For the Genesis 12:10-16 PODCAST
10 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. 11 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. 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. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." 14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ~ Genesis 12:10-16
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 12 where we are given the process whereby our faith in the God of the Bible grows. God intercepted Abram who was a Gentile before he became a Jew in the land that is known as southern Iraq today. That which made Abram a Jew which means "thank you" was the inculcation of the culture of God into his soul. This is why our faith is so important because it is the vehicle whereby the culture of God is delivered into our being.
Having considered the first few principles involved in the development of our faith: the word of God creates faith in the believer, and authentic faith in the God of the Bible leads to obedience to Him, and obedience to God leads to reassurance from God, we move toward the next principle involved in the development of our faith.
In v.10 of today's passage we read, "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."
God led Abram to the land of promise but there was a famine there. Through this very uncomfortable experience, Abram was about to learn the next principle involved in the development of his faith in the God of the Bible which is: God will always test and stretch our faith so that it will grow even stronger.
The Promised Land was mountainous and it was completely dependent on two seasons of rain in order to grow its crops and provide water. One of several purposes behind famines was to teach Abram that everything comes from the Lord and so he was to be completely dependent on Him. He also discovered that direction and deliverance is found in the Lord alone.
The famine in the promised land was not what Abram expected, so he made the decision to go to Egypt where food could be found. The man of faith didn't have much faith in that moment and so he turned away from the place that God had directed him to go and he looked to Egypt for answers. When we are being defined by anything other than the Lord, we will find that we will come out more unfulfilled than before.
In v.11-13 of today's passage we read, "11 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. 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. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.'"
Since Abram was born 352 years after the flood, he was about 75 years old at that time and Sarai was about 65. When Abram and his people arrived on the outskirts of Egypt, he began to entertain misguided and delusional fears. Abram's fears reached an all time high when he thought Pharaoh would take Sarai to be one of his wives because of her great beauty. Sarai must have been really pretty since she was sixty-five and Abram was worried that Pharaoh would want her as one of his wives. And, since Sarai was the half sister of Abram according to Genesis 20, Abram was not technically asking Sarai to lie about her identity. This all happened because Abram looked to Egypt rather than to God for his need for food.
For Abram, one bad decision led to another. The minute we move away from the control of God, the old self comes to the surface and we stoop to falsehood, hypocrisy, and deceit. Like our faith in the God of the Bible has failed us down through the years, Abram's failed him here. A husband who is out of the will of God is dangerous to his family and to himself. Since Abram was out of step with God, he placed his wife and family in jeopardy. Interestingly, there is never a mention that Abram prayed while he was either in Haran or in Egypt. Only while he was in the land of Canaan.
Having said that, I must add that this is the way our faith develops. There are times that we must fail in order to succeed. In most of these instances, our failure is discovered in our lack of ability to hold up our faith. It is in these crucial moments that we are more convinced that it is the Lord who is the secret to our success.
In v.14-16 of today's passage we read, "So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels."
Notice those words: "When the Egyptians saw" and "The princes of Pharaoh also saw her." It is the way of the world to make decisions on the outward. Oh there is nothing wrong with being attracted to one's spouse, but do not let the outward be the primary means by which we decide. God always exhorts us to look deeper. Every time we make a choice we turn the central part of us, the part of that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. In this scenario, we are slowly allowing the devil a foothold or we are allowing God to inculcate His culture in us.
In Titus 2:11-12 we read, "For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age."
The word grace appears 131 in the Bible and 124 of those times, we discover it in the New Testament. And then, 86 from the pen of the Apostle Paul. It is the grace of God that put our unrighteousness in our past. It is also the grace of God that reveals to us the substantiveness of God's truth in our lives. And, when we see that, we will find it impossible to be defined by this world any longer.
One of the biggest pillars of God's grace is His patience. When we are being taught by the grace of God, we will make decisions that are in concert with the will of God. The grace of God teaches us that we are totally accepted by God through the finished work of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This means we cannot out sin God's grace. That means we should never doubt our salvation in Christ. And, this frees us to be real and authentic. It is the grace of God that frees us to learn from Him His culture which is quite different from all of the cultures of this world.
