The Faithfulness of God
Genesis 12:4-13:1; Remsen Bible Fellowship; 11/3/2024
Introduction
Is God waiting around to zap you every time you do something wrong? I think there are a lot of Christians who walk around with this paralyzing fear that if they somehow miss out on or step out of “God’s perfect will” for their life their lives will be ruined, God’s blessing squandered, and they will have blown it irreparably. But what we find out when we read the Bible is that God is writing this whole story using flawed and sinful characters.
We can talk about God’s will in two senses: his revealed will, that is what Scripture tells us to do. Behave, think, and life in this way, not that was. And life is better when we walk in obedience to his revealed will. But there is also the secret or providential will of God, by which he (according to Ephesians 1:11) brings all things to pass. And you can’t get outside the providential will of God. You can’t thwart him, you can’t stop him, you can’t mess up God’s plan. You aren’t that powerful. He is working all things together for his glory. And if you love him, that which brings him glory is also that which is for your eternal good. He uses it all, the good and bad, the easy and hard, your obedience, and even your sin. That’s good news for us, because we are all too often marked by doubt, sin, and failure.
Transition
Last week we read God’s call and promise to Abram. Abram was to leave his home, his family, and all he had known in order to follow the Lord to an unknown land. But the Lord promised that this would ultimately result in Abram being blessed - God would show him a land, make him into a great people, make his name great, and bless all the world through him. Now that promise - and Abram’s obedience - will face its first stress test.
Text
Genesis 12:4-13:1, So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
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. 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.
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.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
God Calls Abram Out (v1-3) and Abram Responds in Obedience, v4-6
Let’s first notice the admirable obedience of Abram. It is, to state what I hope is obvious, an obedience birthed of faith. Unless he believed what God said in verses 1-3, there is no was he would have uprooted his family. God called in verses 1-3, telling Abram to leave his family and home, and head for a land God would show him. God promised to make him a great nation and people, and to make him a blessing to those around him. Further, he promised to bless all the nations of the earth through him.
The text doesn’t explicitly tell us that Abram believed God, but it becomes obvious in his actions: “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him.” He uproots his family, at 75 years old, takes everything he owns, and goes. His possessions at this point seem to be extensive: notice that verse 5 speaks of all their possessions, and the people that they had acquired while in Haran. The mention of Abram’s already extant wealth reminds us that this obedience truly is remarkable. How easy it is for such possessions, or the desire to acquire them, to get in the way of pursuing the Lord. Have you ever experienced God pulling you to do something, and your response is, “but what about ---?” and you then fill in the blank with a merely material goal, disconnected from God’s priorities? God’s promise to Abram is not merely spiritual, it includes material wealth. But if Abram’s highest priority had been material goods, would it not be tempting to sit tight where he was? Things were going well.
But he followed God’s call. He burnt the boats, as it were, and headed south. He heads into the land of Canaan. Now, we read this knowing Canaan was where he was supposed to go - but he didn’t know that. His father had originally headed for the land of Canaan (11:31), but hadn’t made it. The region of the Negev, south of the Dead Sea, where Abram eventually ends up, was commonly used for pastureland, though in the summer it dried out significantly. Probably not nearly as promising a land as Abram and his family had known in Ur of Chaldeans, or in the land of Haran. But he obediently starts traveling, and trusts the Lord for clarity.
God is Faithful to His Promise (and Abram Responds with Obedient Worship), v7-9
The Lord faithfully responded to Abram’s obedience by fulfilling his promise to show him a land. As Abram passed through the land, and set up camp at Shechem, the LORD appeared to him and spoke: “To your offspring I will give this land.” God had called Abram out, and now he has shown him the land he is to inhabit. Now, it’s key that God promises the land to the offspring of Abram. Remember, he doesn’t yet have any offspring. Further, this land is inhabited. The Canaanites are dwelling in the land, the descendants of Ham’s son Canaan. Now, we don’t know how aware Abram was of God’s promises in the past, but as readers we should certainly note that God had cursed Canaan, prophesying that he would be a servant of his brothers (Genesis 9:25), and that God would God would enlarge the tents of Shem such that Canaan would be his servant (9:26).
So what we see in this text is that God has given Abram, in the line of Shem, a promise to enlarge his tents - to make his name great and bless him - and here he is giving him the land of the Canaanites. The inhabitants of the land, God seems to be saying, will become the servants of your offspring.
How should Abram respond to God’s faithful promise-keeping? Just the way he did in verse 7: “he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.” He continues to travel through the land, and on arrival at Bethel, builds an altar there as well. The idea of altars being a place of sacrifice where one can meet with God predates the Mosaic law - it was in that later law where God gave structure to this practice for his people.
We should also note the words of v8: when Abram builds an altar at Bethel, he calls there on the name of the LORD. This should draw our minds back to 4:26, where in the days of Seth’s son Enosh people began to call on the name of the LORD. Abram has moved beyond simply trusting the Lord, and acting in faith. He begins to call on his name, he worships, and he communicates dependence upon the Lord. All of this is in response to the gracious initiation of God. God called him first, God initiated. We don’t initiate with God, we respond). We don’t “reach up so that he might reach down”. We respond to his gracious call and initiation.
God is Faithful (Despite Abram’s Doubt-filled Faith), v10-20
So far, so good. But then, in v10, we read that there was a famine in the land. It’s generally easier to walk in obedience to God, to exercise faith, when we pursue him and things start to fall into place. But what happens when the pieces start to feel like they’re sliding out of place? That would be a famine for Abram. He’s a shepherd, he has flocks to water, which is his way of providing for and sustaining his household. What should he do?
The text doesn't tell us specifically what Abram should do. We are told what he did, which is travel to Egypt to sojourn in the land. But while the text doesn’t explicitly commend or condemn Abram’s actions here, we should do some critical thinking as readers. God had brought him to Canaan and told him “this is the place.” Is the right response at the first sign of trouble to abandon it? Probably not.
But if that isn’t bad enough, when they approach this foreign land, Abram unveils his “protect my own neck” plan to his wife. She is supposed to tell everyone that she is his sister (v13). Abram’s concern is born of the fact that Sarai must be an absolutely stunning 65 year old woman. Let’s be honest, most 25 year old women aren’t so beautiful that their husbands worry about getting murdered. And his hope is that, with her posing as his sister rather than his wife, things will be easier for him.
This, again, is not explicitly condemned by the author of Genesis - but he doesn’t need to editorialize, because he can just show us how the story turns out for us to see how foolish Abram is in this situation.
Remember, God has promised Abram offspring and to make him a great nation. That obviously won’t happen if he dies childless. So his concern over being murdered is a colossal failure of faith. On a human level, his fear makes sense - immediately when they enter the land (v14) the Egyptians take note of Sarai. And they praise her to Pharaoh himself. Abram wasn’t crazy when he thought they’d take note of her. But then - did this enter into Abram’s calculations, you’d think it must? - she is taken into Pharaoh’s harem.
This isn’t just a failure of faith on Abram’s part, but it is also a failure to protect his wife. Like Adam in the garden, he tries to play it safe, sits back, and just watches what unfolds. His wife, then, is placed in a situation that is very dangerous, at least in a moral sense. Abram’s fear over his own safety leads to him failing to protect his wife. There’s a lesson here for men: don’t be like Adam, and don’t be like Abram. Your role as the head of your home is to take initiative for the good of those in your care, your wife above all others. She is more important than your children, more important than your parents, more important than your friends, and certainly more important than you. Take faith-driven initiative for her good. Don’t live in passive fear.
God is at work, though. We see that in two different ways. First, in v16 we see Pharoah dealing well and generously with Abram on account of Sarai. It seems when Abram is hoping for the Egyptians to deal well with him in v13, he’s mostly just hoping to not get killed. But what in fact happens in v16 is that Pharoah gives gifts of sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants, and camels. God is prospering Abram’s household, even in this awkward and precarious Egyptian sojourn.
Second, we see that though Abram failed to protect Sarai, God remembered her. This will be a theme in Genesis, that God is a God of seeing. He sees her plight, and instead of allowing her to remain in Pharaoh's house, he afflicts Pharoah and those within his household with plagues of unnamed and undescribed sorts. This leads, understandably, to outrage on Pharaoh’s part. He calls Abram to him in v18-19, and demands to know why Abram felt it was okay to deceive him. Abram doesn’t seem to be given an opportunity to respond. And perhaps that is just as well, as when Pharaoh sends Abram away, he does so in very generous fashion. All the gifts that had been given to him are sent away out of Egypt with him (v20). So God protected Sarai, and he abundantly blessed Abram, even in the midst of his fearful disobedience. God’s promise would not be thwarted.
But while God’s promise would not be thwarted, we should not minimize Abram’s failure in this story, or fail to see the seeds of danger which were sown. First, with this dramatic and sudden increase in goods, conflict arises in the next chapter between Lot’s servants and Abram’s servants. Would this have happened if Abram had remained in Canaan and his prosperity grown more slowly? We can’t know for sure, but their conflict over goods comes in the very next chapter. Second, we are told in v16 that part of what Pharaoh gifted to Abram were female servants. Very likely, this includes an Egyptian female servant by the name of Hagar. Her son by Abram, Ishmael, would be the father of the Ishmaelites, who became long-term enemies of the people of Israel.
This story also follows a pattern that comes to be paradigmatic for the people of Israel: to head into Egypt may at times be necessary, but it is certainly never a good circumstance. Joseph, Abram’s great-grandson, was sold into slavery by his brothers and eventually wound up in Egypt. There he prospered, and when there was a great famine in that whole part of the world, his family came down and joined him in Egypt. There they, as a people, prospered, until they were brought under bondage by Pharaoh. And there, again, the Lord delivered them. He brought plagues upon the Egyptians, as he had brought them upon Pharaoh’s house in Abram’s day, and the Lord brought his people up out of the land of Egypt and back toward the promised land.
The people who had been brought out of bondage were the very ones who would have been the first audience of the book of Genesis. Moses is writing down this book, this origin story, for a people who have been brought back out of the land of their sojournings. The father had protected them through years of bondage, a reality which we will find promised in chapter 15, but which is foreshadowed by what we read today in chapter 12.
Conclusion
In the final verse we read this morning, 13:1, Abram comes up out of Egypt. He, his wife, his nephew, and all they have come up out of Egypt and head back to the region of the Negeb. Pharaoh had kicked him out, but this was simply God’s providential method moving him back to where he was supposed to be.
In all of this story, we continue to see God’s faithfulness. Abram starts off well, going into the land of promise and calling there on the name of the Lord. But he stumbles, stepping out of God’s revealed will and into Egypt. There he strays further, by putting his wife at risk in order to save his own skin. But is God’s plan ever in danger? No. Even though Abram sinned, the Lord brought him material prosperity. He continues to fulfill promises to Abram, even when Abram wasn’t walking in the path of obedience.
When we say salvation is by faith, we need to recognize that the most important thing about faith is not how strong or perfect our faith is, rather, it is whom we have placed our faith in. It is the object of our faith, not its strength, that ultimately matters most. Do you ever falter in your obedience to God? Do you ever stumble or turn from the path he has laid out in his word? Yes, you do. Don’t look inside and ask how your faith could be stronger. Look outside yourself to the faithful God. See the God who conquers unbelief by the power of his Holy Spirit. See the God who so loved the world, in its sin and rebellion - so loved you, in your sin and rebellion - that he gave his only Son. See the God who welcomes, and even blesses, sinners who repent of their sins, trust in Christ, and follow his call. Trust in the only True God: the faithful God of Abram, the faithful Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
