August 16 Sermon: Abram's Lie

Contemplate these questions as you listen to this week’s message from Genesis 12:10-20:

1. How does Abram's decision to leave the land God promised and go to Egypt during the famine reflect a crisis of faith? What does it reveal about his trust in God's provision?

2. In the passage, Abram and Sarai attempt to deceive Pharaoh about their relationship. How does this deception jeopardize the promise God made to Abram? What consequences does it have?

3. The passage mentions that the Lord afflicts Pharaoh and his house because of Sarai. What does this reveal about God's faithfulness to His promises, even in the face of human unbelief and disobedience? How does this reflect God's character?

Transcript:

In our lives we come across obstacles that put us in a position to decide whether we are going to trust God or rely on ourselves. This happens for us not only in the big things that come at us in this life but they are also frequent in the small things. When the temptations of life come before us will we believe that what God has promised us is enough? Are we going to believe God’s law and trust that his truth is what is best for our lives? Each temptation is a crisis of faith. Will we believe God and hold fast to what he has commanded and called us to? Will we strive for holiness? Will we desire to conform our lives to God’s will that is revealed in his holy word?‌

I like to think that we would stand tall in the face of the big temptations to renounce our faith but we are humbled by the fact that we compromise and sin against God every day. We need strength to stand strong and we need to know who God is and we need to trust in his word.‌

As we come to the book of Genesis this morning we are in a rather interesting passage. Once again we see the value of working our way through scripture sequentially because this isn’t a passage that would likely come up to read or preach on by itself. It is an interesting story about a giant of the faith who fails to trust God.‌

Before we dig into our points for this week a quick refresher is in order. We would probably need one anyway but with my absence last week it has been two weeks since we were here in Genesis and the set up to this story is very important to understanding what is going on.‌

At the end of chapter 11 and the beginning of 12 we are introduced to this guy named Abram. We learn about him first in the genealogy of the line of the promised one who would come to crush the head of the serpent. As we read that we came across some very interesting information about the wife of Abram. She is barren. This is a genealogy. This is the line that shows us the promise of God and his covenant faithfulness but now there is a snag. A line can’t continue if they can’t have children. Will the promise of God fail? Will God call an audible? Is the barrenness of the womb of Sarai too much for God to overcome? Well, we know the answer to that but God proves his point by revealing himself to Abram and actually doubling down. He makes a promise to Abram that from him will come a great nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That’s really and amazing promise. Not only is Sarai barren but she is old and Abram is old but despite the evidence against the promise that God has made Abram believes God and he leaves his home country and his family and goes to the place that God has promised. He arrives there and builds an altar to God and Abram still hasn’t received anything. He isn’t in possession of the land and Sarai isn’t pregnant with this promised child and yet, he gives and offering to God. If ever there was proof that someone believes God and has faith that was it but right away, we come up against where we are today and we are going to break down these 10 verses into three parts to understand the story and to hopefully apply this passage of scripture to our lives.‌

First, we are going to see that Abram leaves the land because of a famine. There is no food and he has some family with him and his livestock. While it doesn’t seem like a big deal to move to where you can get food but the question is does Abram trust God to provide. He has shown him the land his offspring will occupy but he is leaving There is a something else to consider in his relocation. He is leaving Beth-el and the altar that he built to God there. We will take a look at what Beth-el means and think about what it means that he left that place.‌

Second, we see that Abram lies to Pharaoh. Abram does not trust the protection and provision of God. He also puts the covenant of marriage he has with Sarai in jeopardy and you can see the issue there. God has promised that from Abram will come a great nation yet, Abram is willing to tell a lie that puts his wife in danger.‌

Lastly, the LORD afflicts the house of Pharaoh. God is not pleased with the actions of Abram and he does something about it because he has made a promise to Abram and that promise will come through Sarai. God is faithful, even when Abram is not.‌

Now, as we land in this passage we start off with looking at just verse 10.‌​

Genesis 12:10

 ESV

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.‌

When we left off with Abram, Sarai, and his little band of folk we had them at Beth-el. This was the land that his ancestors would inherit. It was occupied by the Canaanites but God was going to give them the land. He built an altar there to God. He believed God and so even though he had not gotten possession of the land, he offered a sacrifice to God.‌

Now it is important that we understand the meaning of the word Beth-el. It means House of God. Beth means God. El means God. Now you understand why so many churches have Bethel as their name. This was where Abram is going to set up shop. We read about the altar and his setting up tents there last week. Now, we are seeing that Abram is pulling up his roots and heading somewhere else. He has a legitimate reason. There is a famine and he doesn’t want those under his charge to die of starvation. Legitimate reason for getting out of town but at the same time we need to remember that God has made a promise to Abram. He is going to make him into a great nation and this isn’t dependent upon him and yet, we get no indication that Abram is obeying God by heading on down the road to Egypt. While Abram is a model of faith to us we see that he is just as guilty of unbelief as anyone else. He has followed God into the land that he promised but he doesn’t believe that God will provide for him.‌

There is also the issue of worship. He has made an altar there and as I explained Beth-el is the house of God. He is leaving the place where he worships God. This might not seem very significant but we need to take note that we don’t see that he is following direction from God here. In the way that the story is told here in Genesis we get the idea that this is Abram acting on his own. We are meant to see here that Abram is doubting the promise of God. We often have this idea that people in the Bible stories are the perfect example of faith but truly, the Bible is raw and so many of the lives of the heroes of the faith are extremely flawed. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that our Sunday school lessons focused on the good stuff they did because what do you do with this passage with a young Sunday school class.‌

What we see here is that the promise of God is strong but we are not. Even though Abram has shown us remarkable faith he is not perfect. He is flawed and we see that this is apparent in the retreat from the land God promised but also in his actions when they arrive in Egypt. Which brings us to our second point today as we see the deception that Abram and Sarai attempt to pull off in Egypt.‌​

Genesis 12:11–16

 ESV

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

And this whole situation is the definition of awkward, right? Imagine how this would have gone down as you are travelling to Egypt. Imagined having to even bring this up. Hospitality was important in the ancient Near East but when it came to foreigners and strangers there was still a threat that things could go poorly and Abram wanted to avoid all of that. Once again, we see that he is not trusting that God will provide protection for him. It is a reoccurring theme we are seeing here. The one part of the conversation that probably wasn’t awkward was first 10 words in the sentence here. Who isn’t going to be a little flattered when someone says “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance”. His concern is that even at 65 years in age she is so attractive when Egyptians find out that she is his wife they will kill him so that they can have her. So, the plan was to formulate a bit of a half-truth. Sarai is a half-sister of Abram. Now, we are naturally a big taken back by that that fact but we have to remember that marriage between close relation wasn’t banned until the book of Leviticus. We are still a long time from that being against the moral law of God. We talked about this back when we answered the question about where Cain got his wife if you want to go back into our sermon archives for a refresher on that. Anyway, instead of trusting God, Abram makes the decision to lie about Sarai by leaving out the very important detail that they are husband and wife. He is concerned that things will not go well for him and he assumes that this might help him stay alive.‌

While it is easy to assume the worst here, I doubt Abram was willing to trade his wife’s honor for his life. He probably didn’t see things going too fast and they would be out of Egypt before she would be forced to marry anyone but we see that things got out of hand pretty quickly. This half-truth backfired because the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a beautiful woman and it wasn’t just the people in the streets who admired. It went up the chain and the princes of Pharaoh saw her and she was taken into the house of Pharaoh and we read that this ended up being a pretty lucrative deal for Abram. Plenty of earthly possessions were given to him in exchange for Sarai.‌

What a turn of events we have had here. Abram’s initial unbelief to leave the land God of the promise because he didn’t trust God to provide has now turned into having the promise in jeopardy because he didn’t trust God to protect he and Sarai. We need to stop and appreciate the tension in the text here. They have left the land but they can go back. It was an act of unbelief but this latest development puts the promise into question. If Sarai is in the house of Pharaoh she is not in the house of Abram. If you are an ancient Hebrew hearing this story for the first time it is even worse. She is in the house of Pharaoh. The very ones who are holding you captive in slavery in Egypt. This can’t be. What is going to happen? Abram and Sarai can’t have the next child of the promise if Sarai is in the house of Pharaoh. You get the idea. We are meant to feel that the line to the messiah is in jeopardy and it is. Therefore, God must intervene because even though Abram has done something to mess things up, God still keeps his promise and so we see our third point today. The Lord afflicts the house of Pharaoh.‌​

Genesis 12:17–20

 ESV

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

God has to intervene and we don’t know the details here. The passage says great plagues but this doesn’t mean the Nile was turning to blood or there were locusts invading and devouring everything in sight. While these weren’t like those plagues, whatever the affliction was it was substantial enough that Pharaoh knows what’s up. Whether this was revealed to him directly by God in some way or Sarai revealed some info to him or maybe he was just a good guesser, Pharaoh knows this affliction is not normal. Something bigger is going on and he confronts Abram.‌

Now, I read this and I think that the affliction must have been pretty serious if the Pharaoh is sparing Abram’s life here. Pharaoh is clearly concerned for his safety. I can imagine the first instinct of someone with that much power would be to eliminate the problem. That doesn’t even seem to be an option for Pharaoh. He puts it all on Abram. He says “What is this you have done to me?”. This is serious and he knows the whole situation. The entire deception that Abram crafted has been exposed.‌

And so what happens? Sarai is returned to Abram and they leave and even in the midst of Abram’s disobedience and deception we see that God is preserving him. Pharaoh clearly fears what will happen if there is action taken on Abram and Sarai after they leave and so he gives orders concerning Abram. We don’t know what that means exactly but we can imply from the text that it means that Abram is going to be alright. He’s not going to get run down later on for what he’s done. There is clearly fear that the affliction of God would return or even have greater consequences if they harm Abram.‌

But we also need to notice something else. He sent him away with all that he had. Remember, that he was given livestock and servants and we read that they left with it. In the midst of the famine, even though Abram shows unbelief, God is blessing him and protecting him. The story of Abram is not going to end with his starvation in the wilderness. God is a covenant God and he will be keeping the promise he made to bless Abram and to make him a great nation.‌

Now, this is kind of a bizarre 10 verses right. What do we do with this passage? How do we understand it in a Christ centered way and apply it to our lives?‌

I want us to walk away from here today with two concrete applications as we desire to walk in light of God’s Word and gospel in our lives in the coming week.‌

First, we need to remember that God keeps his promises. He is faithful to his people. There are times in our lives where things seem messed up and it seems as though God is not in control. In fact, it may seem at times like he isn’t in control. Just yesterday I helped to officiate the funeral of a former youth student who was 23. Those type of circumstances can cause doubt in us but in the midst of tragedy, pain, famine, and even the unfaithfulness of his people, God is still in control. As we look at this story we see that God made a promise that would make Abram a great nation and ultimately lead to the coming of Jesus to save us from our sin. Nothing could stop that promise. Abram himself put it in jeopardy by his unbelief but God worked all things together for good and as we will see as we progress through the life of Abram, God kept the promise.‌

That promise has extended through the ages to his people and right now, that is you and I. God promises salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith and even though we are like Abram in sin and unbelief God is still at work. God keeps his promises to his people and so we respond in repentance and faith to our sin and failure. We look to Jesus and understand that he is our only hope. Let’s be honest about the adventure of Abram we read today. Without the intervention of God, the promise is over. He likely ends up separated from Sarai or ends up dead. But God, kept his promise and like he always does, he rescued his people.‌

May the Holy Spirit convict us of our sin and unbelief and then comfort us with the truth that we are forgiven in Christ and in response may we walk on the path of his law that he has set before us.‌

With that in mind our second point of application today is to trust God. Daily we have opportunities to trust God or to go our own way. We are confronted with sin and we are called to believe God and follow him. We should see these as opportunities to exercise and grow in faith. Yes, God uses everything including the failures of his saints to work all things to his glory but imagine if Abram had remained in the land and trusted that God would lead him out of famine. It was an opportunity to trust that he would keep the promise to his people. As I’ve mentioned before the Old Testament is a continual roller coaster ride of ups and downs of people choosing unbelief instead of faith and the consequences of that. The people are in the land and then they choose sin and unbelief and they are taken into exile.‌

In the case of Abram he had the opportunity to trust God but instead he left and it led to fear and humiliation. This week, you and I are going to have the opportunity every day to choose to trust God and exercise our faith muscles. Every time we reject sin we are trusting in the promise of God and growing in faith. And so, the challenge for us today to grow in holiness is to take a look at our lives and ask how can I trust God this week? Where am I most weak? What habits do I have that are a challenge to my trusting God as I should?‌

And so, we step away from here today with a trust that we do not do this on our own. We have heard the word. We know that God in Christ has reconciled us to himself by bearing the wrath of God for our sin. And so, we go into the world, trusting that the Holy Spirit will be at work in us to make us holy and conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. That is the promise that God makes to his people. We are not left alone in the wilderness. His word and Spirit are here to guide us and work in us. So let us trust in him, for he keeps his promises. Amen.