At this point I think it would be redundant to mention that Abraham was a wealthy man. He owned many herds and flocks that needed attention. Although his primary home was in Hebron at this time he traveled to the land of the Philistines for grazing purposes. In the book of Genesis there are details missing in some places to complete a full picture. For most of the information I could find on this chapter I used the book of Jasher. The book of Jasher, some may not know, was in the bible at one time and was removed for unknown reasons. Jasher does not contradict the bible and complements it very well. It is mentioned in both the books of Joshua and Second Samuel. I recommend it for anyone wanting to understand the bible more completely.
To see Jasher Chapter 20 click HERE.
Abraham traveled from hebron (map center) about 40 miles in the general direction of Southwest to the land of Shur in which the nearest town on this map above would be Raphis. Today we would know this area as Gaza, or possibly the Gaza Strip.
When Abraham entered the land of Shur he again repeated what he did when he went into Egypt, and that is to tell his wife to say that she was his sister. The Kings men saw that Sarah was a Hebrew and had fair skin (in other words she was a white woman) Jasher 20:4 and reported her to their King who wanted a white woman.
The King fell asleep on his throne and had a dream that an angel would curse him and his people because Sarah was married to Abraham. The people of the house of the King Abimelech were in pain all night because of the plague. In the morning the King confronted Abraham and returned Sarah and basically just wanted him to just go. He gave him more wealth and told him to dwell any place he wanted in his land. This plague continued until Abraham prayed for it to stop in Jasher 20:30.
I hope all that celebrate Christmas today will keep the Messiah first in all they do, Praise the Lord!
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