What Is this you have done?
“9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “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.”
In Egypt, Abraham showed that he was not free from human weakness. His wife, Sarah, was “very beautiful,” and he was sure that the Egyptians would covet the lovely stranger and kill her husband. He reasoned that he was not guilty of lying in describing Sarah as his sister, for she was the daughter of his father, though not of his mother.
In an attempt to preserve their lives, Abraham resorted to “white lies”. But in reality, what he did was a deception. God has repeatedly reminded Abraham of His promise to make him a father of nations. In fact, his (and Sarah’s) name change reflected that and should certainly have reassured him that God will fulfill His promise, in due time.
But years have passed since Ishmael was born but the promised son has not been born to Sarah. If we go back to Gen 15:2, Abraham contemplated that he will make Eliezer, his servant, the heir. But it appeared that it was not only Abraham who lacked faith. Sure enough, Sarah also offered her solution, hence the birth of Hagar’s son.
It occurred to me that the reason that there was a delay in the realization of the promised son is because the Lord is waiting for them to have 100% faith in God and His promises. So God sent them to a journey; to two journeys for lessons in trust for which he failed twice and surely, his faith might have become twice stronger. God’s situation cannot be resolved with human solutions. God must have asked several times, “What is it you have done, Abraham?”
I believe it was God’s orchestration that Abraham and Sarah encountered the same situation twice for which they have the same solution and for which God always intervened. They were concerned more about their safety than about how they would wrong God with their decisions.
Notice how the vessels used by God to teach them lessons had the same reactions. Pharaoh in Genesis 12:17 – 18 said after he and his house were plagued, “What is this you have done to me?” And the Lord did not allow the monarch to sin himself. Sarah remained safe and pure and they were sent on their way unscathed.
Abimelech said the same thing after God appeared to him in his dream that Sarah was not a sister, but the wife of Abraham in Genesis 20:9, “ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? … “
Both monarchs were prevented by God to commit sins. Upon the promptings from the Lord, they discerned that something was not right. How impressive is it that they did not just pounce on Abraham for almost making them commit a dreadful act. Instead, they wanted first an explanation, giving Abraham a chance to vindicate himself. Such scenario is reminiscent of man’s fall at the Garden of Eden when God asked in Genesis 3:13, “And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The ever gracious God, the God of many chances who knows the end from the beginning knew all along what happened but with His loving-kindness, He allows us a chance to realize our mistakes, confess to Him and ask for forgiveness.
How surprising to find out that Pharaoh and Abimelech learned and practiced this and forgave as well. I think of the times when I have committed mistakes and tried to just ignore my conscience and did not bother to say sorry and be remorseful of my actions but God just kept asking, “What is this you have done?” He never gives up on me and you until we learn our lesson just like what He did to Abraham and Sarah.
Thank you, Jesus, for giving us many chances and forgiving us.
#forgiveness #manychances