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Great Disappointment but Great Restoration
Genesis 20:1-18
We’re often disappointed by people. We’re disappointed with political leaders - we vote them in with great hope because of their campaign speeches, but they dash our hopes when they’re securely in office. Friends also disappoint us - they fail to live up to what we expect of as friend or we’re even betrayed by them. Spouses also disappoint - many will wake up one day with a rude shock. Church leaders also disappoint us - we never thought he could speak in such a way to us. Your hero is a zero. And that disappointment is natural. When we look to sinful people they’ll ultimately fail us. Like Moses, godly men will lose their temper. Like Peter, godly men will be gutless. Like David, godly men can fall into great sin. Like Abraham, godly men can also be inconsistent. We don’t change easily. But believers can change. That’s the gospel.
Today, we look again at Abraham. And while he was a great mediator, we see again how greatly disappointing he was. He made the same mistake. But the point of the text is not ultimately to expose Abraham’s weakness, it’s to display God’s strength. And we see it in two great truths. Firstly, a great saint can sin grievously. Secondly, a great God can stop a grievous sin.
Firstly, a great saint can sin grievously. In Genesis 18 and 19, we think we have Abraham figured out - he’s a man of faith, the friend of God, and the great mediator who bargained with God for Sodom. But here, he’s in a moral and spiritual ditch. After God’s commendation of him in chapter 18 - that God knew him, and he’d teach many nations to follow God in faith and righteousness; we see the embarrassing reality in chapter 20. Verse 1 says that Abraham left Mamre and traveled south to Kadesh and Shur - to the land of Gerar - in what’s Gaza today. And Gerar was ruled by the Abimelech - a title of a king, in the same way Pharaoh is. But we see he forgot his appointment from God. Remember that God had appointed him to be blesser of many nations. He was to walk blamelessly before God and teach many nations to believe in God and walk righteously. But he forgot to do that. Instead what did he do? Verse 2 says he communicated, probably to Abimelech, that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. So Abimelech took her as his wife. Abraham was to have taught what was right, but he led Abimelech into sin. And this is especially sad because the same thing happened to him before. He pulled the same stunt 25 years ago in Egypt. That was the first time God told him he’d be a great nation - to bless those that blessed him, and curse those who’d curse him. But almost immediately, he lied about Sarah and Pharaoh took her to himself. Okay, one might say he was young in faith then. Fine. But in those 25 years, he had many opportunities to grow - to see God’s blessings. He singlehandedly overcame the kings of the east. God appeared before him. He saw God’s justice on Sodom. He saw how he was a blesser of nations. But he forgot. Again. Beloved, this was his besetting sin. And we all have them. It’s how we always biting ourselves on the same spot on our cheek again and again. Or how we always stub our toe on the same chair. This was his besetting sin.
But we see another sore point. Abraham moved from Mamre to Gerar. Why? Now, each time Abraham moved - like from Haran to Shechem, thereafter to Hai, and finally to Mamre, Abraham always built an altar. He was claiming all of these lands for God. And presumably, as he sojourned in Gerar, he should’ve done that. But no record is given. Instead, his stumbling was recorded. So beloved, what’s not recorded is as significant as what’s recorded. What’s not recorded is what he always did before - setting up altars to be blesser of that land. But he didn’t do it here. Why? Perhaps verse 13 gives us a clue. We see his spiritual condition in his words. He told Abimelech his instructions to Sarah, “God caused me to wander from my father’s house. Be kind to me - say that I’m your brother so they won’t kill me.” God caused me to wander aimlessly - to go astray. That’s the meaning. But God did no such thing. God led him. He appointed him a land, a promise, a destiny. But Abraham looked at his life as wandering, a random migration - when God had led him to Gerar. He didn’t see it as God planting him there and he forgot his appointment - his purpose. And he defaulted to self-preservation.
And that’s why when he wasn’t focused, he also forgot the promises of God. After Abimelech took Sarah, God revealed to him he was in danger. And Abimelech confronted Abraham with all his men, saying in verse 9 - “what have you done to us? Have I offended you that you’ve brought this sin on me and my kingdom? You’ve done what you shouldn’t have done.” Listen to Abraham reason for his lie. Verse 11 - “I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.” He said “I thought.” He didn’t consult God. He only consulted his own fears. He looked at Abimelech and his people and assumed they were like men of Sodom. He slandered an entire nation. Yes, these men were pagans. But the deeper issue was this - he looked at the situation and decided God could not be trusted to keep His promise. But God had promised, “I’ll bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you.” And God had just destroyed Sodom to protect Lot! And God just told him and Sarah they’d have a son. But he allowed Sarah to be taken! Jeopardizing the promised heir! Why? Verse 13 - “God caused me to wander around. He’s not in this place. He can’t protect me here. The people are more powerful than God. They’ll kill me. I’ve to take matters into my own hands.” And that’s the same issue with all of us - if we think God can’t take care of us, we assume we must take care of ourselves. And that gets us into foolishness all the time. That happens when we forget God’s promises or we forget they depend on him to fulfill them and not on our own scheming. Abraham the great saint sinned grievously. If it could happen to Abraham, it can happen to you.
Now, if the story ended at verse 13, there’s no hope! God made me wander aimlessly. But the good news is this - when man is faithless, God remains faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” We see secondly, that a great God stopped a grievous sin. The spotlight turns from Abraham’s failure to God’s sovereign grace. And how did God show his grace? By stopping a grievous sin. And he did this by two stern rebukes. We learn in verse 3 that “God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.” Why God didn’t appear to Abraham to stop him, but spoke to Abimelech? Well, it didn’t seem as if Abraham listened in the first place. Like Balaam. And when God couldn’t get through to Balaam, he got through to him by using his donkey. And so he spoke through this pagan king to protect his covenant promise when his chosen instrument was messing things up. And he rebuked Abimelech - you’re a dead man! But who should’ve been the dead man? Who was the one responsible? And yet, Abimelech, not Abraham was rebuked.
Now to be clear, Abimelech wasn’t without sin. Certainly, when he was rebuked, he told God that he did nothing wrong. “It was Abraham. He said, “she’s my sister!” and even she said, “he’s my brother!”” Abimelech claimed he did it in the integrity of his heart. Meaning, his motive was pure when he did it, verse 5. And God agreed - verse 6,“Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart.” Now, was Abimelech really pure? If he was, why did God rebuke him and say he was a dead man? Remember the context. Abraham lied because he feared he’d be killed. As we saw with Pharaoh, taking women by force was common practice. It was a way to establish dominance by kings. Abraham just moved to Gerar. He knew what kings did. He was afraid. And he was proven right. So clearly, Abimelech wasn’t guiltless when it came to this. But he was guiltless of knowing she was already married. But, even if Abimelech did know she was married - he’d probably have done what Abraham feared. So don’t mistake the text as saying he did nothing wrong. He did. But God was gracious. For Abimelech’s sake, God didn’t let the sin to increase. God prevented him from raping her. Otherwise he’d be more than a dead man. But the rebuke was still valid. He had kidnapped her. But for Abraham’s sake, God prevented Abimelech from sinning more to preserve the line.
But God also rebuked Abraham, through Abimelech. The pagan king rebuked the prophet. Verse 9 - “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you brought a great sin on me and my kingdom?” Can you feel the weight of these words? The “father of the faith” is being schooled in ethics by a man who doesn’t even know the Living and True God. This was humiliating to Abraham. He’d have wondered why God didn’t speak to him. But what a sad thing it is when men of the world show a higher sense of honor and a greater abhorrence of crimes than a true worshipper. This was a hot mess. Abimelech, while guilty, was less guilty than Abraham. He was a pagan. Abraham was a saint. Abimelech knew not the word of God. Abraham knew the word and blessing of God. But here - Abraham, as God’s appointed mediator who spoke for others, now needed a mediator to speak God’s word to him.
But God was not done. He’s a gracious God, who’s ready to restore. And here we see two gracious restorations. Verses 14-15 say that Abimelech restored Sarah to Abraham. “And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.” This was gracious. Firstly, his wife was restored - and that meant, he’d have descendants - a wife for descendants for the promised seed. And as verse 16 says, Abimelech gave Abraham 1000 pieces of silver to demonstrate that Sarah’s reputation was vindicated. Secondly, Abraham had free access to all the land. No rent. Dwell where you want. Abraham would be able to be a witness again - to bless the nations with the gospel. Really? Can this be done after what he did? Yes. Because now, he’d have menservants and women servants to join his household - they’d be circumcised, taught the gospel, pointed to the only living and true God. All restored. We see that this restoration was so completely undeserved. Who’d trust Abraham now? Would Sarah? God’s all about second, third, and four hundred and ninetieth chances. God forgives. And we see his spiritual restoration in verse 17 - Abraham prayed to God. He’s restored to his office of mediator.
But he also prayed to God to heal Abimelech. Where God used Abimelech to speak to Abraham, now Abraham spoke to God about Abimelech. This is the kicker. Abraham - the liar, the coward, the one who caused the whole mess - is the only one who can fix it. God said in verse 7 that Abimelech’s life depended on Abraham’s intercession - “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live.” Why? Because Abraham was a prophet and mediator. His sin didn’t change God’s view of him. God didn’t say, “You’re disqualified.” Instead, God put the key to the king’s healing back in Abraham’s pocket. In all the references to Abraham we have in the rest of the Bible, God never brings it up again to highlight that failure. It was forgiven and forgotten. He had great fault in his lie. He had great fault in throwing Sarah under the bus. He had great fault for not trusting God. He had great fault for trusting his thoughts. But now he was blameless again.
But what lessons do we glean from this account? And it’s a disappointing and embarrassing account. But here’s where we must see it through the lens of the gospel. This account shows us that salvation and restoration doesn’t rest on the shoulders of failing men, but on the faithfulness of a covenant keeping God. Not only was Sarah barren, now, she was in a harem. What about the promised son? If Abraham can’t fix it, the promise dies. But that’s precisely the point: He can’t fix it. God must act. God shuts the wombs of Abimelech’s house to prevent contamination, and God opens them again in response to prayer.
And this entire chapter is a massive set up for the Gospel. It proves that the line of the promised seed, was preserved not by human ingenuity, but by divine intervention. We can’t fathom that such disappointment could ever be good. But as Joseph said - you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. God uses our disappointing moments for his purpose. Abraham meant to deceive, but God used it to display His sovereign grace. And this points us to the ultimate Mediator. Abraham was a great disappointment as a mediator; he couldn’t even mediate his own way out of a lie. But Jesus Christ is the Great Mediator who never failed. Where Abraham lied to save his skin, Jesus told the truth and lost His life to save ours. Where Abraham put Sarah at risk, Jesus put Himself at risk for His Bride, the Church. The grace shown here - where a guilty man is allowed to pray for the innocent. This is a shadow of the cross. On the cross, the truly innocent One was cut off so that the guilty could be healed. Abraham’s prayer healed Abimelech’s body; Jesus’ sacrifice heals our souls. And it also grants us grace upon grace - that we as disappointing people, can still make a difference.
So, what do we do with this? We see ourselves in Abraham. We see our besetting sins, our fears, and our lapses of faith. But we look away from Abraham to his God. As you leave here today, remember: Abraham forgot his appointment and God’s promises and turned to his own ways. And it got him into trouble. So remember God’s call for you and his promises. Be on guard in your hearts against the “I thought” mentality. But what does God say to you? Perhaps some of you must be restored to restore others. Like Peter had to be restored to strengthen his brethren. And what does this also mean? Don’t despair for yourself or for others. If Abraham was restored and used by God even after this mess - there’s hope for you. Wives, your husbands will fail you, and vice versa. You will fail others in the church by your sins. Officers will fail you. Children, you will fail your parents. We’ll fail one another. But this doesn’t mean we can’t serve God. God uses our paltry attempts - our words, our service, our weaknesses - for his glory. He uses weak preachers and elders, weak teachers and disappointing parents, to do the work of the gospel. But this doesn’t excuse us from our sins. Let’s seek forgiveness. Let’s walk blamelessly because of Christ, to do justly, walk humbly, and love mercy. Let’s receive restoration. Many of us need to be reconciled to God - only then can you truly serve others and wash feet. Until now you’ve assumed an auditor’s mentality - to be critical at other’s weaknesses. But you need to learn how to shepherd.
All Christians can be rehabilitated - but not if you’re a Judas. We can hope in God for our change and their change. The same God who protected Sarah, protects his promises. The same God who heard the prayer of a failing prophet hears the prayer of failing sinners like us Why? Because he hears the perfect mediation of a perfect man - the Lord Jesus Christ. May we learn to trust the Great Mediator, who is never a disappointment. Amen.
1. A Great Saint Can Sin Grievously
A. He forgot his appointment from God (1-2)
B. He forgot the promises of God (11-13)
2. A Great God Stopped a Grievous Sin
A. Two stern rebukes (3-8, 9-10)
B. Two gracious restorations (14-16, 17-18)
Conversation for Change:
1. What are our duties in our appointment as prophets, priests, and kings? How have we carried them out towards those in church and the world?
2. We may not be faultless, but are we blameless? Are there things in our lives that others can accuse us of because we haven’t made them right? What do you need to do in response to this word today?
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2026, Rev. Mark Chen
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