Genesis 20:8-17
Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against 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!” Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”
Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
The lie intended to protect Abraham and keep him from being killed, ended up making a fool out of him. In front of everyone he had to admit that he proudly assumed that no one feared God in that city, but actually, “the men were very scared” as it says here. God masterfully arranged the circumstances so that Sarah wasn’t touched, Abraham was embarrassed, and that he was given more sheep, cattle, and servants.
God had Abraham pray for Abimelech and his house so that they could have children again. Evidently, the problem that Sarah had was passed on to all of Abimelech’s household.
A lesson we can learn from this is to not assume that people in different cultures do not know the God of the Bible. It is true that they may not know Him well, but it is wrong for us to assume that God has not preserved anyone for Himself just like He did with Abimelech. To be clear, I’m not saying that God accepts all religions. I’m saying that Christians and those who are open to knowing about Christianity can be found in some seemingly unlikely places and it isn’t for us to judge who is more likely to accept Christ and who isn’t.
It’s pretty clear from reading the Bible so far in Genesis that there really aren’t any “super saints.” Every single person we read about has some kind of a problem. Those that hear God’s word and believe in Him are blessed by Him and those that don’t end up being destroyed. So, you see, the idea that the Bible holds certain men to be above sin is only made up by men who avoid the clear teaching of the Bible. It is so important that we pay attention to what God has actually revealed to us in the Bible.