Genesis 20:14

"Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him" (Genesis 20:14).

Comment:

You earlier requested that I focus on the preceding verse, 20:13. It is not always helpful to go through the Bible—especially Genesis—with a magnifying glass, one verse at a time. Genesis is all about stories. Those stories contain great spiritual Truth and spiritual guidance, but you don't reach that depth of Truth by focusing on the story word by word. The overall story of Abraham and Abimelech is a story of truth vs. deception, and it doesn't show Abraham at his best. As he did once before (see Genesis 12:10-20), Abraham, nervous about the situation in which he finds himself, tells Sarah to introduce him as her brother, so people won't know she is his wife. (Actually, she's also his half-sister (v. 12), so it's only half a lie; it was allowable at that time to marry your half-sibling; the law changed with Moses.)

Anyway, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, the country to which Abraham's wanderings have led them, is apparently quite smitten with Sarah (who is, by the way, quite elderly at this time) and, since he doesn't know she's married, takes her into his home. But his inner guidance, the Lord of his being, tells Abimelech that something's not right here. He is guided that to touch her would be a bad idea. He reprimands Abraham for his fearful deception, returns his wife unmolested, and adds rather lavish gifts besides, to erase the negative energy of his lustful thoughts.

I think it's possible that the true spiritual message here comes, not from Abraham, but from Abimelech. It's important always to put your faith in your inner spiritual Self. Others around you, no matter how tempting, may be acting from fear; and if you allow their fear to affect your choices, the consequences may be dire. A time of reflection will allow you to see the situation clearly before you act on it, and to remove yourself from the fear, grateful perhaps for the lesson it offered, and for what you've learned. Hence the gifts. As for Abraham, he learns the valuable lesson that his ego mind is not a reliable guide to choices and actions. And it's after learning this lesson that Abraham receives the answer to his prayers—a son, 'miraculously' born to Sarah long after she could expect to still be fertile.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed