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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page127"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We are here returning to the story of Abraham; yet that part of
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it which is here recorded is not to his honour. The fairest marbles
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have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the sun, we must
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not expect any thing spotless under it. The scripture, it should
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be remarked, is impartial in relating the blemishes even of its
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most celebrated characters. We have here,
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I. Abraham's sin in
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denying his wife, and Abimelech's sin thereupon in taking her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. God's discourse with Abimelech in a dream, upon
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this occasion, wherein he shows him his error
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:3">ver. 3</A>),
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accepts his plea
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>),
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and directs him to make restitution,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:7">ver. 7</A>.
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III. Abimelech's discourse with Abraham, wherein he chides
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him for the cheat he had put upon him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>),
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and Abraham
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excuses it as well as he can,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>.
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IV. The good
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issue of the story, in which Abimelech restores Abraham his
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wife
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>),
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and Abraham, by prayer, prevails with God
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for the removal of the judgment Abimelech was under,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge20_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Abraham's Denial of His Wife.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1898.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Abraham journeyed from
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thence toward the south country,
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and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur,
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and sojourned in Gerar.
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2 And Abraham
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said of Sarah his wife, She <I>is</I> my
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sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar
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sent, and took Sarah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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1. Abraham's removal from Mamre,
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where he had lived nearly twenty years, into
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the country of the Philistines: <I>He sojourned
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in Gerar,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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We are not told upon what
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occasion he removed, whether terrified by the
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destruction of Sodom, or because the country
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round was for the present prejudiced by it,
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or, as some of the Jewish writers say, because
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he was grieved at Lot's incest with his
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daughters, and the reproach which the Canaanites
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cast upon him and his religion, for
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<A NAME="Page128"> </A>
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his kinsman's sake: doubtless there was
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some good cause for his removal. Note, In
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a world where we are strangers and pilgrims
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we cannot expect to be always in the same
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place. Again, Wherever we are, we must look
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upon ourselves but as sojourners.
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2. His sin
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in denying his wife, as before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:13"><I>ch.</I> xii. 13</A>),
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which was not only in itself such an equivocation
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as bordered upon a lie, and which, if
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admitted as lawful, would be the ruin of
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human converse and an inlet to all falsehood,
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but was also an exposing of the chastity and
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honour of his wife, of which he ought to
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have been the protector. But, besides this,
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it had here a two-fold aggravation:--
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(1.) He had been guilty of this same sin before,
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and had been reproved for it, and convinced
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of the folly of the suggestion which induced
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him to it; yet he returns to it. Note, It is
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possible that a good man may, not only fall
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into sin, but relapse into the same sin,
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through the surprise and strength of temptation
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and the infirmity of the flesh. Let backsliders
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repent then, but not despair,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+3:22">Jer. iii. 22</A>.
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(2.) Sarah, as it should seem, was
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now with child of the promised seed, or, at
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least, in expectation of being so quickly, according
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to the word of God; he ought therefore
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to have taken particular care of her
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now, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:4">Judg. xiii. 4</A>.
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3. The peril that
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Sarah was brought into by this means: <I>The
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king of Gerar sent, and took her</I> to his house,
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in order to the taking of her to his bed.
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Note, The sin of one often occasions the sin
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of others; he that breaks the hedge of God's
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commandments opens a gap to he knows not
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how many; the beginning of sin is as the
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letting forth of water.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge20_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_7"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 But God came to Abimelech in
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a dream by night, and said to him,
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Behold, thou <I>art but</I> a dead man, for
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the woman which thou hast taken;
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for she <I>is</I> a man's wife.
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4 But Abimelech
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had not come near her: and he
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said, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, wilt thou slay also a
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righteous nation?
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5 Said he not unto
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me, She <I>is</I> my sister? and she, even
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she herself said, He <I>is</I> my brother:
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in the integrity of my heart and innocency
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of my hands have I done
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this.
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6 And God said unto him in
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a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst
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this in the integrity of thy heart;
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for I also withheld thee from sinning
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against me: therefore suffered I thee
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not to touch her.
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7 Now therefore
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restore the man <I>his</I> wife; for he <I>is</I> a
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prophet, and he shall pray for thee,
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and thou shalt live: and if thou restore
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<I>her</I> not, know thou that thou shalt
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surely die, thou, and all that <I>are</I> thine.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It appears by this that God revealed himself
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by dreams (which evidenced themselves to
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be divine and supernatural) not only to
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his servants the prophets, but even to those
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who were out of the pale of the church and
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covenant; but then, usually, it was with
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some regard to God's own people as in Pharaoh's
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dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's,
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to Daniel, and here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham
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and Sarah, for he reproved this king for
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their sake,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:14,15">Ps. cv. 14, 15</A>.</P>
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<P>
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I. God gives him notice of his danger
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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his danger of <I>sin,</I> telling him that the woman
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is a man's wife, so that if he take her he
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will wrong her husband; his danger of death
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for this sin: <I>Thou art a dead man;</I> and God's
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saying so of a man makes him so. Note,
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Every wilful sinner ought to be told that he
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is a dead man, as the condemned malefactor,
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and the patient whose disease is mortal,
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are said to be so. If thou art a bad man,
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certainly thou art a dead man.</P>
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<P>
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II. He pleads ignorance that Abraham and
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Sarah had agreed to impose upon him, and
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not to let him know that they were any more
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than brother and sister,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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See what confidence
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a man may have towards God when
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his heart condemns him not,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:21">1 John iii. 21</A>.
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If our consciences witness to our integrity,
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and that, however we may have been cheated
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into a snare, we have not knowingly and wittingly
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sinned against God, it will be our rejoicing
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in the day of evil. He pleads with
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God as Abraham had done,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:23"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 23</A>.
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<I>Wilt thou slay a righteous nation?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Not such a nation as Sodom, which was indeed
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justly destroyed, but a nation which, in this
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matter, was innocent.</P>
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<P>
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III. God gives a very full answer to what
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he had said.</P>
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<P>
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1. He allows his plea, and admits that what
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he did he did in the integrity of his heart:
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<I>Yea, I know it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Note, It is matter of
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comfort to those that are honest that God
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knows their honesty, and will acknowledge
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it, though perhaps men that are prejudiced
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against them either cannot be convinced of
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it or will not own that they are.</P>
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<P>
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2. He lets him know that he was kept
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from proceeding in the sin merely by the
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good hand of God upon him: <I>I withheld thee
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from sinning against me.</I> Abimelech was
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hereby kept from doing wrong, Abraham
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from suffering wrong, and Sarah from both.
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Note,
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(1.) There is a great deal of sin devised
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and designed that is never executed. As bad
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as things are in the world, they are not so
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bad as the devil and wicked men would have
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them.
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(2.) It is God that restrains men from
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doing the ill they would do. It is not from
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him that there is sin, but it is from him that
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there is not more sin, either by his influence
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upon men's minds, checking their inclination
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to sin, or by his providence, taking away the
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opportunity to sin.
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(3.) It is a great mercy
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to be hindered from committing sin; of this
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God must have the glory, whoever is the
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instrument,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:32,33">1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Page129"> </A>
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<P>
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3. He charges him to make restitution:
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<I>Now therefore,</I> not that thou art better informed,
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<I>restore the man his wife,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Note,
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Ignorance will excuse no longer than it continues.
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If we have entered upon a wrong
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course through ignorance this will not
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excuse our knowingly persisting in it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+5:3-5">Lev. v. 3-5</A>.
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The reasons why he must be just
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and kind to Abraham are,
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(1.) Because <I>he is
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a prophet,</I> near and dear to God, for whom
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God does in a particular manner concern
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himself. God highly resents the injuries
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done to his prophets, and takes them as done
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to himself.
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(2.) Being a prophet, <I>he shall
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pray for thee;</I> this is a prophet's reward,
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and a good reward it is. It is intimated that
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there was great efficacy in the prayers of a
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prophet, and that good men should be ready
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to help those with their prayers that stand in
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need of them, and should make, at least, this
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return for the kindnesses that are done them.
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Abraham was accessory to Abimelech's
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trouble, and therefore was obliged in justice
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to pray for him.
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(3.) It is at thy peril if
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thou do not restore her: <I>Know thou that thou
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shalt surely die.</I> Note, He that does wrong,
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whoever he is, prince or peasant, shall certainly
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receive for the wrong which he has
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done, unless he repent and make restitution,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+3:25">Col. iii. 25</A>.
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No injustice can be made passable
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with God, no, not by Caesar's image
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stamped upon it.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge20_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge20_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Abimelech's Conduct Towards Abraham.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1898.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Therefore Abimelech rose early
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in the morning, and called all his servants,
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and told all these things in their
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ears: and the men were sore afraid.
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9 Then Abimelech called Abraham,
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and said unto him, What hast thou
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done unto us? and what have I offended
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thee, that thou hast brought
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on me and on my kingdom a great
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sin? thou hast done deeds unto me
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that ought not to be done.
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10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What
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sawest thou, that thou hast done this
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thing?
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11 And Abraham said, Because
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I thought, Surely the fear of
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God <I>is</I> not in this place; and they will
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slay me for my wife's sake.
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12 And
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yet indeed <I>she is</I> my sister; she <I>is</I> the
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daughter of my father, but not the
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daughter of my mother; and she became
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my wife.
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13 And it came to
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pass, when God caused me to wander
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from my father's house, that I said
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unto her, This <I>is</I> thy kindness which
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thou shalt show unto me; at every
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place whither we shall come, say of
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me, He <I>is</I> my brother.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a
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dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly
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afraid of sin and its consequences, he rises
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early to obey the directions given him.</P>
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<P>
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I. He has a caution for his servants,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Abraham himself could not be more careful
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than he was to command his household in
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this matter. Note, Those whom God has
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convinced of sin and danger ought to tell
|
|
others what God has done for their souls,
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that they also may be awakened and brought
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to a like holy fear.</P>
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<P>
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II. He has a chiding for Abraham. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The serious reproof which Abimelech
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gave to Abraham,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
His reasoning
|
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with Abraham upon this occasion was very
|
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strong, and yet very mild. Nothing could
|
|
be said better; he does not reproach him,
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nor insult over him, does not say, "Is this
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your profession? I see, though you will not
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|
swear, you will lie. If these be prophets, I
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|
will beg to be freed from the sight of them:"
|
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but he fairly represents the injury Abraham
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had done him, and calmly signifies his resentment
|
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of it.
|
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(1.) He calls that sin which
|
|
he now found he had been in danger of a
|
|
great sin. Note, Even the light of nature
|
|
teaches men that the sin of adultery is a very
|
|
great sin: be it observed, to the shame of
|
|
many who call themselves Christians, and yet
|
|
make a light matter of it.
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(2.) He looks
|
|
upon it that both himself and his kingdom
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|
would have been exposed to the wrath of
|
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God if he had been guilty of this sin, though
|
|
ignorantly. Note, The sins of kings often
|
|
prove the plagues of kingdoms; rulers should
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|
therefore, for their people's sake, dread sin.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He charges Abraham with doing that
|
|
which was not justifiable, in disowning his
|
|
marriage. This he speaks of justly, and yet
|
|
tenderly; he does not call him a liar and
|
|
cheat, but tells him he had done <I>deeds that
|
|
ought not to be done.</I> Note, Equivocation
|
|
and dissimulation, however they may be palliated,
|
|
are very bad things, and by no means
|
|
to be admitted in any case.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He takes it
|
|
as a very great injury to himself and his
|
|
family that Abraham had thus exposed them
|
|
to sin: "<I>What have I offended thee?</I> If I
|
|
had been thy worst enemy, thou couldst not
|
|
have done me a worse turn, nor taken a more
|
|
effectual course to be revenged on me."
|
|
Note, We ought to reckon that those do us
|
|
the greatest unkindness in the world that any
|
|
way tempt us or expose us to sin, though
|
|
they may pretend friendship, and offer that
|
|
which is grateful enough to corrupt
|
|
nature.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He challenges him to assign a
|
|
cause for his suspecting them as a dangerous
|
|
people for an honest man to live among:
|
|
"<I>What sawest thou, that thou hast done this
|
|
thing?</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
What reason hadst thou to
|
|
think that if we had known her to be thy
|
|
wife thou wouldst have been exposed to any
|
|
danger by it?" Note, A suspicion of our
|
|
goodness is justly reckoned a greater affront
|
|
than a slight upon our greatness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page130"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The poor excuse that Abraham made
|
|
for himself.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He pleaded the bad opinion he had of
|
|
the place,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
He thought within himself
|
|
(though he could not give any good reason
|
|
for his thinking so), "<I>Surely the fear of God
|
|
is not in this place,</I> and then they will slay
|
|
me."
|
|
|
|
[1.] Little good is to be expected
|
|
where no fear of God is. See
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:1">Ps. xxxvi. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] There are many places and persons that
|
|
have more of the fear of God in them than
|
|
we think they have: perhaps they are not
|
|
called by our dividing name, they do not wear
|
|
our badges, they do not tie themselves to that
|
|
which we have an opinion of; and therefore
|
|
we conclude they have not the fear of God
|
|
in their hearts, which is very injurious both
|
|
of Christ and Christians, and makes us obnoxious
|
|
to God's judgment,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:1">Matt. vii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Uncharitableness and censoriousness are sins
|
|
that are the cause of many other sins. When
|
|
men have once persuaded themselves concerning
|
|
such and such that they have not
|
|
the fear of God, they think this will justify
|
|
them in the most unjust and unchristian
|
|
practices towards them. Men would not do
|
|
ill if they did not first think ill.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He excused it from the guilt of a downright
|
|
lie by making it out that, in a sense,
|
|
she was his sister,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
Some think she
|
|
was own sister to Lot, who is called his
|
|
<I>brother Lot</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:16"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 16</A>),
|
|
though he was <I>his
|
|
nephew;</I> so Sarah is called his <I>sister.</I> But
|
|
those to whom he said, <I>She is my sister,</I> understood
|
|
that she was so his sister as not to
|
|
be capable of being his wife; so that it was
|
|
an equivocation, with an intent to deceive.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He clears himself from the imputation
|
|
of an affront designed to Abimelech in it by
|
|
alleging that it had been his practice before,
|
|
according to an agreement between him and
|
|
his wife, when they first became sojourners
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
"<I>When God caused me to wander
|
|
from my father's house,</I> then we settled this
|
|
matter." Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] God is to be acknowledged
|
|
in all our wanderings.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those
|
|
that travel abroad, and converse much with
|
|
strangers, as they have need of the wisdom
|
|
of the serpent, so it is requisite that
|
|
that wisdom be ever tempered with the
|
|
innocence of the dove. It may, for aught I
|
|
know, be suggested that God denied to Abraham
|
|
and Sarah the blessing of children so
|
|
long to punish them for this sinful compact
|
|
if they will not own their marriage, why
|
|
should God own it? But we may suppose
|
|
that, after this reproof which Abimelech gave
|
|
them, they agreed never to do so again, and
|
|
then presently we read
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+21:1,2"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 1, 2</A>)
|
|
that <I>Sarah conceived.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge20_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge20_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge20_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge20_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge20_18"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 And Abimelech took sheep, and
|
|
oxen, and menservants, and womenservants,
|
|
and gave <I>them</I> unto Abraham,
|
|
and restored him Sarah his wife.
|
|
15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my
|
|
land <I>is</I> before thee: dwell where it
|
|
pleaseth thee.
|
|
16 And unto Sarah he
|
|
said, Behold, I have given thy brother
|
|
a thousand <I>pieces</I> of silver: behold,
|
|
he <I>is</I> to thee a covering of the eyes,
|
|
unto all that <I>are</I> with thee, and with
|
|
all <I>other:</I> thus she was reproved.
|
|
17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and
|
|
God healed Abimelech, and his wife,
|
|
and his maidservants; and they bare <I>children.</I>
|
|
18 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had fast
|
|
closed up all the wombs of the house
|
|
of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's
|
|
wife.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which
|
|
Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how
|
|
unjust Abraham's jealousies were. He fancied
|
|
that if they knew that Sarah was his wife they
|
|
would kill him; but, when they did know it,
|
|
instead of killing him they were kind to him,
|
|
frightened at least to be so by the divine
|
|
rebukes they were under.
|
|
|
|
1. He gives him
|
|
his royal licence to dwell where he pleased
|
|
in his country, courting his stay because he
|
|
gives him his royal gifts
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
<I>sheep and oxen,</I> and
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
<I>a thousand pieces of silver.</I>
|
|
This he gave when he restored Sarah, either,
|
|
|
|
[1.] By way of satisfaction for the wrong he
|
|
had offered to do, in taking her to his house:
|
|
when the Philistines restored the ark, being
|
|
plagued for detaining it, they sent a present
|
|
with it. The law appointed that when restitution
|
|
was made something should be added
|
|
to it,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+6:5">Lev. vi. 5</A>.
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] To engage Abraham's
|
|
prayers for him; not as if prayers
|
|
should be bought and sold, but we should
|
|
endeavour to be kind to those of whose spiritual
|
|
things we reap,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:11">1 Cor. ix. 11</A>.
|
|
Note,
|
|
It is our wisdom to get and keep an interest
|
|
with those that have an interest in heaven,
|
|
and to make those our friends who are the
|
|
friends of God.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He gives to Sarah good
|
|
instruction, tells her that her husband (her
|
|
<I>brother</I> he calls him, to upbraid her with
|
|
calling him so) must be to her for <I>a covering of
|
|
the eyes,</I> that is, she must look at no other,
|
|
nor desire to be looked at by any other.
|
|
Note, Yoke-fellows must be to each other
|
|
for a covering of the eyes. The marriage-covenant
|
|
is a covenant with the eyes, like
|
|
Job's,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxi. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The kindness of a prophet which Abraham
|
|
showed to Abimelech: he <I>prayed for
|
|
him,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+20:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
|
|
This honour God would put
|
|
upon Abraham that, though Abimelech had
|
|
restored Sarah, yet the judgment he was
|
|
under should be removed upon the prayer of
|
|
Abraham, and not before. Thus God healed
|
|
Miriam, when Moses, whom she had most
|
|
affronted, prayed for her
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+12:13">Num. xii. 13</A>),
|
|
and was reconciled to Job's friends when Job,
|
|
whom they had grieved, prayed for them
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page131"> </A>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+42:8-10">Job xlii. 8-10</A>),
|
|
and so did, as it were, give
|
|
it under his hand that he was reconciled to
|
|
them. Note, The prayers of good men may
|
|
be a kindness to great men, and ought to be
|
|
valued.</P>
|
|
|
|
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