TAKING A MARRIED WOMAN

TAKING A MARRIED WOMAN

Genesis 20:1-18

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

3 But God came to Abimelek 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.”

4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I listened to the sermon of our Pastor who bewailed the prevalent theme of immorality often seen on television. He said he is alarmed by the popularity of storylines depicted on TV where one man’s wife is taken by another man in a so called love triangle. This reminded me of Abraham, the Jewish Patriarch, who allowed his wife to be taken by a king named Abimelech, to be his wife.

What happened here is interesting.

Abraham led a nomadic life after his call from God to leave his country and to go to the land God has promised him. In this episode, the great patriarch left his encampment in Mamre, and migrated to the southern part of Canaan. He lived between Kadesh and Shur. For awhile he stayed in Gerar a rich pastureland, ruled by a pagan king Abilemech.

Abraham was afraid of the king and the people of Gerar where he dwelled. He was filled with anxiety and he feared for his own life. His wife Sarah was a very beautiful woman. With foreboding he knew it was only a matter of time that someone would take an interest in  Sarah, as to do away with him, because he was her husband.  To spare himself he  introduced his wife Sarah as his sister, to the people Gerar. The king Abimelech, who believed Sarah to be Abraham’s sister took her to be one of his wives.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream. God spoke to this pagan king in a dream as He intervened to preserve Sarah’s virtue. God warned Abimelech that he would be good as dead because the woman he took was a married woman. 

Abimelech in his conversation with God in the dream, explained that he did not know the truth about Sarah’s relationship with Abraham who presented her to be his sister. Abimelech pleaded he had a clean conscience. God knew that this pagan king had a clean conscience and this was the reason God kept Abimelech from sinning. 

God instructed Abimelech to return Sarah to her husband. God further removed the curse upon Abimelech, his wife and his maids.

This is a sobering thought, in an age where unfaithfulness abounds and marriage is hardly recognized as sacred, but simply a contractual arrangement. Adultery is a sin. God did not mince words in declaring that a man is as good as dead when takes a married woman. As long as Abimelech had another man's wife under his roof, he was a "dead man" until he released her to go back to her rightful husband, even though he had not yet touched her. This was true for even a pagan king.

For Abimelech, the idea of having a new partner came naturally for he had concubines.  Perhaps because of his position and authority, getting any woman that caught his fancy was his prerogative. He was the king. He was a man of great importance.

And yet in the end, his lust led to an intense standoff with God. Only a clean conscience and a repentant spirit saved him from God’s judgment.