ST. CATHARINES CONCORDIA - Brock University

22 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
may try to kill him (20:13). As noted above, Luther could sympathize with someonc
called out or idolatry who could imagine that he could scarcely expect to meet up with
any other believers in the true God. In this case, Abraham was surprised to find that
King Abimelech, in slark contrast to Pharaoh, was at least some kind of "God-fcarer"
(20:4-6) who could receive God's word, so that he in effect apologized to him
(20:9-13).~~
Likewise, Isaac also sojourned in Gerar--this time becausc of a famine and through
the cxprcss direction and promise of blessing from the LORD (26:l-6). Here, too,
Isaac claimed that his wife Rebekah was his sister because he feared for his life (267,
9). Again, Isaac could well have had good reason to believe that, with many years
intervening and a different King Abiinelech in Gerar, the present Philistines were not
so "God-fearing" as before. Indeed, this seems to be thc case, with no mention of such
intimations until it became too obvious to them that Isaac's God was richly blessing
him and it would be to their distinct advanta e to negotiate a non-aggression pact with
such a powerful sheikh (26:12-16,26-29). 45
Abram was certainly not the only Biblical believer who resorted to a "nrinistesing
lie." Luther mentioned Michal, who helped David escape from Saul and then claimed
that David had threatened to kill hcr (1 Sam. 19:ll-17), Hushai's bad advice to
Absalom that enabled David to quell his revolt (2 Sam. 15:34; 17:7-16), and the lie of
the woman at Bahurirn which saved the sons of Abiathas and Zadok from Absalom's
search party (17:17-20).~~ But there are many other masters of the "legitimate
illegality:" According to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, Moses' parcnts werc
heroes of the faith along with Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, David and, of
comsc, Abraham and Sarah (l 1:8-1. l, 20-21,23, 27, 31-32). This they were, not just
for being saved by faith in the Gospel of the promised Saviour, but for acting
courageously according to their tmst in the Lord. Jochebed risked her own lik by
hiding the baby Moses in violation of Pharaoh's edict (Ex. 1:22-23).
Likewise, some Christians violated laws of Adolf Hitler's totalitarian oppression
to hide Jews, which involved lies, deception and falsified docuinenls. Thielicke
understood thern as being in a "borderline situation" where they could employ "the
eschatological c~rrective."~~ For, "frce in Christ to disobey the orders of this fallen
age, they belonged already to the coining age, sustained by Divine fo~~iveness."'~
These were heroes of the faith against the tyranny of the Satanic forces of evil that
were attacking thc pcople of God--both the physical members of the Old Covenant
and the spiritual members of the New Testament Church.
47 Jacob 133-134.
48 Whe~eas higher crilical commentators try to identify different sources for thc thrce accounts of rnatnarchs'
danger, Cassuto explains them as a natural progression and rcpctitinn for the sake of emphasis according to
oriental narrative conventions (341-344).
49 AE 2:225, 292.
50 Thiclicke 378, 578.
5 1 S. W~ich; "'I he Use and Misuseof Scripture inEt11ics." Consen~u~, XI:3 (1985): 22; Thielicke 379-381.579-580,
583, 588, 590.