Genesis 12:4-20 | “A Greater Abram”

Sunday morning sermon audio from Preston Highlands Baptist Church.

In the movie Shawshank Redemption, the protagonist, Andy Dufresne is sent to prison after being wrongfully charged with two murders. The movie tells an amazing story about the relationships he builds in prison and how he makes himself useful to the warden and others. At a low point in the movie, he describes a dream he has to his best friend, Red. He dreams of one day being released so that he can go live on a beach in Mexico. Red responds, telling him that he shouldn’t torture himself with such a pipe dream.

We call this type of comment foreshadowing. If you haven’t seen Shawshank Redemption, I’m about to spoil it, so if you care stop listening for twenty seconds. See, it’s funny that Red calls it a pipe dream, because Andy Dufresne ends up escaping the prison by crawling hundreds of yards through a sewer pipe. And once he’s out, he makes it to the coastal town in Mexico that he dreamed of. He literally had to pass through a pipe to reach his dream.

Foreshadowing is a very common tool used in writing. Nearly every well written story you’ve ever consumed, whether it’s a TV show, movie, book, or other, has likely contained some amount of foreshadowing. And the Bible is no different. In fact, the Bible may be the book that invented foreshadowing. Because from its very first pages it calls forth for the fulfillment of a promise of sorts to Adam and Eve. That they would have enmity with the serpent, and their offspring with the serpent’s offspring. And that one day there would be a seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, and the seed of the serpent would strike at his heel. A wounded victor would conquer and destroy the serpent.

Once this promise or prophecy is made, the audience of the Bible suddenly has something to look for. The ancient Jews who are reading the Pentateuch AND us today have something to look for. We need to be on the lookout for where this promise finds its fulfillment. What this promise foreshadows as it were.

So as the history of Genesis was passed down through the generations, from Adam to his son Seth, down through the line to Noah and his sons, they’re crafting these stories in such a way that we’re looking for this wounded victor. Abraham passes his life story down to Isaac, who passes it to Jacob, and Jacob to his sons. Then as his descendants grow in the land of Egypt and eventually are taken captive, these stories are told at family gatherings and festivals and religious ceremonies. These are the family stories told around the campfire. And in the tellings and retellings, they’ve been crafted for us to look for this character. When these stories reach Moses, and he stitches them together, making thematic adjustments, he takes into account this foreshadowing and helps to elucidate it. He recognizes the intent of the story bearers that came before him and brings it out while still being faithful to the true history behind Genesis.

So, it’s important to realize the way that generations upon generations of Israelites chose to introduce Abram. Abram is first introduced by a call from God, then by two stories. Last week, we talked about the call of Abram and all that it entails, and this week we will look at the two stories the Israelites chose to introduce Abram.

Genesis 12:4-9

If you’ll open your Bibles to Genesis 12 we will dive into the text. Now remember, as an audience we are supposed to be looking for a fulfillment of the promise of the seed of the woman, the wounded victor. We have a remarkable call given to this guy, Abram, we know he’s about to be a very significant character, but will he be the wounded victor to crush the serpent’s head?

I’m going to go ahead and reread the call of Abram as well, just for continuity’s sake. So read with me, starting in verse 1.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 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.

Alright, we have a bit of a travel log here. But overall, this is great. This is a promising first story for Abram. Verse 4 kicks us off with great news. “So, Abram went!” He went! “as the Lord had told him”. This is such good news. It bodes very well for Abram. Cause remember, last week we talked about how high the cost of this command was. He’s leaving behind the safety of his community and his family whom he loves, to embark on a grand journey for an incredible reward. Had he not taken this step we would not know of Abram. He would not be one of the most influential people that ever lived. So, he listens to God, steps out in faith, not knowing where he’s going. He trusts that God is going to lead him to the land and fulfill every promise he’s made.

We do get this phrase at the end of that sentence though “and Lot went with him”. Hmm. What does that mean for Abram? Well, I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean. Some pastors have asserted that this is already a failure on Abram’s part, because he was called to leave his country, kindred, and family behind. So the fact that some of his family comes with him is bad. I’m not convinced. The text doesn’t appear to condemn Abram for allowing Lot to come with him. The clause that immediately precedes that clause actually says that Abram is doing “as the Lord commanded him”. So, I don’t think that the storytellers who passed this story down are trying to convey that Abram is sinning or failing by bringing Lot along. Rather, I think these storytellers are giving us yet another instance of foreshadowing. See, in the coming weeks we will discuss a conflict that brews between Lot and Abram. And this clause is simply setting the stage for that conflict.

Some may say, “well maybe Lot might have something to do with the seed of the woman. Abram doesn’t have any offspring, perhaps he’ll continue the line of promise. And that’s why he’s brought along”. The storytellers of Genesis wanted to rid us of that thought very quickly. Because upon arriving in Canaan, Abram hears from God who says, “To YOUR offspring I will give this land”. Not to Lot or his offspring, to Abram’s offspring. It is surely going to be Abram’s offspring that continue the line of promise.

Also let’s not miss the fact that God has already begun to fulfill his promises here. Back in verse 1 God says, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” What has he just done? He just showed Abram the land! God already has begun to fulfill his promises to Abram.

So, in response what does Abram do? Verse 7, “So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him”. Altar building is a practice we will see the patriarchs perform time and time again. They do this all over the place and it is a key part of their worship of God. So Abram sees that the promise has been kept and he turns and worships God for it. Again, this bodes very well for Abram. He’s shaping up to be someone that might actually conquer the seed of the serpent.

This is also instructive for us. What should we do in response to God’s fulfilled promises? Rejoice. Praise him. Worship him. God has made promises to us too, and we see that his character in scripture is to ALWAYS be faithful to them. God has promised salvation to all those who believe in his Son, Romans 1:16-17. God has promised that all things will work out for the good of his children and his glory, Romans 8:28. God has promised new life in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17. Do any of you ever wish that you could have a do-over? That you could just start over, start fresh and try again. You’ve been given new life in Christ! And that isn’t just new life at the point of your salvation, however long ago that was. It’s new life now! It’s new life now! God promises peace for us when we pray, Philippians 4:6-7. Jesus promises abundant life for those who follow him, John 10:10. He also promised that he will return for us, John 14:2-3.

These are some incredible promises that have been made to us. What do we do in response? We worship. We turn and worship. We ascribe God the glory due his name. We respond to his revelation of himself in a way that exalts him. We worship, as Abram did. Some of these promises may not be fulfilled in our lifetime. But scripture has revealed to us that the character of God is such that his promises are not merely potential. They are facts about the future. God will not fail to keep any of his promises to you. So, worship! Worship!

Now, before we move on to the next section we have a bit more foreshadowing to look at. Specifically in the geography outlined here. See the locations Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and the Negev are the same three locations visited by Jacob when HE returns from Haran. These three sites are also occupied in the account of the conquest of the land under Joshua. So, Abram’s descendants will be treading and retreading this land.

Here’s a quote from the Encyclopedia Biblica to draw this out a bit more. “These parallels show clearly the method of demonstrating that the deeds of the fathers in former times prefigure those of their descendants in the present. Its intention is to show what happened to Abraham also happened to Jacob and then also to their descendants. This is to show that the conquest of their land had already been accomplished in a symbolic way in the times of the fathers, demonstrated by means of their building their altars and purchasing property. Thus, it shows that in the deed of the fathers there is a source of trust that the Lord has cared for them from the very start and that he will still remain trustworthy in the days of the descendants of the fathers later on.” Another piece of evidence that God is trustworthy. I think this kind of thing also makes it clearer to us that the Bible is meant to be read typologically. It is meant to be read in such a way that we see patterns form in the stories that call forth to something greater. The Hebrew audience knew this, and so they’ve been looking for the wounded victor.

And right now, Abram seems like a great candidate. He’s walking out in faith, doing costly things, living sacrificially for the glory of God. He’s worshipping and God is keeping his promises. Could this be the guy? Is this the one who will crush the head of the serpent? Let’s read on to find out.

Genesis 12:10-20

Verse 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.

Woah, stop right there. Abram’s going to Egypt? This is huge. This is huge in the minds of the Israelites. Why? Because Egypt is symbolic of the serpent. Egypt is a representation of the serpent to the Israelites. An enemy of the line of the woman. What do I mean? Think of the stereotypical imagery you can think of an Egyptian Pharoah. What is he wearing on his head? He’s wearing a headdress in the shape of a cobra. He’s wearing the serpent’s head. Now place that imagery into the minds of the people post Exodus. He’s wearing the head of the serpent? This is clearly a representative of the seed of the serpent. Now Egypt is not the seed of the serpent, not completely and not at all times. But in the minds of the Israelites, who have just been enslaved by Egypt, and have great enmity with them, it’s thematically similar. So Abram is going down to Egypt? We’re about to find out if he’s the guy. We’re about to find out if Abram is the wounded victor, cause he’s going to face off with the serpent himself. Let’s read on to find out how this encounter plays out.

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.

          Ugh, so not what we were hoping for. Abram in this story has completely revealed his inability to face and defeat the seed of the serpent. Let’s walk back through the passage, step by step. First, Abram is forced to leave Canaan due to an extreme famine in the land. The text states it several times in verse 10 that the famine was really bad. Now this emphasis on the severity of the famine is to explain kind of the odd journey that Abram is taking. He just arrived in Canaan and already he’s leaving again. I also think the text here is careful to not condemn Abram’s decision to leave at all. Some might say again that because God told Abram to go to this land, his decision to leave it was his first mistake. But I think that the emphasis Moses and the storytellers behind Genesis put on the famine is specifically to excuse him of that behavior.

When he arrives in Egypt though, the text makes no attempt to excuse his behavior. Now seriously Abram’s decision making here is logical. I don’t want to deny that his reasoning has a compelling aspect. Abram walks to Egypt and says to Sarai, “Listen hon, you are smokin hot. Okay, I mean like *whistles* just gorgeous. And I love that, but it’s about to cause us some troubles. See, when we enter Egypt, those guys are gonna want you. And I’m not gonna be able to stop em. So, the way I see it, we got two options ahead of us. One, we say I’m your husband, they kill me, they take you as a wife. Two, we say I’m your brother, they don’t kill me, they take you as a wife. All things being equal, I say we go with option two. Thoughts?”

Abram thinks that his wife is in a bad spot either way, but he thinks “maybe I don’t have to suffer?” and so reasons his way here. And the lie is only a half-lie as Sarai is Abram’s half-sister. This tends to be the case with lies, that they carry some truth but omit or contort it in such a way that it doesn’t actually represent the situation. The logic of Abram’s decision is undeniable. It just fails to account for all the variables. One very large one in particular. What is it? It’s God. God and his promise to Abram. God has promised Abram that he will have children AND that those who dishonor him will be cursed. So, anyone that approaches Abram with an intent to harm him or his family, will not be able to. Abram is protected by the promise of God. Thus, Abram’s decision here becomes an act of faithlessness. No, Abram is not safe in the way we would normally mean safe. He’s left behind the community and family that would fight for justice on his behalf. This is why sojourners were so often taken advantage of in the ancient world. There’s no law enforcement around, at least not fair law enforcement. If Abram was murdered in his homeland, his family would avenge him. But here, no one’s going to care if this random traveler is murdered because someone wanted his wife. But again, Abram is forgetting that in losing the security of the community and family which would avenge him, he’s gained the protection of God. A much greater security.

This story actually kicks off a theme as well. A great number, perhaps even a majority, of the rest of the stories in Genesis are going to put God’s promise in jeopardy somehow. Whether or not it threatens the life of the individual who carries the line of promise, or threatens his family’s ability to carry on having children. The promise constantly appears like it might fail. Yet through his providence God remains faithful. Using the sins of men for his glory. Using the chaos of life to deliver his people. Human failure and sin cannot stand in God’s way. He will accomplish what he wants to accomplish.

It doesn’t matter if Abram’s being a bad husband, and he is, God will accomplish his purposes. Abram’s faithless decision here, his failure to trust God with his wellbeing, comes at the expense of his wife and the fidelity of their marriage. This is an act of cowardice. Now, I highly doubt that any husbands in this room are going to be in a comparable position to Abram’s here. We live in a very different time. But just keep in mind that one of your main roles as a husband is protector. Your wife is a precious gift to you, to be guarded with your life. Yes, even at the expense of your life. Single men of the church, guard your sisters in Christ from those who might seek to do them harm too. You guys don’t get out of this just because you’re not married. Our world is structured in such a way that when evil and brutality are done, women often take the brunt of it. So, men of the church, single and married, young and old, be looking for how you can alleviate the evil and brutality done to women. Act with courage and not cowardice. Don’t give your sisters and your wives over to the whims of those who want to denigrate them.

One of the main areas this arises in is the area of sex. Women take the brunt of the harm that comes about through sexual evil in the world. We as a church and specifically the men of our church need to be a voice for women’s plight in this. Push back the forces of pornography in our own lives and in the world. Push back the forces of objectification and sexualization that reduces women made in the image of God to mere vessels of gratification. Push back the perpetuation of a society that claims that promiscuity is somehow glorifying to women, that is somehow is an act of redemption. These things cannot stand if we desire to protect and guard our wives and our sisters in Christ. And the place it starts is inwardly. Look towards yourself first, and address the lust, the immorality, the thought life within you. Then address the world, loudly. Act courageously not cowardly.

So, Abram goes forth with the plan. It’s never mentioned how Sarai feels about it or responds, but it seems like she went along with the plan as Pharaoh doesn’t discover the truth until he’s already being punished. Which is interesting by the way. Pharaoh is ignorant of the truth here, he bears no fault and yet is punished. Well, he bears fault in the way that we all do when we commit unintentional sin. But he made no decision to take another man’s wife is the point. Two things can be discerned here.

First, Abram’s sin led the Pharaoh to sin, even though it was unintentional. That’s crucial for us to understand. Your sin effects those around you. Always. There are no sins that only effect you. In fact, often your sin will cause others to sin. If you strike first in anger, and someone strikes you back, physically or verbally or otherwise, then you brought that person into sin by your sin. There are no sins that only hurt you. There are no sins that only hurt you. So repent for the sake of those you love, and for the glory of God. God has bestowed power upon you, through his Spirit to put sin to death. So do it. Put sin to death. For the sake of those you love and the glory of God.

Second thing this text shows us, is that God is very very serious about keeping his promise to Abram. He punishes the Pharaoh with great plagues because he unintentionally dishonored Abram. This is meant to be a show of force to individuals who might want to harm Abram or Israel. But it’s also a show of force to Abram himself! Because Abram had forgotten God’s protection when he walked into Egypt. He forgot that those who seek to dishonor him would be cursed. So he acted faithlessly. And in his faithlessness God reminds him of the promise. He shows him, “Hey, you could have and should have been honest about Sarai, for her sake. I would have protected you. I would have spurned away any who sought to do you harm for her sake.” It’s a reminder to Abram. God instead of punishing Abram reminds him of his faithfulness.

Humorously, Pharaoh is the one who ends up rebuking Abram. When his house has been afflicted on account of Sarai, he calls Abram to him and says ““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.” And Pharaoh sends Abram on his way with all that he had collected in Egypt. Didn’t seize any of his property. Didn’t punish Abram for his lying. He rebukes him and then tells him to leave. Pharaoh fears the wrath of God here, and rightfully so. If he continued to punish Abram for his wrongdoing, who knows what God would have done to Pharaoh. This also follows the pattern of the person who blesses Abram will be blessed. Pharaoh sends Abram out and Egypt does quite well for the next several hundred years.

This whole story should be ringing your foreshadowing bell by the way. This journey that Abram goes on to Egypt mirrors that of Israel’s at the end of Genesis and beginning of Exodus. The Israelites, Jacob and his sons fled from Canaan due to intense famine. They arrived in Egypt and became powerful there. The Pharoah dishonors them by taking them as slaves. The Pharaoh is then struck with numerous plagues and so he kicks out the Israelites with more material wealth than they had before. It’s like a mirror image of what’s going to happen in Exodus.

Abram’s decision here to abandon his wife and to save his skin shows that he is not fit to be the wounded victor. Conquering the seed of the serpent won’t happen when you bend to his whim. The failure of Abram here is tragic. But it also sheds light on something. The wounded victor, whenever he comes, will come courageously. He will push back the forces of evil that desire to harm women. And perhaps more notably, the wounded victor won’t forsake his wife!

See we know that the fulfillment of the promise in Genesis 3:15, this wounded victor, comes in the person of Jesus Christ. The person who is fully God and fully man. He was born to a virgin and lived a perfect life, fully rebuffing the practices of the serpent. He was crucified, killed, and buried to pay the price for our sin. He was the substitute for the punishment we deserved. On the third day of his death, he rose again in power and he will come again to fully destroy evil. This is our wounded victor. This is the man we’ve been waiting for. And he’s made us promises that we talked about earlier in our study. He’s promised abundant life for all those who follow him, John 10:10. He’s promised eternal salvation for all those who believe in him, Romans 1:16-17. If you will put your faith in Jesus Christ as your only hope in life and death, all these promises will be yours.

And the beautiful thing about this wounded victor is that he will not forsake his bride. Throughout the whole of the New Testament, the imagery of the bride of Christ is used with reference to his church. You, church, are the bride that he didn’t forsake! At the expense of his own wellbeing, Christ guarded and protected you. At the expense of his own wellbeing to the point of death, he did not give you up. He laid down his life when Abram didn’t. He will not forsake you in the future as Abram will do again to Sarai. Christ is the truer and better Abram. He answered the call of God to leave the comfort of his home. He did not count equality with God something to be grasped but gave it up for us. He went out to create a new people of God. Christ is the greater Abram. He is the wounded victor that we need. All glory be to him. Let’s pray.

God you are good to us. You provide and are faithful even when we are faithless. Our failures will not stop your plan. You overcome all things for the sake of your glory. God, I pray that you would strengthen our faith as the church and give us courage to stand against the darkness. To loudly condemn the evils done out of cowardice against women. And I pray God that you would establish in us a commitment to live sacrificially. Following you wherever you lead us. Thank you for all that you’ve done for us God. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Take a moment to reflect on the word of God and to dwell on what you should leave with this morning.