Genesis 26:7, Sarah the Sex Slave, part III of III

//Today’s topic is not about Abraham and Sarah, but about their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah. “Son, if you happen to go down to Gerar after I die,” I can imagine Abraham saying to Isaac, “Take your wife Rebekah with you, and give her a little vacation. Here’s a trick that worked well for your mother and me.”

So off go Isaac and Rebekah, down to Gerar, just like Abraham did earlier. They pull the same trick on the very same King Abimelech, telling the king that Isaac’s wife is really his sister. Fool me once … so this time God doesn’t bother to step in, and lets the ruse play itself out. Rebekah moves in with the king. Like Abraham, Isaac appears to have no plan to rescue his wife, and this time, it’s chance that comes to the rescue:

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. –Genesis 26:8

Thus does Abimelech discover the truth. He says, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” It appears Rebekah got to enjoy the pleasures of the palace among the king’s harem for “a long time” without ever having to compromise her sanctity! Perhaps Abimelech had grown old.

Nevertheless, though the third time is a charm and the ruse works best of all this time around, the idea seems to fade. Isaac continues to sojourn like his father, but this particular trick is never again pulled out of the bag.