Death ends the Covenant

It is past time for this next post, so this will be one of two entries regarding the marriage covenant this weekend, if the Lord wills.

A portion of the last blog focused on  the marriage covenant being given to all mankind, as opposed to one people group, ethnicity, or nation. This discussion will focus on Abraham and Sarah's visit to a city called Gerar. The king of Gerar, whose name was Abimelech, is referred to both in Genesis 20 and Genesis 26. It is possible that both passages refer to the same person. It is more likely, however, that these were either a father and son pair, or grandfather and grandson. It has also been suggested that the name Abimelech could have been the general term for the King of Gerar, much like in nearby Egypt, where the king was always referred to as "Pharaoh."

What is clear is that Abraham and Isaac both believed that the kings of Gerar had no fear of God with regard to murder. They both feared that because they were husbands to very attractive wives, their lives might be in jeopardy. They feared that one might kill them in order to take their wives.

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

But 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.

But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?  

Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 

And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.  

Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. 
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. -Genesis 20:2-7; 9-10 
***Isaac and Rebekah found themselves in a similar situation, which can be seen in Genesis 26. For the sake of time, I will limit this discussion to Abraham's episode.***

Now this particular passage of scripture provides answers to some very interesting questions about the marriage covenant, as it was viewed before the establishment of the Mosaic law. Note that Abraham operated under the concept that the people of Gerar did not fear God, meaning that they were not concerned with His opinion regarding their activities. So then why would Abraham be in fear of his life? If the people did not fear God, why wouldn't Abraham's fear rest in that someone may simply take his wife by force? He was clearly in no position to offer significant resistance. 
The answer is simple: Cultures and nations that did not fear God still understood the one flesh covenant of Marriage (with the exception of Sodom and Gomorrah which ceased to be of concern in the previous chapter). If a Godless man wanted another's wife, the only possible solution was to kill the husband, and take her to be his own. This was also David's particular method of operation after he violated Uriah's covenant (see II Samuel 11). 

Another point to be made is that Abraham was willing to allow another man to lay with his wife, rather than be killed. Why is this significant? For two reasons:  

1. In Genesis 18, God promised Abraham that he would become a great and mighty nation. This promise would be very difficult to see through if Abraham was dead.
2. Also in Genesis 18, God said that the promised child of Abraham would be conceived with Sarah his wife, and not another.

Abraham then had concluded two things: 1) he must survive his stay in Gerar; 2) if his wife were taken from him, it would not negate his covenant with her, though she became another man's; God's promise was of a son through Sarah. This way they both survive, and therefore the covenant remains in effect as well. Their survival was the determinate factor. Death, and only death, would end the covenant.


Thankfully for Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech, God had better plans. Regarding God's warning to Abimelech, I also want to note His opening argument: "For she is a man's wife." He didn't qualify the reason by stating to whom she was married. Only that she was. And that was good enough for God to take the breath from his body. He was but a dead man, not because he was going to take the Prophet's wife. Just another man's wife. Any man's wife would be reason enough for his life to be over. That she was Abraham's wife exacerbated the issue a bit, but the core problem was that God had witnessed a one flesh covenant, which Abimelech would have violated by lying with Sarah. What's more, had God not warned Abimelech, he would have been found dead based on that fact alone, even though he was ignorant of her marriage to Abraham.
God gave Abimelech the opportunity to make amends based upon his ignorance, as God is just and good. Nevertheless that which was taken had to be restored in order for God's hand of judgment to be stayed.
 
I wonder how many in the church have taken another man's wife, and thought lightly of the consequence. God is the Lord. He changes not. He is the same today as he was when he visited Abimelech in order to spare his life. I pray someone allows God to spare their life today as well.

The next topic, coming later this weekend, will highlight the permanence of the covenant. We will see how God followed through on his warning to Abimelech regarding Abraham's covenant, centuries later.