Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?””
(Genesis 20:8-10)

At no point did Abimelech think this was just a dream. At no point did he doubt in any way that this was God speaking to him. He recognized God and completely submitted to what God told him.

When Abimelech shared his dream with others, they all felt the same way and reacted the same way he did. This shows that while they were not worshippers of Yahweh, they respected Him. They were in some way godly – something Abraham had assumed they were not. Things are not always what they seem because only God can see into our hearts.

Abimelech was a moral person. He truly could NOT understand how Abraham could do this. I have a lot of the same questions. How could Abraham choose this course of action when it is clear God protects him and delivered him in the past from the same kind of thing? How could he treat his pregnant wife this way? Or his wife this way, period? Where was his trust in God and God’s promises? These are the questions I have and am confused in the same way Abimelech was. I can also see parallels between Abraham’s failings here and failings in my own life to trust in God. I am not judging Abraham, but I do use his slip to help me look for the same slips in my own walk with God.

The sage Chizkuni writes: ‘וייראו האנשים, according to Rabbi Abba, the people of Gror still saw smoke rising from the valley where Sodom once used to be situated, and that frightened them very much. They were afraid that the angels who had wrought that havoc would show up near them at any moment.’

The sage Radak writes: ‘וישכם, he did not wait until the hour that kings normally rise from their beds seeing that his heart was trembling on account of the dream he had just experienced, in which G’d told him that he was in need of forgiveness and the prayer by the prophet even though he would restore Avraham’s wife to him. ויראו האנשים מאר, all his servants who had agreed with their king appropriating this woman, and who had praised her beauty in his ears. ויקרא, he wanted to hear Avraham’s arguments and to appease him so that he would forgive him and pray on his behalf. ?מה עשית לנו, by saying that she is your sister, thereby placing traps for me and my servants. ומה חטאתי לך, how did I sin against you that you repaid me with evil making me guilty of death? ?והבאתי עלי ועל ממלכתי חטאה גדולה, if I had been killed by G’d my kingdom would have been lost, as he said “are You going to a righteous nation also?” אשר לא יעשו, it is not fitting for a man of your stature to be the cause of your fellowmen becoming guilty of mortal sin. ויאמר, Avimelech wanted to know why Avraham had not personally protested the forced abduction of Sarah instead of allowing the king to become guilty of a greater crime. Surely a man such as he must have had a good reason for allowing this to happen without protest!?’