I want to confess something: I like Abimelech. He's one of my favorite people in the Bible. There's something very real and appealingly down-to-earth about him. He's just a king who fell for a 90-year-old hottie -- as I think we all have at one time or another -- and got caught in events bigger than himself.
A theme running through the story of Abraham is the way he gradually grows closer to God, from his first act of obedience to his crowning moment of faithfulness in chapter 22. This chapter, though, is a curious bit of backsliding. I have to wonder how many other times Abraham and Sarah pulled this same deception.
Abimelech, though, comes across as innocent, due in large part to God's protection. God's conversation with the king is an odd one, starting with a death sentence and ending with the statement that God had prevented Abimelech from doing the very thing the death sentence was awarded for.
When confronted with his lie, Abraham retreats to the weasel's refuge: technical honesty. Technically, he didn't really lie, because Sarah was his half-sister. My rule when it comes to technicalities is that if you're using the word "technically" to establish your honesty, then you're lying, in intent is not in point of fact.
It's strange to me that this late in the game Abraham is still coming across like a weasel, while Abimelech is, at worst, a guy who likes the grannies a little too much. Abraham justifies his lie by saying that he "was afraid there was no fear of God in all this place", yet it's Abimelech to whom God speaks, and who obeys everything God tells him.
What a crazy world.
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