Abraham and Sarah dwelt in Gerar, a region belonging to the Philistines. Abraham told the people there that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. The king of the Philistines, whose title was Abimelech, found Sarah attractive and wanted her as a wife, so he took her. God then told him in a dream that because he did this, he was as good as dead. This terrified the king and his entire household (Genesis 20:2-8).

“Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, ‘What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.’ Abimelech also asked Abraham, ‘What prompted you to do such a thing?’” (verses 9-10; Berean Standard Bible).

“Abraham replied, ‘I thought to myself, “Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.” Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife’” (verses 11-12; bsb).

Upon learning the truth, Abimelech did the opposite of what Abraham had thought: He actually gave Abraham servants, money and livestock!

What makes this incident especially interesting is that Abraham had been through all this before.

This episode shows the need for vigilance against one of Satan’s devices: exploiting our historical weaknesses.

Same Old Broadcasts

When Abram went to Egypt because of a famine in Canaan, he pretended that Sarai was his sister. The pharaoh thought Sarai was gorgeous and wanted to make her his wife, and God punished his entire house with severe plagues. When the pharaoh learned the truth, he reacted exactly as Abimelech did.

Satan remembered this weakness and exploited it in Gerar. He still viewed Abraham as he was when he was Abram. He broadcast those same old emotions and impulses tending toward fear, insecurity, deceptiveness and selfishness.

Satan is capable and determined in tempting us to sin. He knows and misapplies Scripture. He knows God’s law and how to seduce us away from it. And he definitely knows our personal history and will always try to tempt us in ways that have been historically successful for him.

My father taught me early in life to be wary of Satan’s tactics. He taught me how Satan has a perfect memory and remembers all our sins. He can even look through history, at our great-great-grandparents’ fifth cousin’s weaknesses, to find ways to cause us to sin. Many times, he doesn’t have to go back that far.

In Genesis 26:6-11, we see Abraham’s son Isaac in the same place, Gerar, with the same people, telling the exact same lie that his father told: that his wife was his sister! He even had a nearly identical encounter with the king (a different “Abimelech”).

Isaac knew better and he should have done better. He had his father’s experience to forewarn him. He had the positive outcome of those experiences to inspire him. Yet he still fell prey to the same impulses of fear, anxiety, faithlessness and selfishness. Isaac was willing to lie out of fear. Satan exploited that.

Examine Yourself

Satan makes a point of getting to know us. He is diligent about examining us. He is thorough about discovering our sins, our weaknesses and our struggles in order to exploit them.

That is why it is so important for us to examine ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5). This is a deep and personal affair that includes God. We must ask Him to reveal to us even our secret sins (Psalm 90:8). God knows all our sins, but we have to know them too. We need a clear picture of them so we can ask for God’s help in overcoming them, so we can keep them fixed in mind and confront them, so we can be alert to temptations and defend against tendencies to slip in those areas. If we lack that clear picture, Satan is sure to exploit our ignorance. God urges us to beware Satan’s tactics and schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Isaac should have learned from his father. We too should learn from our fathers, both their mistakes and their successes. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

To achieve true depth in self-examination, we must honestly and earnestly go to God and ask Him to reveal all of our sins to us. We must reckon with the reality of our own human nature, aware that we are as vulnerable to the sins that overtook our fathers as they were.

But we can also rejoice in the Passover. Jesus Christ died for our sins, and when we examine ourselves, we know more fully our need for that sacrifice. We can fully focus on that awesome sacrifice, and then live knowing that Christ lives in us and we never need fall prey to Satan’s devices.