“God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. “But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. “And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine “Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid” (Gen 20:3-8). | God will protect His anointed. He is their defender and their shield. He is constantly watching out for His own, making sure no one touches them. In the case above, Abimelech the king of Gerar had not even touched Sarah, Abraham’s wife. She was brought to Abimelech’s palace because Abraham lied, saying, “She’s my sister,” and had also told Sarah to do the same. And when Abimelech asked Sarah, she also said, “He’s my brother.” | But even all this apparent innocence on Abimelech’s side, his encounter with God was still a scary one. “You are but a dead man!” was the introductory greeting he received from God when He first spoke to him in the dream. God will watch out for his covenant people. “He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. “Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it | .“When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (Psa 105:8-15). |
The same episode above was repeated almost word for word with Isaac and Rebecca his wife, also in this same | country. God defended and protected the son of His covenant friend. Notice that Abraham did not struggle or panic about any of these things. He just relaxed and God was there, at work, keeping His own end of the covenant. God was there for Abraham, defending him. | | | The covenant implication is that all that Abraham was, which was not much, belonged to God, and all that belonged to God belonged to Abraham. Abraham’s covenant with God meant that Abraham would always be on God’s side no matter what happened, and also that God would defend Abraham no matter what happened. Jehovah God entered into a blood covenant with Abram. This is one of the oldest and strongest forms of solemn agreement, and was usually made between two parties or tribes in ancient times. If a strong tribe lived close to a weaker tribe, and there was danger of the weaker one being destroyed, the weaker tribe would seek to enter into a covenant with the stronger tribe so that they might be preserved. Two businessmen forming a partnership might also enter into a covenant to ensure that neither | would take advantage of the other. And if two men loved each other as devotedly as David and Jonathan, they could enter into a covenant for love’s sake. | | |
In those days, when two men wished to cut a covenant, they would come together with friends, witnesses, and a priest. First they would exchange gifts, indicating that all one had the other owned and vice versa. After this, they would pour a cup of wine, and the priest would cut the arms of both men and let their blood drip into the wine. | | | | | |
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