There’s so much good material on this second section of this chapter that I don’t know where to begin! I can start with this, though: Abraham was fearful that God was feared by no one (that is, reverenced in a holy manner, NOT BY BEING AFRAID OF HIM, contrary to what is probably still a popular opinion; see verse 11). Weird, huh? But let’s be honest, when haven’t we been afraid about something, or even the idea that people wouldn’t worship Jesus under any circumstance? Abraham’s statement has reverberated throughout time because we know that there are toxic people among us. This passage is found in pages 10-11 of my NKJV Bible, pages 13-14 of my NASB Bible, and pages 23-24 of both my VOICE and Amplified Bible (Classic Edition) copies. (I can probably write a thesis paper on this if I were in seminary or something…)
Like I’ve said before, this chapter is pretty underrated, so I’ll take my time to comment through this (it’ll be a long post) — Abraham thought Abimelech would kill him because of Sarah his wife and how attractive she was — they had done this with the Egyptian pharaoh earlier in their lives (see chapter 12). I often think the same thing, actually… ever since the series of events from 2014-2017 (I don’t want to list them here, you can ask me yourself), I’ve often thought that Jesus was seen as a threat to many people… and that even with freedom of religion, He’s still openly persecuted by billions in each country. I do pray that India would have a ton of people become Christian, though. I follow a news page about that country on Facebook. But anyway… I thought a bunch of crazy things following each bike ride I took a week ago, believing that if I mentioned Jesus for any reason, I would be put to death and His testimony would perish among the people of the U.S. and likely the world. For the U.S. still practices the death penalty, and the government loves to indict countless people for no apparent reason — the whistleblowers get ridiculous and thus unjust punishment for exposing a fraudulent deal. I even hesitate to put this online, but I’ll have it published as soon as I’m finished with this post. For who in Christ would want to do damage to anyone? Indeed, the unhypocritical people of God are the kindest in the world! I don’t deserve this nonsense! But thank God redemption can still happen… although I’m most concerned about if someone gets killed by another murderous lunatic because that person knows their victim loves God like Rachel Scott did in 1999. If that happened, even if it weren’t me, I’d go up in arms! But I’ll allow people to discover this post… I don’t want to share too much lest I give room for Christ’s enemies to blaspheme Him… it’s hard to keep a low profile sometimes.
At least Abraham got an amazing deal here, for Issac was born soon after his encounter with Abimelech transpired (Genesis 21:2). Hopefully I find that God will grant me another job and perhaps a better lease on life than what I’ve got now, working partly in the heat for barely anything. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just disturbing that I’ve never been full-time before, and I still haven’t been moved to the produce or deil department in my Fry’s store yet though I submitted the application nearly three months ago. I know my manager can be forgetful, but he remembered this time (he told me that last week) and I frankly shouldn’t be left waiting so long my student loan bills come up before I can pay them… that I have to pay more than what I’m actually making each month. It’s a unionized company, the Fry’s division, so there’s like, no excuse at this point. I hope my friends and other people read this, for I need more prayer than ever. But at least my niece is excited to see me in about 16 hours (it’s 1 a.m. right now), so I thank God for that 🥰🥰🥰😘💝💝💝💝💝💖💖💖💘💗💓 it’s not like I’d reveal everything to any one person in particular anyway; I think I might confuse at least a few people.
The note at the end of this chapter that the VOICE editor writes, about Abraham pulling off a deception, is not how I’d interpret that, by the way. Indeed, since lying lips conceal hatred (Proverbs 10:18), and those who hate are murderers and thus not Christian (1 John 3:15), I couldn’t — nor would I — assume that Abraham is a heretic or something. If that happened, God would be contradicting Himself. The note that the editor wrote is a direct assault on Abraham’s character and even against God Himself. I’m hoping I don’t find more notes like this… they’ve proven helpful to me in the past.
Any prayer requests you want to mention to me? Drop them in my e-mail: ron.outlan4727@gmail.com! I’ll read each one, write them down, then tape them to my bedroom walls! I could probably get a fancy paper arrangement for these if I wanted, but I can’t find any that aren’t a seasonal thing except for some post-it notes or something. But tape is more durable, so I’ll be using that. Thanks for reading, see you guys next time.
Ron And His Stories 