ABRAM IN
GENESIS 12:9-20
When
we were first introduced to Abram in Genesis 11:27-29, we also saw the mention
of two other characters who will play significant roles in the Abraham
narrative. They are Sarai and
The
way some preachers present the gospel, you would think that once you respond to
the call of God in faith and repentance, all your problems are solved and you
can be happy all the time without a care in the world. The truth is that the Christian life is a life
that faces regular problems.
This
is seen here in the life of Abram. He
had been responsive to the call of God in his life and he acted on faith,
setting out for a land that God would show him.
He arrived in the promised land and he built and altar to worship the
Lord and he called upon the Lord. You
would think that the next verse would tell us that Abram lived happily ever
after. But it doesn’t say anything of
the sort. Instead we read of the onset
of a famine in the land.
Why? Why does the Lord allow troubles to come our
way? Wouldn’t it be a lot nicer if we
never had to face any difficulties in life?
The problem with such a question is that it ignores the positive benefit
of our problems. James 1:2-3 calls you
to count it all joy when you encounter various trials. Why?
Because the testing of your faith produces endurance. Just as the only way for a muscle to grow is
by exercising it, in the same way, the only way for your faith to grow is that
it be tested. Warren Wiersbe put it this
way, “A faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted.”
That
is not to say that we should be out looking for trouble. Jesus taught His disciples to pray that they
might be delivered from the evil one.
But when trouble does come, we are to utilize it as an opportunity for
growth.
FACING
A FAMINE
9 And
Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the
The
world of Abram’s day was rooted in an agricultural economy. A famine meant mass starvation. The crops would die and the watering places
for the animals would dry up and disappear.
This particular famine was catastrophic, for it was severe in the land. [1]
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The word Negev refers to the desert area to the
south of |
Because
of the famine, Abram goes down to
When
we come to Genesis 46, we shall see Jacob and his entire family migrating to
Abram
is given no such word from the Lord.
Insofar as we are able to determine from the narrative, he is not given
permission to go to
On
the other hand, we will not see Abram building any altars in
ABRAM’S
FEAR
11 And it
came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife,
"See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; 12 and it
will come about when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his
wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please
say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and
that I may live on account of you." (Genesis 12:11-13).
The
pyramids and the Sphinx had long since been completed by the time Abram came to
As
Abram approaches
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Sarai
would have been 65 years old at this time (Genesis 12:4). |
his
wife for her great beauty and that they will murder him in order to obtain her
for themselves. At least one reason for
this fear is understood when we examine an Egyptian narrative found in the
Papyrus d'Orbiney known as the Tale of the Two Brothers. Dating to the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and
therefore considerably later than the days of Abraham, it tells the fictional
account of a pharaoh murdering the husband of a beautiful woman so that he
could marry her. [2]
Franklin
Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” That sounds nice, but it really is not
true. There are a lot of things in this
world that are the legitimate objects of fear.
But you do not have to fear when you can trust in One who is in control
of all the circumstances of life.
Abram
has a choice to make. He can either
depend upon the Lord and trust in Him for deliverance or else he can depend
upon a plan of his own contrivance. He
chooses the latter. His plan will
involve at least a partial deception. He
will pretend that he and Sarah are brother and sister. We will later learn that there is some truth
to this matter and that Sarah is a half-sister to Abram (Genesis 20:12).
There
is another term for such a half-truth.
It is called a lie. When we tell
a half-truth, we are hoping the people will believe the wrong half. The plan is that Abram and Sarai will live
out this lie by concealing the truth nature of their relationship. At the root of this lie is a mistrust of the
Lord. Abram is trusting in his own plans
instead of trusting in the Lord.
16 There
are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty
eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart
that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false
witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers. (Proverbs
6:16-19).
Notice
that when the Bible lists the seven sins that are an abomination to the Lord,
lying is mentioned twice. God is a
truth-teller and He calls His people to be truth-tellers, too.
PHARAOH’S
FONDNESS
14 And it
came about when Abram came into
Abram’s
earlier fears were not without cause.
The beauty of Sarai was not merely in the eyes of a loving husband. Even though she was 65 years old, her beauty
came to the attention of the officials of
Note
that from a human standpoint, the lie worked.
It accomplished that for which it was designed. Abram had been concerned for his life and
that “it would go well” with him. The
lie resulted in Abram being given all sorts of material possessions.
Lies
often work for a time. If that were not
the case, people would not lie in the first place. But when you lie, you can be assured that the
truth will eventually come out. There is
coming a day when everything shall be known and when nothing will remain hidden.
Furthermore,
lies have a way of bearing unwanted children.
The initial lie that was meant for Abram’s protection did nothing to
protect the sanctity of the marriage
between Abram and Sarai. The resulting
actions would take the form of a tragedy were it not for the actions of the
Lord.
EXODUS
FROM
17 But the
LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's
wife.
18 Then
Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did
you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is
my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take
her and go." 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and
they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him. (Genesis
12:17-20).
Now
the Lord enters the story. Up to this
point, we have read of Abram and Sarai and the Pharaoh and their parts have all
intersected, but none have been presented as the hero of the narrative. That part is given to the Lord. He is the hero who redeems the situation that
has been hopelessly muddled. He does
this by striking Pharaoh and his house with great plagues.
As
we read this, we must remember who were the original recipients of this book. It is written to the Israelites in the
wilderness. They are the same Israelites
who witnessed the great plagues against
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Abram |
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Abram travels to |
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Abram is afraid that he
will be killed by the Egyptians (Genesis 12:11-13). |
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Sarai taken into the house
of the Egyptian pharaoh (Genesis 12:14-15). |
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Pharaoh stricken with great
plagues (Genesis 12:17). |
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Pharaoh: “Now then, here is your wife, take her and
go” (Genesis 12:19). |
Pharaoh: “Take both your
flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go” (Exodus 12:32). |
Abram
and Sarai serve as the forerunners for the nation of
What
is the point of the parallel? It is to
show that God is faithful in rescuing His people, even when His people are
themselves unfaithful. Abram’s
unfaithfulness is seen as the pharaoh calls him in to question him.
The
Israelites were to see themselves in this parallel and I think it is also
appropriate for us to look and see ourselves in this parallel. Abraham is regularly used in the Scriptures
as a paradigm for our faith. As is often
the case, what is true for Abraham is also true of you.
Have
you been facing a famine in your life?
Have you found yourself becoming enslaved to your particular
situation? Have you found that, no
matter what you do, it only gets you in deeper and deeper? There is a message here for you. There is One who died in your place to
purchase you out of you enslaving relationships and to make you His own
beautiful and beloved bride. He is the
counterpart to Abram. He does not lie or
ask us to lie; He is the One in whose lips there was no deceit. Abraham was fearful of his own life when he
went does to Egypt, but Jesus willingly and deliberately gave up His life on
the cross and went down to the grave on our behalf that He might defeat death.
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[1] The Hebrew text
says that “the famine was heavy in the land” (#r,a'B' b['r'h' dbek'‑yKi).
[2] Wolfgang Wettengel. Die Erzahlung von den beiden
Brudern Der Papyrus d'Orbiney und die Konigsideologie der Ramessiden Orbis
Biblicus et Orientalis. Academic Press Fribourg, 2003.
[3] Allen P. Ross. Creation & Blessing: A Guide to
the Study and Exposition of Genesis.