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Commentary on "The Prophetic Gift"
Day 2: Sunday, January 4, 2009
The text for this lesson in Genesis 20:7: "Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all who are yours” (ESV).
The lesson introduces the use of the word “prophet” in the Pentateuch and states that prophets not only spoke for God but also acted as intermediaries between men and God. It continues by stating that three times Abraham was called God’s friend in the Old Testament and that, in spite of human reason, he believed God and became “the father of all those who believe.”
In the last paragraph of the lesson the author observes that it is incredible that Abraham lied to Abimelech in light of the fact that he was willing to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22. He concludes by observing that “The occasional manifestation of the remaining old nature in the believer, the backsliding of God’s children in all ages, and our own sad departures from the path of righteousness are sufficient to explain the deplorable conduct of the “father of all those who believe.” How human Abraham was—moments of great faith, moments of deep lapses. What follower of Abraham’s God can’t relate?”
The lesson ends with these thought questions: “What encouragement can you take for yourself from the fact that, despite Abraham’s mistakes and lack of faith, God used him anyway, even mightily? How can we learn not to let our lapses turn us away from continuing to press on ahead in faith?”
In the E. G White Notes for this day’s lesson is this passage from The Story of Redemption, p. 75: “The Lord selected Abraham to carry out His will. He was directed to leave his idolatrous nation and separate from his kindred. The Lord had revealed Himself to Abraham in his youth and given him understanding and preserved him from idolatry. He designed to make him an example of faith and true devotion for His people who should afterward live upon the earth. His character was marked for integrity, generosity, and hospitality. He commanded respect as a mighty prince among the people. His reverence and love for God, and his strict obedience in performing His will, gained for him the respect of his servants and neighbors. His godly example and righteous course, united with his faithful instructions to his servants and all his household, led them to fear, love, and reverence the God of Abraham.
“The Lord appeared to Abraham and promised him that his seed should be like the stars of heaven for number. He also made known to him, through the figure of the horror of great darkness which came upon him, the long, servile bondage of his descendants in Egypt.”
Problems:
This lesson misses the real significance of the story of Abraham. While it is true that Abraham was a prophet and mediating for others is one work of a prophet, the real significance of this story is not that Abraham was weak and sinned yet God used Him anyway. This argument, that prophets are “human” and not “perfect”, is a current argument being actively used in some circles to confirm Ellen White as a prophet (see for example the book More Than A Prophet by Graeme Bradford).
This story of Abraham’s lie to Abimelech, however, is not primarily a demonstration of God using a flawed person as His mouthpiece. Such an argument is a moot point at any rate since every human born is flawed.
Rather, this is an account of God’s sovereignty over mankind’s sin. The point is God’s faithfulness and glory, not the fact that God honors and uses sinners. Man is not the central figure of the Bible; God is, and man’s sin is never excused or overlooked. The fact that Abraham prayed for Abimelech demonstrates that Abraham repented and acknowledged his sin and obeyed God when he was confronted with his lie.
Moreover, this story in Genesis 20 demonstrates that God is sovereign even over fertility. Not only did God keep Abimelech from sleeping with Sarah, He also “closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife” (v. 17, ESV). Moreover, this incident occurs in the chapter immediately preceding the account of God causing Sarah to become pregnant, as He promised, with Isaac, the son of promise. The juxtaposition of the Abimelech account with the account of Sarah’s miraculous conception underscores God’s intervention.
First, the story removes any doubt that Sarah’s baby might have been conceived while in Abimelech’s court. Second, the story shows that God keeps His promises and accomplishes His purposes. He never intended for Sarah to be defiled by seed from one other than Abraham. Her baby would be the miraculous baby of promise, and God kept her pure. Third, God revealed Abraham’s self-deception by exposing Abimelech’s fear of God after Abraham’s excuse that he thought there would be no fear of God in Abimelech’s court. Fourth, God confirmed His intentions and sovereign power by first stopping the wombs of the women in Abimelech’s house and then healing them. In the very next verse in chapter 21, God visits Sarah and “did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son…” (ESV).
Moreover, the quotation from the Story of Redemption makes assumptions not taught in the Bible. The idea that God preserved Abraham from idolatry is an invention, not a biblical fact. Joshua 24:2 says this: “And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods” (ESV).
While it is clear that God took Abraham away from his family’s polytheistic roots, the fact that this verse states that Terah worshiped other gods strongly suggests he taught his sons to worship other gods as well.
God’s call of Abraham was a call out of idolatry. The Bible does not teach that God preserved Abraham from other gods but that God called him from other gods, and Abraham obeyed.
Furthermore, E. G. White says Abraham’s character “was marked for integrity generosity, and hospitality.” She continues by saying he commanded the respect of his contemporaries because of his love for God and his strict obedience to God’s will.
The Bible does not say these things. Rather, the lesson itself leads by pointing out that Abraham lied deliberately instead of trusting God and carrying out His will. Furthermore, Abraham’s character was not “marked” for goodness. He was a depraved human just like everyone else. His recommendation was not that he bore a character suited to the role God called him to fill. Instead, the only reason Abraham became a great man of God was that he believed God (see Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:11). Abraham was the first person in the Bible of whom it was said, he believed God. Romans clearly explains that having true faith in God is the mark of those who are considered righteous before God.
Abraham’s significance is not that he was a sinner whom God used anyway. His significance is that God sovereignly called him out of idolatry and promised to make him a great nation, and Abraham believed God. Because he believed God, he became the father of the all the faithful, both Jew and Gentile (see Romans 4:11). Because God chose him and promised to give him seed, land, and a blessing, the nation of Israel came into being and Jesus became the promised Seed (see Galatians 3:16).
The final thought questions for this day do not take the reality of the new birth into consideration. Abraham’s life is not primarily an example of why we don’t need to be discouraged by our own failures and sin. Instead, Abraham’s sin and God’s response to it show that God does not allow anyone, even those He has called and blessed, to sin successfully. God reveals our sin and brings His own people to repentance. We are never instructed to take courage from the fact that God’s uses those with a lack of faith. We are instructed to live by faith and to trust the sovereign God who is faithful to reveal our sin and bring us to repentance.
The underlying point of this Sabbath School lesson, that God’s prophets were flawed and never expected to be “perfect”, thus validating E. G. White as a prophet inspired the same way the biblical prophets were inspired, is a straw-man argument. God chose Abraham to fulfill a unique role in all of history. His story is not an example of “everyman’s” qualification to be used by God. Rather, his story is a revelation of God’s faithfulness to His own promises. Abraham is not primarily our example. He is our “father” if we have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus. Abraham’s life glorified God because he believed God, and God accomplished His miraculous purposes through him.
Summary
- The story of Abraham lying to Abimelech is not a “normalization” of a prophet’s sinful nature. Such a point is unnecessary because all men are depraved (Ephesians 2:3). Rather, the point of the story is that God is sovereign over even fertility, and it emphasizes that He kept His promise to give Abraham a miraculous heir through Sarah, and God protected Sarah from being defiled by strange seed.
- Contrary to E. G. White’s statement, the Bible does not say Abraham was protected from idolatry early in his life. Rather, Joshua 24:2 states that Abraham’s father worshiped other gods, and the implication is that he taught his own sons to worship them also. God called Abraham out of idol worship, and Abraham obeyed and believed God.
- Abraham did not have a character marked for greatness as E. G. White states. Instead, he was born by nature an object of wrath, just as is every human on earth (Ephesians 2:3), and he was counted righteous because he believed God (Genesis 15:6).
- Abraham’s story reveals God’s sovereignty over men’s lives and over His own plans. It is not a “normalization” of sinful prophets; rather, it reveals God’s faithfulness to keep His promises and to count as righteous all who believe Him. The story of Abraham is not about taking courage from the fact that God will use people even if they sin. It is about the fact that God counts sinners as righteous if they believe Him, and He accomplishes His purposes even if people sin. Further, the story of Abraham underscores that God metes out consequences when people sin—even if their sin is inadvertent as in the case of Abimelech. God does not allow anyone to sin successfully forever—and He does not allow those who have faith in Him to sin without confronting and convicting them and bringing them to repentance. God never ignores or overlooks our sin.
Copyright 2008 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 5, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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