Again? Really?!?!? Does the fact that God intervenes for Abraham mean that he’ll always intervene for us when we do something stupid? No! God intervenes here because of His promise. He is protecting His name, not just keeping Abraham from a huge mistake. But in His graciousness He is still willing to use Abraham in His plans (“he will pray for you”), and Abimelech’s fear of the Lord brings Abraham wealth.
Some think that it’s impossible that Abraham would do this twice. But there are two statements that help us to understand the time and the culture: “they will kill me for my wife’s sake,” and “Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.” Abraham and Sarah had apparently worked all of this out ahead of time because of Abraham’s fear. But if He really trusted God and His promises, why would He fear? Sarah hadn’t conceived yet!
Thought for the day: Do you have a “pet” sin that you keep returning to?
Proverbs 26:11 (WEB) “As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.”
Romans 6:1-2 (WEB) “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?”
Ephesians 4:22-24 (WEB) “if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.”
Pastor Billington's Blog 
Amen!
But she is “old, advanced in years..”Did that culture not equate youth with beauty? But she was past the age they expected her to conceive. Seems she wouldn’t be very desirable. Confusing if it is chronologically in the right spot. Thanks.Vivian
Even though lifespans are coming down, Terah (Abraham’s father) still lived to be 205 years old. The earth is still changing after the flood, and it’s possible that people would be “desirable” until a very old age. We don’t know when menopause would have been, and we also probably need to assume that most people, after decades of trying, would take it for granted that they are barren.