Famine and Faith

Well, this morning we continue on in Genesis chapter 12, and we are not going to do another deep dive into the promised land as we did last week, but we do want to keep that in mind because in our passage this morning, we're leaving the promised land and traveling down to Egypt in verses 10 through 20.

So we're continuing on, looking at the life of Abraham, picking up from chapter 12, beginning in verse 10.

And the first thing we read is that there was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Now notice that in verse 10, the word famine appears twice. There was a famine in the land.

The famine was severe in the land. This is a way of emphasizing just how drastic the conditions were, crop failure, drought, the water not coming, therefore the livestock not being able to thrive, in fact, perhaps perishing.

Abram had been, of course, wandering through this new land, building altars for the worship of God, waiting upon the promises of God to be realized, to unfold in this land that God had brought him to.

Part of that promise was that he would have an inheritance, a seed that would fill the land.

And from that inheritance, there would be the seed, the promised seed that brings us back to Genesis 3.

But now there's a famine in the land. We don't know exactly the timetable. We don't know how much time has transpired from when he first set foot in Canaan, but there's a famine in the land.

So there's all this momentum behind Abram. He marches triumphantly into Canaan. Remember he comes to Shechem and he builds an altar to God.

He's establishing the worship of God in this pagan land. He's claiming the promise of God, even though he cannot see it.

He's living it out by faith. He's trusting in the word of God and he's establishing the worship of God.

There's all this spiritual momentum that comes with him. God is really guiding me and he's made himself present and I know his presence.

He's revealed himself to me and so I'm going to build an altar here and journey more and build an altar there and journey more and build an altar here.

All these places where God's presence has been known, but now, that momentum begins to dwindle.

We don't read of God's presence because we don't read of Abram building any more altars. We don't see

God's blessing because the land is now barren. And so the blessing of God doesn't really seem to be coming to fruition, quite literally.

It's drying up and withering away. Perhaps then, Abram is beginning to look at God's promises as though they're not going to hold true.

Here I am in this land and I had all this momentum and things were going well, but now I don't even know how

I can stay in this land. Now there's a famine and it's so severe, I just don't even know how

I can continue to sojourn here. And so there's this parallel that we find with Abram and it's just like Israel.

You remember when God had all this momentum as he brought his people Israel out of Egypt and then he brought them into the desert.

And of course there they began to accuse Moses, have you led us out into the desert to die? There's no food.

We at least had food and water back in Egypt. Have you just brought us here to perish? Perhaps that's what some servants in Abram's household were saying.

Now we followed you all the way out of Haran and you brought us here to this land in the midst of a famine just to die?

How could God's promise hold true? Are you sure that God spoke to you? Are you sure that God promised you this?

Have you upset God? Has his promise now become void? The herds were compromised.

The land was vulnerable. The lack of water caused the crops to perish and fail.

It might have seemed that God was no longer going to bless Abram. The blessing was about the land and a seed within the land and through that an inheritance and it seems that because of this famine, all of that has gone up in smoke.

And so what does Abram do? We read, Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there.

Now remember that God's promise as we've been working our way through Genesis, God's promise has been resting on the line of Shem after Noah, right?

God wipes away the world and its wickedness due to sin and then he promises through Noah that his promise will be fulfilled in the line of Shem.

Remember the cursed son of Ham. Well the second son of this cursed Ham, his name is

Mitsrayim and that's where Abram goes to dwell. He goes to dwell in Mitsrayim or what we translate as Egypt.

So you literally have the promised son in the promised line of Shem with a promised inheritance and it's gone.

There's no fruition. There's a famine. He has to go to the son of the cursed Ham, into this land of the son of Ham, the inheritance of Ham.

That's where he has to travel down. And so it seems like the blessed one in fact has very little blessing and the cursed one is actually the one who's receiving the inheritance.

His land is full of plenty and provision. And yet we can still detect

Abram clinging to this promise. He doesn't go down to Egypt to settle. He goes down to dwell, to sojourn.

The verb there is related to our noun stranger. He's going to be a stranger. This is just a temporary fix.

He has no intention of settling down in Egypt even beyond the famine. It's only just for these excruciating times.

Now on this point there is some debate. Was it sinful for Abram to go down to Egypt?

Was it sinful for Abram to go down to Egypt? God had brought him into the promised land.

He had commanded him to go. He had made his presence known in the land and he attached his presence with promise.

We read of no command for Abram to leave. Was it sinful for him to go to Egypt?

Was it from a lack of faith that he left the land? Did his nerve begin to shake? Was he looking toward Egypt as it were the sequel to Babel?

The sequel to the city of man? Well, on the one hand, Egypt in the

Bible represents the epitome of the world. This is the next stage in the successive stages of the serpent kingdom.

In other words, this is the city of man. This is the Babel. This is man's answer. Man's way of managing

God's curse on the world. This is the consummate evil empire as it were. And if that's not true now, it will only become true as the story of Israel unfolds toward Exodus.

And so as F .B. Meyer points out, in the figurative language of Scripture, Egypt stands for alliance with the world, depending upon the arm of flesh, not upon the arm of the

Lord. Under different circumstances in the history of Israel, we read, for instance, in Isaiah 31, this rebuke of Israel for turning to Egypt.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help. Do you notice that phrase? Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, just like Abraham went down to Egypt for help.

And rely on horses who trust in chariots because there are many, and in horsemen because they're very strong, who do not look to the

Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord. Now the

Egyptians are men, Isaiah says, and not God. Their horses are flesh, not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down.

They will perish together. So the prophet is rebuking Israel because out of a fear of Assyria, they're turning to Egypt for help.

Let us go to Egypt for help. Let us make alliances and gain up support from them. And what is the prophet saying?

The Egyptians are not God. Their chariots are not spirit. If you go down to them for help,

I'm going to cause calamity on both of you. And historically, that's exactly what happened.

Egypt was crushed as Babylon crushed over Assyria and the kingdom of Israel and Egypt itself.

So this is on the one hand. On the other hand, there are times when God, in fact, calls

His people to go down to Egypt. We see this later on in Genesis with Jacob and his family.

There's a famine in the land again. And because of the story of Joseph, this very fascinating story that some year we're going to get to, maybe next year, he's right under Pharaoh in Egypt.

He's the second in command. And because of the visions that God has blessed him with, he's able to put aside food for this tremendous famine that has struck the land again.

And so God actually commands Jacob, go down to Egypt in a night vision. We read that in Genesis 46.

I am God, the God of your father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt because I'm going to make you a great nation there.

And look at, this is the beauty of God's command. I will go down with you to Egypt and I will surely bring you up again.

So here you have a command of God to go down to Egypt in a time of famine. In fact, God says,

I will be with you as you go. Now we move forward to the days of Jesus. In the ministry of Jesus, we find

Herod. He is the Pharaoh, I guess, of the first century. And he wants to crush the promised seed of God.

He wants to eliminate any threat to his power and his throne. And so you have what's famously called the massacre of the innocents.

In Matthew 2 .13, Joseph is warned of this. When they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise, take the young child with his mother, flee to Egypt, stay there until I bring you word.

You see, go to Egypt, seek help, seek shelter in Egypt. So here's this other argument, right?

On the one hand, woe to those who go down to Egypt. On the other, go to Egypt and do not fear to go to Egypt.

So was it a sin for Abram to go down to Egypt? Well, in my opinion, based on the narrative so far,

I think, yes, it was. Now, I'd be a little more careful than I'd say it was not necessarily a sin to go to Egypt, but it was a lack of faith that led to sin.

And Paul says, whatever's not of faith is sin. Now, let me build my case. It's easier to understand the norm of Israel's history as always being tempted to go to the city of man, to depend upon the arm of flesh.

And in this case, it's Egypt. The way that Genesis unfolds, whether it's through Jacob going down to Egypt or even the infant

Christ being brought down to Egypt to seek refuge, to seek provision, to seek protection, this is not because God has changed his mind.

Now going down to Egypt is a good thing, but rather because they're fulfilling the prophecies.

In other words, God has promised that he's going to provide, that he's going to establish, and it won't be the city of man.

It won't be Babel, Egypt, Babylon, or Rome. It's going to be God's way by God's means in God's timing.

And so when Jacob goes down, it's all part of this fulfillment of prophecy. Israel must be enslaved in this evil kingdom so that God can in might bring him out.

And so even Christ then is brought into Egypt so that like Israel, God by his might will bring him out.

So then we see it's not that God's going, sometimes it's good to go to Egypt, sometimes it's not. It's not good to go to Egypt.

And Christ, just like Joseph, is fulfilling this picture of God's deliverance.

So Matthew says in the very next verse, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the

Lord through the prophets saying, out of Egypt I called my son. You see? Israel is

God's son. Out of Egypt I called my son. And so as Jeff Thomas states, and I think this is right on,

Abram's departure was a loss of faith. His plan of action was addressing the wrong problem.

The problem was not the lack of bread. The problem was the lack of trust in the Lord. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

This was not the first famine in the land. It wouldn't be the last. Abram had learned to trust

God in less demanding times. Now he has to trust

God in tougher times when the heavens are like brass and he'll know that God will provide. But he doesn't cast himself on God's provision.

He chooses the easy way out. He goes down to Egypt. And because he goes down to Egypt, he almost destroys his marriage and he almost loses his life.

Now, Abram's loss of faith, I think, is why God rebukes Israel. It would be the same rebuke that Abram would have received if he had ears to hear it.

Isaiah 30 Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel, but not of Me, who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, who go down to Egypt and have not asked

My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

Therefore, the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame. Trusting in the shadow of Egypt will be your humiliation.

You see, I think here in Isaiah 30, Abraham is the echo in the background.

Israel does what Abram did in chapter 12. They go down. And looking for that protection under the shadow of Pharaoh, it becomes their shame.

So we see here this morning, I think, the father of faith, the father of all those who have faith, lose his faith.

Lose his faith. The earth dries up. It seems like God's promise is void.

He hasn't felt the presence in a while. There's a famine in the land. What am I going to do? How am I going to get myself out of this situation?

I'm going to go down to Egypt. Now, the principle that we find at the beginning here is this.

Often in the Christian life, trial follows blessing. Trial follows blessing.

You can take that as a principle of life in Christ. Trial follows blessing.

And some of you are cringing. You know, you've been blessed. You got that tax return. And you're going, you know, things are really great.

Everything's lining up. You got that promotion that you hoped for. And then you hear, trial follows blessing, and you're bracing for impact.

The way that God brings about trial is such a fascinating thing because no Christian ever regrets having gone through a trial.

Every Christian cringes and is anxious about being brought into trial. It's an amazing thing, isn't it?

I've never met a Christian. You could meet a Christian who's been through the worst things, unimaginable things.

Never met a Christian who says, you know, I wish none of that ever happened. I would be better off if none of that had ever happened.

I've never met a Christian who has that testimony. They might regret the consequences, the baggage, the damage, but they'll say,

God used it. God humbled me through it. God saved me through it. God keeps me close to him through it.

If they have any perspective at all on God's providence, they bless God for the trials he brings. Something that I think the world does not know.

The world cannot understand. And so, don't be alarmed when I say trial follows blessing.

Though I think we all are alarmed. I was just in preparing the sermon going, oh Lord, have I been tried lately?

It seems like it's been a while, uh -oh. What's 2021 going to hold? The Lord often sends a trial.

He brings us through a season of testing, and that often comes when he's moved powerfully or providentially in our lives.

It's this sort of automatic way that he proves his people. You know, he'll bring us to greener grass, and then as soon as we're like, ah, it's so much better here, we've found the pasture, it begins to dry up, it begins to shrivel.

Well, are we going to trust the hand that brought us here, or are we going to turn to our own devices? This is just the way that God proves his people.

He keeps our hearts loyal to him, trusting upon him and his word, not upon the things that we see, or the sense that we get of our trajectory in his providence.

Are we serving him just because things are going well? Boy, have I seen my share of people who've done that.

They received their healing, as Jesus explained, and, you know, did I not heal many?

Where are the others? Only you came back. I've seen that too many times to count. Someone whose marriage is falling apart, someone who's going through some personal crisis, or maybe they've had this addiction they cannot overcome.

Maybe they're going through this season of guilt because they've hit rock bottom and they're looking for any handout, and so we're all excited because they seem like that sprout that's shooting up.

Oh, they're talking about Jesus. They're coming to church. They're reading the scriptures. Oh, they're ready to be baptized. This is so wonderful.

But as soon as that heat comes up, that sprout, it shrivels. They were never looking for God. They were just looking for the blessing of God, the stability of God.

They were looking for God to order and arrange their lives. They were not looking for God. And so that's why the

Lord must test His people. He must prove them. He must check their hearts, check their loyalties.

He must strip away those things that they're depending upon until they find they're all in Him.

He does this so faithfully in our lives. He tests His people. What does the accuser constantly ask?

Does Job fear God for nothing? Of course Job is following you. Of course he's doing morning and evening sacrifice.

Look at how much you've patted this guy. He's got the life. Job doesn't fear you.

He just doesn't want to lose the blessings he has. Does Job fear God for nothing? And so trial follows blessing.

Sometimes, for this very reason, we're tempted to think that trial has come because we've sinned or because God is angry with us.

Now, that may be the case. It may be that trial has come because you're being disciplined.

You're being chastised. God is rebuking you, and so He's brought some trial, some hardship into your life that you'll be brought low and turn to Him in repentance.

Certainly, He disciplines the ones that He loves, like any good parent. But what we can infer from the story of Job and what we see here in Genesis 12,

I'm convinced, is that God brings trial in order to prove His people, and as He proves

His people, He's pruning His people. That's what Jesus says in John 15. I'm the true vine.

My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away.

But every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Now, notice the logic of this statement here. You would think He's pruning you because you have a lack of fruit in your life.

I've just been amiss lately. I've been far from God, to be honest. Sometimes I think

I'm just praying to myself out loud. Yeah, I'm distant from the Lord. No wonder He's gonna start pruning me.

Well, you haven't understood what Jesus just said. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, you see?

So who does He prune? My things are really connecting for me. I really feel closer to God than ever.

I just feel like He's been moving in my life and in my family lately. I feel closer to God than I ever have before. Bring out the shears.

It's time for some pruning. God is going to make you even more fruitful. He prunes the branches that bear fruit, do you see?

Sometimes it's not the lack of fruit that brings trial into the Christian's life. It's, in fact, the presence of fruit.

It's the abundance of fruit. And I hope that's an encouragement. If perhaps someone here is in that season of trial and you're tempted to think because the accuser never stops accusing, oh, of course this has come.

Look how fickle you've been. Look how wayward you've been. Look how cold you've been. Look how rebellious you've been.

Of course He's brought this trial into your life. It may be that you were exhibiting such fruit that the vinedresser decided to prune you.

Every branch that is fruitful, God cuts. He brings a trial.

He brings a test. He brings that furnace of affliction. But He's present in the midst of it.

And His goal is good. It's to make you more fruitful, more joyous, more humble, more close.

And this is what God is seeking to do in Abram's life. You know, Abram has been trusting God. By faith he left

Haran and now he's dwelling as a sojourner, living by the promise of God in this land of Canaan.

And yet he still has this dependence upon the flesh. He still has these ways of scheming and manipulating, as we'll see in a few verses.

He's still very self -reliant. And he still has a fear of man. Who wouldn't, given his situation?

He's been cut off from his community and his support network. He has no friends, no relatives outside of those dwelling in his tents.

No wonder he feels vulnerable to the Canaanites and to the Egyptians. All these old attitudes

God is going to prune away so that Abram can be made more faithful. And we're going to see that as the chapters unfold.

And so we read the predicament. As Abram is traveling down to Egypt, turning as it were to depend upon the arm of flesh, not seeking or beseeching the

Lord, it came to pass as he's closing into Egypt, you can imagine his mind going back and forth.

And I'm just going to trust the Lord. I'm just going to trust the Lord. And he starts seeing the towers and the buildings and the cities.

And he sees the smoke and the smells from afar. And his fears get the best of him. And he turns to his wife and says, indeed

I know you're a woman of beautiful countenance. Let's just pause here for a moment.

There was a rabbinical commentary. It's amazing how much material the rabbis have on Genesis 12.

And on Sarai's beauty and what's taking place here with Pharaoh and his household.

There's a rabbinical commentary, what you'd call a midrash, sort of an elaboration or an exposition.

And a lot of times these rabbinical commentaries, they lay hold of Jewish legends. And there's a

Jewish legend from this midrash on Genesis, a midrash Genesis Rabbah, rabbinical commentary on Genesis.

And this is what it states about Sarai's beauty. It came to pass when Abram was coming into Egypt, where was

Sarai? He had put her in a box and locked her in it. Not exactly husband of the year. When he came to the customs house, the official demanded pay the custom due.

I will pay, he replied. You carry garments in the box? I will pay the dues on garments, he said.

You're carrying silks, he asserted. I'll pay on silks. You're carrying precious stones. I will pay on precious stones.

Now the customs official's going, what in the world do you have in this box? It's imperative that you open it.

You see, he keeps raising the stakes. Open it to prove it to me unless you want to pay more. It's imperative that you open it so we can see what it contains.

And as soon as he opened it, Egypt was illumined with her radiance. So the rabbis said

Sarai was more beautiful than Eve. If we're gonna be a little cruel to the Egyptian women, they said that Sarai's beauty made all the

Egyptian wives look like monkeys. So there you have it. Now that seems to be more legend than truth.

I'm sure there were fair daughters in Egypt and I don't think Sarai is that renowned, but she would have been different and that would have been exotic and we can understand why

Pharaoh would desire to have her in his royal harem. But look at Abram's complaint, verse 12.

It will happen. When the Egyptians see you, they'll say, this is his wife and they're gonna kill me. But they'll let you live.

So this is what's bouncing around in Abram's mind. They're gonna kill me, they're gonna take her. They're gonna want to marry her.

She's beautiful and they're just gonna kill me. They're just gonna off me. I'm just a stranger. They could care less. The Egyptians seem to be willing to murder rather than commit adultery.

This is a pretty common thing. We saw it with David in Bathsheba, didn't we? Murder first and then take what you want.

This is sort of the way of rulers, the way of kings. The later historian Josephus, who's commenting on the

Egyptians, said they were so full of desire for women, they became wild with passion. And this is Abram's fear.

They're gonna become wild with passion for my wife. They're just gonna kill me and marry her and that's that. Now, what happened to the faith of Abram?

What happened to the faith of Abram? It was rock solid when he was at the great tree of Shechem building an altar over against the shrines of the false gods.

It was rock solid when God's presence was there, but all it took was a famine.

And now, leaving that land of promise and going into just depending on himself, how am I gonna get out of this one?

What am I going to do? This is what's going to happen to me. We know how the Egyptians are and this is what they're going to do to me,

Sarah. You have to help me out. Notice how he frames his thoughts. Therefore, it will happen when the

Egyptians see you. They will say, this is his wife, they will kill me. These are all absolute actions.

They will do this, they will say this, this will happen. Do you notice how his whole mind frame has shifted away from the promises of God?

It will happen, they will say this, they will kill me. That's contradicting how God gave his promises to Abram.

I will take you, I will give you, I will bless you. Do you see? It's a direct contradiction to God.

He's replacing God's I will promises with his fearful thoughts of they will, they will, they will.

God's concrete promises have been ignored and things that haven't even happened yet are made concrete in his mind.

This is what will happen to me. Abram is allowing his anxiety to become a prophecy.

This is what's going to happen. His anxiety has become a false prophet and he's heeding that false prophet's voice.

Verse 13, please say you're my sister that it may be well with me for your sake and that I may live because of you.

So notice that he's putting his life in his own hands really, in his scheme.

He's saying if we can manipulate in this way, if I can scheme in this way, this will save my life. Now his life is no longer in God's hands.

He's even turning to his wife, save me Sarai, save me. I don't really care what happens to you. I just want to save me.

Again, if she's coming out of the box on that journey, not exactly husband of the year. Bruce Waltke, a great commentator, he says

Abram reasons that her defilement is better than his death. Now that is not the way of Christ, is it?

According to Ephesians 5, Christ willingly takes death so that his bride is made pure, holy.

It's the opposite of Abram, isn't it? It's anti -Abram. I'd rather my wife be defiled, made filthy, made unholy, and spare my life.

And Christ says no, exactly the opposite. I give my life so that my wife may be cleansed, may be made holy.

The philosophy of the world is better defiled than dead, isn't it? But that's not how you're gonna build worship to Yahweh in the land of promise.

Better defiled by paganism and idolatry than dead. I don't wanna ruffle any feathers. Abram came in, guns blazing, building altars to Yahweh.

Even though the Canaanites were all over the land, he just trusted God was going to protect him. And that it was true, his children would come.

Sarai would not be barren. They would fill the land and these Canaanites would be gone. He really trusted that.

He was really living out that. But here he is in Egypt and all of this is up for grabs. Now he's even willing to throw away the promise of God that Sarai will bear his seed in this land.

Now, we have to be a little careful about how Abram's scheme comes to pass. First of all,

Abram was telling half of a truth. We read in Genesis 20 that Sarai was in fact his half -sister.

So it's a half -truth. They had the same father but different mothers. And really it seems like Abram's whole plan was not to go in and marry her off to Pharaoh.

He never could have predicted that. His plan was very simple. The Egyptians are gonna see that you're beautiful. They're gonna kill me and take you for a wife.

But if I am your brother, they have to negotiate with me to marry you. That's the honorable thing to do.

They'd have no reason to kill me. I'm not a threat or a competitor. And so they'll come to me and say, I want to take

Sarai for my wife. Name your price. And I'll be able to stall and negotiate. And hopefully I can stall long enough that the famine will end and we'll go back to the land.

That seems to be his plan. We see this, for instance, with Laban. Laban is Rebecca's brother.

But the negotiation for the marriage takes place between Laban. But as we'll see, this little plan that was so carefully devised goes up in smoke.

Because while you can negotiate and stall with other Egyptians, you can't do that with the ruler of Egypt.

You can't do that with Pharaoh. Pharaoh doesn't negotiate. He just takes.

He takes what he wants. In this case, he wants Sarai. And so Abram's plan, before he can even react, goes up in smoke.

Verse 14 and 15. So it was when Abram came into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

Abram's careful planning is thrown out the window. She's basically abducted. Negotiations do not take place.

He cannot stall. She's taken into the house of Pharaoh. The house of Pharaoh here is not white picket fence, two -story cape, it's a palace.

And she's in the quarters that belong to the royal harem. She's going to become a concubine. Now we have an example of this in Esther chapter two.

It's a different culture, different kingdom, different period, but the same general concept applies.

We read in Esther two about Esther being prepared to be a consort, a concubine to the

Persian king, Ahasuerus. So it was when the king's command and decree were heard, many young women were gathered at Shushan, the citadel, under the custody of Haggai.

That's not Haggai the prophet, that's Haggai the eunuch. That Esther also was taken to the king's palace into the care of Haggai, the custodian of the women.

Now the young woman pleased him. And she obtained his favor, so he readily gave beauty preparations for her besides her allowance.

Then seven choice maidservants provided for her. And he moved her from the maidservants to the best place in the house of women.

So this would be the harem. Each young woman's turn came in to go to King Ahasuerus after she had completed 12 months preparation according to the regulations for the women, and thus were the days of their preparation apportioned.

Six months with oil of myrrh, six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.

Again, different culture, different context, but this is kind of what Sarai could expect.

I'm gonna be in this harem, I'm gonna have a period of preparation, I'm gonna be living the spa life to be given over to Pharaoh to become a concubine to this ruler.

What about the promise of God that I would bear Abram a seed and fill this land that we have now left because it's barren?

Well, maybe this is just God's intention. Maybe this is just God's way. God, in fact, is providentially preserving.

If there was a lot of pressure put on Abram just from a normal Egyptian, the stakes would have been higher and maybe things could have happened faster, but the fact that she has to be prepared, it buys some time, that she's gonna be off limits, she's only being dealt with by eunuchs, she's being prepared.

And so verse 16, we read, Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

That's being treated very well in the ancient Near East. Now, this isn't just meant to record generosity of Pharaoh toward Abram.

This is really a bride price. I've taken her, I realize you're her brother, here's a bunch of good stuff.

She'll become mine. She's gonna be my possession now. It's not necessarily a formal marriage. She's becoming a concubine, but he pays a bride price, as it were.

Now, you can discern just how wealthy Pharaoh is by the gifts that he's given. R. Kent Hughes, in his commentary, mentions that female donkeys were prized.

This is, again, going back into an ancient Near Eastern mindset. It seems rather strange to us. If you go home and tell your wife, you're worth at least 15 female donkeys to me.

That would have been a compliment several thousand years ago. Probably more of an insult today. Female donkeys were far more controllable, dependable for riding, therefore the ride of choice for the elite.

These were the Lexuses, the BMWs along the Nile. Camels were even better.

He says they were prestige symbols. Show for the very rich, not for utility.

I remember driving up 128 not that long ago. I don't know why guys have this weird complex that we just know cars, you know, and have an interest in cars.

I'm not even a car guy, and I'm like, when I see a certain car, it's just like, whoa. And there was this bright orange

Lamborghini Aventador on a flatbed, and it was just like, wow. I'm taking pictures of, you know. I don't even really like cars.

I don't know anything about that car, but it's just like, look at the power and the craftsmanship and just the unique luxury of this car, right?

That would have been like a camel. And Abram doesn't just get one, he gets several. He gets several camels, so he's got a fleet of supercars.

He's living very large, and Pharaoh is just showing, this is how much power and wealth I have, and yeah,

I took your sister, as far as he knows, and look at it, it's gonna go well for you here. Now, doesn't that seem like a better alternative than a promised land that is barren?

These are the choices, you know. I can dwell in this land. It's full of Canaanites, and it's barren. I can't even feed my own cattle, but I come down to Egypt, and I'm in the lap of luxury.

I've got herds being thrown at me, servants being given over to me. I'm living large in Egypt.

Surely, this would be God's path for me. Surely, this is what God wants for me. Surely, I'm being blessed, but what good are these gifts?

What good are these symbols for Abram to lose his wife? He's lost the very one that God had promised would be the mother of the promised seed, the mother of his inheritance, the one through whom he would be a blessing to the earth.

And so, again, we go back to Genesis 3, and we see sin separating a man from his wife because of fear and because of sin, and sinful disobedience.

Sarai's gone, and all that Abram has to show for this is sheep and donkeys and camels.

Not a good trade. Not a good trade for the promise of God. Picture Abram smiling and sitting on his growing pile of riches, living it up.

This is what he wanted, right? Lie so that it would go well with me. Well, from the world's eyes, it's going pretty well for you,

Abram. This is more than you could have hoped for. But, of course, all this pleasure is rocked with guilt.

His wife is on the verge of being defiled, and he might never see her again, and therefore, he'll never see the promise of God realized.

And so, all these riches would have been like Judas's silver. It would have been sickening to him. Remember how

Judas betrayed Christ for a bag of silver, and he couldn't even spend it. He threw it back, and out of guilt and torment, he hung himself.

Now, we can picture Abram, perhaps, praying for his wife. That's always a difficult situation.

You're in sin, you're sinning, and you're praying for God to help you out of your sin. What he doesn't do is he doesn't repent.

If he's repenting to the Lord, he certainly doesn't repent to Pharaoh. He doesn't say, it's all been a lie, it's all been a scam.

Please, please, please don't do this. Please, this is my wife. Punish me, send me away.

Just please do not do this. He doesn't repent. He doesn't expose himself.

He doesn't go to Pharaoh on his knees in sackcloth and ashes, pleading for mercy. He doesn't do any of that.

If he's praying, and we don't know that he is, if he's praying, he's asking for God to help him out of his sin, and he's totally helpless.

But because of the grace of God, because of the promise of God, because God has promised

Abram at his own word, at his own expense, even Abram, in his sinful disobedience and distrust, cannot overthrow the promise of God.

So God acts, verse 17. The Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, Abram's wife.

Famine, great famine, plague, great plagues. This is the emphasis, great plagues fell upon Pharaoh's house.

Things were going really well. We had a lot of camels, a lot of servants, a lot of palaces, and all of a sudden, this sojourner comes, and I bring

Sarai into my harem, and now my whole house is plagued. He puts two and two together pretty quickly.

Something is up. The Lord sent these plagues, notice, because of Sarai. Isn't that a beautiful little note?

Beautiful little note, isn't it? You know, in our culture, there's all this criticism of patriarchy in religion, right?

Patriarchalism in religion. And so the sacred text, the Bible, that's seen as the artifact of patriarchalism, right?

The artifact of misogyny. Women aren't even named. They're just off to the side.

They're expendable. They're like property. And this is the sort of feminist critique of Scripture. Can I just point out to you that the

Lord plagued Pharaoh because of Sarai in spite of Abram? It was because of Sarai, because of God's devotion and loyalty to Sarai.

We're gonna see that again, this intimacy that the Lord has with Sarai. When she laughs and he says, oh, you laughed, oh,

I did not laugh. Oh, but you did laugh. There's this almost playfulness he has with Sarai.

It's a beautiful emblem of the intimacy of God's promise. Though the covenant comes through Abram, he is a personal covenantal

God to Abram's wife. And because of Abram's wife, he plagues the house of Pharaoh.

Now, if you look at the comparison between what we began Genesis 12 with, it seems like Abram is all action, all trust in the

Lord. God calls Abram, Abram goes. He goes into the promised lands. He builds altars.

But what's happening in the second half? His faith is completely gone. He's concocting a scheme on his own. He's getting rich now, and it's been the worst possible disaster, and God has come to the rescue, verse 18 and 19.

Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you've done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife?

Why did you say she's my sister? I might have taken her as my wife. Now, therefore, here is your wife.

Take her. Go your way. You know, it's sad when a child of God is rebuked by a child of the world.

Abram was supposed to be the one that would bring the nations to the light of the knowledge of God.

And here, Pharaoh is acting more justly than him. Pharaoh has more integrity than him. We know, as we will see, this is unfortunately only part one of Abram's deception in regards to a mighty ruler and Sarai, his wife.

We'll see that it wasn't Pharaoh's integrity in his own heart, but it was rather God who restrained him. But it's sad.

Abram was meant to be this light to the nations and a blessing to the earth, and here he's being rebuked by the pagan ruler of Ham's kingdom.

Talk about going down to Egypt. He's the one man that God chose to be a blessing to the earth, but because of his disobedience, he's being humbled, he's being rebuked by Pharaoh.

And look at the language here. What have you done? Does that sound familiar to you? Does that sound like something we've seen in Genesis?

We have this echo of the Garden of Eden, don't we? They saw that Sarai was beautiful.

They saw her and they took her. And when all of this is exposed, Pharaoh becomes almost

God -like in this narrative. What is this you have done? He's searching out Abram, who's meant to be this next

Adam, meant to be the son of God, as it were. What is this you have done? So we see this great fall, the fall of Abram, the collapse of Abram.

And if we had all this hope that he was going to be the one, it's dashed here. What is this you have done?

Now he's fallen, too. Now he's fallen, too. So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

There's this little redemptive uptick in verse 20, this little echo. Sent him away with all that he had.

What we understand is with all that was given to him, right? All that he had was all the things that were given to him.

How much had he lost because of the famine? He probably doubled, tripled, quadrupled it in Egypt, just from Pharaoh's gifts.

He comes down in poverty and in need, and I think he leaves with abundance. Go with everything you have.

There's an older, older biblical commentator, J .B. Lightfoot, and he surmised from Genesis 43 that it was because of this very episode that the

Egyptians, even many hundreds of years later, they would not even sit to eat with Hebrews. Because we read in Genesis 43, the

Egyptians find it disgusting or distasteful to eat with Hebrews. It could have been from this very episode. Just get out of here.

Go and take everything with you. That should sound very familiar to us in the Exodus story. Just go.

Moses says, get some gold, get some jewelry while you can, and so they plunder Egypt on their way out. Just go, just get out, take whatever you want, just leave us alone.

So we find this repetition, don't we, of the story of Israel and the life of Abram. Here they were in this nation in the same way.

God moves and he sends plagues, and because he sends plagues, they're delivered and they're brought up out of Egypt, and on their way out, they're plundering.

They're leaving better off than they came in. You see, it's the same story echoed out.

The whole episode then moves to this future judgment upon Egypt, and the covenant promise being upheld by God and by God alone.

It's not by the people's faithfulness. It's not by Abram's faithfulness. It's by God's faithfulness to his covenant.

That's how the promise continues. What we're also gonna see is that this plunder, this wealth, it has ripple effects of sin.

That's gonna bring us into chapter 13 next week. He comes back into this land, this misstep, this stumble, this fall in Egypt, it's gonna cost him dearly.

It didn't just cost him his pride when he was humbled by the rebuke of Pharaoh. Maybe he lost respect in the eyes of his wife, and certainly he had been chastised and had to be brought to his knees by the

Lord, but the consequences of his sin, they don't end here. It's not just a happy trip whistling back to Canaan.

We're gonna see in chapter 13 that as a result of this wealth, there's all sorts of sin that's going to spiral, and it's gonna divide

Abram and Lot, and Abram's going to learn a very hard lesson from this. In fact, we see, just a preview of this, we see that Abram does learn this lesson.

Remember that he gets Hagar in Egypt. Hagar is a maidservant given to him, Hagar the

Egyptian. That's gonna be a sword in the family, isn't it? A sword that has continued throughout human history in the descendants of Ishmael.

This is all being connected back to this episode in Genesis 12, but he learns this lesson in chapter 14 after he delivers

Lot, and we read of the king of Sodom trying to give him wealth. Look at what Abram says.

I've raised my hand to the Lord, God most high, creator of heaven and earth. I have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread, not even the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say

I made Abram rich. Where did that come from? Where did this principled resistance to a ruler's wealth come from?

It was from Genesis chapter 12. It was from this episode in Egypt. He left with his tail between his legs and his head hanging low, saying never again, never again, never again will

I do this, and we'll see if that resolve carries through. Let's look at some applications as we come to a close.

The first application is this. The God who so abundantly blesses his people is also the

God who providentially brings famine. It's the same God and the same sovereignty and the same promise in the midst of both.

The God who abundantly blesses his people is also the God who brings about famine because he seeks to test his people and to prove them, for them to trust his promise even when they cannot see it.

Even when circumstances seem to be going against it, they still have to trust him and they still have to walk according to his word.

They have to actually have a reverence for him that goes beyond what they can see, that goes beyond their stomach growling.

They have to understand that he is faithful, he will provide. We see that certainly in the life of Christ, don't we?

When he has his desert testing, as it were, and everything is buried and there's no food, he depends upon the word of the

Lord. He trusts his father. My father wants me to eat, he'll provide. You must not want me to eat. And he's tested and he's tried by the serpent who throws all the wealth, not just camels and female donkeys, but kingdoms before him.

All of the kingdoms of the world I'll give to you. You just betray your wife. Let me defile her.

Then you won't have to die. You can rule, you can be a little ruler under me. See, I'm the pharaoh in this scenario.

Just betray your wife. Don't cleanse her, she's rebellious anyway. Don't cleanse her, don't make her holy.

I'll give you the kingdoms of the world. Abram trusts himself.

He trusts his own cunning and notice how quickly he loses control. This is what I'm going to do. This is how

I'll manipulate it because I'm certain that this is what's going to happen. So that was the false prophecy. This is what's going to happen to me.

Therefore, this is what I'm going to do. In both cases, he was wrong. He had no idea that that would actually happen and he had no control over what he could do to withstand it.

He was wrong. He thought he could manipulate the Egyptians. Pharaoh trumped him. Pharaoh just took what he wanted and Abram was left with nothing.

And yet God blessed Abram, even though he disobeyed, even though he doubted, God continued to protect

Abram despite Abram. Isn't that the most amazing part of this whole story? He doesn't say, well,

I thought you were the one. He doesn't say, well, you know, obviously now I'm not going to fulfill my end of my promises to you.

I didn't think you were a man like this. I thought that after me guiding you into this land and you beginning to step on it, that you weren't going to do these kinds of things.

Well, if that was true of Abram, how much more true is that today for us, brothers and sisters? That it's not our faithfulness and it's not our faithlessness that causes

God's promise to be true for us. It's Christ. Christ is the surety of the promise.

Christ is the yes and amen. And so it's all for the sake of Christ. God's not arbitrary here.

God's not arbitrary. Oh, no big deal. You doubted me, no big deal. I'll clean up this little mess in Egypt, come back to the land.

You know, I'm kind, I'm loving. It's all for the sake of Christ, isn't it? God can only be loyal to Abram.

God can only uphold this promise to a disobedient Abram or a disobedient you or I because Christ ultimately will pay for it on the cross.

Christ ultimately will satisfy it on the cross. Another parallel we have seen already is

Abram coming out of Egypt by God's power and Israel coming out of Egypt by God's power.

And so God's promise remains true that a savior is going to come and that's why he's faithful, it's because of Christ.

And so though Christ is in that wilderness without food, he trusts God and he's even fed by angels. Don't you know

Abram would have been fed by angels had he trusted in the Lord? If not angels, then ravens, but God feeds his people.

And so we have to ask the question, what about us and what about our great men and great women, exemplars of the faith and they fall like Abram fell and we ask if they fell, is there any hope for someone like me?

I was daydreaming about being a Christian like them and they fell and so what possible hope is there for me?

And again, God allows these falls so that we don't trust on ourselves, we don't trust in the best examples among us, we only trust in Christ, we only trust in Christ.

Abram falls, David falls, Peter falls. These are all models that we imitate, the whole gallery of Hebrews 11 are models that we imitate and yet they all even in their failures point us to Christ who never failed and will never fail for he cannot deny himself.

And so he is the faithful son, he is God's son, the true Israel, the true Abram, the true Adam. He fulfills where they fell short and this is meant to be an encouragement to us that we fix our eyes on Christ and that prevents us from doubting and straying down into Egypt and also when we're in the midst of Egypt, gives us every hope and confidence to be delivered from it, to be brought forth again by the word of the

Lord. And so this is what the writer of Hebrews says to such Christians, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Jesus authored the faith of Abram, he wrote it, he wrote it out.

And though Abram departs and dwells down in Egypt, Christ perfects it, he restores him.

Abram is humbled by it, never again will I accept wealth from a ruler, I made an oath to God. He learns from that bitterness, from that sorrow, he learns and his faith is renewed, his resolve is renewed.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

You see, we consider him so that though there's a famine in the land, we don't grow weary, we don't lose heart, we consider him, we consider his example.

God knows there's some here this morning who are in the midst of a famine and they're growing weary and they're very discouraged, consider him, don't just consider

Abram, consider Christ, consider Christ, the author and the perfecter of your faith.

If you don't consider him, you're going to grow weary, you're gonna lose heart, you're gonna doubt the promises of God.

Of course you can't see them yet. We're called to live the life of faith. We all behave at times like Abram, we doubt, we defy, we manipulate, we deceive and I guess the final note, the final application is where sin abounds,

God's grace abounds even more. This is the story of everyone who's hidden in Christ.

Where sin abounds, the grace of God super abounds. It abounds even more, that means that at the level of our hostile neighbors or opposition in the workplace or family members who ridicule us or are distant from us, it's at that level all the way up to the principalities and powers.

Wherever opposition and hostility are and wherever personal sin abounds, God's grace super abounds in the lives of his people.

We are always just arms lengths away from angels feeding or plagues being sent upon Pharaoh.

God delivers his people and he sustains his people. We can only come to know the ways that God has delivered his martyrs throughout the world.

People that are suffering persecution even today. We don't hear their stories but someday we will. We'll sit three trillion years into the future in a new heavens and new earth and share the stories of God's deliverance, of his grace.

Of similar stories just like Genesis 12. And so, brother and sister, if you're in a mess this morning, you carefully strategize and things did not go the way you planned.

In fact, it all crumbled. And you've contained what damage you could, you don't want too much to be known.

Maybe only people in your home know how much is imploded and even then, not that much. Don't turn to the arm of flesh, don't look to yourself.

Don't do what Abram did. Turn to God, look to God's deliverance. Do what

God says to do. Trust, obey. Sometimes the best way to get out of a crumbled mess is just to take that step out of that darkness and into light.

Just expose, what do you have to lose? If Abram were to have repented, it would have been coming to Pharaoh and saying,

I'm trusting God, what do I have to lose? My life is in his hand. He made a promise on me, Pharaoh, here's the deal.

Here it is, here's the whole truth. Nothing but the truth. That's trusting in God. That's trusting and obeying

God. That's coming out of the mess of a situation and restoring faith in God and knowing that he will deliver.

And for someone who's been cleansed, for someone who's truly repented with God, that cleansing is so powerful, so rich, they have the boldness and the freedom, in fact, even the desire to come forward in that way.

You know what it's like when someone comes to Christ, isn't it? It's like we have to try to muzzle them from sharing too much about what was in that darkness.

It's like, and then I did this and I used to do that and I just was like, okay, all right, well, okay, thank you for the testimony time. That's enough for now.

They're so bold, so free, so delivered that this is not who I am anymore. These things don't define me anymore.

This is not my identity anymore. Christ has saved me from this. Beautiful that God gives us testimonies like this.

Are we not trusting in him when we keep so much hidden? Are we not depending on ourselves when we scheme and manipulate?

Consider him, consider him. We cry out to God to pour his strength into our lives by his spirit so that we can walk uprightly and consistently and have a godly life that's filled with this mercy, mercy that is so liberating, so freeing.

Oh, that you would know that this morning, brother or sister, stranger to grace, that you would know that.

Consider him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for your promises which are sure even when we are unsure, unstable, full of doubt, fickle, plagued by anxieties that we take to be prophecies, plagued by a desire to be protected even if the way is through disobedience, plagued,

Lord, by a dependence and a self -reliance and a pursuit of comfort rather than by the light and the joy and the freedom that comes from knowing you and seeking you, not what you can give but,

Lord, who you are and finding our lives hidden in you, making you our refuge, not going to the shadow of Egypt, whatever that Egypt might be.

Lord, you know by your spirit those places and ways that we're tempted to go down to Egypt.

Make it clear to each one of us here. Show us where we're relying on ourselves and not on you.

Show us, Lord, where there's a famine in our soul. We're not trusting the word of God.

Help us, Lord, to have the courage to bear fruit, Lord, and to have even more courage when you're pruning us.

Help us to shine through the trials and tests that you bring, not because we're capable and in and of ourselves, but because we cling to Christ through it all as he bears us through.

Help us, Lord, to consider him. And as we consider him, Lord, to become more like him.

Help us to learn from the great faults and follies of the faithful that have walked before us and their testimony to the faithfulness of the one who is faultless.

The husband, Lord, who gave his own life for the purity of a wife who was already defiled, that he might cleanse her and wash her and make her holy.

We, being that bride here today, Lord, we ask for your presence and your help. Make your promise sure in our lives.

And we ask, Lord, if there's a stranger to your grace, someone who does not know you, who could only cry to you from afar, that in that crying this morning, you would become near, that you would draw them even to yourself.