Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jan 7th, 2023 Thou Art But A Dead Man – The Saturday Morning Post

Today’s Passage – Genesis 20 – 22 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 13 – 14; Psalms 31 – 35; Proverbs 7

Read the “0107 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34

Read previous posts from today’s passage – “The Whole Truth“, “When God Withholds You,” and “God Will Provide Himself a Lamb“

“And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. (2) And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. (3) But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. (4) But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? (5) Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. (6) And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.” (Genesis 20:1-6)

Good morning. Here we have the story of Abimelech, king of Gerar, who took Sarah, Abraham’s wife, to be his wife. After all, Sarah was Abraham’s “sister” or at least that is what he was told. But the LORD kept him from sinning against Him. The first thing I thought was…

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1Corinthians 10:13)

In the case of Abimelech, he thought he was taking Abraham’s sister for his own wife, and was about to commit adultery. God protected him from walking into that sin. God provided Himself as the way of escape for Abimelech. When the disciple asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Jesus said…

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. (2) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (3) Give us day by day our daily bread. (4) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” (Luke 11:1-4)

The last part of verse 4 is a request for God not to lead us into temptation; but deliver us from evil. This is what happened to Abimelech. He took Abraham’s wife thinking she was his sister, and God blocked him from committing adultery: Abimelech was delivered from evil. King David knew this, and placed it in Psalm 23…

“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalm 23:1-6)

If you go running into sin, chasing your lusts, its your own fault. If we stumble into something bad, the LORD will be there to protect us. God is so good to us. Amen?

Peace.