8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” 10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

11 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.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 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.”‘”

14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”

16 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.”

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Genesis 20:8-18

This is the conclusion to one of those stories you probably didn’t hear about in Sunday School. In a bizarre twist, Abimelek apologizes to Abraham and Sarah and offers compensation. It should have been the other way around. Abraham told a half truth in that Sarah was his sister. Yes, but she was also his wife.

I think that Abimelek paid the tribute just to get rid of these two. They certainly did not point the king and his people towards God. It could be said that after the confrontation with God, Abimelek gave in pretty quickly. Even though what the king did wasn’t his fault, the Lord had punished him and his people for it.

The Lord stuck to his promise of blessing and preserving Abraham despite Abraham’s selfish and dangerous actions. In other words, God blessed the man in spite of himself.

God is faithful even when we are unfaithful. It doesn’t mean we go out of our way to be unfaithful, but it does mean He is always faithful.

Hallelujah!