Atoning With Your Neighbor
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Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Abraham lied about his wife (AGAIN!), and Abimelek accidentally STOLE her. (Genesis 20:1-2, 11-13)
Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
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.”
for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
God CURSED Abimelek and his family for endangering the Covenant BLESSINGS. (Genesis 20:3, 18)
Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 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.”
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. 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.”
God told Abimelek he would have to make things right with ABRAHAM before he could be FORGIVEN.
Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Once ABRAHAM prayed for Abimelek, God forgave him and LIFTED the curse. (Genesis 20:14-18)
Why did God make Abimelek go to Abraham?
Why did God make Abimelek go to Abraham?
Sin—even UNINTENTIONAL sin—DISRUPTS the blessings of God.
This is why sin requires “AT-ONE-MENT”—public reconciliation by addressing the DISRUPTION caused by sin between people (and God)
Forgiveness without ATONEMENT leaves the disruption UNRESOLVED.
Many black men, the victims—in fact, most black men—would like to be able to forgive, to forget, the crimes. But most American while people seem not to have it in them to make any serious atonement.... Indeed, how can white society atone for enslaving, raping, for unmanning, for otherwise brutalizing millions of human beings, for centuries? What atonement would the God of Justice demand for the robbery of the black people’s labor, their lives, their true identities, their culture, their history—and even their human dignity? A desegregated cup of coffee, a theater, public toilets—the whole range of hypocritical “integration”—these are not atonement.
~Malcolm X
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.
At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”
Abraham said, “I swear it.”
Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized. But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”
So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.
Atoning a relationship lays a foundation for future PEACE—and BLESSING. (Genesis 21:1, 22-31)
Loving Your Neighbor
Loving Your Neighbor
Sin causes disruption in our relationships with our NEIGHBORS.
Jesus died on the cross to ATONE us—to heal the disruption we have caused so we can all be FORGIVEN (and FORGIVE). (Romans 3:25-26, Ephesians 2:14-16)
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
Following Jesus means FACING our sins and mistakes and seeking AT-ONE-MENT with our neighbors. (Matthew 5:23-24)
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.