Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #14 of Genesis, chapter 20. I am going to read 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, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

We will concentrate on this verse for now. We have been going, verse by verse, and we have seen that all the verses fit nicely with the spiritual understanding that Abimelech is a type of Satan, and Sarah is a picture of the elect. The revealing of Abraham as the bridegroom of Sarah, his bride, is a picture of the salvation of the great multitude during the second part of the Great Tribulation. It was the second time the Lord stretched forth His hand to save the remnant of His people. Sarah was restored, and Abraham was given sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants by the king of Gerar. It is all a picture of God’s glorious salvation. Abimelech told Abraham the land was before Abraham and he could dwell where it pleased him. We saw how that related to the open door of the Gospel during that second part of the Great Tribulation when the Bible message was going forth to the nations of the world outside of the churches and congregations.

Again, Abimelech was speaking to Sarah, as it says in Genesis 20:16:

And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver…

It is interesting and unusual that he referred to Abraham as her brother. This is probably part of the rebuke, as it said at the end of the verse: “thus she was reproved.” Abimelech was pointing out to Sarah that this was what she had told him. Remember what Abimelech had said to the Lord in 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 innocency of my hands have I done this.

First, Abraham told him that and then Sarah told him that, too. So, Abimelech is making a point in verse 16. He knows full well at this time that Sarah is the wife of Abraham and, yet, he said, “Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver.” Of course, spiritually, it is one and the same, because Christ is our bridegroom and the spiritual husband of all He saved, as well as the spiritual brother. As far as the spiritual application, it does not matter if he referred to Abraham as her brother or her husband.

He gave Abraham a thousand pieces of silver. In the Bible, any multiples of “10” (whether it is 10 or 100 or 1,000) points to completeness. So, this represents the completeness of “silver” or “money.” We already saw in verse 14 that Abimelech had already given Abraham sheep, oxen, menservants and womenservants. This is speculation, but Abimelech must have been terrified. He must have been frightened out of his skin when God came to him in a dream and told him, “Thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.” He immediately conferred with his counselors and they were also frightened. This was really a spoiling of this king’s house. Without question, this king probably did not have as much as the king of Egypt, a much mightier nation than the land of the Philistines. And Abimelech was only the king of a city state, Gerar, so it was not a minor thing to give away sheep, oxen, menservants, womenservants and a thousand pieces of silver. In the Bible, we find that when a king would be threatened to do battle, he might hire an army. He could hire an army for a thousand pieces of silver – it was a lot of money.

Yet, what can “silver” point to, spiritually? It can point to God’s elect, like “gold, silver, precious stones.” We are likened to purified silver. God uses this picture in Malachi 3:2-3:

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, Band like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto JEHOVAH an offering in righteousness.

The sons of Levi are likened to gold and silver. In this verse, it identifies with those that are saved, God’s elect. We are like gold and silver.

So, we have the picture of oxen, sheep, menservants, maidservants, and Sarah. Then Abimelech gave Abraham a thousand pieces of silver, or the completeness of silver, pointing to the fact that God has completed His salvation program and delivered all the elect whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Our sins were atoned for at the point of the foundation of the world and after over 13,023 years of earth’s history, God completed His salvation program in 2011, saving the last of His elect. The last person that had been in captivity to sin and Satan in the house of the kingdom of Satan had been delivered: “I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver…” Again, this was all completed in that (about) 17 years of the second part of the Great Tribulation when the last of the elect became saved.

Then Abimelech goes on to say in Genesis 20:16:

…behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes…

This can only refer to Abraham. Abimelech is saying that Abraham “is to thee a covering of the eyes.” This is what he said, historically, but we know that it must be referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, spiritually. If it stopped there, we could understand it perfectly because Christ is the “covering” of righteousness over the sins of all those He has saved. The Bible says that we were spiritually naked, and Christ is the “clothing” we put on; it is not just any clothing, but the “pure white linen,” the righteousness of the saints. In another picture, He is the covering of the armour of God – the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation.

Again, it said, “He is to thee a covering of the eyes.” Before we look at the strange ending of this verse, we will look at the word “covering.” Let us turn to Job 24:7:

They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

We will find that this Hebrew word translated as “covering” is only found a few times in the Old Testament, and it is always in relationship to clothing or raiment, as it is in Job 24:7. This would refer here to the ungodly or the unsaved. Again, “nakedness” in the Bible has to do with having your sins naked and exposed to the eyes of God. To cause the naked to lodge without clothing means that they have provided no covering for sin. And false gospels and false religions fail to provide covering; they lie about what can cover sins, but it never does. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. The word “covering” is our word, but it relates back to being without clothing. If you have clothing, you would have covering, so the clothing of nakedness ties in with covering.

It is also found in Job 26:6: ** **Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

Hell and destruction are synonymous. Being naked and having no covering are also synonymous in this verse. So, we can understand that we are correct in thinking that this “covering” that pointed to Abraham as a covering to Sarah has to do with covering her nakedness or covering her sin. This would be the only way an elect could be delivered out of the house of Satan. The historical situation of coming out of Abimelech’s house or kingdom points to those the elect that were delivered out of the house of bondage to sin and to Satan.

Again, it said, “behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes.” I had a difficult time with understanding this part of the verse. That is why I am pointing it out to you, because if I had a difficult time with it, then you probably had a difficult time understanding it. The reason I had trouble with it was because I was thinking it was referring to Sarah’s eyes. I was reading it this way: “Abraham is a covering to Sarah’s eyes.” But it does not say that. Let me read it again: “behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes.” It says, “the eyes,” not “your eyes,” regarding Sarah. It is not speaking of what Sarah sees, but to what someone else sees. And, of course, it is referring to the eyes of God. The Bible tells us that God’s eyes go across the face of the earth – they go to and fro and they see everything. I think I referred to this earlier, but the Lord says in Hebrews 4:13:

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Christ is a covering for Sarah in regard to the eyes of God; that is, the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness cover the eyes of God. Previously, when God looked down from heaven upon the lives of you, me or any elect child of God, He would see our sins because we were children of wrath, even as others. But after our deliverance in salvation, we have been translated out of Satan’s kingdom and into the kingdom of His dear Son. Now God no longer sees our sin because Christ has been a covering to “the eyes” of God. God’s eyes are the only eyes that are truly significant and the only eyes that matter. You know, most people – even some true believers – are more afraid of what the eyes of our fellow men sees. We do not want our fellow man to find out things about us that we have done in the deep recesses of our minds or some of the deeds we have done in our lives. We do not want people to find out because it would be so shameful and frightening and, yet, God knows all about it, and sometimes we are not nearly as concerned about that as we should be.

It goes on to say in Genesis 20:16:

… unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

Again, spiritually, Christ is for the elect a covering of God’s eyes and then it adds, “unto all that are with thee, and with all other.” I think the best explanation for this verse can be seen in John 17:9:

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

This can only refer to the elect people of God that Christ purchased. He does not pray for everyone in the world. Then further on, it says in John 17:17-21:

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

In Genesis 20, it was with Sarah “and will all other,” or all the elect. It is a double emphasis upon the completion of the elect, as God has saved all those that could possibly become saved. You know, when God saved everyone He intended to save, then the door of heaven could be shut. He had done what He intended to do all through history, and now He is carrying out His judgment program. There is no wrongdoing. There is no grievance against the rest of mankind that were not His elect. You could have children born for the next thousand years after May 21, 2011, if God would permit time to continue for many centuries. God would still be just in saving no one else, because He has done what He was obligated to do in saving all those whose sins Christ paid for. Remember, Jesus was not sent except unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was not sent for anyone but spiritual Israel. Therefore, it is a false accusation to say that God must continue to save because there are still 24-hour days in operation. Who came up with that rule? Must God save according to man’s will and not His own will?

Again, it says in Genesis 20:16:

… behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

The word “reproved” is a difficult word to understand, spiritually. Historically, we can understand that Abimelech did not appreciate being lied to by Sarah or Abraham, but Abimelech was probably more afraid of Abraham than of Sarah, so he took opportunity to reprove her by pointing out that it is because of Abraham that he is going to restore Sarah from his house. But I am not sure what that word “reproved” points to, but we will talk about it a little more in our next Bible study. We will look at a couple of places where that word is used, but I am not sure we will understand it better. Then we will go on to Genesis 20:17 and discuss that verse.