In this somewhat obscure but important story, we find a foundational and instructive passage on how God's people should interact with others. God desires for his people to live at peace, as best as they can, with all. We should pursue peace, restore peace, and promote ongoing peace all to the glory of God.

We see several threats to the covenant through the story of Abraham. Here in chapter 20 we find another, similar threat. Abraham decides again to pass his wife off as his sister to a foreign king. Instead of trusting God's provision, he operates out of fear and takes things into his own hands. This passage teaches us that the will of God is not frustrated by the schemes of men.

There is a call from Genesis 19, to God's people throughout history, to not love the world, for it is passing away. In and through this charge we come to see the depths of sin are great, the allure of sin is powerful, and the effects of sin are real. Christ's bride must put of sin and set her mind of heavenly things.

God is a God of justice and we know this by his word and his actions. He is just, right, and good in all that his sovereign hand does. As his people, we are to know his justice and righteousness and champion them in this world.

God redeems a people for himself, a people he desires to fellowship with, by the impossible. Is anything too hard for God? The answer according to the text is emphatically no! Only when it is humanly impossible will Isaac come onto the scene. Then and only then can we know that the covenant promise did not come about by human effort but was of God.

In a passage where God makes it clear who the covenant is between,  what the covenant is about, and how the covenant will work, we are reminded of our need for faith and repentance.

In this unique part of Abram's story, we come to know that God sees and hears us in our affliction. There are consequences for not submitting to God's ways and there is waiting when submitting to God's ways.