Genesis 12:10-20 • Be careful who you pick to be your hero

► "Be careful who you pick to be your hero." What do I mean by saying that? We have a tendency, I think, to place people we look up to, for whatever reason, on a pedestal. To put them in the spotlight, at least in our view, as someone to look up to, as someone who can do no wrong. Stories of the brave soldiers fighting for our freedom. Of the knight in shining armor. Of the young lad who faces and defeats the giant. Probably not a good idea to look too closely, at least if you want to preserve the image of them in your mind. You might find that the brave soldier isn't necessarily doing what he does because of a code or ethic that allows him to face danger. You might find that he's doing it for the money or the job security. That knight might look extremely dashing, the early morning sunlight gleaming off of his polished armor while he sits upon his noble steed. But underneath he's hairy, sweaty, and smelly! And that young lad, while brave and focused in his youth might just become an adulterer and a murderer.

► Why do I bring all this up?

► In our last passage, we introduced a new hero. Abram, soon to be renamed Abraham. A man of faith - trusting in God. A man of obedience - packing his bags when God said to go. A man of adventure - following a path, the end destination he has not yet seen.

► But as with all heroes, eventually we will see them in their dirty underwear, scratching their butt. And today, we are going to see our hero fail - miserably.

► Up to this point, everything we've seen about Abram has been noble. Family oriented, submissive to his father, taking care of his nephew, attending to his father when he was at death's door, following God's leading.

► But today, he fails.

► In the first part of chapter 12 (Gen 12:1-9) we saw Abram continue the journey from Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan after the delay while his father passed away in Haran. God promised him 3 things...

→ 1st • Land – God promises Abram the possession of land.

→ 2nd • A Great Nation – i.e., lots and lots of family members. Abram the childless will have an uncountable number of descendants.

→ 3rd • Blessing – both blessings received and blessings for others that will emanate from his family. Most importantly we understand that the most significant of those blessings is Jesus Christ Himself, and the salvation He provides for anyone who will trust in Him.

► It seems to me that it would be pretty hard to lose focus when the Creator God is visiting with you personally and telling you "Everything's gonna be GREAT!!!" Even with God's personal assurances, Abram is going to give in to fear. Fear can make a person do some really stupid things, as we will soon find out. Read on...

Genesis 12:9-13 → "9Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. 10Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

► I actually backed up to verse 9 where it talked Abram moving to the "Negev". Negev in Hebrew literally means the south country.

► And we'll see why in verse 10. His motivation was famine. At this time in Canaan, there is not enough food for everyone to eat. Or maybe we should say everything. They could have always eaten the sheep, but that's like eating your restaurant when there's no supplies to fill it. It might fill you up now, but later you won't have a job!

► In verses 11-13, as they kept moving south in search of food, they got close to Egypt. Apparently Egypt had a reputation for taking wives and killing husbands, because that is what Abram is afraid of. Abram convinces Sarai, who even at the age of 65 is so beautiful, to tell the Egyptians that she is Abram's sister, not his wife. Abram figures he's a dead man if they find out they're married.

• If Abram was so concerned about this, why did he even go near there?

• Where are all the servants? Aren't any of them capable of protecting Abram?

• Have they wandered off alone for some strange reason?

► Let's read on.

Genesis 12:14-16 → "14It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels."

► Well perhaps Abram's fears were justified. While there is no mention of any potential violence, her appearance was significant enough that not only was she taken, but she was taken for Pharoah, the leader of Egypt. And quite the opposite effect for Abram. Instead of being killed, he was treated well and was paid with sheep, oxen, donkeys, female donkeys (donkeys are listed twice - did he get extra females?), camels, and male and female servants. I wonder if Abram started looking around to see if he had any other beautiful wives hanging around he could also sell! If he didn't have enough to feed his flocks, now it's going to be worse.

Genesis 12:17-20 → "17But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why 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.” 20Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him."

► There must have been some words for Pharaoh, perhaps from the LORD Himself, perhaps from an angel, something that would give clarity of the significance of the situation. Obviously, the plagues, apparently confined to those who dwelt in Pharoah's house, would allow that something unique to that great house was amiss. But I'm guessing that words were said that made it very clear to Pharoah, that not only was Sarai actually Abram's wife, but that she was more significant to God than even Abram yet understood. Her child was going to be in the line of Christ, and her child was to come through Abram and Abram alone. Not from anyone else. When Pharoah confronts Abram, if I was Abram, I think I would feel great shame. Shame for my lie, shame for how little regard I showed to my wife, shame for how i had let God down by my behavior. In this instance, Pharoah stands with more integrity than Abram.

► It's easy, when looking in hindsight, to think ill of Abram. But I think the reality is that I probably wouldn't have performed any better, had I been in his place. Obviously, our world today is much different than during the time when Abram lived. But I think there are lots of times when I don't speak when I ought. When I live in a way that doesn't show any difference in my life that says that I'm a follower of Jesus. When I actually do, or think, or say, something that is so totally opposed to what Jesus would want from me, that it totally destroys any credibility that I might have to share about Jesus. One can become so consumed with the failure in our lives that we just give up. BUT... God is ready and able to forgive. In fact, when Jesus came the first time, He came to save us. Yes, we still fail, but those failures have already been dealt with at the cross. We will see Abram fail again. In fact, he will do this very same thing another time, with the leader of yet another country. But what we will soon see in Abram's life, is that it is not how well we behave that puts us on a right standing with God. It is by our faith in God, even in light of our constant failures, we are declared as righteous. When we understand that there is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to be declared right with God, but only by trusting in what He did for us that we can be saved, then it comes. Salvation.

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Photo • 2/13/2024 - Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, CA

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