and even David himself cries out in that passage. I have sinned greatly for what I have done. So first, God never sins can't blame him for sin. Second, humans are entirely responsible for sin. And finally, last point, God uses evil and even sin to fulfill his purposes and work good for his people. We're gonna see one of the most well-known examples of this when we get to the end of the book in Genesis 50, Joseph says to his brothers, who kidnapped him, who put him in a pit, who sold him into slavery.

12:06He says, you meant evil against me, but God meant it meaning all these evil things for good. And even the sin of Joseph's brothers is what God used to save their entire family during that famine. So for those wrestling with questions of your own sin or the sins of others against you, and how this is compatible with God's sovereignty over the wills of men, there is some mystery here. But the call is for you to trust that he is working all things together for the good of those who love him. And I'll just say, if there are any sins that the Lord has specifically kept you from maybe this week or in your life like he did with ab Bialek, just praise him for that.

12:54Just praise him. Remember that we were all once enslaved to sin. We were held captive by the desires of our flesh. We were unable to choose anything good. And only God by his sovereign grace can work in us to actually free our wills from bondage to sin so that we can will and work for his good pleasure. Amen. Now let's, let's close that parentheses. I wanna go back to the story. God has restrained aek from touching Sarah. We don't know exactly how he did that. I, I think that a bialek as we'll later, see, he needs prayer to heal him and keep him from death. So I, I think a bialek may have actually been fatally sick at this time, which made him physically incapable of having sexual relations.

13:41But whatever the means, God eliminates the possibility of any of Sarah's offspring being illegitimately born to ab bialek. So God has done the work, he's restrained ab bialek, but then he does require something of ab bialek. Verse seven. He demands this now then return the man's wife for he is a prophet so that he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die you and all who are yours. So how does God motivate a bilich to return Sarah? God says to have Bim like you wanna live, you need this lying prophet Abraham to come talk to me on your behalf.

14:30So even here we're getting a glimpse. Abraham, despite his sins continues to be the intermediary God has chosen to bless the nations. This, this just magnifies God's faithfulness despite our sinfulness and failures. So we've seen Abraham's failure, God has now intervened, and now we're gonna see how ab bialek deals with Abraham. Verse eight, look at it with me. So AB bialek rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things and the men were very much afraid. Then ab Bialek 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've done to me things that ought not be done.

15:17And Abex said to Abraham, what did you see that you did this thing? So Abex response to divine warning is immediate. He rolls outta bed after this dream, gathers his men and tells them what has happened. And his men react with proper fear of the Lord. They've encountered through a bimal report, the God who can enter people's dreams, the God who oversees life and death, who can save, who can kill. And these pagan men of GRA are very afraid. King of Bialek is very afraid of the Lord. And abimelech's first words to Abraham echo how God confronts Adam and Eve in the garden after they sin. What have you done? God seems to be using this pagan king as his spokesperson to rebuke Abraham and notice where a bialek concern is in these questions 'cause it's so different than Abraham's concerns.

16:20He says in verse nine, what have you done to us and why have you brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? So ab bialek this pagan king, he's not concerned primarily with his own personal welfare like Abraham was. He's concerned with the welfare of his entire people. There's so much irony here. Ab bialek, the pagan king is the one issuing divine correction of God's prophet. And you can just feel the tension of this moment. Here's our heroic patriarch. Here he is standing before the rebukes of this pagan king. How's he gonna respond? Come on Abraham, come on. Let's see. Verse 11. Abraham says, 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 besides she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother.

17:18And she became my wife. 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. Not the response we wanted. Abraham excuses his sin with a faithless fear induced and faulty assumption. I lied because these guys aren't afraid of God and they're just gonna kill me to get my wife. So the irony continues. Abraham thinks Garra is a place with no fear of God, but he is the one who has failed to fear the Lord. The same man who has wiped out armies of multiple kings with just 300 of his own men lacks the courage to protect his wife.

18:05And instead he asks her to protect him by telling these half truths and that kids are placed in a harem. And look how Abraham persuaded her to join his schemes. Verse 13, you see the word kindness there in verse 13, when Abraham says, this is the kindness you must do me. The Hebrew word for kindness, there is hesed. You might be familiar with this word. It's a really strong word used to connote covenant faithfulness, loving kindness. It's often the word ref referring to God's covenant, faithfulness to his people. And so Abraham is basically saying, if you really love me, Sarah, you'll do it. He's using verbal manipulation to get her to sin with him, not just once, but on repeated occasions.

18:54Abraham says, every place that we go say this about me, right? He's written it into the policy manual. Men, do you used your wife in this way as if she mainly exists so that you can get what you want? That is not manly. What Abraham does here is cowardly. And if you aren't feeling the horror of Abraham's actions, note one more thing. He says in verse 13, as part of his defense, we could fly over this, but look at this. He says, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I did this thing. Abraham is subtly putting the blame for his sin on God. He's essentially saying, God, if you hadn't dragged me into the lands of unrighteous rulers, I would've never had to ask Sarah to do this.

19:43Does this give you flashbacks to somebody else? Adam in the garden says to God, the woman whom you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate just like Adam. Abraham is in dangerous territory here and his words of defense are totally self condemning. Abraham is so blind by fear, so lacking in faith that even after being confronted, he continues to justify and defend his sin. And we just want to go. Come on, Abraham, don't you remember God's promises to you? How he has cut a covenant with you. He's promised your offspring will be as numerous as the stars. He's promised you land, he's promised you a son.

20:32He's enabled you and underdog situations to rescue lot twice. And by his great mercy, he counted your faith to you as righteousness. Abraham, do you know how unreasonable it is for you to disobey God, to put your marriage at risk, to jeopardize God's promises out of fear in order to protect yourself? But even after Abraham's sad excuse, we get this very surprising conclusion to the chapter verse 14, look at it. AB bialek took sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants, and he gave them to Abraham and he returned Sarah, his wife to him. And ab bialek said, behold, my land is before you dwell where it pleases you.

21:22And to Sarah, he said, behold, I've 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. Why does it bialek do this? Seems like a shocking response. We don't see Abraham repent or say anything to deserve such great generosity. Frankly, I think it's this. Bialek does this not for Abraham, not because he respects Abraham. It's because he's very afraid of Abraham's God. Abraham's God has made ab EK's life dependent on the prayers of this prophet and Abraham. Abraham's God has threatened a bilis life if he does not return Sarah.

22:12So bili like here have it. He pays more than just the reparations. God is required. He showers Abraham with livestock and with servants and even land. But I do think his display of integrity is most prominent in the way he seeks to restore Sarah's honor. He gives a thousand shekels of silver as a public sign of Sarah's innocence. That's a lot of money. And a couple of chapters we're gonna see Abraham uses just 400 of those shekels to buy an entire field with a cave in it. So on top of the silver I've been like also publicly acquit Sarah. He makes it clear she is not a defiled woman. She has entered my harem, but her purity has not been compromised.

22:57And this public vindication of Sarah is incredibly important as we approach the birth of Isaac in chapter 21. Because now we know for certain, Isaac is not a bilich son. He's Abraham's son and God is faithful. So despite Abraham's failure, God shows him this incredible favor. In fact, Abraham continues to be God's chosen mediator of his promises. So Abraham gets blessed and he becomes a blessing to the nations. Look at verse 17. He blesses the garr rights. Abraham prayed to God and God healed ab bialek and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of ab Bialek because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

23:46So the guy who failed to trust and obey the Lord becomes the means of a bialek restoration and the opening of all these closed wounds in a bialek household. So I think it's important to note here, God's not only preserving his promise by restraining a bialek, he's also ensuring that Sarah would not get pregnant by closing the wombs of everyone in the household, including Sarah at that time. And this chapter reminds us of the chief problem plaguing Sarah for the last 10 chapters of Genesis. It's barrenness and it leaves us to think in this moment, if Abraham's prayers can cause God to open the wombs of a bialek household cannot, then God also restore the womb of Abraham's wife.

24:36And you can tune in next week for an answer to that question. Until then, what are the takeaways for us today from this story? First is this. It's a clear call and command to you. Do not let fear cause you to sin. At the core of Abraham's sin is fear. He's afraid of what's going to happen. He's anxious about what a bilich might do to him. And in that moment of fear, he could believe two things, the Lord will do good to me in this or sin will do me better. The Lord will do good to me in this or sin will do me better. And Abraham chose the latter. And I think it's important to note that to feel afraid is not wrong in and of itself.

25:28It's the question of what you do with that fear. Fear and anxiety plague all of us and different times and across different spectrums. And I think the typical, as I thought about this, a typical sinful outworking of this for many of us is probably anger, irr, irritability, or just despair. When we're feeling financial pressure, when we're feeling stressed by work, when there's a recent medical diagnosis, we are not expecting when there's evil done against us, when our children are having problems, we become so overwhelmed by the subtle fears and anxieties of daily life that we begin to snap at our spouses.

26:09We start to complain incessantly. We fall into frequent and faithless despair. And we justify these sins by essentially saying, well, how else could I possibly respond in the midst of my circumstances as if sin is the only option? And we must fight that temptation in the anxieties of everyday life. These reactions, you know this, these reactions will never satisfy you and they get you nowhere. Others of you are currently in circumstances where the stakes are much higher than what I just listed. The pressure is much more intense, the fears are much greater. When I was younger, I watched a few episodes of a show that I don't recommend but it, it follows the story of a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and driven by fear of his family's financial situation.

27:10He begins to use the time he has left to live to illegally make and sell methamphetamine. Now of course, that's an extreme Hollywood example, but some of you are facing or will face weighty and scary situations that will tempt you to compromise on doing what is right. There are some of you who work for employers who are beginning to gently ask or even require you to concede on truths regarding gender and sexuality. And distressing questions are bubbling up in your mind. What if I get fired from this job I've worked at for 20 years? How will I sustain my family? How much longer can I even stay in this line of work?

27:53These are hard questions, but do not let those questions lead you to start asking more dangerous ones. Like, are there ways I could tell a half truth here to keep my job? Or would God really want me to do what is right if that would lead my family into financial hardship? Brothers and sisters, God never wants you to sin. He never wants you to sin. Even if obedience will cost you greatly. One Peter four 19, it calls those of us who are suffering, those of us who are in these circumstances where fear is great to entrust our souls to a faithful creator while doing good. And the question for us is, when fears anxieties creep in, to whom will you entrust your soul?

28:47When you find yourself in situations that scare you or stress you out or you feel wronged, are you tempted to grab the steering wheel from God as if he's gonna crash the vehicle? I wanna show you something in verse 10. Look at it again. Look what Aek says to Abraham. He says, what did you see? What were you seeing? What were you believing about reality that you did this thing? And I think that's the question for us in moments of fear. What is your perception of reality in this situation? And if you're not seeing God as real and is promises as real fear is going to cloud your vision and you're gonna scramble to implement your own schemes.

29:36And so what we have here ultimately is a problem of spiritual sight, or we might call it faith. When fears arise, when the stormy trial is great, you must set your eyes on the things God has promised you and do not be deceived into thinking sin will get you farther than faith. It will not get you farther than faith. When you are afraid of persecution for speaking truth or doing what is right, you take hold of God's promises and one Peter three, who is there to harm you if you're zealous for good. But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Or when your opponents or your enemies come against you, you remember Psalm one 18, the Lord is on my side.

30:25I will not fear what can man do to me? Or when you feel anxious, when you feel scared about your financial situation, you lift your eyes up. Jesus said, look at the birds. Look at the birds. They don't sow, they don't reap. They don't gather into barns. And yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? When you fear losing a loved one or the grief is heavy, or your child is walking into sin or away from the faith, you rest in the promise of Psalm 34, the Lord is close to the broken hearted. He saves those whose spirits are crushed. And even if death is on your doorstep, whether that be cancer or martyrdom, you fix your faith on the promises of Romans eight.

31:14I'm sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present or things to come, nor powers nor height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation, we'll be able to separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. So when you're afraid, you hide yourself and the refuge of all that God is for you. Let me close with one more point of application because some of you this morning have come and fear has already led you to compromise anxiety and dissatisfaction with your life. Circumstances have already led you to use sinful means to find comfort and satisfaction and escape.

31:58And you're looking at Abraham's failure this morning and you're saying, that's me. That's me. I've been a coward and I've run back to the same old sins over and over again thinking they're gonna do me better. And outta panic and worry, you failed to trust the Lord. And what this story does brothers and sisters is it reminds you that no sin of yours can thwart the purposes of God. Second Timothy two 13 says, if we're faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself, he will bring about his purposes and all whom he has chosen and called and justified will be glorified. Don't hear this as a license to sin, right?

32:46Paul asks, shall we keep on sinning that Grace May abound by no means, but when you do sin, when trouble overwhelms you and you lose sight of God's promises and your faith fails, you have a God who is faithful and just to forgive your sins. And not only that, he redeems your failures. That's what this story shows us. You see what he does for Abraham? Have you ever thought of Romans 8 28 in light of your own sin problems? For those who love God all things, I think it means all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Which means even when you stumble in unbelief, the Lord who has ordained your salvation will redeem that failure for his glory and for your good.

33:44And some of you're thinking right now, surely this cannot be true. Surely God cannot turn my sinful decisions into benefits and blessings for me. And I wanna show you something. So turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter two. If you have a pew Bible, it's page nine 10. Acts chapter two. In Acts two, Peter is preaching a gospel sermon and he says this to the Jews in verse 23. Look at verse 23. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Peter's making quite an astonishing claim here God has brought to pass. He sovereignly ordained the death of Jesus at the hands of these men.

34:56And so we know that this horrendous act, the crucifixion of the innocent God man, is the precise means that God has ordained to save people from their sins. And we may say, but surely these murders can't receive the saving benefits of the death they cost wrong. Look what happens at the end of Peter sermon. Verse 37. Verse 37, these Israelite listeners who have been accused of killing Christ, they hear the gospel, they're cut to the heart and they ask brothers, what are we to do? And Peter says, sorry guys, you, you killed him. It's not gonna work out for you. There's nothing in it for you. No.

35:45He says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Because the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. The promise was for them. Peter calls these killers of Jesus to repent and receive the benefits of Jesus' death. The crucifixion they performed becomes the very means by which they can be saved.

36:21How loudly would they have sang it was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished? His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. Believe it. Our God, our faithful God can redeem even the worst of your failures and bring them to good for you. So if you've sinned in fear and unbelief, don't be like Abraham who sought to excuse his sin, but confess your sins. Trust in the work of Jesus on your behalf, and he will be faithful to forgive you and turn those failures into marks of his great faithfulness. Let me pray. Oh Lord, we just like Abraham are complex people. We are saved sinners who can have great moments of faith or fall back into old habits of sin.

37:25But you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Great. Is your faithfulness abundant? Are your mercies, would you conquer our fears as we take hold of your unfailing promises? And would we trust that even when we sin, you who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.

Jump to live

Jump to live

Sermon Text

Genesis 20:1-18

Previous
NEXT
Phone
(612) 455-0800
Email
info@thenorthchurch.com
Address
5151 Program Ave,
Mounds View, MN 55112
AboutI'm NewBeliefsLeadershipSundaysWednesdays
ConnectMinistriesEventsNorth UpdateGroup Finder
ResourcesBusiness DirectoryLibrarySeminars & ConferencesWeddings & FuneralsJob Opportunities
AccountHouseholdGroupsGivingLog Out
Copyright © 2026 The North Church. All rights reserved.
Staff LoginPrivacy PolicyTerms & ConditionsSite by Volente

Connect

Submit

Thank you!
Your submission has been received.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.