Genesis 20 "Abimelech"

"And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur and sojourned in Gerar." v1

Abimelech was the king of Gerar. Abraham again introduces Sarah as his sister out of fear. He later said that he thought there was no fear of God in Gerar. But the Lord intervened to prevent Abimelech from sinning with Sarah. Abimelech did fear God and called Abraham and asked him what he had done to make Abraham do such a thing to him. We now find out that Sarah was Abraham's half sister v12 and he had asked her to tell that part of their relationship instead of the part about them being married. Abimelech's household had become barren because of Sarah being in the house but Abraham prayed that they be restored and so were.

v14"And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen and menservants and womenservants and gave them unto Abraham and restored him Sarah his wife.

I wish we had space here to deal with the idea of being a servant. Suffice it to say that it would be better to be a servant in the house of one protected by the Lord than another house. Perhaps, it is better to be a servant than the master of the house. There would be lots less worries to deal with and still the protection and benefits of the house. We should not equate a servant in this sense with a slave in that sad part of our history. It was different.

I believe we will see Abimelech again and so this short study of chapter 20 can serve as an introduction.