Ripples of righteousness: How Abraham’s belief is shaping all nations (Genesis 20; Isaiah 61; Galatians 3)

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When fear leads to deception: Abraham’s risky strategy

“Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar.” (Genesis 20:1 NASB95)

After the utter destruction of Sodom and the other “cities of the plain” in Genesis 19, the customer base for their livestock was gone, so Abraham, Sarah and his household leave Hebron and travel south to the Negev and then to Philistia. The people of Philistia, called Philistines, are invaders who arrived on the shores of the Negev from the Greek islands. Abraham saw in the Philistines a potential new customer base to whom he could sell his livestock. But because they were invaders, he did not know if they were God-fearers or not.

This is why we see Abraham repeat the “my wife is my sister” half-truth to protect himself. He later admits this to Abimelech.

““Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”” (Genesis 20:12-13 NASB95)

And from the text here, Egypt and Philistia are not the only two places where Abraham and Sarah used this rouse to try to protect themselves from harm. From Abraham’s own words, it appears that this has been a tradition for the two of them whenever they visit unfamiliar territory. This appears to be a normal sequence of events for the two of them. However, both in Egypt and in Philistia, this charade backfires on them.

Why did god speak to Abimelech but not to pharaoh?

In both Egypt and Philistia, the king kidnaps or abducts Sarah because he finds her physically attractive and wants her as a wife. So in both stories Abraham and Sarah move in and then Sarah is taken away to the harem in preparation to marry the king.

But there are also differences in the two stories that are distinct and noteworthy.

When Pharaoh abducted Sarah, God didn’t speak with Pharaoh. God just immediately started inflicting miraculous supernatural punishments on his household. God never actually told Pharaoh what he did wrong. God simply let Pharaoh figure it out himself. God did not warn Pharaoh or speak to him with the same grace and compassion that he spoke with Abimelech.

It is my dangerous opinion that Abimelech probably had a closer relationship with or had a better familiarity with the Creator God than Pharaoh did. Abimelech had a fear of God that Pharaoh did not.

“But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married.” Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? “Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly frightened. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”” (Genesis 20:3-9 NASB95)

So God explains to Abimelech that he can’t have Sarah as his wife because she is already married to Abraham. God reveals to Abimelech that the bad things happening to him and his family are because of his actions and Abimelech needs to change his behavior because his life was on the line. So when God describes this to Abimelech, he threatens, specifically, Abimelech’s life, and everything he owns, including the people directly in his household. God does not threaten Abimelech’s subjects or his throne. God doesn’t threaten the people of Philistia at large but only him and his family.

God aimed His divine wrath at Abimelech and his household—not his throne—because divine justice has boundaries. But Abimelech, in peak drama king mode, tells Abraham that God was out to get his entire country. Because, of course, if something bad happens to Abimelech and his household, it must be a national crisis. Nothing screams “humble leadership” like equating yourself with an entire nation—textbook monarch behavior.

God knows how to discipline those He loves without collateral damage. With Abimelech, God gives gracious correction, while with Pharaoh, he merely punished. God can target his protection or his punishment with great precision.

God never said He was planning to smite all of Philistia, but Abimelech—ever the drama king—delivers an over-the-top “If you hurt me, you’ve hurt everyone” speech. Then he starts talking to God like he deserves a medal for not touching Sarah, parading around his so-called innocence. But God shuts that down real quick: “Yeah, no, that wasn’t you—that was Me keeping you in check.” I find God’s response comical, because that is my sense of humor. I think God’s somewhat making fun of Abimelech’s response and seeing through Abimelech’s false piety. 

A gentile who feared God: Abimelech’s unexpected reverence

Abimelech took Sarah against her will. He didn’t ask what she wanted, he simply kidnapped her and housed her in his haram as though Sarah was already his wife. This shows that Abimelech didn’t have a lot of righteousness in his heart, but God still showed Abimelech some kindness, preventing him from committing an even more egregious sin against Sarah.

We don’t think of Abraham as a prophet, even though God Himself refers to Abraham as a prophet. We usually refer to Abraham as “Father Abraham” not “Prophet Abraham” because we don’t have any record of anything prophetic messages from Abraham to others, but Abraham is clearly a prophet in the sense that he had a profound connection with God and that Abraham took counsel from God and God took counsel from him as well.

Being a prophet kind of implies a couple of things. One, that Abraham is a preacher of some form, because prophets were all preachers. So Abraham was a preacher in the sense that Abraham would teach people about God.

The other is that once Abimelech realizes that Abraham is not merely an anonymous wandering nomad with livestock to sell, but a prophet with a close relationship with the Creator of Heaven and Earth, Abimelech immedately started to fear and respect Abraham.

Once Abimelech repents and returns Sarah to Abraham, he doesn’t evict Abraham and Sarah as Pharaoh had one. Abimelech actually encouraged Abraham to stay in his land, and continues to extend some hospitality to Abraham. This shows that Abimelech had some fear of God in the way that Pharaoh did not. Abimelech appreciated Abraham’s connection with God and wanted to be on God’s good side.

This situation shows Abraham that Abimelech, who was a Gentile, knew God and had some fear of Him, maybe not to the extent that Abraham and his family believed in, trusted in and had faith in God but this was proof that God did have others besides him who acknowledged the Creator. Abraham realizes that his assumption that he was the only one who acknowledged God was wrong. There actually was a king who apparently feared and respected God on some level.

Abimelech exercises some humility and asks Abraham to pray to God to release the punishment from his household, and once Abraham’s pray was answered, Abimelech understood that Abraham was not someone who he should offend.

Rooted in Heaven, bearing fruit on Earth: The call to righteousness

Isaiah 61:1-10 makes no sense without the context given in the prior chapter of Isaiah 60 in which Isaiah, who is speaking to the Babylonian exiles, tells them that there will come a time when all of the descendants of Abraham, who are living in diaspora in many nations, not just Babylon, will be gathered back to the Promised Land by God Himself. When this happens, the kings of the nations will want to participate in this gathering.

“The spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to bestow on them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. And people will call them oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, in order to display his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:1-3 Dead Sea Bible)

Isaiah 60-61 shows us how many centuries later, the gentile kings of the world respond to God’s miraculous work of returning the Jewish exiles back to their own land. When Yeshua read this reading in the synagogue in Nazareth, he is telling the people that this work is the responsibility of the Messiah and that He is that Messiah. The people who are mentioned in Isaiah 60-61 have a character similar to the character of their ancestors Abraham and Sarah.

In this passage, God is planting a garden Himself and the people are described as trees, not literally, but spiritually. Let’s go to Deuteronomy 20.

“When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20 KJV)

The Jewish sage Ibn Ezra explains it this way:

“It is really a statement, not a question, and this is how the verse is to be understood: “Since you eat from it, do not destroy it. For mankind is the fruit tree”—that is, such a tree is the moral equivalent of human life.”

On a spiritual level, God’s instruction not to cut down fruit bearing trees is an instruction not to cut down righteous people. Only tress that don’t bear fruit, only wicked people are to be cut down.

“Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”” (Matthew 21:18-22 NASB95)

This dialog is quite confounding because Yeshua is in Jerusalem, in the Spring, when figs are not even in season. This is a strange reaction, but it’s not so strange, if you understand the context that that Moses was describing in Deuteronomy 20, the idea of God planting His people in His garden, describing them as trees. The people are the trees.

The rabbis describe it this way: God sees human beings just like trees planted upside down, with their roots pointed toward heaven and their fruits are below the dirt, and so we need to give fruit to the earth and keep our roots pointed upwards.

When a farmer plants trees, their responsibility is to blossom and produce good fruit. Every human being that God has planted on the earth also has a duty to produce good fruit.

Returning back to Isaiah 61:1-10, the people who return have a job to do, to restore the ruined cities, to cultivate the old wastelands, and to restore everything that has died. The people of the nations will recognize all those who are returning from exile, and give them honor because they produce good fruit.

“Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:5-7 NASB95)

The nations that once scorned and mocked these exiles will now come to their aid, eager to serve and support them in their restoration. Once despised, ridiculed, and treated as outcasts, these returning exiles will now stand as the blessed—overflowing with favor and abundance beyond measure.

A similar example can be seen in the story of Abraham and Abimelek. After Abimelek was humbled by the situation with Sarah—when God temporarily closed the wombs of the women in his household—he not only made amends but also blessed Abraham and Sarah. He gave them a large number of animals and told them they could live wherever they wanted in his land. By doing this, Abimelek, as the King of Gerar, used his power and influence to ensure Abraham’s safety, essentially becoming his protector. Abimeleh bestows his strength, his kingship, and his power to lift Abraham and Sarah up and take care of them, because Abraham and Sarah believed in and trusted God.

“For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.” (Isaiah 61:8-9 NASB95)

God is declaring that every nation will recognize and honor these returning people, much like how Abraham and Sarah were acknowledged by Abimelek. Just as Abimelek saw their significance and granted them favor, the world will see these people as valuable and worthy of great respect. They will stand like mighty trees, flourishing and bearing good fruit—symbols of blessing, strength, and abundance.

The Law as a tutor: Why we obey God from the heart

“My brethren, I speak as among men; a man’s covenant which is confirmed, no one setteth aside, or changeth any thing in it. Now to Abraham was the promise made, and to his seed. And it said to him, not, to thy seeds, as being many; but to thy seed, as being one, which is the Messiah. And this I say: That the covenant which was previously confirmed by God in the Messiah, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot set it aside, and nullify the promise. And if the inheritance were by the law, it would not be by promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” (Galatians 3:15-18 Peshita)

The promise that God gave to Abraham and Sarah was made about 430 years before He gave the Torah to Moses at Sinai. If God’s promise came through Moses, then those born between Abraham and Moses would be out of luck and without hope. That makes no sense. You can’t argue that the law is the source of the promise because that would mean rejecting the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promise is not based on the Torah; it predates it.

The law was added to address our sins, transgressions, and iniquities so that we could confront our mistakes—ones we cannot simply rectify with regret.

God doesn’t need a mediator; we are the ones who need a mediator.

“But the scripture hath inclosed all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus the Messiah might be given to them that believe. But before the faith came, the law kept us shut up unto the faith that was to be revealed. The law, therefore, was a monitor for us unto the Messiah, that we might become just by faith. But the faith having come, we are not under the monitor.” (Galatians 3:22-25 Peshita)

We obey God not only to avoid His anger. The teacher, the tutor, the “monitor” exists to help us understand how to act in a way that pleases God. Once we internalize the lessons of the Torah and practice them from the inside out, we no longer “need” the written Torah at all times. We have internalized the laws against theft, adultery, and murder, so even if we don’t carry a Torah with us, we intuitively know that these things are wrong.

We have a foundation for being obedient servants to God. The rights and wrongs taught in the Torah are so obvious and self-evident, and the Torah is so embedded in our hearts, minds, and souls that violating it becomes unthinkable.

Paul is not an advocate of syncretism with paganism in any way. Rather, he urges us to have such an intimate knowledge of the Torah and a deep love for the Messiah that doing anything to displease Him would be unthinkable.

“For ye are all the children of God, by faith in Jesus the Messiah. For they who have been baptized into the Messiah, have put on the Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free-born, neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Jesus the Messiah. And if ye are the Messiah’s, then are ye the seed of Abraham, and heirs by the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29 Peshita)

Abraham and Sarah’s acts of faith, belief, and trust in God positively affected Abimelech and the other Gentiles around them. Paul tells the Galatians that their positive response to the Messiah is a blessing to the Gentile nonbelievers around them. When the Messiah is deeply etched in us, and we live the way He lived, others will see that and be moved to desire what we have. The good fruit that God is producing in us will bless others. When they also produce good fruit, they will, in turn, bless even more people.

What we are called to do goes far beyond mere obedience to Moses. The promise given to Abraham and Sarah should be our foundation. The Torah is our how-to book, and the Messiah is our inspiration when we do what is right and our mediator when we do what is wrong.

Our behavior and response drive us and affect those around us. We remember those whose walk in the Messiah affected us in a positive way and helped us believe in, trust in, and have faith in the Messiah Yeshua.

Summary: Tammy