Abimelech

This is one of those chapters in the Bible where I read it and I think, okay, but why is this in the Bible? What relevance does it have? I still don't know. Maybe it's to prove that God always provides for his people, and uses every situation to his benefit. In chapter 20 Abraham and Sarah are moving around and came to a new region where Abimelech was King. Abraham and Sarah said that they were brother and sister, and so Abimelech took Sarah into his home. Then God appeared to Abimelech in his dreams, promising disaster for taking a married woman into his household. Abimelech did not know that Sarah was in fact Abraham's wife and begged for forgiveness. God let Abimelech know that he had not sinned and that he needed to return Sarah to Abraham. He then told Abimelech that Abraham would pray for him and heal his household.

So Sarah was returned and Abraham did pray for Abimelech and his household. Abimelech asked Abraham why they had entered with deception at the beginning.

"Abraham replied, "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother." ' "

14 Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, "My land is before you; live wherever you like."

16 To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels ^[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated."

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah." Genesis 20:11-18

The Bible doesn't go into details about Abimelech. We do see that the Lord had affected all the women while Sarah was there, but we also know that God told Abimelech that he will surely die if Abraham did not pray for them. Perhaps this passage is about faith and the power of prayer. God told Abimelech to return Sarah to Abraham, and Abimelech could have chosen to keep her and could have also not believed God when he said that Abraham was a prophet. Yet he did, and a relationship was formed with Abraham and Abimelech, which we learn later on will be of some importance.

God works in mysterious ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. Sometimes the things that are happening to us now do not make sense to us- but they make sense to God. Sometimes that can be tough to remember.