Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #13 of Genesis, chapter 20. I am going to read Genesis 20:12-13:

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. 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.

We were discussing these verses in our last study. I just want to make a point before we move on, to emphasize something a little more, and that is that the revealing of the marriage relationship between Abraham and Sarah was key to the release of Sarah from the house of Abimelech. When Abimelech found out she was a man’s wife, he did release her at God’s prompting (but he really had no option). God had come to him in a dream and told him the situation and told him he would be “but a dead man,” if he did not release her. And he did release her.

Spiritually, this would tie in to the Gospel going forth during the day of salvation, especially during the “little season” of the second part of the Great Tribulation when God saved the great multitude from the nations of the world. When these people became saved, it became known. It became evident that they had become the bride of Christ by being translated out of the kingdom of Satan and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. I am sure Satan was aware when there was a departure of any of those that were under his reign in his kingdom of darkness as they entered the kingdom of God’s dear Son. I am sure Satan would have been aware if a person in Bangladesh or an individual in Vietnam or a person in China had become saved. That would be the evidence. They have left the darkness and entered into the Light because they were part of the body of Christ, His eternal bride.

Let us go on to Genesis 20:14-16:

And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, 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.

First, we read that Abimelech took sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants and gave them to Abraham, along with restoring Sarah. So, we see the number “four” in view with the sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants that were given to Abraham. Again, remember that Abimelech is a type of Satan and Sarah is a picture of the elect that were in bondage in the kingdom of Satan until their deliverance through salvation. But what would the sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants represent? Why would Satan give those things to Christ (as typified by Abraham)? It is because they are also figures of God’s elect. We can see this most clearly with the “sheep,” as the Bible says in Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and JEHOVAH hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Sheep are a very common type or figure the Lord uses for His people.

Abimelech also gave Abraham oxen. Do oxen represent the people of God? Let us look at Luke 13:13-16:

And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Here, there was a woman that Christ physically healed, but it was a picture of the healing of the soul in salvation. Jesus reminded these leaders of Israel that they were hypocrites because on the sabbath day they would loose their ox or their ass. Well, this is not too clear in what an ox might represent, so let us go to Luke 14:3-6:

And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things.

In the previous chapter, Christ healed someone on the Sabbath and then spoke of oxen and asses that would be led from the stall (on the Sabbath) and given water. That image of giving them water ties in with the Gospel, because the Gospel is likened to giving a drink of water. In Luke 14, there is an ass or an ox that has fallen into the pit, and in the Bible the pit ties in to being under the wrath of God or being in the condition of “hell.” The pit can represent hell, the grave. So, he is saying if an ox or an ass fall into the pit, would you not pull him out on the Sabbath? You see, the ox or the ass in a pit pictures man that is under the wrath of God. So, he is saying, when it is a literal ox or ass, you would pull him out of the pit, but if a man was under the wrath of God, you would not pull him out of the pit. That is why Christ said they were hypocrites.

In the Bible, a donkey or an ass does represent man. We will not turn there, but in the book of Exodus the Lord speaks of redeeming an ass or a donkey. They were to be redeemed in certain instances and the language of redemption would tie in with salvation.

Let us also turn to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. It says in Deuteronomy 25:4:

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

In Deuteronomy 25 there are various statements made regarding the Law of God, as the Lord moves from point to point. Physically, one could put a muzzle over the face of the ox, so when he was working and got hungry he could not stop and eat something. One was not to do that.

Of course, if you follow most theologians’ method of Bible interpretation used by the corporate churches of our day, you are to look for the plain, literal meaning of a Scripture and look for no other. You are not to look for a spiritual meaning. Anyone following that rule during Old Testament history would not have muzzled their ox. Period. But, of course, that is not all that this means. In 1Corinthians, chapter 9 the Lord will give another illustration of how the Bible must be understood or interpreted. He is going to teach us that the whole Bible is a parable, even (seemingly) obscure, little verses that are tucked away in the book of Deuteronomy have a parabolic meaning. So, yes, there is a parabolic or hidden meaning and we are to look for the spiritual meaning in every verse and every book of the Bible. This is the reason the Bible says of Jesus, “and without a parable spake he not unto them.” And Christ was the Word made flesh. So, without a parable the entire Bible does not speak. It says in 1Corinthians 9:7-9:

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

The Word of God, the Bible, is asking a question that is extremely important. God speaks of many animals in the Bible. And He also speaks of not mixing certain fabrics together. We could ask, “Does God takes care for fabrics?” Over, and over again, there are (seemingly) incidental verses that speak of things that we would tend to “gloss over” and not pay attention to them, except we know that this is the Bible and it must have great importance and significance and, therefore, we look at every word.

Again, it says, “Doth God take care for oxen?” This means, “Is that the purpose for which God gave that verse?” Of course, we know that God has a natural care for all creation and all the animals. He is the one who tends to them and feeds them when they are hungry. He is the one who is concerned when they are crying for food. If you read the last few chapters of Job, you can read of God’s wonderful care of the entire creation. On that level, God does have care for oxen, but why did He command us not to muzzle the ox? It has nothing to do with oxen. It has nothing to do with the physical animal, but it is a spiritual principal that He wants to teach. Ultimately, that is the greatest concern of God in the Bible. It concerns all Scriptures and it should be what every Bible student seeks for when He comes to the Word of God: “Why did God say this? What is the deeper spiritual meaning.”

Of course, the churches would “cut you off” right there. That is a red flag to them. If you are looking for “gold” or “silver” buried in the Word, then they would say, “Heaven forbid! You have the wrong hermeneutic. Here is how you must read the Bible, by just using a plain, literal interpretation.” Of course, the design of their hermeneutic (although, perhaps, not the intent) leads man a million miles away from truth and away from the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is the way, the truth and the life. He is Truth: “Thy way is truth.” And Christ is the Word of God. So, it is of the greatest significance that we find that truth or we have not found Christ. Above all else, the child of God wants to find Christ.

So, again, doth God care for oxen? No – He cares for the Gospel truths and He cares that His people will be (spiritually) blessed by it. It goes on to say in 1Corinthians 9:10:

Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

We can see how this relates to someone that is involved with the Word of God, the Bible. Therefore, the ox that is not to be muzzled is a picture of an individual that is digging in to the Bible to serve others in the ministry of the Gospel, and so forth. In other words, the ox represents people.

So, too, Christ was saying that when an ox falls into the pit, they would lift out the animal, but they would not lift out what the animal was pointing to and, therefore Christ said, “Thou hypocrite!” We can see that sheep and oxen relate to people, and this was part of the gifts that Abimelech gave to Abraham, along with menservants and womenservants that were given to Abraham to be his servants. Of course, this is what happens when someone that was in Satan’s dark dominion was saved and translated into God’s kingdom. We had been servants to sin and Satan and then we were delivered. Then what happened? We became servants to the Lord Jesus Christ, so we became menservants and womenservants to Christ, just as these people became servants to Abraham. Therefore, we can see that sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants are all pictures of those God has saved. If we include Sarah, the number “five” is in view, which relates to the atonement, and all have been delivered because of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on their behalf from the foundation of the world.

Abimelech restored to Abraham his wife Sarah. We have already discussed the word “restored” because it is the second time it has appeared in this chapter. Remember, it was the same word used in Psalm 23:3, where it says, “He restoreth my soul.” Sarah was being restored to Abraham and their marriage relationship has been restored. It is the same picture when God saved one of His elect during the day of salvation. He would restore the dead soul by bringing it to life.

Then it goes on to say in Genesis 20:15:

And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

Spiritually, what does it mean that Abimelech told Abraham to dwell wherever he pleased in his land? We have already discussed how this typifies the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the second half of the Great Tribulation period when God stretched forth His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people. (This is the second time Sarah was restored.) There is another historical parable that also identifies with the Great Tribulation when Israel (the sons of Jacob) came out of the land of Canaan after two years of the seven-year famine had already passed. That famine is called “great tribulation” in Acts, chapter 7. Then Joseph brought his father and some of his brethren before Pharaoh.

It says in Genesis 47:5-6:

And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

Here, Egypt is picturing the world and Pharaoh, a type of Satan, said that Israel should go out into the best of his land to dwell. You can see how similar this is, because there is a king ruling over a land that typifies the world, just as the land of the Philistines typifies the world in Genesis, chapter 20 where Abimelech told Abraham to dwell where he was pleased to dwell in the land. The implication would be to dwell in the best of the land. Why is there this emphasis in the time of the Great Tribulation? When God ended His relationship with the corporate church and began to share His Gospel outside of the churches in the world, God had free reign. The Word of God, the Bible, had free reign and those that published the Gospel were free to go throughout the world. We did not face the obstacles and restrictions that came against the churches and congregations because God’s Spirit was opening a “great and effectual door,” which allowed the broadcast to be made worldwide.

Just look at the incredible way the message of May 21, 2011 was magnified and spread across the face of the earth. It was like when Pharaoh said that Israel was to dwell in the best of the land in Egypt, the land of Goshen. Likewise, it is like Abimelech was saying, “The earth is before three. Go where it pleases thee.” That would relate to the tremendous freedom to send forth of the Gospel during the Great Tribulation.

We are going to stop here. Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study we will look at Genesis 20:16:

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…

This is a strange statement. Lord willing, we will try to understand this, spiritually, in our next Bible study.