“The Fallen Hero and the Promise Protected” Genesis 12:10-20

Father Abraham

A Sermon Series

“The Fallen Hero and the Promise Protected”

Genesis 12:10-20

 Introduction

Exploding whale in Florence, Oregon 1970 – Unintended Consequences

Abram Faces Mounting Pressure (v. 10)

10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Right after Abram is called by God to be the father of a great nation of God’s people, God has promised multiple “I will” statements” (great nation, make your name great, be a blessing, etc.) – he encounters his first real struggle, for “there was a famine in the land.”

There is also the building of stress upon Abram, 1) his wife was barren, he had no one to pass the promised blessing of God on to, 2) He didn’t know where he was going, so he was always on the move; Hebrews 11:8 in talking about Abram, “And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” So he is never settled, He wanders from Shechem, Bethel, Negev – the land was promised to his future children, but he owned none of it, except for a burial plot for his wife (eventually). 3) He is leaving all that he knows, the people there were strangers to him – it was just his immediate family. 4) at some point in this journey his brother and father have passed away, and he leaves his other brother behind, 5) he becomes responsible for Lot his brother’s son 6) and now there was also a famine.[1] All of these life’s situations push Abram toward growing in his walk with the Lord.

Watch out when you feel pressure starting to build so that you do not return to your sin (the predictable sin that you return to when life gets hard).

 In the birth narrative of Samson, there is a conversation between Samson’s father and his mother. The angel has just given them instruction about the child that is come (Samson), and how they were to live; Judges 13:21-23 “The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”

 If God had planned to make Abram’s name great, to be a blessing to the nations, for his descendants to possess the land of promise, for his name to be great, etc. why go through all that trouble just to bring him into a strange let and let him starve to death? God did not call him out of all that he knew to allow him to starve in the land of Canaan.

Acts 16:10 “And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them . . . v. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, . . . v. 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

When Paul received the calling to go to Philli to share the gospel, yet quit as soon as he was arrested or faced difficulty, then those in the prison would not have heard the praying and singing, and never would have asked the most important question a person could ever ask. It may be the difficulty takes us to a place where others may hear the gospel. Knowing there is an all powerful God, who has a plan for our good (in spite of difficulty), kept Paul and Silas singing.

There is a pretty consistent teaching in the OT, that God’s people were to avoid Egypt. It represented the world, trusting human resources rather than trusting God, wrong alliances, etc. Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!” Egypt represents going to the world to solve our problems instead of seeking counsel and depending on the strength of God. What should Abram have done? He should have trusted God.

Abraham left the place of blessing and goes to a place that appeared to a place of strength and prosperity. Each step we take, each opportunity we have to make a decision is a step closer to God, or one that takes us further away.

The circumstances are quite significant; famine was sweeping across the land of Canaan. He did not know anyone, and those around him would have been in just as much of a crisis as his family – everyone was going hungry. God does not call us to blind faith – we should take in full information about our problem – we should not be blind to reality. God does not expect us to pretend as though there is no issue. But our focus most of time is concentrated on the problem. But the problem is not the whole picture.

Abram has been called by God who has made promises to Him – and God always keeps his promises. How can God keep His promises to Abram if he is dead?

Matthew 14:26-31 “But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Why did Peter doubt? When did he start to lose faith? He looked at the waves, he heard the thunder, and he took his eyes off of Jesus. The he began to sink.

When did Abram doubt? When did he start to lose faith? He saw the land around him turning brown, dusty, he looked at the fields that were dried up husks of plants, and he heard the rumors of shortages, and he looked at his supply bag and how it was getting emptier – and he said “I need to do something before we all starve.” He took his mind off of the promises of God, and he took his life back – and he took an action that seemed logical to him.

If you look only at the circumstances, and you take your eyes of the greatness of God, and how He loves you, and has a purpose and plan for you – when you doubt that you begin to take actions that lead you away from God. Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Steps Toward Failure: Focus Only on the Problem.

Steps Toward Faith: Define the problem, But Trust God and His Plan For Your Life.

 Abram Develops His Own Plan (vv. 11-15)

11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Abram now faces a second fear that he hadn’t thought of before he arrived at the border of Egypt. His wife was beautiful – his fear was that they would kill him so that they could take her as a wife. So he encouraged his wife to lie and tell everyone they are brother and sister only.

Abram is wanting two things to happen, 1) “that it may go well with me because of you,” and 2) “that my life may be spared for your sake.” Abram’s plan actually worked; his life was spared (but we really don’t know if he was truly ever in any danger), and he did receive, “sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. Be careful when you look around and say to yourself, “everything is going well for because of this decision (that you know is a sin). Pharaoh took Sarai as his own wife.

When Abram turns to the world to solve his problems, there are no alters to worship God. As he is going through the land of promise he is building alters and worshipping God. But in Egypt no worship takes place, there are no new promises from God while in Egypt, his marriage is wrecked, and he has left the calling that God gave him.

“When the prodigal leaves his Father’s house, though he may win a brief spell of forbidden pleasure, yet he loses all that makes life worth living, and brings himself down to the level of the swine. . .”[2] The only way for Abram to turn this declining situation around is go back to the land of promise, and to return to the calling upon his life.

Do you think that “sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels,” can replace the call of God upon your life? Nothing can compare to faith, a worshipping spirit who worships God is spirit and in truth, the ability to authentically commune with God, a pure testimony, heartfelt service to God, and a clear conscience.

 Steps Toward Failure: Look Out Only For Yourself and Abandon All Your Responsibilities.

Steps Toward Faith: Remember The Promises and the Call Upon Your Life.

 Abram Faces The Consequences of His Decisions (vv. 17-20)

17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So 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 gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

So now Pharaoh has taken Sarai as his own wife, he has dealt well with Abram giving him, “sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels,” and everyone knows it is for Sarai. What could Abram do, at this point to get out of this lie, to get his wife back from the king of Egypt? This account has not been given to us for historical knowledge, it was given to us, as God’s people to learn from and apply to our lives – when we find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper in sinful decisions – what should we do?

At that point God steps in, “But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai,” and just so the reader doesn’t get confused, “Abram’s wife.” Pharaoh calls Abram and says, “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?”

Abram was the reason that this man and his home was suffering “great plagues”[3] – his lie caused pain to multiple people. Then Pharaoh makes Abram and Sarai leave – he casts them out under guarded escort, which would have been humiliating and embarrassing for them both.

With this confrontation of his sin, he is silent, “The saving mercy of God had so humbled him, that he silently acknowledged his guilt in concealing his relation to Sarai from the Egyptian king.”[4]

But that is the flow of sin, walking away from God, trusting in your own wisdom, taking action that is sinful, drawing others into the sin, the hurting of others and yourself, and eventual humiliation and shame. You see this same pattern with Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, David and Bathsheba, Judas . . . etc.

Abraham leaves Egypt (embarrassed and humiliated), goes back to Bethel and resumed worship of God, Genesis 13:3-4 “And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.” The answer to the crisis you find yourself in is not to double down on your sin, and blame others, or to blame the circumstances, but to repent and return to God. When Abram gathered for worship this time around it was a man who had gotten himself in all kinds of trouble, but God untied the knot around his neck.

Steps Toward Failure: Double Down on Your Sin, Keep Making Excuses.

Steps Toward Faith: Repent and Return to God’s Promises.

 In all of this God is protecting the plan of salvation. Sarai was protected, not just for her honor’s sake, but also because she would eventually give birth to Isaac, the son of promise. God gave His word and He was protecting that promise. When God corrects our paths, and puts us pack in the right place – that is not just for our sakes, but for the sake of the people who we will minister to in the future.

In Genesis 12:31 we see that God called Abram’s family to go to Canaan, but they settled somewhere else (which included Abram), but them in chapter 12 God called Abram again and he went in faith. In today’s passage, God called Abram to a land of promise, but he left that calling when the famine came, lied and got wrapped up issues with Egypt and lit looked like God’s plan for the salvation of the world was done even before it could start – but God stepped in and Abram was able to get back to where he needed to be, back in line with promises upon his life – God is the God of second chances.

Also, Abram is a human being – there are times of great faith, and there are times of great failure. But what makes us better is how we deal with our failures. Abram returned to worship, the land of promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0CT8zrw6lw

Cleveland Balloon Fest 1986 Disaster

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[1] James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary, Genesis 12-36 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Books, 1998) 472.

[2] Boice, 476.

[3] From the Egyptian mindset, if you mess with God’s people there will be plagues. This seems to be lost in Egyptian history, so that when Moses shows up it has long since been forgotten.

[4] C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament In Ten Volumes, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985) 198.