Denying A Wife To Save Your Life: The Sins of Abraham and Isaac

Any way you slice the ethical pie, in passing off a wife as a sister, Abraham’s scams (did I mention there were two occasions! Genesis 12:10-20 and again!!! in Genesis 20:1-18 ) and Isaac’s scam (Genesis 26:7-11) were all deliberate attempts to deceive [even though Sarah was technically also Abraham’s half-sister] Here’s the point:  we have here two heroes of faith (one, the father of the Jewish nation!) who lied to save their lives.  What in the world do we make of this?  I submit that the proper question is not “What do we make of this?” but “What does God make of this?”  And, equally important:  “What can we learn from it?”

First, these passages should teach us that not everything written in Scripture is condoned by Scripture—not even all of the actions of the heroes of faith.  The Bible is faithful in presenting the truth about all things, including the failures and foibles of God’s own people.  It does not present a fabricated, idealized caricature of actual saints, but a realistic portrait of fallible followers who repent and keep on striving to remain faithful to God.

Secondly, God’s word is crystal clear about the absolute norm of honesty and truth-telling.  So even though the narrator of these accounts does not directly condemn these moral missteps, we see nothing in these passages that compels us to conclude that God approved of them.  What we do see is that God worked out his purposes in spite of these failures.  Not only this, but God blessed Abraham and Isaac in spite of (though certainly not because of!!) their failures.

The key, then, is not whether we sin or don’t sin; the key is where our loyalty lies.  The Abraham and Isaac scams teach us through life-story what Paul stated in point blank fashion:  “God works all things (even lapses and collapses) together for good for those who love Him . . . ” (Romans 8:28).  Thank You, our God and Father, for your gracious work in our lives!