Abraham moved his entourage multiple times. It had to be hard to live as a nomad, constantly moving onto land already occupied and grazed by others. Abraham stayed cautious despite the Lord’s promise to build his offspring into a great nation.

When entering a region called Gerar, Abraham fibbed about his wife, telling the local king that Sarah was his sister (she was Abraham’s half-sister, so a half-truth, actually). Abimelek, always on the hunt for a new wife and looking for a way to draw Abraham and his wealth into an alliance, brought Sarah into his household.

However, God appeared to Abimelek in a dream and laid out the truth. The king confronted Abraham and demanded—what is your reason for doing this?

Abraham sheepishly responded, I said to myself, there is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. And so he concocted the ruse about Sarah.

What’s interesting is Abraham’s assumption—surely there is no fear of God in this place. But as the story unfolds, Abimelek showed plenty of fear of God. He responded immediately to his dream, and blessed Abraham as he sent him off—my land is before you; live wherever you like.

Like Abraham, I prejudge people all this time: Surely no fear of God rests in that city, or this type of church, or those of their political leaning, or anyone with that set of tattoos, or a person who wears those clothes.

And like Abraham, I’m often surprised by the people I’ve prejudged and their openness to spiritual truth. Not always, but enough times to make me slow down on the judging, and speed up on the asking questions and listening.

Genesis 20 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Toa Heftiba