Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12. Last week
we saw the call of Abram, where Abram was called out of the land
of first Ur of the Chaldeans. He went to Haran with his father.
After the death of his father, Abram and his wife Sarai and
Lot went to Canaan. And there God gives him instruction,
and there God gives him promises. So we'll take up the latter half
of the chapter tonight in verses 10 to 20 in Genesis 12, but I
will begin reading in verse 1. Now, the Lord had said to Abram,
get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's
house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great
nation. I will bless you and make your
name great. And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who
curses you. And in you, all the families
of the earth shall be blessed." So Abram departed as the Lord
had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years
old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai, his wife,
and Lot, his brother's son, and all their possessions that they
had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran.
And they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came
to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land
to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh.
And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared
to Abram and said, to your descendants I will give this land. And there
he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. And
he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched
his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he
built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
So Abram journeyed going on still toward the south. Now there was
a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there,
for the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass,
when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai
his wife, Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful
countenance. Therefore it will happen, when
the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife, and
they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you
are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and
that I may live because of you." So it was when Abram came into
Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very
beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw
her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's
house. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen,
male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys and
camels. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh
and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and
said, what is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me
that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister?
I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is
your wife. Take her and go your way. So
Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with
his wife and all that he had. Amen. Well, just by way of review,
look at chapter 12, the very beginning. As I said, it's the
call of Abram, and it's a very revealing thing. God Almighty
is correcting or addressing the problem created at the end of
chapter 11. What you have in chapter 11 is the Tower of Babel.
The Babel builders were trying to make a name for themselves.
They were living autonomously. They were living apart from God.
Now God makes or calls Abram and says that I will make your
name great. And not only is this call a demonstration
of God's grace, in fact, 12.1 ought to be read that way. William Dumbrell said, in the
call of Abram, we are dealing with the divine reply to the
human disaster of Genesis 3 to 11. So this is amazing grace
displayed in the life of Abram, and as well, there is this call
to discipleship. Notice in verse 1, get out of
your country, from your family, and from your father's house.
In other words, leave everything that was at one time near and
dear to you and come to this particular land that I am giving
you and I will give you this seed, I will make a blessing
out of you, I will make you a blessing to the nations, and I will provide
and afford protection to you. I will be your God and you will
be my people." So it's a call that does have certain demands. This is a response to the grace
of God. Abram's not saved because he
obeys, but rather he obeys because he's saved. But as we move into
the latter half of the chapter, we will see that he doesn't always
obey, perfectly, that the father of the faithful has his issues
and he has his shortcomings as well. Additionally, I think that
if we consider the Abraham narratives, we'll think of Genesis 22 as
sort of the test of Abraham, and Genesis 22 is certainly a
test for Abraham. You see it when he is called
to take Isaac up to Mount Moriah and to offer him there in obedience
to the Lord God Most High. But you see that test already
or those tests already here in chapter 12 verses 10 to 20. Abram is met with various challenges
to his faith And I think this is an encouragement, or at least
it ought to be instructive for the people of God. Just because
God gives us promises doesn't mean we won't have trouble in
this world. Just because God has promised
heaven in our future, it does not mean there won't be thorns
and thistles in the here and now. Just because we will ultimately
reign with Jesus Christ does not mean we won't suffer the
various trials and afflictions of the people of God on earth,
and that is precisely what happens with reference to Abraham, not
just here, but throughout those narratives concerning his life.
I want to look first at the journey to Egypt in verse 10, secondly
the request for Sarai in verses 11 to 13, and then finally the
interaction with Pharaoh in verses 14 to 20. Now notice the land
promise of Genesis 12 verse 1. Get out of your country from
your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show
you." Now Abram moves to that land. That's the land of Canaan.
That's the promised land. This is a foundational programmatic
passage for the rest of the Bible in terms of God's dealings with
his people. It is realized ultimately in
the conquest, with reference to Joshua and the Israelites
as they go in to dispossess the land of Canaan, but as well,
I said ultimately there, ultimately it's the world, as Paul tells
us in Romans 4.13, it is the promise given to Christ, the
seed of Abraham. But notice, he is given this
promise concerning the land, he is then going, or he goes
into the land, and then the first thing we read in verse 10, now
there was a famine in the land. Could you imagine if this were
us? God gives us this land, and then there's this famine in the
land. We'd say, well, what kind of land is this? What kind of
piece of dirt did you give to us? What kind of a sick or twisted
joke is this? Immediately, Abram is struck
with this particular problem. Now, there are several reasons
in the Bible for famine. Locust plagues are certainly
responsible, enemy sieges, drought. We don't know the specifics here,
but notice that this is in fact a challenge to his faith. God
says, I'm giving you this land, and all of a sudden this land
is no longer able to provide the food necessary for Abram
and Sarai. Notice it's underscored there
in verse 10. There was a famine in the land,
and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine
was severe, in the land. Now, some question the wisdom
of Abram in this instance. He goes down to Egypt to dwell
there, for the famine was severe in the land. Should he have remained
in Canaan, even though there were famine conditions? Should
he have trusted God and his provision to provide or to give to him,
even in the midst of the famine conditions there in Canaan? Or
was he wise to go into Egypt at this particular time? It is
intriguing that God's not mentioned in this section. That's not always
an indicator that God's not in this section. But as well, there's
no reference to an altar, no reference to the worship of the
living God. It may be the author's way to
suggest or say that it wasn't the wisest course to pursue that
he would go into Egypt at this particular point. Though I will
say or suggest later that this functions in a literary capacity
to foreshadow the future. There's other instances where
there's a famine in Israel, and so the Israelites go into Egypt. And there's those other instances
where the people of Israel are in Egypt, and then they are afflicted
by the Egyptians, and then God then pours out His plagues upon
the Egyptians, which is sort of what's happening in this particular
passage. But now notice secondly with
reference to this request for serai in verses 11 to 13. One
of the things that I was wrestling with today in terms of this section
is that it's pretty brief and it's pretty simple. It's pretty
straightforward. We'll try to draw out some practical
lessons as we move through the passage and try to draw out some
practical lessons at the very end. But one practical application
I at least made was that if these sorts of people today that are
so easily offended by every type of speech that even seems to
be untoward with reference to another people group ever get
Christian commentaries and start going through them, they're going
to call for book burning and book banning. because these old
brothers didn't pull any punches when it came to saying certain
things about the text of scripture. For instance, notice in verse
11, it says, and it came to pass when he was close to entering
Egypt, that he said to Sarai, his wife, indeed, I know that
you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Now we need to remember
that the age of Sarai here, Sarai, according to Genesis 17 is 10
years younger than Abram. According to verse 4 in Genesis
chapter 12, Abram is 75, so Sarai is 65. 65 is an older woman. I don't want to offend, and I
don't want to, you know, make anybody upset or see Mrs. Mars
jump across the table and sort of punch me, but she is an older
woman, and it's a very intriguing thing. Indeed, I know that you
are a woman of beautiful countenance, and everything that Abram fears
does come to pass. The Egyptians make this same
observation. The Egyptians see this for themselves. And intriguingly, John Calvin
addresses the issue of her beautiful appearance at such an older age. He says, it is asked, whence
had Sarai this beauty, seeing she was an old woman? Again,
don't throw anything here. This is Calvin. For though we
grant that she previously had excelled in elegance of form,
certainly years had detracted from her gracefulness. And we
know now, or we know how, much the wrinkles of old age disfigure
the best and most beautiful faces. Now, that's not just peculiar
to women. There's times I'm FaceTiming with a kid and I look at myself
and I say, I don't remember those wrinkles and those sort of disfigurement. It's just part of age, right?
But I found it intriguing that each of the older commentators
asked the question or addressed the issue, how in the world could
this 65-year-old woman be such a beautiful woman? So he says,
and we know, not to say that no 65-year-old, but you get the
gist. He says, we know how much the
wrinkles of old age disfigure the best and most beautiful faces. In the first place, I answer,
there is no doubt that there was then greater vivacity in
the human race than there is now. We also know that vigor
sustains the personal appearance. Again, her sterility availed
to preserve her body and to keep her whole habit of body entire.
For there is nothing which more debilitates females than frequent
parturition, which is childbirth. Again, he's addressing the issue.
And I think these are legitimate comments. But if these things
were written today, you'd have a whole mass of people being
so offended and so put off. But the biblical text invites
us to make such observations. Why is it that way? And why,
as we move through the narrative, does Abram think his situation
is better being her brother than being her husband? Because it
even obtained amongst the pagans and the heathens the sacredness
of marriage. Even among these polygamists,
they still frowned upon adultery. So why in the world would Abram
think it would be a safer course to pursue to be her brother versus
her husband? There's a lot of questions that
the text suggests. Now notice, he makes this observation
concerning her beautiful countenance, and then he highlights the potential
problem with the Egyptians in verse 12. Therefore, it will
happen when the Egyptians see you that they will say, this
is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
Matthew Poole says the Egyptians were a very lustful people, which
made Abram more cautious. Again, I don't think Egyptians
today, if they read that and they attended modern universities
in North America, they would be in affront of that. Again,
these men are commenting on the biblical text, and this is the
issue that they are dealing with in this instance. Now notice,
he goes on to say, this is his wife, and they will kill me,
but they will let you live. John Gill makes this observation. He says, so great a regard had
they in those times, and even in heathen countries, to the
laws of marriage, that they chose rather to be guilty of murder
than of adultery. though a lustful people, and
therefore would, as Abram feared, take away his life, that it might
be free and lawful for them to marry Sarai." So Abram fears
that they will kill him so that they are able then to have Sarai
as their own, or as his own wife, Pharaoh's wife. And again, there
are some who suppose that there were these laws wherein a husband
could as well adopt his wife so that she would be his sister
and thus be recognized in a higher social sense. I don't think the
text necessitates that we understand it in that fashion. But what
is the proposed solution that Abraham gives or Abram gives
in verse 13? He says, please say you are my
sister, that it may be well with me for your sake and that I may
live because of you. Now, this proposal occurs three
times in the book of Genesis. It happens here with reference
to Abram and Sarai and Pharaoh. It happens in Genesis 20 with
Abram and Sarai and Abimelech. And then it happens in Genesis
chapter 26 with Isaac, Rebekah, and Abimelech. So this happens
three times. Some have called this a type
scene. It's a motif that occurs frequently in scripture, and
it reminds us of previous occasions, and they build upon and ultimately
lead us to other sorts of things. You see it with the woman at
the well. You see that in the Old Testament.
You see it with Jesus and the Samaritan woman. You see the
barren woman who's unable to give birth. That is a very frequent
occurrence in the Old Testament, and then we see it in the New
Testament with reference to John the Baptist. But here specifically,
this proposal occurs three times in Genesis. According to Genesis
20, the proposal had been agreed upon when they left Abram's father's
house. So when they leave Abram's father's
house, Abram's already able to see the future, at least to some
degree, and say to Sarai, you're a very beautiful woman. When
we go into these particular hostile regions, I would rather you say
that you're my sister than my wife, because I don't want the
people to kill me. The proposal was based on a half-truth. Later in Genesis chapter 20,
we do learn that they both had the same father. They didn't
have the same mother, but they did have the same father, so
they were, in essence, half-brother, half-sister. But it was calculated
to deceive, because she was, in fact, his wife. And I think
Matthew Poole nails it when he says, so this expression was
true but ambiguous and intended to deceive the Egyptians and
therefore unwarrantable. And here Abram, the father of
the faithful, elsewhere celebrated for the strength of his faith,
betrays his infirmity and distrust in God's providence and promise.
And this fact was not without great danger both to himself
and Sarah. Again, I think that as we move
into this particular section, this is going to be at the end
in terms of application, but God gives these amazing promises
in Genesis 12, verses 2 and 3. We get to Genesis 12, verses
10 to 20, and we see the patriarch fail. What's the take-home message?
If the promises are to be fulfilled, it isn't ultimately dependent
upon the feebleness of man. The promises will be fulfilled
because of the faithfulness of God. Now, that ought never to
promote in the people of God this idea that we're going to
go out and fail, we're going to go out and sin, we're going
to go out and lie, we're going to go out and live like heathen,
because after all, God is going to bring the promises to fruition.
That's the devil's logic, and no believer genuinely entertains
that. That's that Roman 6-1 sort of
thing. Paul says, what shall we say?
Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound, may it never
be? So we don't read this and say, well, it's okay to lie to
heathens, it's okay to engage in all kinds of subterfuge, it's
okay to do whatever it is we need to do in order to survive.
That's not what the believer ought to take away from this.
But the believer ought to appreciate that even in the feebleness and
in the weakness of men, God Most High will prevail and He will
bring to bear His promises for His glory and for the good of
His people. And notice as well, the proposal
to Sarah was a request, not a command. It's a request, it's not a command.
Abram doesn't tell her that she must do this. Waltke comments,
this is better translated, please say, a request, not an order. Sarah pragmatically consents. Okay, this is what this is all
about. This is pragmatism. This is looking at a particular
situation, not interpreting it in light of faith in the living
God who's able to do amazing things in the most distressing
circumstances, but rather this is pragmatism. Let's meet this
hostility with this particular lie or this half-truth. A half-truth,
as A.W. Pink points out, is a whole lie. Let's meet this particular situation
with this lie, and we'll do this in a pragmatic sense to get what
it is that we want. He goes on to make this observation. He says, their philosophy is
better defiled than dead. Now brethren, that is a very
powerful statement and one that I think we need to entertain.
What is Abram doing here with reference to his beloved? Abram
is untethering his beloved from his care, protection, and watchfulness. In essence, Sarai is fair game
as they go into Egypt. This is a terrible proposal.
Some, most of the older commentators, say that nothing happened in
terms of Pharaoh and in terms of Sarai. Others, newer commentaries,
Wenham, who's one of the best commentators on the book of Genesis
as far as I can tell, argues that they indeed engaged in adultery. I don't know. I can't answer
that particular question. I'll give you the two particular
options when we get there. But brethren, this is a serious
and weighty matter. Pragmatism is when we step out
from faith in God to our own particular inclinations to try
to get what it is that we want. And Abram Not a bad thing, and
Calvin argues he saw his place as absolutely intrinsic and necessary
for the kingdom of God. And that's certainly the case,
but the text doesn't suggest that. The text rather says he
wants to save his bacon. And the way that he's going to
save his bacon is by telling his beloved wife, no, tell him
that you're my sister. He is untethering her from his
care and from his protection. not holy, but at least to some
degree. Now notice the reason. Why would
he do this? Why would she or why would he
be more protected in terms of his life if he did this? Again,
I'm going to rely on Wenham here. And he is quoting a rabbi, a
Jewish commentator named Casuto. Casuto lived in the 50s, in the
1950s. He says, Casuto follows those medieval commentators who
suggested that Abram hoped that by claiming to be Sarai's brother,
he could fend off suitors by promises of marriage without
actually giving her away. I think there's some merit to
that. Maybe he thought the posture position would have been better
for him to protect her as a brother versus a husband. He goes on
to say, this suggestion is confirmed by other stories in Genesis where
brothers try to delay their sister's marriages. In chapter 24, Laban
and Rebekah. In chapter 34, Dinah and her
brothers. So at least in his mind, being
the brother, perhaps put him in a position where he could
protect her on the one hand and as well protect himself from
being killed by Pharaoh and his armies. Now notice, or his people,
now notice the last section, the interaction with Pharaoh
in verses 14 to 20. No, the recognition of her beauty. Everybody recognized this. It
wasn't, you know, sometimes a husband may say to his wife, you're the
most beautiful thing in the world, or the wife says that to the
husband, and they have that connection, they have that intimacy, and
they have that love, and it's true, and they mean it. This
was objective. There were other people out there.
And they saw it, and that's what happens here according to verse
14. So it was when Abram came into
Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very
beautiful. So it wasn't just the Egyptians,
but then this particular subset of Egyptians, the princes, the
higher-ups, the men of renown. Verse 15, the princes of Pharaoh
also saw her. Now notice what they do. They
commend her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's
house. Now she's taken to Pharaoh's house and again some of the older
commentators suggest that based on a comparison with Esther,
this indicates that they didn't have relations. Remember there
was this period of time with Esther where there were preparations,
there were perfumes, there was a cleaning, there was purification,
there was her getting ready to ultimately meet the king. Well,
that may have obtained with reference to Sarai. She didn't immediately
go right into Pharaoh's bed, but rather there was this period,
there was this time. But nevertheless, she is taken
to Pharaoh's house. So this is a very serious situation
and something that Abram feared comes to pass. Calvin said, although
Abram had sinned by fearing too much and too soon, yet the event
teaches that he had not feared without cause, for his wife was
taken from him and brought to the king. And the fact that all
of these riches are mentioned, notice in verse 16, he treated
Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys,
male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. He's giving
them this dowry. He's giving them this payment.
He's conferring gifts upon him with the idea that I'm going
to take your sister, add her to my harem, and she's going
to be one of my wives. This is what's happening in this
particular instance. Now, notice the intervention
of God, the judgment of God. And again, this underscores for
us Not that we should go out and do stupid things, but brethren,
there are times when we do stupid things and God the Lord and His
mercy saves us. God the Lord and His mercy stops
us. God the Lord and His mercy vindicates
us. We saw it on Sunday night in
our studies in 1 Kings chapter 22. Jehoshaphat was a godly man
who lacked good sense. Jehoshaphat was righteous. He
put the perverted persons out of the land. He took down the
high places. He followed in the footsteps
of his father Esau. It was recorded of Jehoshaphat
that he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and yet he
enters into an alliance with Ahab? Come on, Jehoshaphat, what
are you thinking? And yet, God spared him. Remember that arrangement? Ahab
knows what's happening in terms of the battle. He knows that
the Syrian armies are gunning only for him. So he convinces
Jehoshaphat to wear the royal robes while Ahab dons a disguise. I mean, everything is calculated
for Jehoshaphat to die in battle. And yet God vindicates or saves
or intervenes and stops the Syrians from killing Jehoshaphat. Now
again, my encouragement on Sunday night is going to sound the same
as now. Don't willingly enter into foolish
situations. Don't willingly compromise and
join in an alliance with Ahab. Don't get yourself into a position
like Abram faces here in Egypt, but trust in the power of God
that when we do foolish things, He is there most of the times
to stop us and to vindicate His own holy name in our lives. It's
a blessing and a beautiful thing that we read in verse 17. But
the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues
because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Isn't that a beautiful thing?
But the Lord plagued. Sort of like verse one, now the
Lord had said. What are we supposed to glean
from this? Again, going forward, the promises of God are not dependent
upon feeble man. The promises of God are yea and
amen in our Lord Jesus Christ. If anything will ever be realized,
if anything will ever be actuated for good, it comes as a result
of a sovereign God. Now notice, with reference to
the statement in verse 17, does he plague Pharaoh after he engages
in wickedness, or does he plague Pharaoh prior to his engagement
in wickedness? As I said, the older commentators
do not think that Sarai's honor was violated. In other words,
God imposed the plagues on Pharaoh before he committed adultery
with her. Wenham argues that plagues were
sent, that plagues were sent seems to indicate that Pharaoh
did actually commit adultery. Now, one of the excellent observation,
Robert Alter is a Jewish commentator, he's alive today, and he quotes
from or he alludes to a Jewish commentator named Rashi. Now,
you might ask why depend on Jewish commentators? It's not depending
on Jewish commentators, but remember that the Old Testament has been
around a long time. And it's not just Christians
who interpret, it's also the Jews. And sometimes the Jews
got it right in some things. So someone who neglects sort
of the Jewish commentary trajectory does so at their peril. It's
good to compare. It's good to get the understanding from a
broad perspective. If any of us like John Gill,
which I hope all of us do, I mean, Gill quotes Jewish rabbis ad
nauseam. I don't know that Gil ever slept,
because he was either reading the Bible or he was reading Jewish
commentaries. Or he was reading the Bible,
Jewish commentaries, and every other Christian commentary. I
really don't know when the man slept. He wrote commentary on
every verse of the Bible. I think he's one of the only
men that ever did such a thing. And then when he finishes his
commentary on the Bible, he writes a systematic theology. Again,
there were giants in the land in those days, but back to altar. He's referring to a Jewish commentator
named Rashi. Rashi lived between 1040 AD and
1105. He says, the nature of the afflictions
is not spelled out. Rashi's inference of a genital
disorder preventing intercourse is not unreasonable. In that
case, one might imagine a tense exchange between Pharaoh and
Sarai, ending in a confession by Sarai of her status as Abram's
wife. I think that has some legitimacy,
because ultimately we know that Sarai does confess. because Pharaoh
knows. And he goes to Abram, and he
says, why didn't you tell me she was your wife? So Sarai talked
at some point. And I think what Rashi says here
is that there was this tense exchange between Pharaoh and
Sarai, ending in a confession by Sarai of her status as Abram's
wife. Now back to the text. Notice
the questions in verses 18 and 19. The fact that Abram doesn't
answer indicates his culpability. Abram can't say, well, you know,
no, no, no, no. He doesn't answer because Abram
was wrong. Everybody, to a man, even those
who try to vindicate and defend Abram as much as they possibly
can, all admit that what Abram does here is wrong. He's not
walking by faith. The father of the faithful, at
this particular point, is not living as the faithful. I don't
say this to pick on Abram. I don't say this to one-up Abram. I don't say this to say, man,
Abram, you terrible specimen of a human being. I simply point
this out to underscore the veracity, or rather the sovereignty, and
the goodness of God in terms of His promise keeping. Notice,
he asks the question in verse 18, and he's angry. Verse 18,
Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you have done to
me? Now, remember, he's received some sort of plague, some sort
of plagues. And if it had, you know, reference
to, you know, genital problems or whatever, that would very
much irritate, no pun intended, really irritate or frustrate
this particular man. So he's upset and he says to
him, what is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me
that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister? I might have taken her as my
wife. Again, that seems to tip in in the way that he didn't
actually engage in adultery. Now again, I don't know that
Pagans were under that rule or under that conviction that they
needed to marry before they copulated, but the language suggests that
perhaps they did not. The intriguing thing about these
sister-wife situations here, chapter 20 and chapter 26, is
that the pagan actually comes off more moral than the patriarch. It's an unfortunate reality.
The pagan, in each of these instances, comes off as more moral than
the patriarch. We're celebrating the heroic
patriarchs as they move through the ancient Near Eastern world.
And it's actually the pagans that demonstrate, at times, more
morality than do Abraham and Isaac after him. But back to
the text. So he asks him these questions.
And as I said, the fact that Abraham doesn't answer highlights
his culpability. What's he going to say? What
does he possibly have to wear? Of course you did. This was cooked
up. This was concocted. You told
your wife to tell everybody that she was your sister. Now notice
in verse 20. So Pharaoh commanded his men
concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all
that he had. Now I would suggest that this
underscores again the goodness and the kindness of God. I mean,
what stopped Pharaoh from killing Abram? What stopped Pharaoh,
this pagan, this king of Egypt, this monarch of this nation,
from saying, Abram, you've caused me a great deal of problems.
I've met your Lord, and he has plagued me. And this has severely
vexed me, so I'm going to dispatch with you and Sarai, your wife. But he doesn't do that. He not
only lets him go, he tells his men to make sure that he goes
unmolested and all that he had. Now if we read the text appropriately
and accordingly, he gained more riches while he was there. It
doesn't say he gave back whatever it was that Pharaoh gave him
in terms of this arrangement with reference to Sarai. So wherever
Pharaoh goes, it's as if God's opening heaven and dropping gold
nuggets out upon him. Wherever Abraham goes, he's collecting
more and amassing more. Again, the take-home message
isn't, go out and live like a wretch, because you'll be able to plunder
the pagans. No, the take-home message is that God's grace truly
is amazing. Because in spite of the fact
that Abram lies, in spite of the fact that Abram jeopardizes
not only his own life, but Sarai, his beloved bride's, not only
In spite of all those things, God nevertheless blesses him
and gives him his freedom such that he's able to leave Egypt
and return to the land of promise and weighed down even with more
gold, with more stuff, with more riches. So that's kind of the
gist of the text. Just a couple of thoughts in
terms of application. I mentioned some literary foreshadowing. This is not the only time, excuse
me, that famine in the land will result in Israel venturing to
the land of Egypt. When we read such things, you
know, there's a famine in the land. You see, that's how Ruth
starts off too. Whenever you see that, you have
to think judgment, right? Locusts, enemy sieges, drought,
all of those ultimately are attributed to a sovereign God. Locusts don't
just send themselves, and enemy sieges don't just happen, and
droughts don't just occur. We know with a proper theocentric
reading of the Old Testament, that whenever there's a famine,
that typically means judgment. So when you read Ruth 1 and there's
a famine in the land, you got to think that there's problems
in Israel at that particular time. And the same sort of thing
is true here. But as we look at this, we see
this foreshadowing. God sends a famine. The Egyptians
afflict them. God plagues the Egyptians. The
Egyptians send them off with great wealth. They return to
the land by stages through the wilderness, which is going to
happen in chapter 13 as he returns to the promised land. and return
to the land where they worship the Lord." First thing that Abram
does when he returns to Canaan, he worships the Lord. "...to
the place of the altar which he had made there at the first,"
verse 4, "...and there Abram called on the name of the Lord."
So you see this foreshadowing, and I think what it ought to
tell us is that, read your Bible. One, because it's the Word of
God. Two, because it's a masterpiece. The way that it's crafted and
the way that it's put together by the direction of the Holy
Spirit. I mean, it's genius. The things that are referenced
here are going to be developed later. There's these type scenes,
as I've mentioned, that that are used and repeated throughout
the narrative of redemptive history. It makes for compelling reading.
It makes for satisfactory reading. It makes for exciting reading.
And persons ought to read it as not only the Word of God,
as the Word of God, but as something that is very exciting and intriguing.
Again, Casuto makes this observation. Scripture wished to foreshadow
in the tales of the patriarchs the history of their descendants.
In the account of how Abram went down to Egypt, what befell him
there and how he went forth from there, the Torah presages, as
it were, the migration of the Israelites to Egypt after they
had settled in the land of Canaan, their servitude and their liberation. You get it all right here, and
it's going to be developed later in more detail. Now, in terms
of the challenges to Abram's faith, I already mentioned the
land. God gives him the land, according
to 12.2, and then in 10, we see there's famine in the land. Challenge
to the faith, isn't it? I'm going to give you this beautiful
land. It's the land of promise. It's going to flow with milk
and honey. It's going to be wonderful. You're going to fill it with
seed, and you're all going to live happily ever after. In the
next verse, there's no food, so he has to go to Egypt. There's
a challenge not only in terms of land promise, but remember
there's that seed promise in Genesis chapter 12. Genesis 12,
two, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, I will
make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless
him who blesses you, and I will curse him who curses you, and
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Again,
this is gonna develop through the chapters following. There's this seed promise. Well,
each of these three scenes, with reference to the wife-sister,
is a threat to the seed, isn't it? It's a threat to the seed
when Abram's wife may be violated by a foreign monarch. It's a
threat to the seed when Abram's wife, in Genesis 20, may be violated
by a foreign monarch. It's a threat to the seed when
Isaac's wife may be violated by a foreign monarch. So you
see, these challenges to Abram's faith, they don't wait to Mount
Moriah in Genesis chapter 22. As soon as the promise comes,
there are these challenges to his faith. Land, seed. What about
blessing? God tells Abram in verse 2, I
will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your
name great, and you shall be a blessing. Except to Pharaoh? I mean, this isn't happening,
is it? Pharaoh wouldn't interpret Abram as a blessing. I don't
think Pharaoh would have said, boy, it was great having that
guy in our realm for that period of time. No, he caused me a plague. He caused me issues. He caused
me problems. He caused me a great deal of
challenge. And then in terms of protection,
remember 12.3, this promise of protection given by God. Again,
it's taken out of context today and employed with reference to
the modern state of Israel. This does not apply to the modern
state of Israel. It applies to the Israel of God.
to the church of Jesus Christ, those who are united by faith
to the Son of God. That's who is protected vis-a-vis
Genesis 12.3. But that is the promise. I will
bless you, or I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse
him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed. Abram, after hearing this, makes his traversal
from the north to the south of Canaan, the famine hits, he goes
into the land, and what's the first thing he fears? They'll
kill me. They're going to kill me. You
see, all of the promises of God that are real and will be fulfilled
do not necessarily mean a pain-free life for God's Abrams. In other
words, there are challenges, there are trials, there are issues. It is simply wrong to read the
Abram narratives and just see this father of faith just wandering
through life singing zippity-doo-dah. He was a man perplexed and a
man plagued and a man tried and afflicted, and we see all of
the particulars with reference to the promise made to Abram
in jeopardy as soon as Abram's left on his own. Not on his own
completely, but in terms of making his decisions and making his
way in the world. I would suggest, thirdly, the
fundamental problem with Abram in Genesis chapter 3 is that
the patriarch feared man rather than God. See, that's the problem
when we fear man. When we fear man, we're not fearing
God. That's why the Bible tells us
to fear God. Because when we fear God, we're
not fearing man. Now, fear a man who's got a gun
pointed to your head. I don't think there's anything
intrinsically evil about that. Fear the bear that's running
and about to fall on you and destroy you. But the fear of
man in this regard, We don't fear man in terms of having to
adjust our lives to pragmatics in order to pacify man. We walk by faith in the Son of
God who loved us and who gave Himself for us, and we need to
keep that in mind. Pool again. I quoted this earlier,
and it makes sense here. He says, and here Abram, the
father of the faithful, elsewhere celebrated for the strength of
his faith, betrays his infirmity and distrust in God's providence
and promise, and in this fact was not without great danger,
both to himself and Sarai. So again, I don't think the genuine
believer reads this and says, wow, I can go out and sin, I
can go out and lie, I can go out and plunder pagans, and God's
just going to make everything okay. But I hope the genuine
saint says, boy, even in the shortcomings, even in the feebleness,
even in the weakness, and even in the challenges, God the Lord
is faithful. God the Lord sustains. God the Lord is an ark for his
Noahs. God the Lord is the bulwark and
the foundation for his Abrams, and God will bring his promises
to pass. That's how we ought to appreciate
this. The promises are given, the patriarch
fails, but the Lord Most High fulfills his promise. That's
the take-home message. Don't go out and sin and say,
Butler said it's okay because Abraham did, and God just blessed
him even more. No, no, no, no. That's not what
Butler said. Butler says, in spite of us, God is faithful.
In spite of us, God is merciful. In spite of us, God brings good
out of horrible situations. Again, please do not think that's
a formula because there are times when we do foolish things and
we may end up dead. There are times when we do foolish
things and we may end up in prison. There are times when we do foolish
things and God may not necessarily vindicate us. There's not always
a promise. In terms of the eternal spiritual
realm, if we're genuinely united to Christ, we will go to heaven.
But there may be some misery on this earth because of our
own folly and because of our own waywardness. So don't take
Abram or these other patriarchs and their frailty and say, well,
they messed up and God blessed them, therefore I'm going to
go mess up. so God will bless me." That's not the way to read
the narrative. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank
You for Your faithfulness here in Genesis chapter 12. Even to
Abram, even in his lack of faith, even in his lies, even in his
subterfuge, even in his compromising his wife's integrity, and even
protection and safety. God, we thank you that you are
faithful. We thank you that the promises you make are promises
you fulfill. And we thank you, God, that in
this new covenant setting, the Lord Christ is our champion,
the Lord Christ is our victor, the Lord Christ is the reason
by which we will ultimately enter into heaven. And we thank you
for that. We thank you for that gospel
and we pray that we would just rejoice in it and we would express
gratitude and love and affection and adoration unto you. And we
pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
