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Genesis 20

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1 And Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold thou wilt·​·die on·​·account·​·of the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is married to a husband.

4 And Abimelech had not come·​·near to her; and he said, Lord, wilt Thou kill also a just nation?

5 Said he not to me, She is my sister? And she herself also Said, He is my brother; in the integrity of my heart and in the innocence of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said to him in the dream, I also know that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this; and I also kept· thee ·back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not allow thee to touch her.

7 And now return the wife of the man, for he is a prophet; and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; and if thou return her not, know thou that dying thou shalt die, thou and all that are thine.

8 And Abimelech got·​·up·​·early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men feared exceedingly.

9 And Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, What hast thou done to us? And wherein have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done with·​·me deeds that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What sawest thou that thou hast done this word?

11 And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on·​·account·​·of the matter of my wife.

12 And also, truly, she is my sister, being the daughter of my father, only not the daughter of my mother, and she became for me a wife.

13 And it was, as God caused me to depart* from the house of my father, that I said to her, This is thy mercy which thou shalt do with·​·me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took flock and herd, and menservants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham; and returned to him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee; dwell in that which is good in thine eyes.

16 And to Sarah he said, Behold I have given a thousand of silver to thy brother; behold it is to thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all; and she was vindicated.

17 And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they gave·​·birth.

18 For restraining Jehovah had therefore restrained every womb of the house of Abimelech, on·​·account·​·of the word of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Earth

  
by Brita Conroy

Earth" is a general word that can be thought of as a container for other more specific words, as ground, field, or garden. Each of these means a person in an ascending series as that person learns truths from the Bible, thinks about them, and tries to apply them to life. The series represents the way of becoming good and wise. "Earth" and "ground" are terms that can go either way, as in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:4-8) there was both good ground and bad ground, but "field" and "garden" mean minds that are regenerating towards good. "Earth" in the Bible can mean a person or a group of like-minded people as in a church. But it refers specifically to the external of the person's mind, or of the general thought of the group. If heaven and earth are mentioned together, then both the internals and externals of the mind are meant – something to note when reading the creation story.

In Revelation the word "earth" is used both as a ground level as we use it in its natural sense and also as the sense of a group. The action in this book takes place in the great middle zone of the spiritual world, where people first go and where they are sorted out. There are both evil people and good there, and sometimes at the end of a church the evil can have great influence before a great judgment comes. This level of the spiritual realm is called the "earth" to which the dragon was cast down (Revelation 12:9) and to which the stars fell (Revelation 12:4). The "earth" that swallowed the dragon’s flood means those still-sincere people within the church who discounted the flood of the dragon's falsities (Revelation 12:15).