Many of us know or have heard the stories of Abraham and Sarah coming to a new town, and Abraham having Sarah say that she is his sister, not his wife. And there is a plethora of good teaching around these incidences. However, I’d like to point something out that is coming from a different perspective, and has a rather interesting and deep commentary about our cultures today.
Abraham has Sarah say that she is his sister, not his wife. Why? Because he doesn’t want the people to kill him and then take Sarah to themselves.
Why would would they kill Abraham if Sarah were his wife? Why was he safe if she were his sister?
Apparently, the ancient world held marriage so sacred that they wouldn’t even dream of taking another man’s wife! [Now before you start thinking that this shows very high morals on the part of the ancients, remember that, though they wouldn’t break the sanctity of marriage, they apparently had no qualms about killing the husband and then taking the now unmarried woman!]
Most (or all) of the western cultures today hold marriage in such a low regard that it is considered a ‘normal’ part of life to break the sanctity of marriage. Doing so is even considered entertainment! The whole entertainment industry (movies and such) treats marriage with low regard and treats adultery as something good – and Christians don’t think twice about watching such stuff! This should not be!
I had a good friend of mine point out to me that the story about Abraham and Sarah showed that holding up a marriage was (is) a cultural responsibility. It takes more then just the husband and wife to keep a marriage going. Ancient civilizations apparently knew and practiced this. Well, to some extent.
Today, though we may hear sermons and have seminars about the importance of marriage, it is a sad fact that the culture supports the opposite. Just look at how many (the majority) movies disregard the preciousness of marriage. And when was the last time you heard a preacher call the people to quit watching such tripe; such stuff that is displeasing to Yehovah (the LORD)?
Why has watching sinful behavior become an acceptable form of entertainment?
Okay, so I’ll quit ranting. In closing consider this:
“…hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 (ESV)
It would be good if we (myself included) would take these words to heart, even to including the entertainment we watch.
Shalom! – Yosef