Primary Bible Passages: Genesis 12:4-13:18

Key Verse: Genesis 13:9

Memory Verse: Genesis 12:8

Preparatory Daily Bible Readings:

Monday: Genesis 12:4-13:18
Tuesday: Genesis 10:6; 15-19; Genesis 20:12; Genesis 16
Wednesday: I Corinthians 10:12; II Samuel 12:14; Matthew 5:16
Thursday: I John 1:9; Proverbs 29:13; Psalm 51:17
Friday: II Peter 2:6-8
Saturday: Ezekiel 20:33-38; Ezekiel 48
Sunday: II Corinthians 12:7-10; I Peter 1:6-7; Romans 4:11

I. ABRAM’S (ABRAHAM’S) RESPONSE TO GOD’S CALL. (Genesis 12:4-9)

A. At the call of God (Genesis 12:1-3), Abram, along with his wife and nephew, took all his possessions and travelled from Haran to Canaan, a southwesterly journey of approximately 400 miles.

1. While in Haran, Abram had been very prosperous in the possession of both material goods and servants. (Genesis 12:5) This and multiple other testimonials to the free enterprise system should not be overlooked. From the beginning, personal initiative and the private ownership of property are assumed in scripture. There was no communal, socialistic system with ownership by the state.

2. Abram’s first stop in the land which God had promised to give him was at the Canaanite village of Sichem (Shechem). The Canaanites were descendants of Noah’s son, Ham, through Canaan. (Genesis 10:6,15-19) By the time of Abram’s arrival, they had well-populated the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

At Sichem, God again appeared to Abram and promised him that specific area of land. (Genesis 12:7) Abram marked the spot and demonstrated his faith in, and submission to, the one true God by building an altar unto "the LORD." "LORD" is Yehovah (Jehovah) in the Hebrew language. Abram’s construction of this altar was a clear-cut testimony of his break with the paganism of his heritage and homeland and of his allegiance to the one and only true God.

B. Once in Canaan, Abram continued southward through the entire length of the land.

1. After a brief stay at Sichem, Abram moved about 35 miles farther south to a mountain just east of Bethel where he built another altar to the LORD. (Genesis 12:8)

Bethel means "house of God." At this point Abram was in sweet communion or fellowship with God, of which Bethel became a symbol. Later, after a period of spiritual failure, Abraham would seek to return to this place; not only geographically, but also spiritually. (Genesis 13:3-4)

2. From Bethel, Abram continued to travel southward, apparently following water and pastures with his flocks and herds. His journey southward would have taken him into the Negev. He was thus able to get an overview of the entire land, which would later be his possession and the possession of his heirs.

II. ABRAM’S (ABRAHAM’S) LACK OF FAITH. (Genesis 12:10-20)

A. Soon after Abram arrived in the land of God’s promise to him, a "grievous" famine arose. (Genesis 12:10)

1. The famine was not only to punish the sins of the Canaanites who lived there, it was also to exercise the faith of Abram. The famine would test Abram’s confidence or trust in God. He would have to decide whether or not the God who had brought him to the land could also sustain him in the land.

Very often, a believer’s sweet communion with God is followed by a major test.

2. While Canaan was parching from lack of moisture, Egypt was prospering. The logical thing for Abram to do was go into Egypt but the natural and easiest thing to do is not always the right way. Difficulties do not necessarily indicate that one is out of the pathway of God. (II Corinthians 12:7-10, I Peter 1:6-7) God is to be trusted, even when circumstances are trying. Abram focused on his circumstances; he lost sight of God and His promises.

3. Egypt is a type of the world. Genesis 12:10 records the weakness of Abram’s faith and his backsliding by saying he went "down" to Egypt. Abram fell at the point where he was supposed to be the strongest, in faith.

B. Because of the rare beauty of Sarai and in anticipation of the prospect that the Egyptians would desire to take her for a wife, Abram instructed Sarai to claim to be his sister. (Genesis 12:11-13)

1. The claim that Sarai was Abram’s sister was partially true, a "half- truth." She was his step-sister. (Genesis 20:12) The claim that Sarai was Abram’s sister was verbally correct, yet it was really a lie. It was a distortion of reality designed to protect Abram’s selfish interests. It was a rationalization and did not communicate a true picture.

2. This action by Abram was not only a serious indictment of his character, it was a terrible sin against Sarai. To secure his own safety, Abram was willing to sacrifice Sarai. His selfish action showed total disregard for her. Here is a clear illustration of the paradoxical conduct of man. Saved, "good" men can act really badly. Strong men can plunge into moments of extreme weak ness. Beware! (I Corinthians 10:12) In view of his selfish betrayal and blatant lack of concern for her, it is not difficult to see why later tension seemed to exist in the marriage relationship between Abram and Sarai.

C. It is ironic that the very thing Abram feared and sought to avoid by his deception actually led to Pharaoh’s action.

1. Apparently thinking Sarai to be an unmarried woman, the Egyptian Pharaoh took her with the intent of making her a part of his harem. (Genesis 12:14-15)

2. To add to his deception and sin and to enhance the scorn and contempt with which the Egyptians would view him once his sin was found out, Abram accepted lavish gifts from the Pharaoh as dowry for a supposedly legitimate marriage arrangement. (Genesis 12:16)

3. God, who would not allow His purposes in Abram to be frustrated, "plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife." (Genesis 12:17)

The Egyptians realized that Sarai was Abram’s wife and recognized the plague as the judgment hand of Abram’s God. Abram’s testimony was destroyed. The Egyptians seemed to have held truth in high esteem and to have hated lying and deception. Pharaoh and his people, as well as Sarai, had suffered greatly as a result of Abram’s sin. Pharaoh soundly rebuked Abram and expelled him from the country. (Genesis 12:18-20) The Egyptians, who at first had been favorably impressed with Abram and his people and his God, had now come to despise them. They should never have gone to Egypt.

It is a sad commentary when any believer plunges to a depth of legitimate rebuke by an ungodly heathen who does not even profess to know the true God. It is not uncommon for those who know the Lord to behave in despicable ways which even unconverted people recognize to be very wrong. (II Samuel 12:14; Matthew 5:16)

4. Let every believer be constantly aware that preservation of a consistently fruitful walk with God and the testimony which such a walk produces is dependent on trust and truth. God must be trusted every step of the way, during prosperity and during famine. Furthermore, truth must characterize a believer’s attitude and his actions. Both his objectives and his means of attaining those objectives must be without blemish. The end does not justify the means. Not only must the end we seek be true, the means we use to reach that end must also be true.

III. ABRAM’S (ABRAHAM’S) REDEDICATION AND SEPARATION OF HIMSELF TO GOD. (Genesis 13:1-18)

A. From Egypt, Abraham went back to the place near Bethel where he had once enjoyed sweet communion with the Lord. (Genesis 13:1-3)

1. It is one thing for a believer to backslide. All do. The difference in the long-term impact of backsliding is whether or not the backslider repents and comes to the Lord for forgiveness. Believ- ers who repent and confess their sins to God find restoration of fellowship. (I John 1:9, Proverbs 29:13, Psalm 51:17) Back at Bethel, Abram called upon the name of the Lord, a common practice limited to believers.

2. Though Abram returned to fellowship with God, he did not escape his plunge into sin unscathed. Not only was his testimony in Egypt destroyed, Sarai acquired Hagar while there. That Egyptian girl was to become the mother of Ishmael. (Genesis 16) She would cause Abraham enormous grief and her offspring would produce untold misery for the Jews for centuries to come.

B. In his state of restored fellowship, Abram fully separated himself from his family and to God. (Genesis 13:4-13)

1. Earlier, despite God’s command to Abram to separate himself from his family, (Genesis 12:1) he had brought his nephew, Lot, with him to Canaan. (Genesis 12:5)

2. Lot also accompanied Abram to Egypt. By the time Abram returned to Bethel, he was very rich, with great flocks and herds. (Genesis 13:2) Lot was also quite wealthy. (Genesis 13:5) The sojourn in Egypt had planted the seeds of self-serving materialism in Lot and his servants and had destroyed the reverent admiration they once knew for Abram. Soon the land was not able to support their vast numbers of grazing animals. (Genesis 13:6) Strife erupted between them. (Genesis 13:7) Needless troubles always follow incomplete obedi- ence to God. Lot was becoming a grief to Abram.

3. Abram realized that he must obey God’s command and separate himself from Lot. Being the elder patriarch, Abram had every right to determine all separation arrangements between himself and Lot, yet he very generously and graciously gave Lot the privilege of choosing either the lush, fertile valley around the Dead Sea or the higher hill country between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. (Genesis 13:9) Lot chose the valley and was soon fully entangled in the economy which flourished there. (Genesis 13:10-11) Though he was a "righteous" (saved) man, (II Peter 2:6-8) Lot engaged himself in material pursuit among the wicked men of that region to his own ruin.

C. After he fully separated himself from Lot, the Lord appeared to Abram and expanded His promises to him. (Genesis 13:14-18)

1. From the high ground overlooking the mighty Jordan River rift, God instructed Abram to look as far as his eyes could see in every direction. God promised all of the land in sight as a perpetual possession to Abraham and to his seed. (Genesis 13:14-15)

Though they do not control all of it, the land promised to Abram belongs to the Jews. Ultimately, they will control it. (Ezekiel 20:33-38; Ezekiel 48)

2. God also promised to bless Abram with offspring too numerous for actual enumeration. By likening Abram’s "seed" to the "dust of the earth" and by challenging Abram to count the dust, God successfully communicated the idea that Abram’s offspring would be too many to accurately count.

Considering the number of Jews which have lived from Abram to the present plus those multitudes of other descendants of Abram through Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, the number is already too great for accurate accounting. How many additional physical descendants of Abram will arrive on the earth prior to the end of time is impossible to accurately estimate. In a very physical sense, it is not difficult to grasp the reality of God’s challenge to Abram.

In a spiritual sense, Abram is "the father of all them that believe." (Romans 4:11) When the spiritual offspring of Abram are considered, the matter of enumerating Abram’s offspring becomes as impossible as counting the dust of the earth, just as God promised.

3. God concluded His meeting with Abram by commanding him to actually walk through and inspect the land. The promises of God are to be appropriated by faith, but it is only to the extent that faith moves one to actual experience that the promises are realized.

4. Rejoicing in fellowship with God, Abram moved his tent to Mamre (Hebron) and built an altar there, (Genesis 13:18) an outward testimonial of his faith in God.

FOOTNOTES

1. Aharoni, Yohanan and Avi-yonah, Michael, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1968, page 28.

2. Strong, James, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958, reference 3068.

3. Ibid., reference 1008.

4. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 296.

5. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, London: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1706, Vol. I, Genesis 12.

6. Entzminger, Louis, Studies in Genesis, Fort Worth: The Manny Co., 1946, page 59.

7. Thomas, W.H. Griffith, Genesis, A Devotional Commentary, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953, page 119.

8. Morris, pages 300-301.

9. Thomas, page 121.

10. Entzminger, page 60.

11. Morris, page 302.

SUMMARY

Before God changed Abraham’s name, he was named Abram. When he was 75, Abram obeyed God’s command to go into a new land. God promised that after an unspecified length of time, He would give the new land to Abram. That land was located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It was known at that time as Canaan, primarily because the sons of Noah through his grandson, Canaan, had settled there. Abram had been living at Haran where he had become very prosperous in a free enterprise system.

Upon arrival in the promised land, Abram stopped at Sichem, later known as Shechem, and in an outward show of his renunciation of the false religion of his heritage in the Mesopotamia Valley and in demonstration of his allegiance to the one true God, he erected an altar and called upon the name of the Lord.

Abram followed the mountain ridge of Canaan southward about 35 miles to a place very close to Bethel. There he erected another altar and continued his sweet fellowship with the Lord. Bethel means "house of God" and continues to this day as a symbol of communion with God.

From Bethel Abram continued southward until he had traversed the entire length of the promised land. In view of his large flocks and herds and since he had no specific destination, he apparently travelled slowly following good pasture and water.

Within a few months after his arrival in the promised land, God tested Abram’s faith and he failed miserably. Trials are not a sure testimony that one is out of the will of God. What they generally do is accentuate the weaker areas of one’s life. Though Abram had already exemplified a strong measure of faith by leaving his homeland in favor of this promised land, his faith was far from being invulnerable. The Bible warns us against pride in any area of our lives.

The test came in the form of a grievous famine, which succeeded in getting Abram’s focus off the Lord and onto the circumstances around him. The strength of God’s people is in the Lord; not in self. As soon as Abram stopped trusting the Lord and looking to Him for help, he succumbed to evil and failed miserably. While Canaan, which was extremely dependent upon regular rainfall for its agricultural survival, was scorched into desert-like conditions, Egypt was prospering. Abram was faced with staying put and trusting God to sustain him or moving on to Egypt. He did the logical and natural thing and went down to Egypt, an act which illustrates how doing the natural thing is not always the right thing to do. Sometimes, the right thing means trusting God and doing things which contradict natural tendencies. Focusing on circumstances instead of on the promises of God is a sure way to failure.

On his way to Egypt, Abram realized that the extreme beauty of his wife, Sarai, would make her attractive to the Egyptians. When a believer begins to backslide, he can rationalize almost anything, and step ever downward to extremely low depths. Abram was afraid the Egyptians would kill him in order to have Sarai for themselves. He thus commanded her to claim that she was his sister instead of his wife. Sarai was Abram’s half-sister, but to claim that she was his sister to those interested in her for marriage purposes was a grave distortion of the truth. It is ironic that this claim caused the Egyptians to think Sarai was not married and thus available to them. The very deception of Abram contrived to save him from the supposed danger of the Egyptians became the factor which caused them to take her. Deception and lies always have negative connotations and entangle their practitioners.

It is hard to imagine a man of the spiritual stature of Abram ignoring his wife and misusing her in such a blatant way to promote his own personal ends. He seemed perfectly willing to sacrifice her to the Egyptians. What his decision might do to her, emotionally, sexually or otherwise seemed of no concern to him. Let every one who knows the Lord beware of his own self. Once one’s eyes are taken off the Lord and focused on self-interests, degenerate choices and activities of the rankest sort are possible.

God had better purposes for Sarai and Abram. He would not let Abram’s backsliding nor the Egyptians frustrate His plans. He plagued the Egyptians, who had taken Sarai to be the wife of Pharaoh, with a grievous illness, which they quickly perceived to be the judgment of Abram’s God. It did not take them long to realize the truth of Sarai’s relationship to Abram. Once they did, the great respect which they had for Abram upon his arrival in Egypt was shattered and replaced with scorn and contempt. Abram faced one of the most humiliating things which can happen to any believer. He was openly rebuked by a heathen, who made no pretense of acquaintance with the true God,on a moral issue for being deficit in character. How sad when the world has to give a believer a lesson in integrity!

Abram and his family departed Egypt and went straight to Bethel. Bethel was the place where Abram was in true fellowship with God. He longed to return; not only to that place, but to that condition. The difference in whether or not failure ruins a child of God depends on whether or not that child of God repents. Abram did. Each believer who fails should repent and confess that failure to God. In so doing, he will find the forgiveness of God and restoration to sweet communion with God.

Upon his return to a close walk with God, Abram came to the place of full separation. He had been commanded by God to separate himself from his family, although he had kept his nephew, Lot, with him. Like Abraham, Lot had grown very rich. Both men had large herds and flocks. The countryside was unable to support all of their animals. Soon strife broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. Furthermore, Lot, though saved, was very materialistic. His heart was set on wealth and this world’s goods. It seems also that he had lost much of the respect which he once had for Abram. The sorry conduct of Abram in Egypt had left ugly scars. Sin always spawns lingering consequences.

As they stood at a vantage point overlooking the mighty Jordan River rift, Abram offered Lot his choice of the Jordan Valley or the central highlands of Canaan. At that time, the Jordan Valley was well-watered and very lush, prosperous and attractive to Lot. He chose the valley and moved his enterprise into the area around Sodom. The wickedness of the people living there was no deterrent to Lot. Whatever it cost to prosper in the world, he was willing to pay. Lot is a sad example of many modern believers.

As Abram lingered in the mountains overlooking the Jordan Valley, God appeared to him and expanded His promises. He commanded Abram to look as far as he could see in every direction. He then promised Abram that all of that land would be to him and his offspring for a perpetual inheritance. At the end of His appearance to Abram, God commanded him to walk the land and claim it by personal inspection. God makes promises which are to be accepted by faith and claimed by personal initiative.

God also promised Abram that his offspring would multiply to such an extent that numbering them would be as impossible as numbering the dust of the earth. Considering the physical offspring from Abram through not only the Jewish line, but also through Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, accurate numbering is already an impossibility. Millions have lived and died, not to mention those currently living plus those yet to be born. Paul said in the New Testament book of Romans that Abram is also the father of the spiritual race of believers. Indeed the physical and spiritual offspring of Abram defy any accurate census.

After his separation from Lot, Abram moved to the plains of Mamre, which is Hebron. The city of Hebron still thrives today. Abraham was buried there.

QUESTIONS

1. Locate Haran, Shechem, Bethel, Egypt and Hebron on your Bible map.

2. How did the land of Canaan get its name?

3. What bold testimony did Abram give by building altars at Sichem and Bethel?

4. Of what is Bethel a symbol, even today?

5. What event in Canaan tested the faith of Abram?

6. Explain how the physical appearance of Sarai influenced Abram as he approached Egypt.

7. Discuss how "half-truths" are really lies.

8. How did Abram’s "half-truth" about Sarai encourage the Pharaoh to take her for wife?

9. How was Abram’s action regarding his relationship to Sarai a blatant disregard for, and emotional injury to, her?

10. Why was it wrong for Abram to go to Egypt?

11. How did God intervene to stop the sin initiated by Abram’s backsliding and deception?

12. How did Abram ruin his testimony in Egypt?

13. Explain the irony of the Pharaoh’s rebuke of Abram.

14. To what place did Abram directly go upon leaving Egypt?

15. Discuss repentance and confession as illustrated in Abram’s return from Egypt.

16. Explain the significance of Sarai’s acquiring of Hagar while in Egypt.

17. Why is Abram’s separation from Lot such an important Bible event?

18. What pressures finally materialized Abram’s separation from Lot?

19. How did Lot’s choice reflect his value system?