Do You Obey in Faith or Out of Fear? - Genesis 20 & 21

You will note that I have changed the subject of this lesson and it is for a very personal reason. When I pose this question to the writer, he has a very hard decision to make. I have studied the Bible all my life and I believe it is the word of God; undefiled and permanently established and I believe that God is the same yesterday, today and forever without change and beyond error. It is I that I do not know! My ways, and especially my thoughts at times bother me. In the study of the Word, I have found that there is a heaven to gain and a Hell to be shunned, and I truly believe that I have found the way to do just that. But, I have the same problems that Paul said bothered him continuously. I greatly desire to do only that which is right, but I know that I am wrong at times. I ask myself, do I obey God because I believe and trust Him—or is it because I fear the consequences if I allow my human desires to trap me?

When Abraham left his home where he felt secure and set out on his journey to a place where God would lead him…show him…there is no doubt that he made that journey because of his faith. He had so much faith that God counted it as righteousness. He moved into the region of Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur in a place called Gerar. Abimelech was king of Gerar. When faith fades, fear takes its place, and this must have happened to Abraham because he told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister, and the king sent for her to come live in his palace. Before he knew her, God warned him that she was married, and Abimelech approached Abraham wondering why he had lied to him, almost getting him into serious trouble. He returned Sarah to her husband unmolested. When asked why he had lied to the king…he admitted that he feared the king. Here again, we find that Abraham is taking things into his own hands instead of completely depending on God to take care of him.

The 21st chapter tells the story of the birth of Isaac in their old age at 100 years. It reflects the problems that arose in the family because of the jealousy between Ishmael and Isaac. Abraham was distressed because both of these boys were his sons and he did not wish to drive Ishmael away. It was while Hagar and Ishmael were in the desert alone, and without food and water that God appeared and provided water and promised Hagar that her son too would be a part of the promise made to Abraham regarding his being the father of nations. He and his mother continued to live in Beersheba, which is located about one hundred miles south of Jerusalem, and she found a wife for him there.

When you study the Treaty of Beersheba made between Abimelech and Abraham, it is easy to see that Abimelech really did not trust Abraham because of who he was; but only because God had placed his approval on Abraham. I do not intend to cast any shadow on Abraham, but his untruthfulness regarding his wife being his sister had not made him any brownie points with Abimelech. In fact, this act alone is one example of why I changed the title of this lesson. It appears to me that Abraham was more in fear of Abimelech than he was in faith toward God.

In the treaty, Abimelech requested that Abraham show him the same kindness as an alien living in his country as Abimelech had shown him when Abraham lied to him. Abraham agreed to the treaty. Then immediately he complained about the ownership of a well which he claimed to have dug. He found that Abimelech did not know before that morning that there was a problem, and immediately returned the use of the well to Abraham. Give credit to Abraham, he gave the king seven ewe lambs as a token of appreciation. The agreement was settled and they named the place Beersheba because of the oath sworn there. Both the king and Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines, in peace for a long time. {No years given}

Chapter 22 relates the story about Abraham and his son Isaac that finally proves that Abraham had more faith in God than he had fear of failing God. You know this story by heart. If you have not heard it twenty or more times and you are in the senior Bible study class, then you should be ashamed, or very proud that you are a young Christian.

God had promised Abraham his son Isaac. God had promised that he would bless all nations through him. Now read verse two. The command is that he should take his only son and sacrifice him in the region of Mt. Moriah—as a burnt offering at a place that I will designate. Read on. There was no argument. There was no appeal. There was complete acceptance. Wood was gathered and coals of fire were prepared to be carried to start the alter fire, the knife to kill his son was in his shield, and he had a rope to bind him so he could not escape the fire. This boy must have been eighteen to twenty years old, his father was over one hundred, and as I see it, Isaac could have probably fought his father and won…he could have escaped. So…let us give Isaac some credit for the faith that he must have had both in his father and in God. Two men…father and son…demonstrated the greatest single act of faith recorded anywhere else in the OT.

God chose the place. Two men built the special alter and lighted the fire. Abraham bound his son Isaac with the rope they had taken with them. There is no indication that there was any resistance. Isaac did have one question—“Father, where is the lamb?” The ‘faith’ answer was—“God will provide the sacrifice.” You had better believe that God will stretch your faith to the last tensile of strength you have. He waited, just to see if Abraham would really use the knife that he had in his shield, to kill his only son…and then when Abraham reached for the knife and pulled it from the scabbard—a voice from heaven said “DO NOT LAY A HAND ON THE BOY!”

Did God change his mind? No. He only made an alternate provision, by causing a lamb to be available, as it was trapped in a bramble bush near by. You may ask—Why did God ask Abraham to perform a human sacrifice, when this has been against God’s teaching—no human sacrifice, only animals, doves etc. In Leviticus 20: 1-5, human sacrifice is condemned as a horrible sin. Well, hear me now! God did not change his mind. God did not approve of human sacrifice. God did not permit it to happen here. What God wanted to do was to test Abraham to the absolute limit of his being, to see if Abraham really loved God more than he did his own son. Fellow students…Ladies and gentlemen…I tremble with fear when I ask this question—Do you love God this much? Do I love God this much? Oh, God I pray—please strengthen my little faith! Oh God, may we truly believe that if we will dwell continuously on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided. Read now…verse 14.

Because of Abraham’s faith God promised again that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars in heaven and the sands of the sea. I hope that I am wrong, but I can read between the line in this promise, and in my mind’s eye I see Christians that could begat Christians as numerous as stars in the skies and pebbles of sand by the sea, if they would only exercise their mustard seed faith. God has told us to sacrifice our time and talents and go into the entire world, teaching all nations, and baptizing them in the name of the Lord. Some have. Some have not. Some do a little—is it enough?

After the sacrifice of the lamb was made, Isaac’s life was saved to further serve the Lord; Abraham returned to his family, servants and friends and remained in Beersheba. I know that longs lists of begets are not your favorite reading, but you need to read verses 20 through 24, not because you will remember names, but because it will help you to remember that God keeps his promises. These verses are included to prove that many descendents began to inhabit the earth as promised to Abraham.

23: Sarah lived to be 127 years old, and died in Canaan. Remember that Abraham left his home as directed by God, and he had wandered to many places, never feeling completely at home. He did not own a burial plot. There were no funeral homes to care for the dead, it was handled by neighbors and the hot dry climate caused people to rush the preparation and funeral. Abraham wanted to buy a burial plot, but because of the wide respect that people had for him and Sarah, no one wanted to sell…they wanted to give him a place but his pride entered in and he insisted on buying. He bought the cave and field of Machpelah for four hundred shekels of silver and buried Sarah there. Later Abraham, his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob were all buried together along side of Sarah.