The document is a comprehensive analysis of Genesis Chapter 20 from the Bible, focusing on divine intervention, its spiritual and metaphysical interpretations. It explores the narrative involving Abraham, Sarah, and King Abimelech, highlighting themes like faith, divine intervention, and moral complexities. The material delves into the deeper meanings and spiritual lessons derived from these biblical events.
Genesis 20:1
And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
S Now ye have that which is the wandering and the search of each individual as they seek that which is spiritual enlightenment or the experiences that will bring forth in themselves the facing of the need and the overcoming of self: the need of the spiritual path and the overcoming of selfishness, waywardness, and replace, then, that where you have dwelled, the greater with the lesser, and give the greater space to the spiritual. Which means putting self second to that which is the spirit or God or self and God and becoming then one with the way and the experience.
Genesis 20:2-3
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister:” and Abimelech, king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.”
S You have Abraham here presenting to you, to himself, and actually at that time doing the same to others, a testing of the spirit or the work of God at that time. To bring forth, then, the power of God there must be that which is put forth which will bring a testing of the lower against the upper forces within the individuals, within groups, and this, then, is the presenting of his wife, you see, which represented a spiritually important or jewellike overcoming or reward to the king, who here represents someone on a spiritual search being led to the point where they must make a decision as to what and how they will conduct themselves in their confrontation between themselves and a spiritual lesson.
Genesis 20:4-5
But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, “Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands have I done this.’”
S An example here is that of a person who has realized that in the spiritual seeking they have made the mistake, cleansing self before God by admitting the mistake and relying in faith upon God’s precious love for redemption, for that which is guidance, that which is the overcoming of the false start or the false seeking that sometimes even the most ardent of you will fall prey to.
Genesis 20:6-8
And God said unto him in a dream, “Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.” Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
S Abimelech here is self or represents self. As to the awakening, then, as each individual receives the instructions via that which is God’s way (in this case, the dream which represents here, you must understand, of the many ways that God informs or instructs individuals) that unless one now seeks in the correct course as given to that individual or that individual has found, then self will be destroyed or that which you have done in your search. For jeopardy is found only in that where the individual, through individual choice, seeks to gratify self rather than to fulfill a spiritual mission.
Q How is the representation of Sarah as Abraham’s sister this time different from the time when she was represented as his sister in Egypt?
S This is a temptation for someone who is on the spiritual path, who is seeking and must come to a confrontation or that which is the soul-wrenching point where self is not blithely floating along in the spiritual way, but suddenly comes to where, or the point where self, or the individual, must make a choice; realizes, then, what the spiritual search means, what the spiritual awakening
is and – voila! – must then live the spiritual life.
Q The Anchor Bible states that this is a parallel account from a different source or tradition than the account in chapter 12, and claims that the account in chapter 12 is by the ‘J’ or Jahweh source, whereas this account in chapter 20 is from the ‘E’ or Elohist source, and that the ‘J’ or Jahweh source has two separate accounts, the one in chapter 12 of Abraham and Sarah in Egypt, the one in chapter 26 of Isaac and Rebecca with Abimelech, king of Gerar, and that the Elohist source or tradition has telescoped these two accounts into one in this chapter. Is that correct?
S This is more or less correct. It was really done though, you see, to bring forth more or deeper understanding of the type of lessons or confrontations individuals must come to face in the awakening within themselves of the light and the way. To the greater amount, that which you have stated is correct.
Q Just as they think the previous chapter was from the ‘J’ source and there was, however, one verse (verse 29, I believe it was) that was supposed to be from the priestly source that was a summary of what had gone before that was inserted. Are they correct in that?
S This is correct – priestly being that which is the man-side or that which you would find as the man-side.
Genesis 20:9-12
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, “What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.” And Abimelech said unto Abraham, “What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?” And Abraham said, “Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
S Putting forth to the seeker the answer to the question that always seems to come forth from any individual who seeks. “Why me, Father?” How often have you heard this? Here the explanation is a human explanation based in two things: fear of reprisal to self or consequences to self and that which is also to bring forth, then, a religious situation or that which is an overcoming or help to others in a religious sense. But the truth is simple. You had to have a mental shock to establish a spiritual, or true spiritual situation. For this is an ever-occurring situation among humankind whereas the individual would not be seeking, not really be bothering, unless there were those things that shocked the mental self into the search: fear, death, war, famine, what have you, is that which induces the individual to the fields of spiritual or the throes of spiritual awakening.
Q Then that shock is really a blessing?
S It is. So often you have heard when an individual receives this shock, not from that individual but from others, the pity, the sadness, that these things have happened when, in truth, they should be rejoicing. But in the limited understanding of humankind, it is seen only as that which is a saddening thing.
Genesis 20:13-16
And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, “This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.” And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, “Behold my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.” And unto Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other:” thus she was reproved.
S This is the reward, then. It comes to those who in the situation as given here or that which is the experience that opens the eyes, the reward of the spiritual understanding, the spiritual peace, the spiritual needs to be fed, rather than that which you would see as the external or material references here as silver, land, what have you. This is all internalized reward.
Genesis 20:17-18
So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
S This is really that which is the opening of the spiritual wombs where then the processes and movements of spiritual things became fruitful and the individuals as here, even as a group, became that which was on the path, in the seeking and found the way.
And now we give that which is the love, the blessings, the peace. We give that which is the light, that which is the way. div