Genesis 12:10-20 "Abram Down In Egypt"

Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 12. Genesis 12:10-20.

We have come to a major shift in the book of Genesis as we come to Chapter 12.

Chapters 1-11 of Genesis focus on “Primeval History”… which tells us of many origins… all creation… life… the fall… God’s redemptive plan… pre-flood rebellion… the cleansing flood… post-flood origins of nations and languages…

All leading up to “Patriarchal History”… Chapters 12-50 of Genesis… where God bring mankind into a place of blessing… by choosing Abram… from whom would come the nation of Israel AND the Messiah… the Savior of mankind.

From Gen 12 to Exo 19… we enter the fourth of seven major dispensations… the Fourth being the “Dispensation of Promise.”

Taking us from Abrams call to Mt Sinai… leading up to the giving of the Law… the Ten Commandments in Exo 20.

Gen 1-11 tells the account of the first 2000 years of history; beginning in Gen 12 until Malachi (the bulk of the OT) plus the 400 silent years (Malachi to John)… is the next 2,000 years of human history, and then from Christ to today is the next 2,000 years of human history…

I’m rooting for the rapture to come any day now… then Daniel’s 70th week, and wrapping up this history with a 1,000 year Millennial reign of Christ… giving us a 7,000 year history until eternity. I think most of us long for that, but we are to remain faithful until He comes.

So… we do this in part by studying His word… and last time we zoomed in on God’s calling to Abram…

According to Acts 7… God first appeared to Abram in Mesopotamia… before he dwelt in Haran…

Ur of the Chaldeans (Abrams hometown) was considered part of Southern Mesopotamia… and God appeared to him… telling “Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.”

So Abram leaves Ur… and dwells in Haran (Northeast of Canaan)… which was delayed obedience, as he was not called to Haran…

And he does not leave his relatives… his father Terah and his nephew Lot are with him… so his obedience was also partial.

You would think that when the God of glory appears… he would be fully obedient, but he was only 1 for 3 in obedience thus far…

And, I’m thankful that Abram wasn’t perfect… because this encourages us… that while God sees when our commitments and our obedience are half-hearted too…

He doesn’t forsake us… just as He didn’t forsake Abram. So, already early in Genesis we see the grace and patience of God put on display.

Abram remains in Haran until his father dies…

And while it would seem that these were prosperous years where Abram acquired flock and workers… this time has been called “the wasted years in Haran”… for during this time Abram was NOT following God’s call…

… though prosperous in the eyes of the world… this was time wasted in the eyes of God.

God waited to speak to Abram again until his father died… Terah who in Josh 24:2 was named for serving other gods. Terah, who in Jewish tradition sold idols.

Interesting that God waited for Terah to die until he spoke to Abram again. But often the flesh must die before God progresses His plan in our lives.

So… once Terah dies… in Gen 12… God speaks a second time to Abram… reiterates the call…

… and promises Abram land… to make him a great nation… to make his name great… to make him a blessing… blessing other nations who bless him… and cursing other nations who curse him… and all the families of the earth, through him, shall be blessed…

… (which points to Messiah’s coming… the One who blessed all nations through the offering of salvation).

And, we know this as “The Abrahamic Covenant”… A covenant God will expand upon… and reiterate several more times in chapters ahead.

So… Abram, Sarai… and LOT… head to Canaan…

First to Shechem… near the center of Israel… where Yahweh God appears to Abram again… promising Abram the land of Canaan…

Abram builds an altar to worship and sacrifice…

Then… moves about 30 miles south… about 10 miles north of Salem (Jerusalem)… in between Bethel and Ai…

Setting up another altar and worshipping…

And then traveling to the South country… the Negev… perhaps because of the famine on the land… which we’ll look at tonight.

Now… it’s quite wild to me… though it shouldn’t be… because this is so typical of people… myself included…

That right after God blesses Abram… Abram’s faith is tested…

Abram takes matters into his own hands… and succumbs to his fears of a famine and a Pharoah… and he falters in faith.

Which we will see ahead in a message titled “Abram Down in Egypt”…

Which was the of course the southern geographical direction Abram travels, but sadly… also the spiritual direction as well…

And, hopefully we will learn some things tonight from his mistakes… and appreciate our loving and gracious God all the more.

Let’s Pray and then read our passage!

In reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Genesis 12:10–20 “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.

17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 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? 19 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.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

As we enter into this passage tonight… we see several mistakes by Abram.

Which is fascinating considering in Acts 7… Stephen chronicled that the God appeared to Abram back in Ur… and then a second time… in Gen 12:1 God spoke to Abram re-affirming the call.

You would think that if the God of glory appeared to you… and spoke to you a second time… you would follow His call… not delayed… not partially… certainly not just 1 for 3.

But, as we enter this passage tonight…

A severe trial falls upon the land… a famine.

And we witness Abram running out of the promised land…

Which was a mistake. We don’t read that he built an altar… or prayed… or sought the Lord… he very much seem to be operating on his own accord.

Not that we ever move forward and fasten plans without consulting the Lord first and waiting on Him.

Anyone ever done that? I know I have!

2.5 of the most dry years of my life was because I had a job promotion offered that would take my family from Maryland to Chicagoland…

So I prayed and God was silent. I prayed again and God was silent. And a third time. God remained silent.

So I reasoned in my heart… well He didn’t say, “No!”

And we went. Huge mistake! But, from that mistake I learned to wait on the Lord.

In God’s timing… He opens the door He wants you to walk through. Don’t force it open. Trust Him… and faithfully serve until His timing and His will is revealed.

Now… when a famine struck… it was common for people to go to Egypt.

We see evidence of this in Joseph’s day… in Gen 42… Jacob saw there was grain in Egypt… and sent his sons there to buy grain.

In Egypt is the Nile river… making it a very fertile land… it’s known as the “Black Land” for it’s rich black soil…

Thus, it’s less susceptible to the impact of a famine.

However… we don’t read God appearing to… or speaking to Abram telling him to leave the Promised land and to to Egypt.

In fact in Genesis 26:2 a second famine strikes the land in the days of Isaac… and as Isaac is heading south to Egypt… the Lord appeared to him, and specifically instructed, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.”

So… Isaac stay where they were in Gerar… the southern part of the land of Canaan… and the Lord blessed Isaac… even in spite of Isaac telling the king in that land that Rebekah was his sister and not his wife… practically recreating our scene here in Gen 12…

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Anyhow… back to Abram… here in Gen 12… scripture is void of any indication that he sought the Lord to go to Egypt… and void of any direction from God for him to go there.

So… it would seem this little trip out of the Promised Land… and down to Egypt… was outside of God’s will…

God’s appearing to Abram back in Ur… and speaking to him in Haran… didn’t make Abram a perfect man.

Abram will make some bad mistakes ahead… even just in Egypt we’ll see that he lies and manipulates… I wonder where his son Isaac… and his Grandson Jacob learned that?

The Bible is such an honest book… I mean here we are fresh into Genesis 12… and straight out the gates… Abram… who becomes Abraham “the Father of Faith” is exposed as one who delays and partially obeys God’s command and in the next scene he’s lying and manipulating.

But, I’m encouraged by that. It would be rather discouraging if Abraham listened to God flawlessly and we had to compare ourselves to him.

So… in this we see that God has always been calling the foolish of the world… just ordinary people serve an extraordinary God…

And a God who doesn’t leave us when we fail… and doesn’t leave us where we are… He molds us… and transforms us…

But, He doesn’t change us instantaneously…

You might think that if the God of glory appeared to you that you would suddenly change, but Abram’s life and his families life… testifies just the opposite.

How God changes us… is He does it gradually… “Precept upon precept… Line upon line… Here a little, there a little…”

It’s a process… a little at a time.

In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (Jn 17:17)

He’s making us holy… through His word… over time… with patience… giving us room to make mistakes…

Not demanding perfection… because we already trust in perfection… and His name is Jesus Christ.

What’s really fascinating… is as we read ahead in Hebrew 11… the failures of Abram and his family are not remembered… only their faith.

And, twice in Hebrews Jeremiah 31:34 is quoted… “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Psalm 103:12 declares, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

And because of our faith in Jesus Christ… all this is true for us as well.… when we enter glory… God will completely eradicate the sin nature… AND He won’t remember the sins of this lifetime.

And, despite his flaw and missteps… I appreciate Abraham’s moments of great faith.

He took amazing steps of faith.

Just imagine the difficult conversation with family and friends he must have had back in Ur.

“The true God appeared to me. These other gods we’ve been worshipping are false. God promised to bless me… to make me a great nation that bless all the families of the earth. I have to go… I’m leaving Ur… I already rented a Ur-Haul and am headed west.”

“West where?” “I don’t know… He just said west.”

What kind of pushback did he get? Leaving country and family to follow God is often challenged by those closest to us.

People look at you like you’re crazy when you make bold moves like this for God.

I should know… I’ve done it. Back in 2013… God called me to Bible college… to leave home and family as it were… leaving behind Maryland setting out to a land flowing with fruits and nuts… California.

You thought it was bad for Abram with the Canaanites in the land… and all their pagan idolatry.

They have nothing on some of those coastal Californians.

I remember my sit down meeting before we left… letting my Insurance manager I was ending my career… a lucrative career.

He did his best to understand and to persuade me not to go. To consider my decisions. He told me to think about the best long-term decision for my family.

I thought to myself, “What’s more long term than eternity?”

V4 states Abram is 75 years old when he left Haran. Sarai was 65. Gen 11:30 states she was barren.

But, they’re stepping out in faith despite age… following a call to become a great nation… despite an inability to have children.

Leaving behind family… country… the comforts of home… and his lucrative career.

Their lives stand as an exhortation to older people who think they have no more to give to run the race… to run in such a way as to obtain the prize… heavenly rewards.

Frankly this is an exhortation even to people in their mid life to be faithful in service and calling.

Abram is 75 years old here… and Gen 25:7 declares he will die at age 175… so, he’s not even middle aged yet.

Psalm 90:10 “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years.”

So… 70-80 years is the average lifespan… which is supported today by current mortality rates.

The global average lifespan is 73.4 years… a little better for women… a little worse for men.

And if you say to yourself at age 50 (which I almost am)… I’m middle aged… you’re lying.

35-40 is middle aged. That’s sobering.

Abram was less than middle aged for him when he answered the call… and even at 175… he finished well.

He handled his estate, family relationships, and arranged Isaac’s marriage in the end Gen 24-25…

He died “full of years” Gen 25:8 (lit. “satisfied with days”)…

He “died in faith” Heb 11:13… seeing the promises afar off… embracing them… living as a stranger and pilgrim on earth..

He was buried with honor by his sons. Gen 25:9

And the final verdict on Abram’s life… God’s epitaph to Abraham… Genesis 26:5 “… Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Paul would look back on his life in his final epistle before martyrdom and write 2 Tim 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

He would exit content… with no regrets. Having followed the call of God… at great expense.

Paul was hated by many Jews… he likely lost his wife… he was no longer esteemed by the Pharisees… and any position or potential he may have had with the Sanhedrin was stripped away.

But he ended faithfully unto the Lord.

We look at these and many other characters in the Bible and their names are etched into eternity… not because they made excuses and didn’t serve… but because they said, “Yes”… and went… and sacrificed… and were in the center of God’s will.

Woe to the man or woman who’s name is etched into eternity for their unfaithfulness. And there are those… “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world...”

Let that not be our epitaph.

So… look… as we look at this passage… like any man… Abram is flawed… but he was a man of faith who followed God’s call…

And don’t loose cite of that, even as we look at this low moment.

A trial comes… a famine… and he has a lot to lose. It’s not just him, Sarai and Lot.

Genesis 12:5 states they took “all their possessions that they had gathered [some translations tell us his wealth included livestock, which was typical for nomads], and the people whom they had acquired in Haran...”

How many people? We don’t know for sure, but in Gen 14:14… 318 trained servants accompany him to rescue Lot.

That’s just fighting age males… add women, children, elderly… we could easily be looking at a company of 1,000 people.

This famine is no small consideration.

So we read in V10 “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.”

We read the words “down” and “Egypt” in the same verse. Certainly directionally… they head South… down to Egypt.

But I cannot help to think… as they head out of the promised land… these words are foreboding… Abram also goes down in morality… in trust of the Lord…

I think of similar words… when Jonah was called to go to Nineveh… it’s repeated that he went “from the presence of the LORD”… he ran from the will of God…

And repeatedly we read he went down. He went down to Joppa… he went down into the boat… a great wind and tempest came… and he went down into the lowest parts of the ship…

No doubt directionally… but it is also true that when one strays from the presence of the LORD… when one exits His will… they go down spiritually as well.

Not as a loss of salvation… God still used Jonah… and Abram… but there would be hardship… and dangers… and yet the hand of God guiding them through the trial and preserving them… and accomplishing His will through them.

Chapter 12 in some ways is a portrayal of every person who has answered a call of faith… and when faith is tested… how do we fair?

How common is it to have moments of lapsed faith?

And yet… God will not forsake Abram… and He does not forsake us either.

And Abram will learn the lesson that it’s better to be in the famine… and in the center of God’s will… then to go down to Egypt… which was the wisdom of the world.

Better to remain in the Promised Land during a severe famine… and trust God to provide.

God didn’t lead Abram to the Promised Land just to watch him perish during the first famine…

Just as Jesus didn’t tell the disciples “Let us cross to the other side”… only to see them drown when a storm suddenly arose on the sea of Galilee.

When God leads you… He will sustain you.

For 40 years… God sustained Israel in the desert with manna… and water… Deuteronomy 8:4 “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.”

If God provided for them… would he not have cared for Abram as well? Of course He would have.

God would have worked a miracle… and Abram missed out on this because he chose to walk in the flesh and go down to Egypt.

Had Abram stayed in the Promised Land… and trusted God… we’d be reading a very different end to Chapter 12.

But he left, and Abram would need to learn the lesson to trust God… not only when his needs were provided for, but when it appeared as though he might lose all in a famine.

After all… this was not what he signed up for. God said… go and I will give you land… make you a great nation… and bless you… He never said anything about a famine!

I signed up for peace and prosperity and blessing… NOT a famine.

Several times in scripture, God promises Israel that is they keep His commandments and walk in His statutes, that He would send the rain…

Why didn’t He just send the rain to his faithful servant Abram?

Now… with the severe famine… I imagine doubts arose within camp… people would murmur… “Where is your God now?”

Abram may have even counseled God, “You know… Lord… people are starting to doubt you. For your sake, you should send the rain.” Like God needs our counsel. Like God doesn’t know what’s best to shape and mold us.

Doubt and fear would need to be stripped from Abram… and that was not accomplished in the provision, but in the famine and the trial.

When we enter the trial… so often we pray and cry out to God, “Lord get me out of this!”

When we should be praying, “Lord what can I get from this?”

What lesson or preparation for life and godliness and eternity will the trial teach?

What dross… what impurity with the trial of the refiner’s fire draw out of us?

Where will our heart and reliance run to in the famine? The Lord or Egypt?

And how common is it for us to run to Egypt… when the unexpected trial is revealed?

Egypt in the Bible is a type for the world… and the flesh… and bondage. It symbolized trusting in man instead of God.

And too often Christians revert back to the ways of the world… and fall into carnality and apostasy… when times are tough.

They exercise personal wisdom and reliance on one’s own strength instead of waiting on and trusting in the Lord.

The lessons of scripture teach to come out of the world’s system… don’t return to bondage… trust in God alone for deliverance and provision.

But, when the famine comes… when the medical trial… or the financial trial… or difficulties with relationships erupt…

Where to our eyes look for help?

Egypt or trusting in the Lord?

The Psalmist wrote…Psalm 121:1–3 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.”

But, Abram’s not there yet… so he leaves the place of Promise… and heads down to Egypt.

Again… not with just a few people and some camels mind you… but with a sizable caravan of people and herds.

Which would make them quite noticeable upon entering Egypt.

vv11-13 “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.”

So here we see, as they were “close to entering Egypt”… Abram looks over at Sarai and says, “Uh… dear. You’re really beautiful.”

Now… many wives are already getting a bit guarded when words like these are coming out of their husband’s mouth.

“What does he want? He’s probably trying to buy another gun… or a boat…” They are getting buttered up… and wives have a sensor… it’s uncanny.

Sometimes I just look at my wife… or act a certain way… and she senses I’m going to ask for something.

But Abram… he’s leading into something else. Self preservation.

It’s well documented in ancient writings very severe penalties for adultery.

The OT prescribed death… Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22 for both parties…

But ancient secular law… such as middle Assyrian Laws… Hittite Laws… the Code of Hammurabi… the Eshnunna Laws… or Old Babylonian contracts… they held a variety of penalties…

For elite women… death by burning, drowning, impalement… being fed to crocodiles… plus confiscation of property…

For common women… mutilation was the typical penalty…

A woman’s beauty would be taken from her as her nose would be cut off.

A man would have his ears cut off or would be castrated.

A severe beating of 100-200 blows with a rod.

And with Abram and Sarai arriving into Egypt with such a large caravan… she would have been well regarded… she would have been seen as a lady of high status…

And… while adultery was highly looked down upon.… what men did when they wanted a woman is they killed the husband. Problem solved. Now she’s available.

Egyptian men felt free to take a foreign woman of great beauty IF the husband was out of the picture. And it was acceptable to kill the husband… to put the woman “back on the marriage market.” Wrap your mind around the hypocrisy of those ethics!

So Abram’s concern for his life was valid… but his method to preserve his life was manipulative… and a lie… at least a 1/2 truth… which if not the whole truth is a 1/2 lie… so let’s just call it a lie.

And, it’s a 1/2 lie because Sarai actually was Abram’s sister… NOW… before you say, “Ew, that’s gross”… know this… she was technically only his 1/2 sister… so only 1/2 gross.

In Gen 20… when Abraham for a second time lies that Sarah is his sister… again to save his neck… this time in Gerar to Abimelech…

Abram says in Genesis 20:12 “But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”

In Abram’s day elite families permitted and even preferred marrying a half-sister for strengthen family ties and inheritance…

It wouldn’t be until Mosaic law that marrying a half sister was forbidden (Leviticus 18:9, 11; 20:17; Deuteronomy 27:22). But that was some 500-600 years after Abram. Still weird in my books though.

Abram is concerned for his life. Sadly he doesn’t mention what might happen to Sarai… that she may be taken as an Egyptian wife…

But, she likely did the math and realized a) they may kill Abram and take me or b) they may bless Abram and take me… either way, I may be taken… better for Abram not to die.

Perhaps they should have just stayed in the Promised Land?

Now… when Abram said to Sarai… that she was very beautiful… it would seem this was no exaggeration…

I already mentioned not once, but twice, does Abram find himself in this pickle… where the men of the land want to off him for his wife.

But also… in V15… the princes of Pharoah commended Sarai to Pharoah… and they wouldn’t have done this if she were not a looker… they would suffer personal consequences for recommending an unattractive woman.

Sarai is 65 years old in this scene… and the next time Abraham lies about her being his sister… in Gen 20… she’s about 90 years old.

90 years old and guys are still thinking, “I wonder if that’s her brother or husband.”

You know… do I need to off this guy to get the girl… or treat him well as my future brother-in-law?

She’ll live to be 127 years old according to Gen 23:1… so at age 65… she’s only middle aged… for what it’s worth.

Abram says, “you are a woman of beautiful countenance.”

And that’s with no Mary Kay… no Chanel… no Pixie or Too faced… for you High School girls…

Sarah was doing something right… using something like camel fat… or olive oil… aloe… maybe milk and honey masks…

I don’t know… We should figure it out and market it… we can go 50/50…

I was thinking we could call it “Sarah’s Secret” or “Genesis Glam.” It’s a work in progress.

And the bible describes several women in the bible as “beautiful of appearance” or “very beautiful to look at”… this is the Bible’s way to describe a woman who was drop dead gorgeous…

And eight woman are described this way in the OT: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Abigail, Bathsheba, Tamar, Abishag, and Esther.

I also wonder about Dinah… she’s not described as beautiful, but Shechem saw her and was drawn to her.

And if you examine these stories… we know their beauty was a double-edged sword… their beauty often attracted ill attention by men… and some of their stories are tragic.

But for all the beauty of these women… here’s the Biblical standard for beauty… Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Ladies… don’t stack yourself up against what you see on social media… and movies… and trends…

You see these celebs who have all these plastic surgeries because they’re scared of wrinkles…

But they end up looking alien…

Embrace age… beauty is passing… reverence for the Lord is why she is to be praised.

Peter wrote, 1 Pet 3:3-6 “Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. [and check this out...] 5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.”

Peter writes in the context of wives submitting to husbands… especially in order to win unbelieving husbands to the Lord (much easier just to start equally yoked with a believing husband, but that’s another sermon)…

And then Peter doesn’t tell women to refrain from outer beauty, but don’t make that everything.

He encourages inner and unfading beauty of the heart… a gently and quiet spirit which is precious to God.

And Peter then uses Sarah as an example of a Godly woman who submitted to Abraham.

Which one scholar states is “an argument from the greater to the lesser: if Sarah ‘obeyed’ Abraham and called him ‘Lord,’ the Christian wives in Asia should at least treat their husbands with deference and respect.”

Now… is this an absolute proof that women should submit to their husband… even when he is lying and sinning?

Just as Sarah obeyed Abraham even into dangerous situations like Egypt and Gerar… Gen 12 & 20… going along with the lie that she was his sister… and God preserved her.

I’m not sure… Sarah’s choice was the best of a bad bargain.

Is every woman always to submit to a husband that is sinning? I struggle with that… how is she truly his helpmate then?

I’m still working through this one. I haven’t landed the plane.

When Peter writes, “Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord”…

My Bible cross references only Gen 18:12…

In fact, I don’t read ANY words of Sarah in Gen 12 or 20… the times when Abraham asked her to say she was his sister.

But I do read her referring to Abraham as Lord in Genesis 18:12 “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

Which is the passage where the LORD comes and reiterates Abraham and Sarah will have a son at about age 90.

And Sarah laughs because childbearing at her age was a natural impossibility… that ship had sailed.

But the LORD strengthens her faith, questioning why she laughed… and asking, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

This caused her to fear and to check her doubt.

And Peter uses Sarah as an example of a woman who was adorned with inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit… who trusted in God… and submitted to her husband.

And Sarah is cited in the Hall of Faith for believing God.

Hebrews 11:11, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

So, I think we use Sarah as a model of a woman of faith and inward beauty… who trusted in God and submitted to her husband.

In Egypt… she chose the best of two bad options…

I’m not sure that is a cross over to every marital situation, but Sarah’s heart towards Abram and God does.

She honored Abram… here in Gen 12… so he would not die… in private moments. like in Gen 18… in her private thoughts… she still thought of him as “lord”… not “that jerk”…

She was adorned with great inward beauty… a gentle and quiet spirit… who trusted in God… and followed her husband.

Continuing to vv14-16 “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 [or he gave Abram] sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.”

So things are working out well for Abram.

I heard a story of a Calvary Chapel Pastor who visited Israel and Muslim businessman offered him 200 camels for his beautiful wife.

Of course he said, “no.” But as the story goes, on the flight home, he and his wife were bickering, and he said to her, “You’re lucky I couldn’t get 200 camels on this plane.”

I don’t have a moral to that story… I just thought it was funny. She probably did not.

For Abram… Pharoah of all people… has eyes for Sarai… trusts the lie that she’s Abram’s sister…

And now is giving Abram the royal treatment as his future brother-in-law.

And, this is not an encouragement to do wrong and prosper materially.

Sometimes people sin, and are blessed, and sometimes all the material wealth becomes a curse…

Abram will walk out of here like a bandit… but the wealth will cause issues later with Lot causing them to separate.

And, in Gen 16 Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, comes into the picture.

We can’t say for sure, but was she one of the “female servants” Abram was given here in Gen 12.

Abram and Sarai falter in the faith as she remains barren, and Sarai suggests Abram have children by Hagar.

Which he does… and Ishmael is born… who is the father of Muslim nations… who Israel still wars with to this day.

Prosperity is not all blessing… it can come with much heartache… and we’ll see more of Abram’s trails with prosperity in chapters ahead.

Some of us are thinking… I’ll take that plague all day long. Strike me with prosperity Lord!

Some interesting history on this Pharoah… the dynasty of Pharoah’s in Abram’s day (likely the 12th dynasty) were thought to be sympathetic and welcoming to nomadic travelers with large herds…

In Joseph’s day… the 15th dynasty Pharoah was known himself as a “Shepherd King”… but the common Egyptians viewed shepherds as an abomination (as reflected in Gen 46:34)… which allowed Joseph to get great land in Goshen for his family when they moved to Egypt AND keep them set apart from the Egyptians.

Egyptian texts shows negative attitudes among the Egyptians as they referred to Shepherds as “vile sand-crossers”… disgusted by their eating habits and herding lifestyle.… and their concerns that the Shepherds would overrun the Delta… writings detail laments that “the land is full of shepherds.”

And fast forward to the 18th dynasty of Pharoah’s… who did not remember Joseph… they hated the memory of the former Pharoah’s… the “shepherd kings.” And Israel fell way out of favor in that period…

Moses even expresses awareness of this hatred when Pharoah tells him to go sacrifice… in Exodus 8:26 “… Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?”

So, Moses asks to leave to sacrifice, as the prejudice towards shepherds was extreme.

Well, wrapping up… vv17-20 “But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 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? 19 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.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.”

So, it would seem that the cultural thoughts against adultery seem to hold true at this time judging by Pharoah’s strong response against Abram’s lie.

He was probably thinking, “I wish you would have said she was your wife. Then I could have killed you and all would be well.”

Of course… he’s not going to go there now… being part of a pagan and superstitious culture… and having experienced the hand of the Lord… as great plagues fell upon his house.

Which we don’t have details of… but in Gen 20… God came to Abimelech in a dream by night… and changes from Father God to the Godfather saying, “You are a dead man.”

Whatever it was for Pharoah here in Genesis 12… it wasn’t good… he’s all shaken up.

And, he just wants him to go… take your wife… take the livestock… just take it all and go!

And look… we could pull the wrong lessons out of this. It’s true that God had a covenant with Abram… and God would protect and preserve him…

But, we are not to act in this same way. We are to learn from Abram’s mistakes of leaving the Promised Land… missing out on how God would have supernaturally preserved them had they stayed…

Instead God had to supernaturally preserve Sarai from a reckless mistake… from poor leadership by Abram.

And I think we end on this note… we were once alienated from God but, Christ died to reconcile us.

Colossians 1:22 “…in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—”

And while this speaks of how God sees us as judicially perfect because of our faith in Christ…

Should this not be how we live our lives and how the people of the world see us as well?

For Abram, he will walk away from Egypt… even with wealth… but he will also have to exit with the sting of Pharaoh’s rebuke in his mind.

There probably nothing worse as a Christian then when an unbeliever rebukes us for being a lousy witness.

Asking “Why are you lying? Why are you causing problems? Aren’t you one of God‘s chosen people?”

Stating, “You need to get out of Egypt.”

And, as the leader of his house, what did his wife think of him? I imagine there would need to be some healing.

(Worship team you can come)

There’s a lot of humanity portrayed in this chapter and the chapters ahead. Many mistakes of Abraham and his sons… even down through history with the Twelve tribes of Israel… the judges… the kings…

But woven through all of that is the grace of God... who takes us in our failures.

He holds to his promises… even when we don’t hold to ours… and that’s some of the greatest beauty of this chapter.

Amen? Let’s pray!

If you don’t know this great God of ours, and you want to meet Him, we’d love to pray with you afterwards and introduce you to Him.

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you close out the week ahead.