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God protected Abraham and Sarah from Abimelek

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[ Genesis 20:7 ]

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.”

3

Abraham led all his family to live in Gerar. The people living in Gerar looked very strong. They were not afraid of God.

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Abraham was afraid of them. So he introduced his wife, Sarah, to her as his sister. Saying that Sarah was his wife was scared that people there would kill him and take her away.

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Abimelek, king of Gerar, also knew that Sarah was Abraham's sister. So he ordered his men to bring Sarah to be his wife. Abraham had no choice but to send Sarah to Abimelek because he said she was his sister.

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Abraham, who sent Sarah, was so sad and scared. He was in danger of losing his wife because of a lie to protect his life. However, Abraham had nothing to do except to mourn.

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God appeared in Abimelek's dream to solve this problem. "You will die because of the woman you brought. She is married." God warned Abimelek.

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Abimelek told God of his injustice. “God! I'm not at fault. Abraham also referred to this woman as his sister and this woman also said Abraham is her brother. this is unfair.”

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God answered Abimelek's question.

“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.

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.”(Genesis 20:6-7)

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God punished Abimelek's house with a terrible punishment for Abimelek's taking Sarah. The punishment ensured that all the women in Abimelek's family could no longer have children.

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The next day Abimelek called all his servants and told them what happened last night. Those who heard Abimelek's words had a great fear of God.

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Abimelek called Abraham and asked why he did it. “I had done nothing wrong with you, and I would have sinned greatly because of you. You should not do this to me. Tell me why you did this.”

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Abraham answered Abimelek: “Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.” (Genesis 20:11~12)

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Abimelek, who listened to Abraham, gave to him gifts the flock, herds, and male and female servants. And sent sarah back to Abraham. He also said, “You can look around my land and live there if you have a place you like.”

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Abimelek also told Sarah: To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”(Genesis 20:16)

It was an act that he proved to Sarah that he had not sinned.

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Abraham prayed for Abimelek, who was kind to him. When Abraham prayed for Abimelek, God reaped the punishment for the women of Abimelek who had no children. God thoroughly sided and protected Abraham.

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God promised them that they would form a great nation in the future through the sons of Abraham and Sarah. This promise is to send Jesus the Messiah through Abraham.

Abraham's weakness almost broke this promise. But God appeared directly to save Sarah and to keep the promise. And as promised, Jesus came to earth through Abraham's family.

We must realize that God is always with us who are children of God who believe in Jesus and are saved. And God fulfills what He promises us correctly and clearly.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)