An Honest Mistake

Imagine you're the king of a region in the Middle East. You are married, but you've also got a bit of a harem going. You've heard rumors about a woman in a group of nomads who settled within your territory. Rumor has it she is beautiful, and better yet, beautiful and unmarried. Seems the leader of the nomads is her brother.

In addition to being somewhat of a connoisseur and collector of beautiful women, as a ruler you know the value of creating alliances. Taking this woman into your harem? Win-win.

Something starts feeling a little off, though. While the women of the harem are putting the new recruit through orientation on local culture and household expectations, which can take a while, there are no new pregnancies. This is against pattern in an unsettling sort of way, but you don't connect it to the woman's arrival.

That is, until you dream that God Himself is issuing you a warning. "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is married."

This is a shock on two major levels. 1) You were repeatedly told she was not married. Even the leader of the nomads, her brother, reported that she was unmarried, and shouldn't he know? 2) You haven't even touched this woman. Which is also against pattern, now that you think about it, but for some reason it's been enough just to look at her as she walks around your house...somewhat mournfully....

Suddenly the final goodbye between that leader and his "sister" rises into your mind and you have never felt so duped.

"Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."

In the dream God replies, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her."

And everything starts to work itself out from there.

Why is this story in the Bible? (Genesis 20, check it out.)

Yes, it shows Abraham's lack of faith in God's protection, and God's persistence in protecting Abraham and Sarah anyway. Yes, it shows that the child to come, Isaac, was definitely the son of Abraham and not some foreign ruler.

But it's also about the king, Abimelech. And it's mostly about God.

A God who lets us make mistakes, even grievous mistakes, but keeps us from sinning in them. A God who responds to honest cries of "I didn't know this would happen" and "I thought I was doing the right thing" with "Yes, I know; and I was protecting you the whole time."

Which makes it a story about us, too. Thankfully.