April 21, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig exist to
connect to you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times through verse by verse teaching of His Word.
That's why we make messages like this one today available
to you and others on air and online. Before we
kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know
(00:22):
that you can stay in the know about what's happening
at Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for
email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly
devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week.
So sign up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's Connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get into today's teaching
(00:43):
from pastors Skip.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Heightzig Genesis, Chapter twenty and twenty one. He said hopefully.
In nineteen twenty seven, the medium of television was that's
not that long ago. Since then, hundreds of thousands of
(01:07):
programs have aired, and the more popular ones have aired
over and over and over again. They're called reruns. Here's
a listing of what are considered the top television shows
of the century. Number one this is by virtue of
(01:28):
what people wanted and watched in reruns. Mash Number two,
I Love Lucy, You're going now we're talking are Lucy
and Horn? Number three All in the Family. Number four
(01:49):
Sesame Street. Now some of you are giving me the
look like I haven't heard of those shows. The worst
television shows according to the TV Guide, Number one, the
Jerry Springer Show. I agree. Number two, interestingly enough, and
(02:09):
I'm rather disappointed. My Mother the Car. How many of
you remember my Mother the Car? Kindred Souls? We are
Number three worst TV shows. X FL Football it was
one season, only two thousand and one. It never made
it off the ground. It's the wannabes who didn't make
it in the NFL and it didn't last. And then
(02:32):
number four The Brady Bunch. I can't help you there.
Chapter twenty is one of those chapters I wish was
not in the Bible. It is like a rerun of
the Jerry Springer Show. It is an episode, unfortunately, that
(02:57):
is repeated in Abraham's life, even though it has been
almost twenty five years since he made this mistake going
down to Egypt. He went down to Egypt almost twenty
five years before this because there was a famine in
the Land of Promise, and there because his wife was
(03:17):
so beautiful. She was sixty five years old at the time,
and he didn't trust the pharaoh. He said, would you
please just tell people that you're my sister. Well, now
she's ninety years old and Abraham is a hundred. He's
a century old. And he makes the same mistake, not
(03:38):
going down to Egypt, but toward Egypt in chapter twenty,
to the land of Gharar. Now something you need to
keep in the forefront of your mind, otherwise that this
will be a very tough chapter. Abraham is a believer.
Chapter fifteen tells us Abraham believed God, and it was
(03:58):
accounted unto him for righteousness. He had believed in God,
and he believed God's promises. He was a believer. God
even gave him a new name. It was Abraham. Now
it's Abraham. But though he has a new name, he
still has an old nature, and he goes back to
that old nature. Now we know what that struggle is like.
(04:21):
Though we have been given new life, we have an
old nature. And the Bible tells us that the flesh
wars against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh right.
These two are contrary to one another, and there's a
struggle in the life of every believer to want to
relapse back into the patterns of the flesh. They never
(04:43):
go away. We will always struggle with them to some
degree until we finally reach glory. We see that illustrated
here in the life of Abraham as he goes back
to a familiar pattern of old living, back to the flesh.
Know what this struggle is like in your spirit as
(05:05):
you have been born again. You want to serve the Lord.
You do, but the flesh part of you wants to
serve you and make it all about you. And there's
a struggle, and it's a constant struggle. Your spirit longs
to fellowship with the Lord. And so when the alarm
goes off in the morning, your spirit says, great, I'm
(05:28):
going to spend some time in prayer, while the flesh
quickly says, prayer, are you nuts? Just one more hour
of sleep? Sunday morning alarm goes off, the spirit says,
time to go to church with God's people, and the flesh,
especially when you're waking up, might say church, why is
it Easter? Is there some crisis that has happened in
(05:50):
your life that you need to be driven toward church.
So we find this struggle back and forth, and we
find it, interestingly enough, after all of this time, after
all of these years of Abraham walking with God, we
find him going back to his old old ways Verse one,
(06:12):
and Abraham journeyed. He's on the move again. Remember he's
the man in the tent, and he's the man of
the tent. Lot settled and got a house in Sodom.
Abraham never settled down. And why is that. Hebrews eleven
says it was by faith. He was looking for a
(06:32):
city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
And so he's on the move. He's a pilgrim and
he's a worshiper. He was a man of the tent
and the altar, and we noticed that he would travel,
pitch his tent, build an altar. But when he went
down to Egypt twenty some years before, he didn't build
an altar. Now he's on the move once again. He's
(06:56):
a man of the tent. But there's no mention of
an altar. Now we don't know why he journeyed. There's
no mention or reason given. He was in the land
of Mamory, a beautiful area by Hebron, gorgeous. It's a
great place to hang out. I've spent some time in
that area. Now he goes south toward the wilderness, and
we don't exactly know why, but there was obviously some
(07:18):
reason that motivated him. Were just not given the reason.
He journeyed from there from memory where he was that
place of fellowship by Hebron to the south and dwelt
between Kadish and shore and stayed in Gharar. Gharar is
(07:39):
just over the border going south, just over the border
from the Promised Land. It's not all the way down
in Egypt, but Gharrar was the place the Philistines settled.
Now you're going to read more about the Philistines as
the scripture goes on. The Philistines were originally a sea
going people and a warlike people that migrated from the
(08:02):
islands west of the Mediterranean and found their way down
toward the coast of Egypt and the southern coastlands of
the Promised Land, and they become the formidable enemy during
the time of David. The King is a Bimelek. Now,
a Bimelek is either his name or it is his title,
(08:23):
just like a pharaoh or a prime minister. He is
the abimelek, or his name is a bimlic. We don't
know now. Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is
my sister and a bimelek. The king of Gharar sent
and took Sarah. So here's Abraham. He's crossed the border.
(08:46):
He's out of the promised land, out of the land
God gave him. He's not in Egypt, but he is
in dangerous territory. He's in enemy territory. And because he's
an enemy to territory, he's living in fear. He doesn't
want to die, and so he goes back to that
old lie that we saw back in chapter twelve. He
(09:07):
told his wife, tell people you are my sister, and
he gives that same false information out she's my sister.
The Bible tells us that we are to stay far
away from temptation. I like the Biblical injunction. Flee temptation,
run from it, get away from it, flee And when
(09:28):
you flee temptation, and when you run from the enemy's snares,
don't leave a forwarding address. There are some places Christians
ought not to go there are some people they ought
not to be around. There are some practices they are
not to be engaged in, because it's going to draw
(09:49):
them in closer and deeper into the temptation and possible sin. Well,
he goes down to Garar, and Abraham said, of Sarah,
his wife used to be Sarah. I now it's Sarah.
She is my sister. We're going to find out that
that's partially true. It's partially a lie, but it's partially true.
(10:11):
And a Bimilk, the king of Garar, sent and took Sarah.
But God came to a bimilec in a dream by
night and said to him, indeed, you're a dead man
like God's style, because of the woman whom you have
taken for she is a man's wife.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You're listening to connect with Skip Heitzig before we return
to Skip's teaching. The question of God's existence has serious implications,
from his presence and participation in our lives, to the
reality of life after death, to the basis for human morality.
And In his book Is God Real? Lee Strobel, former
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(10:57):
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or call eight hundred ninety two to eighteen eighty eight
and request your copy when you give. Now let's get
back to Skip for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now, it's been, like I said, twenty five years since
the whole incident occurred. Like this, when he went down
to Egypt, she was sixty five years old. Now she's
ninety years old. And so we're a bit puzzled, are
we not that he felt the need to make up
a story about her to say it's my sister. You
(11:58):
think it, she's Abraham. She's ninety years old. You don't
have to worry about anything, dude, They're not going to
take your wife. But and I can't totally explain it
except a couple of shots at the explanation. She must
have been extraordinarily beautiful. All of the ancient literature recall
(12:19):
Sarah as being perfect in form and as beautiful as Eve,
who was given by God a third of all beauty.
Now that's legendary, that's in some of the ancient writings,
but nonetheless, all of the ancient writings attest to the
beauty of Sarah. Second, it was common practice among kings, rulers,
(12:40):
those who were rich and powerful, to give a woman,
a wife, somebody from their household to another ruler harem
to make a strong alliance, and perhaps to form an alliance.
Since Abraham was rich and powerful, hundred and eighteen of
(13:00):
his own trained paid servants, and a Bimelech was the
king of this area, that it was to form an alliance.
But it was a lie, and it's going to get
him into trouble. There's a little phrase in verse three
that just grabbed me when I read it this week,
and I love this little phrase. But God, how thankful
(13:25):
I am for all of the but gods we find
in scripture. Here's abraham dumb mistake, dumb to travel down there.
But God, I love that. And we find many of
them in the Bible. One of them, notably is in
chapter fifty Joseph will say to his brothers who betrayed
(13:49):
him and sold him to the group that sold him
down into Egypt. Remember that the last chapter of Genesis,
Joseph says to his brothers, asked for you. You meant
this for evil against me, But God meant it for
good to save many people alive as it is this day.
(14:11):
What you meant for evil, God meant for good. But God,
God intervened My favorite But God is Ephesians two. You
probably know that story really well, or that little outline
that is given in Ephesians two. Paul says, you were
dead in trespasses and sins, and which you once walked
(14:34):
according to the course of this world, according to the
Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who
now works among the children of disobedience. You were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God,
who is rich in mercy and the great love with
(14:55):
which he loved us even while we were dead, he
has made us a lit by grace, you have been saved.
See we all have this story of But God, we
were going our own way, doing our own thing, minding
our own business, not interested in the things of the spirit.
But God, that's Abraham's story too. He went down to
(15:19):
Garaar did something dumb, fatal, perhaps for his wife and
for the kingdom of the Philistines. But God, So here's
King of Bimelech. He's sleeping at night. He does not
know what's happening. He does not know the relationship between
this man and woman. He did not take her that night,
(15:41):
which was typical when a new woman was brought into
a harem. He just went to sleep that night. While
he was sleeping, just on the pillow, sawing logs, God
spoke to him and said, you're a dead man. I'd
call that a nightmare because the woman whom you have taken,
(16:05):
for she is a man's wife. But a Bimelek had
not come near her. And said, Lord, will you slay
a righteous nation. Also, it's interesting that he said slay
a righteous nation. And will learn the full impact of
that when we get to verse eighteen and we discover
that all of the wombs of the Philistine women had
been closed by God. So not only was God threatening
(16:28):
King of Bimelek. But God had closed all of the
wombs of the women, so they were unable to bear. Well,
if you can't bear little philistines and have little philistines
running around your tent, who will grow up to be
big philistines, you won't have a nation of philistines. And
so would you slay a righteous nation? Interesting that he
calls it that? Did he not say to me, she
(16:51):
is my sister. Even she herself said, he is my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and in the innocence
of my hands, I have done this. And God said
to him in a dream, yes, I know that you
did this in the integrity of your heart, for I
also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I did
(17:13):
not let you touch her. Now, every time there is
a first mention of something in the Bible, I've been
telling you that principle of first mention, Right, the very
first mention of the word integrity is found here from
the lips of a philistine, a man of integrity. And
God says, you're right. I actually agree with you. You are
(17:36):
a man of integrity, and that's why I'm keeping you
from further sin. Now here's a principle. If you are
a person of integrity honesty, you're not covering up, you're
not hiding anything. You are who you say you are,
What you are in private and public are the same.
If you're a person of integrity, God will keep you
(18:00):
from further plunging into those kinds of activities, sins that
would destroy families and destroy relationships. But if you are
a person who lacks integrity, you're on that dangerous road
of going further into areas that will destroy You're right,
(18:21):
you're a man of integrity. That's why I'm not letting
you do this. In fact, there's something I find interesting.
In verse six, he says, for I also withheld you
from sinning against who me. Now, now, wait a minute.
Abraham sinned against his wife Sarah by doing this. Abraham
(18:44):
sinned against king of Bimelech by doing this. A king
of Bimelek took Sarah not knowing what it is. And
even if he did know what it was, and he
was going to do it anyway, wouldn't that be a
sin first of all against Sarah or first of all
against Abraham. No, here's the important principle. Adultery is first
(19:08):
and foremost a sin against God. And that's what most
people forget. Oh the poor children, true, Oh the poor wife,
she was a victim or husband. True. But first and foremost,
it's a sin against God. And why would that be
Because God was the one who invented the institution of marriage.
(19:28):
That's why. For this reason, a man will leave his
father and mother and cleave him to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh. Jesus will say amen
to that by saying, what God has joined together, let
not man separate so to commit adultery. According to God,
here is first a sin against him. That's where we
(19:49):
ought to look. That's where the fear of God begins
is with thoughts like this. No. Later on you're going
to read about Moses, and Moses will Egyptian. He was
at least a Hebrew, but in the Egyptian court, and
one day he goes out and he's angry at an
Egyptian and it says he looked this way, and he
looked that way, and he killed the Egyptian. What was
(20:11):
his problem? He didn't look that way. And so we
look around to see who's looking or not looking. God's
always looking, and in his sleep God reminds a bi
molect of that truth. Therefore I did not let you
touch her. Now, therefore restore the man's wife. For he
(20:33):
is a prophet. He's a what this is shocking to me?
And he will pray for you and you shall live. Okay.
Back to the rule of first mention. The very first
time the word prophet is mentioned in the Bible is
in this verse, and it's used of a disobedient Abraham.
(20:58):
Now I say, I'm shocked this because if there's one
time you would think that God would not want to
even be related to Abraham would be here. You'd think
he would say, for this man is a problem. This
man is a problem child of mine. I've had problems
with him for years, ever since I called him or
(21:21):
I don't know who this joker is. But God owns
him as his prophet. Isn't that interesting? He says he's
a prophet and he'll pray for you, and I'm luck
probably thinking I don't want him to pray for me.
I'll tell you why this is good. It's good because
whenever we fail, whenever we blow it, and we all
(21:43):
do in our own thinking, we ruin our future ability
to serve the Lord so often by these thoughts, Oh,
I've blown it. Oh that was a bad mistake. I
can never be used by God again. Oh boy, you
don't understand our God. You don't understand the great grace
(22:06):
of our God, the mighty mercy of our Maker. He's
a prophet, and he's going to pray for you. In fact,
the Lord's going to hear his prayer and going to
heal him. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me,
because some of you may be thinking, oh so great.
So if I've blown it, and I have, I can
(22:27):
just keep blowing it. Nope, shall we continue to send
the grace? May abound? God forbid, said Paul, Because even
though you can get up there and still teach a
Bible study, or preach a sermon, or play the notes
on the piano or guitar, there'll be something you will
be lacking the whole time life, real life. You'll shrivel
(22:52):
up inside. They'll be pain and sorrow and repercussions in
you and around you with relationships and family. You'll just
be drying up inside. The Bible says in Proverbs thirteen.
I believe that the way of the unfaithful is hard.
It's hard, it's miserable. So you'll be operating out of
(23:14):
an empty well instead of a full well that never
runs out. But he calls him a prophet, and he said,
he'll pray for you, and you shall live. But if
you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die,
you and all who are yours. So a Bimelek rose
(23:35):
early in the morning and called all of his servants
and told all of these things in their hearing, and
the men were very much afraid. Of course, God just
said they're going to be dead men unless they give
her back. And Abimelech called Abraham, well, this is going
to be interesting, and said to him, you jerk. No,
(23:55):
he didn't say that. It's perhaps what I would have said.
He said, what have you done to us? How have
I offended 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. Now he's
rebuked by him. Charles Haddenspurgeon said, God will not allow
(24:21):
his children to sin successfully, and so he does it.
He goes through with the plan. Man, we made it
down here. God reveals something in a dream unwitting to
Abraham's knowledge until the next day. What have you done
to us?
Speaker 1 (24:38):
He says, We're glad you joined us today. Before you go,
remember that when you give fifty dollars or more to
help reach more people with the gospel through connect with Skip,
Heitzig will send you Lee st. Troubles book Is God Real,
and two of his sermons on the same topic preached
at Calvary Church to help you answer life's most consequential
(24:59):
questions about God's existence. To request your copy of these resources,
call eight hundred ninety two to two eighteen eighty eight.
That's eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty eight, or
visit connect with Skip dot com slash donate for more
from Skip. Be sure to check out the many resources
available at connectiskip dot com slash store. Come back next
(25:22):
time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word.
Here on Connect with skip Heidzig, Make.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
It Connect, Make a Connects.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Of the Cross.
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Chats song makes Next.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Connect with skip Heidzig is a presentation of connection communications
connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig exist to
connect to you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times through verse by verse teaching of His Word.
That's why we make messages like this one today available
to you and others on air and online. Before we
kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know
(00:22):
that you can stay in the know about what's happening
at Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for
email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly
devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week.
So sign up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's Connect
with Skip dot com. Now let's get into today's teaching
(00:43):
from pastors Skip.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Heightzig Genesis, Chapter twenty and twenty one. He said hopefully.
In nineteen twenty seven, the medium of television was that's
not that long ago. Since then, hundreds of thousands of
(01:07):
programs have aired, and the more popular ones have aired
over and over and over again. They're called reruns. Here's
a listing of what are considered the top television shows
of the century. Number one this is by virtue of
(01:28):
what people wanted and watched in reruns. Mash Number two,
I Love Lucy, You're going now we're talking are Lucy
and Horn? Number three All in the Family. Number four
(01:49):
Sesame Street. Now some of you are giving me the
look like I haven't heard of those shows. The worst
television shows according to the TV Guide, Number one, the
Jerry Springer Show. I agree. Number two, interestingly enough, and
(02:09):
I'm rather disappointed. My Mother the Car. How many of
you remember my Mother the Car? Kindred Souls? We are
Number three worst TV shows. X FL Football it was
one season, only two thousand and one. It never made
it off the ground. It's the wannabes who didn't make
it in the NFL and it didn't last. And then
(02:32):
number four The Brady Bunch. I can't help you there.
Chapter twenty is one of those chapters I wish was
not in the Bible. It is like a rerun of
the Jerry Springer Show. It is an episode, unfortunately, that
(02:57):
is repeated in Abraham's life, even though it has been
almost twenty five years since he made this mistake going
down to Egypt. He went down to Egypt almost twenty
five years before this because there was a famine in
the Land of Promise, and there because his wife was
(03:17):
so beautiful. She was sixty five years old at the time,
and he didn't trust the pharaoh. He said, would you
please just tell people that you're my sister. Well, now
she's ninety years old and Abraham is a hundred. He's
a century old. And he makes the same mistake, not
(03:38):
going down to Egypt, but toward Egypt in chapter twenty,
to the land of Gharar. Now something you need to
keep in the forefront of your mind, otherwise that this
will be a very tough chapter. Abraham is a believer.
Chapter fifteen tells us Abraham believed God, and it was
(03:58):
accounted unto him for righteousness. He had believed in God,
and he believed God's promises. He was a believer. God
even gave him a new name. It was Abraham. Now
it's Abraham. But though he has a new name, he
still has an old nature, and he goes back to
that old nature. Now we know what that struggle is like.
(04:21):
Though we have been given new life, we have an
old nature. And the Bible tells us that the flesh
wars against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh right.
These two are contrary to one another, and there's a
struggle in the life of every believer to want to
relapse back into the patterns of the flesh. They never
(04:43):
go away. We will always struggle with them to some
degree until we finally reach glory. We see that illustrated
here in the life of Abraham as he goes back
to a familiar pattern of old living, back to the flesh.
Know what this struggle is like in your spirit as
(05:05):
you have been born again. You want to serve the Lord.
You do, but the flesh part of you wants to
serve you and make it all about you. And there's
a struggle, and it's a constant struggle. Your spirit longs
to fellowship with the Lord. And so when the alarm
goes off in the morning, your spirit says, great, I'm
(05:28):
going to spend some time in prayer, while the flesh
quickly says, prayer, are you nuts? Just one more hour
of sleep? Sunday morning alarm goes off, the spirit says,
time to go to church with God's people, and the flesh,
especially when you're waking up, might say church, why is
it Easter? Is there some crisis that has happened in
(05:50):
your life that you need to be driven toward church.
So we find this struggle back and forth, and we
find it, interestingly enough, after all of this time, after
all of these years of Abraham walking with God, we
find him going back to his old old ways Verse one,
(06:12):
and Abraham journeyed. He's on the move again. Remember he's
the man in the tent, and he's the man of
the tent. Lot settled and got a house in Sodom.
Abraham never settled down. And why is that. Hebrews eleven
says it was by faith. He was looking for a
(06:32):
city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
And so he's on the move. He's a pilgrim and
he's a worshiper. He was a man of the tent
and the altar, and we noticed that he would travel,
pitch his tent, build an altar. But when he went
down to Egypt twenty some years before, he didn't build
an altar. Now he's on the move once again. He's
(06:56):
a man of the tent. But there's no mention of
an altar. Now we don't know why he journeyed. There's
no mention or reason given. He was in the land
of Mamory, a beautiful area by Hebron, gorgeous. It's a
great place to hang out. I've spent some time in
that area. Now he goes south toward the wilderness, and
we don't exactly know why, but there was obviously some
(07:18):
reason that motivated him. Were just not given the reason.
He journeyed from there from memory where he was that
place of fellowship by Hebron to the south and dwelt
between Kadish and shore and stayed in Gharar. Gharar is
(07:39):
just over the border going south, just over the border
from the Promised Land. It's not all the way down
in Egypt, but Gharrar was the place the Philistines settled.
Now you're going to read more about the Philistines as
the scripture goes on. The Philistines were originally a sea
going people and a warlike people that migrated from the
(08:02):
islands west of the Mediterranean and found their way down
toward the coast of Egypt and the southern coastlands of
the Promised Land, and they become the formidable enemy during
the time of David. The King is a Bimelek. Now,
a Bimelek is either his name or it is his title,
(08:23):
just like a pharaoh or a prime minister. He is
the abimelek, or his name is a bimlic. We don't
know now. Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is
my sister and a bimelek. The king of Gharar sent
and took Sarah. So here's Abraham. He's crossed the border.
(08:46):
He's out of the promised land, out of the land
God gave him. He's not in Egypt, but he is
in dangerous territory. He's in enemy territory. And because he's
an enemy to territory, he's living in fear. He doesn't
want to die, and so he goes back to that
old lie that we saw back in chapter twelve. He
(09:07):
told his wife, tell people you are my sister, and
he gives that same false information out she's my sister.
The Bible tells us that we are to stay far
away from temptation. I like the Biblical injunction. Flee temptation,
run from it, get away from it, flee And when
(09:28):
you flee temptation, and when you run from the enemy's snares,
don't leave a forwarding address. There are some places Christians
ought not to go there are some people they ought
not to be around. There are some practices they are
not to be engaged in, because it's going to draw
(09:49):
them in closer and deeper into the temptation and possible sin. Well,
he goes down to Garar, and Abraham said, of Sarah,
his wife used to be Sarah. I now it's Sarah.
She is my sister. We're going to find out that
that's partially true. It's partially a lie, but it's partially true.
(10:11):
And a Bimilk, the king of Garar, sent and took Sarah.
But God came to a bimilec in a dream by
night and said to him, indeed, you're a dead man
like God's style, because of the woman whom you have
taken for she is a man's wife.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You're listening to connect with Skip Heitzig before we return
to Skip's teaching. The question of God's existence has serious implications,
from his presence and participation in our lives, to the
reality of life after death, to the basis for human morality.
And In his book Is God Real? Lee Strobel, former
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(10:57):
the latest evidence from a range of brilliant scientific and
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This resource will equip you to address your own doubts
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(11:19):
as thanks for your gift of fifty dollars or more.
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Skip Heiitzig, go to connect Withskip dot com slash offer,
or call eight hundred ninety two to eighteen eighty eight
and request your copy when you give. Now let's get
back to Skip for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now, it's been, like I said, twenty five years since
the whole incident occurred. Like this, when he went down
to Egypt, she was sixty five years old. Now she's
ninety years old. And so we're a bit puzzled, are
we not that he felt the need to make up
a story about her to say it's my sister. You
(11:58):
think it, she's Abraham. She's ninety years old. You don't
have to worry about anything, dude, They're not going to
take your wife. But and I can't totally explain it
except a couple of shots at the explanation. She must
have been extraordinarily beautiful. All of the ancient literature recall
(12:19):
Sarah as being perfect in form and as beautiful as Eve,
who was given by God a third of all beauty.
Now that's legendary, that's in some of the ancient writings,
but nonetheless, all of the ancient writings attest to the
beauty of Sarah. Second, it was common practice among kings, rulers,
(12:40):
those who were rich and powerful, to give a woman,
a wife, somebody from their household to another ruler harem
to make a strong alliance, and perhaps to form an alliance.
Since Abraham was rich and powerful, hundred and eighteen of
(13:00):
his own trained paid servants, and a Bimelech was the
king of this area, that it was to form an alliance.
But it was a lie, and it's going to get
him into trouble. There's a little phrase in verse three
that just grabbed me when I read it this week,
and I love this little phrase. But God, how thankful
(13:25):
I am for all of the but gods we find
in scripture. Here's abraham dumb mistake, dumb to travel down there.
But God, I love that. And we find many of
them in the Bible. One of them, notably is in
chapter fifty Joseph will say to his brothers who betrayed
(13:49):
him and sold him to the group that sold him
down into Egypt. Remember that the last chapter of Genesis,
Joseph says to his brothers, asked for you. You meant
this for evil against me, But God meant it for
good to save many people alive as it is this day.
(14:11):
What you meant for evil, God meant for good. But God,
God intervened My favorite But God is Ephesians two. You
probably know that story really well, or that little outline
that is given in Ephesians two. Paul says, you were
dead in trespasses and sins, and which you once walked
(14:34):
according to the course of this world, according to the
Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who
now works among the children of disobedience. You were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God,
who is rich in mercy and the great love with
(14:55):
which he loved us even while we were dead, he
has made us a lit by grace, you have been saved.
See we all have this story of But God, we
were going our own way, doing our own thing, minding
our own business, not interested in the things of the spirit.
But God, that's Abraham's story too. He went down to
(15:19):
Garaar did something dumb, fatal, perhaps for his wife and
for the kingdom of the Philistines. But God, So here's
King of Bimelech. He's sleeping at night. He does not
know what's happening. He does not know the relationship between
this man and woman. He did not take her that night,
(15:41):
which was typical when a new woman was brought into
a harem. He just went to sleep that night. While
he was sleeping, just on the pillow, sawing logs, God
spoke to him and said, you're a dead man. I'd
call that a nightmare because the woman whom you have taken,
(16:05):
for she is a man's wife. But a Bimelek had
not come near her. And said, Lord, will you slay
a righteous nation. Also, it's interesting that he said slay
a righteous nation. And will learn the full impact of
that when we get to verse eighteen and we discover
that all of the wombs of the Philistine women had
been closed by God. So not only was God threatening
(16:28):
King of Bimelek. But God had closed all of the
wombs of the women, so they were unable to bear. Well,
if you can't bear little philistines and have little philistines
running around your tent, who will grow up to be
big philistines, you won't have a nation of philistines. And
so would you slay a righteous nation? Interesting that he
calls it that? Did he not say to me, she
(16:51):
is my sister. Even she herself said, he is my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and in the innocence
of my hands, I have done this. And God said
to him in a dream, yes, I know that you
did this in the integrity of your heart, for I
also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I did
(17:13):
not let you touch her. Now, every time there is
a first mention of something in the Bible, I've been
telling you that principle of first mention, Right, the very
first mention of the word integrity is found here from
the lips of a philistine, a man of integrity. And
God says, you're right. I actually agree with you. You are
(17:36):
a man of integrity, and that's why I'm keeping you
from further sin. Now here's a principle. If you are
a person of integrity honesty, you're not covering up, you're
not hiding anything. You are who you say you are,
What you are in private and public are the same.
If you're a person of integrity, God will keep you
(18:00):
from further plunging into those kinds of activities, sins that
would destroy families and destroy relationships. But if you are
a person who lacks integrity, you're on that dangerous road
of going further into areas that will destroy You're right,
(18:21):
you're a man of integrity. That's why I'm not letting
you do this. In fact, there's something I find interesting.
In verse six, he says, for I also withheld you
from sinning against who me. Now, now, wait a minute.
Abraham sinned against his wife Sarah by doing this. Abraham
(18:44):
sinned against king of Bimelech by doing this. A king
of Bimelek took Sarah not knowing what it is. And
even if he did know what it was, and he
was going to do it anyway, wouldn't that be a
sin first of all against Sarah or first of all
against Abraham. No, here's the important principle. Adultery is first
(19:08):
and foremost a sin against God. And that's what most
people forget. Oh the poor children, true, Oh the poor wife,
she was a victim or husband. True. But first and foremost,
it's a sin against God. And why would that be
Because God was the one who invented the institution of marriage.
(19:28):
That's why. For this reason, a man will leave his
father and mother and cleave him to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh. Jesus will say amen
to that by saying, what God has joined together, let
not man separate so to commit adultery. According to God,
here is first a sin against him. That's where we
(19:49):
ought to look. That's where the fear of God begins
is with thoughts like this. No. Later on you're going
to read about Moses, and Moses will Egyptian. He was
at least a Hebrew, but in the Egyptian court, and
one day he goes out and he's angry at an
Egyptian and it says he looked this way, and he
looked that way, and he killed the Egyptian. What was
(20:11):
his problem? He didn't look that way. And so we
look around to see who's looking or not looking. God's
always looking, and in his sleep God reminds a bi
molect of that truth. Therefore I did not let you
touch her. Now, therefore restore the man's wife. For he
(20:33):
is a prophet. He's a what this is shocking to me?
And he will pray for you and you shall live. Okay.
Back to the rule of first mention. The very first
time the word prophet is mentioned in the Bible is
in this verse, and it's used of a disobedient Abraham.
(20:58):
Now I say, I'm shocked this because if there's one
time you would think that God would not want to
even be related to Abraham would be here. You'd think
he would say, for this man is a problem. This
man is a problem child of mine. I've had problems
with him for years, ever since I called him or
(21:21):
I don't know who this joker is. But God owns
him as his prophet. Isn't that interesting? He says he's
a prophet and he'll pray for you, and I'm luck
probably thinking I don't want him to pray for me.
I'll tell you why this is good. It's good because
whenever we fail, whenever we blow it, and we all
(21:43):
do in our own thinking, we ruin our future ability
to serve the Lord so often by these thoughts, Oh,
I've blown it. Oh that was a bad mistake. I
can never be used by God again. Oh boy, you
don't understand our God. You don't understand the great grace
(22:06):
of our God, the mighty mercy of our Maker. He's
a prophet, and he's going to pray for you. In fact,
the Lord's going to hear his prayer and going to
heal him. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me,
because some of you may be thinking, oh so great.
So if I've blown it, and I have, I can
(22:27):
just keep blowing it. Nope, shall we continue to send
the grace? May abound? God forbid, said Paul, Because even
though you can get up there and still teach a
Bible study, or preach a sermon, or play the notes
on the piano or guitar, there'll be something you will
be lacking the whole time life, real life. You'll shrivel
(22:52):
up inside. They'll be pain and sorrow and repercussions in
you and around you with relationships and family. You'll just
be drying up inside. The Bible says in Proverbs thirteen.
I believe that the way of the unfaithful is hard.
It's hard, it's miserable. So you'll be operating out of
(23:14):
an empty well instead of a full well that never
runs out. But he calls him a prophet, and he said,
he'll pray for you, and you shall live. But if
you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die,
you and all who are yours. So a Bimelek rose
(23:35):
early in the morning and called all of his servants
and told all of these things in their hearing, and
the men were very much afraid. Of course, God just
said they're going to be dead men unless they give
her back. And Abimelech called Abraham, well, this is going
to be interesting, and said to him, you jerk. No,
(23:55):
he didn't say that. It's perhaps what I would have said.
He said, what have you done to us? How have
I offended 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. Now he's
rebuked by him. Charles Haddenspurgeon said, God will not allow
(24:21):
his children to sin successfully, and so he does it.
He goes through with the plan. Man, we made it
down here. God reveals something in a dream unwitting to
Abraham's knowledge until the next day. What have you done
to us?
Speaker 1 (24:38):
He says, We're glad you joined us today. Before you go,
remember that when you give fifty dollars or more to
help reach more people with the gospel through connect with Skip,
Heitzig will send you Lee st. Troubles book Is God Real,
and two of his sermons on the same topic preached
at Calvary Church to help you answer life's most consequential
(24:59):
questions about God's existence. To request your copy of these resources,
call eight hundred ninety two to two eighteen eighty eight.
That's eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty eight, or
visit connect with Skip dot com slash donate for more
from Skip. Be sure to check out the many resources
available at connectiskip dot com slash store. Come back next
(25:22):
time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word.
Here on Connect with skip Heidzig, Make.
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It Connect, Make a Connects.
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Of the Cross.
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Chats song makes Next.
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Connect with skip Heidzig is a presentation of connection communications
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