Genesis 20: When God Speaks

³ But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

⁴ Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.” -Genesis 20:3-7

We tend to think God only speaks to those who already follow him. But at least on some occasions, God communicates even to those far from him. King Abimelek had taken Abraham’s wife with plans to make her his own. Why? She had said she was Abraham’s sister in order to protect Abraham. In a dream, God showed Abimelek the truth along with what to do to avoid God’s judgment.

In the end, Abimelek heeded the message and Abraham’s family continued to be blessed. Much more could be said, but one major observation is that God can speak to whoever he wants whenever he wants. Let’s be ready to listen when he does in our lives today.

+++

Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.