Amen! And the more I see it was the grace of God, the more I see it was a gift, and more joy flows, because a gift is free. I always think it's amazing how Peter said the prophets of old, searched intently for this grace in 1 Peter 1, they knew something awesome was coming.
Thankfully, it was not the case that those searching for what we have the fullness of today in the Lord were not able to get previews of what was to come.
Some of what I'm about to share has been shared elsewhere when it came to discussing the issue of how Christ's grace has been seen in exceeding amounts throughout the ages....and with that said, the example of Abraham (as a type of the believer we're to be ) comes to mind..specially seen in the lie he told.
Gen 12:13
“Please say you are my sister, so that it shall be well with me for your sake, and my life be spared because of you."
Gen 20:12
“And yet, she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife."
The same lie used the first time he went to Egypt was also the same lie that he used when he met Abimelech in
Genesis 20:1-3/
Genesis 20 --and in both cases, DESPITE his sin, the Lord was faithful/took care of it. Earlier, when Abraham was told by the Lord that he'd give a son to him, the scriptures not that he beleived and Abraham was counted as righteous. And it was specificaly in regards to
Genesis 15:5-7 /
Genesis 15 when the Lord promised to prosper Abraham early in his walk....and truly make him into a great nation. After what occurred with his lying/causing a mess early on with Egypt, to have the Lord come/favor him is significant. For it is a picture/type of grace in action. For he trusted in the Lord for what he understood of the Lord's call at that point:
Romans 4:3
If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[]
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
His righteousness didn't come from being spotless or perfect, as Abraham made ALOT of mistakes---and only in assuming he was flawless in all respects can one really have any trouble with examining where Abraham did somethign that wasn't the best. He was righteous PRECISELY because of his great trust/faith in the Messiah despite all of his mess ups.
When Abraham lied, he was not really not trusting in God. ..and thankfully, the Lord intervened to save Abimelech from making a mistake Abraham SHOULD have warned him about. . For in reading the story, I was always under the impression that Abimelech was a non-believer. However, as seen in Genesis 20:3-6, God came to Abimelech----intervening to ensure that Abimelech does not touch Sarah. In contrast to what occurred early on in the life of Abraham in Genesis 12:10-20, this episode seems to emphasize in a variety of ways that Sarah did not have sex with the king..otherwise, Abimelech could be the father of the promised/"Covenant" son born to Sarah in Genesis 21:1-3. With Abimelech, despite the fact that Abraham was deemed in Genesis 20:7 as a prophet able to intercede on behalf of others, Abimelech rightly challenged Abraham for decieving him about the status of His wife....
In that culture, unless you were married, it was customary for kings to be able to take another wive. Sarah was saved---but had a godly king desired her for a wife and she was single, God would not have had any problem. Abraham's comment in Genesis 20:11---where he stated "I did it because there is no fear of God in this place..."---betrays both his lack of faith in God and his misjudgement of the people of Geerar. The whole episode reveals that the King and His servants were God-fearing, as seen in Genesis 20:8 and Genesis 20:16-18 when Abimelech was exceedingly gracious/generous. His generosity, on top of his innocence, contrasts sharply with Abraham's self-serving deception regarding the truth about Sarah...for the king's actions were a very public affirmation that he had not acted inappropiately toward Sarah...and thus, he was not the father of any child she had. Abraham was shown in Genesis 20:12-13 to really have been a greater sinner than Abimelech.
Some say that having multiple wives would have made Abimelech the greater sinner than Abraham....but that'd not be consistent with the text when it notes that having multiple wives wasn't always deemed "sin" in that culture--no more different than it was for David in the wives he took for himself when he desired..provided that they were single first (I Samuel 39-44, I Samuel 27:2-3, II Samuel 5:12-16, II Samuel 12:8, etc)---and the same goes for concubines (II Samuel 16:20-24, II Samuel 15:16, I Kings 1:1-4, I Kings 2:17-25, etc). In that culture, kings had that right----just as Abraham had the right to take on other wives/concubines if he so desired....as well as slaves. Interestingly enough, if discussing markets, Genesis 14 describes Abram beginning to go to war to rescue his nephew (Lot) and then brought his trained men/servants born in his house to do battle (Genesis 14:13-16).
Many of these individuals were most likely those whom he had gathered in other lands---seeing that the trading of others was common place-----for Genesis 12:5 makes clear that Abram had many had been taken/gathered in the land of Haran. Genesis 17:12 discusses the male servants whom Abram had bought with money from a foreigner....and Genesis 25:1-6 discuses how Abraham had been in the practice of gathering other women (concubines) for himself like Hagar. Those women were specifically for the purposes of sexual pleasure (I Chronicles 1:32). Reflecting on the culture of the ancient Near East, it was not unknown for men to take "second: wives...but this was usually an action of those who are wealthy. The precise status of the "second wife" could vary, depending on the nature of the relationship. She might be the maidservant of the first wife (Genesis 16:1-3, Genesis 29:24, Genesis 29:29, Genesis 30:3-9, etc). But in that culture, kings were able to get many women for many purposes.
As Abram himself was considered to be a king, the same rules he applied to others could also be said of himself...for one could easily have been in a reverse position if around his territory and thinking that he could take their single women....and if married, the same fear of being endangered may've risen up in them for their wives being taken forcibly as other corrupt kings did. However, as Abram was righteous and would not do that if knowing the person was married, there would be no need for them to fear...just as Abram had no need fearing Abimelech who was righteous. For once the king had knowledge, he could place a woman in protection. That's again what Abimelech did for Abraham, as well as Issac in Genesis 26:11 by letting His people know that anyone touching Abraham's wife was subject to death (Proverbs 6:29). Adultery was NEVER appropiate in those times....
Abraham was afraid when it came to his wife---and excused his lie. The statement was false when saying "she is my sister/ implying that she was not his wife. What Abimelech understood was thus false. Of course, its understood that others could take women and sell them to rulers...though again, righteous rulers would have to turn down those women who were already married to other men and deal sharply with men who treat women in ways akin to what happens today with human trafficking. And on the issue of "pretty", what's interesting to note is that Sarah was EXCEPTIONALLY pretty....and Abraham noted it often. In Genesis 20:12, the comment of "She is my sister" presupposes that the reader is familar with Genesis 12:11-13, which explains the rationale behind Abraham's words. Evidently Sarah looked much younger than her real age. He was fearful for his life because of Sarai's beauty----and in many ways, his selfish actions imply that he thought God was UNABLE to protect Him---despite what God had already promised Abram at the beginning of his journey (Genesis 12:1-4). Thankfully, as what happened on both occassions of his lie/ruse, God came to rescue Him when the plan backfired.
With the passage in Genesis 12:10-20, the first readers (Israel following Moses) would have seen how God kept his promises to Abram, in spite of all the threats, and in spite of the morally dubious actions even of Abram himself.
As it stands, it's interesting that the same problem Abraham had happened with his son in Genesis 26:6-26 where Abimelech was decieved again. Issac was afraid that the men in Gerar would kill him to get his beautiful wife, Rebekah...and so he lied as well in claiming that Rebekah was his sister. Evendently , he knew about the actins of his father Abraham...as parents help shape the world's future by the way they shape their children's values.
Being new to the region of Gerar, Isaac adopted the same ruse that Abraham earlier used in both Egypt and Gera
When Abimelech allowed Issac to stay in his land, he should have gone to the main man/king told the situation so that protection could be given. However, he took matters into his own hand...and when the king caught Issac sexually caressing his wife in Genesis 26:8-13, he was ticked. There was NO reason for one to decieve him as such/endanger others.
The same situation of lying leading to great danger happened with King David in I Samuel 21 when he lied to protect himself from Saul (I Samuel 21:10). Some may excuse this lie because it was war going on and it is the duty of a good soldier to decieve the enemy. But nowhere was David's lie condoned---just as it was with Abraham. In fact, the opposite is true because his lie led to the death of 85 priests (I Samuel 22:9-19), who had no idea what was going on when Saul came after them. David's small lie seemed harmless enough, but it led to tragedy. For his asking of a sword as if he was on a mission for Saul led to others thinking that the priests were supplying David against Saul in insurrection. The Bible makes very clear that lying is wrong (Leviticus 19:11)....and there was no reason for David to devieve Ahimelech the priest by implying that he (David) was on official business for the king. There's, of course, a time/place for deception---but never with those who are righteous men following the Lord should deception be done against.
Yet despite it all, the Lord's power was at work with the grace he did reveal on the Level folks understood at that point...