[1] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
[4] So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
[5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
[6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
[9] And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
[10] And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
[11] And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
[12] Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
[13] Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
[14] And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
[15] The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
[16] And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
[17] And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
[18] And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
[19] Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
[20] And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Commentary On Genesis Chapter Twelve
As we enter this chapter, we find that the world was in rebellion against God once more. The different ethnicities which sprang from the three sons of Noah had dispersed but not before the religion of ancient Babylon had taken hold. In addition to this there was one that had arisen which desired to be the ruler of the human race who was called by the title, Nimrod. The situation was such that it would seem that the worship of the One True God was a rarity among humanity.
Against this background we encounter a man called Abram. It is written.
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
(Genesis 12:1-3)
[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
[3] And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
Embedded in these three verses which God spoke unto this man are four great promises upon which hangs the entirety of all of the following Scriptures. Look carefully and you will find the following things promised here.
- Abram is promised a land which God will show him.
- Abram is promised that God will make of him a great nation and cause his name to be made great in all the earth.
- All who bless Abram and his descendants shall also be blessed while all who curse them shall themselves be cursed.
- All of the families of the earth shall receive blessings which shall come through him.
It is well for one who would know the truths of Scripture to seek to understand in every passage how it relates to these promises. At times the issue will be the possession of the land that was promised. At other times the issue will be how the blessings which mankind has received down through the ages since these words were spoken by God have materialized. There are other instances where the direct context of a passage deals with the nations which have come from Abram. Take this to heart in your quest to understand God’s Scriptures and never forget that in all of these God is in the process of revealing Himself unto mankind.
In response to the calling of God, this man Abram, took action based upon faith and faith alone. This we are told in the epistle written unto the Hebrews. There we find the following written.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
(Hebrews 11:8-10)
[9] By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
[10] For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Take note of several things concerning the exercise of faith by this man. First note that the action he took was not based upon familiarity of the place, nor the circumstances, into which he was venturing. He began his journey by simply believing that as he went God would supply his needs and direct him every step of the way. This is how true faith works my friend. True faith is not dependent upon human rationalization nor sight of what may be instore when we are told to do a thing by God! Lest one might be tempted to place limitations or preconditions upon obedience to God let us examine the life of Abram which he possessed at the time he was called. It is written.
“So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
(Genesis 12:4-8)
[5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
[6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
This was no man in his youth without any strings attached! Abram was 75 years of age when this call was entertained. Note that he was married and had long standing family obligations and relationships. He also appears to have amassed a certain degree of wealth and possessions which would have needed his attention. This man was certainly well established in a lifestyle of his choosing when God spoke to him. Think for a moment upon the many excuses he could have responded with unto God’s calling and note that he used none of them. We know from additional Scriptures that Abram was actually in Ur of The Chaldees when God summoned him, for in the Book of Acts it is written.
” And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
(Acts 7:2-5)
[3] And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
[4] Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
[5] And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.”
In his marvelous defense before the council Deacon Stephen began with the origin of his people and he clearly states that Abram dwelt in Ur. It was from this point that Abram departed yet when we see the events of Genesis twelve the place noted is Haran. The name of that place, by translation, means “crossroad “. You will note by a close examination of the events we are studying that the faith of Abram was a at first only partial obedience. Look closely and you will see the following things involved here.
- Abram’s father and much of his extended family went out with him.
- The entire party stopped at Haran.
- They did not continue until Abram’s father died.
- While in Haran they apparently conducted some business, for we are told that they had “obtained souls” and gathered substance there in verse five of this chapter.
Do not be overly critical of Abram. Remember that the prevailing religious practices of the place where he spent the first seventy-five years of life were predominantly that of pagan idol worship which would have been based upon the astrological worship of Ancient Babylon. To obey the voice of this “strange, new God ” was a tremendous act of faith upon his part, running contrary to everything he had been exposed to in his religious life. This is very important to note because this is in reality an action of repentance on the part of Abram. It is necessary to engage in such action if one truly chooses to follow God.
Far too often people attempt to compromise their commitment unto God by bringing some portion of their former religious beliefs into the experience of the new birth which thereby negates that experience entirely. Some claim that they are “Christian ” yet hold unto manmade doctrines which they claim are necessary to hold in addition to what God says. They may claim that a certain book must be adhered to because the Scriptures alone are not complete and sufficient for the task of bringing us closer to God.
Others will claim to be “Christian” but still hold that they must partake of certain rituals in order to be made clean before God. It may be the receiving of a certain sacrament, or the confession unto a priest in a private booth which they claim must be observed. In all of the cases I have noted here it is to be recognized that the origins of these binding things can be traced right back to the worship deployed by the Ancients of Babylon.
Abram left all of that behind and never returned to any such worship. His faith in God was placed solely in God and His revealed word. We are not told of anything which he added unto what God had said nor are we told of anything which he detracted from what God spoke in this encounter. The obtaining of the promises was linked solely unto his actions undertaken by faith alone. In the Scriptures it is written.
(Romans 4:1-3)
- “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
[2] For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
[3] For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
it is also written.
“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
(Galatians 3:1-9)
[2] This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[3] Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
[4] Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
[5] He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[6] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
[7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
[8] And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
[9] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
and once more you will find.
” Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
(James 2:19-23)
[20] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
[21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[23] And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”
Through the exercise of faith, the aforementioned promises made by God were sought as the obvious endowment which Abram was to receive. Has God kept his covenants with this man? Some would say He has not! As we examine the promises made, we find that God did indeed make of him a great nation. God did indeed bless the whole earth through the coming of Jesus, The Christ, who died and was resurrected for our sins. God also blessed the entire earth through giving all families the Scriptures, which came through the Jewish peoples but are for all men everywhere, that we would know His intention and plan for our redemption.
The name of Abraham is revered among three separate belief systems upon the earth to this day! The Jewish religion, that of Islam, and certainly that of Christianity, all hold this name in very high regard. Those who contend that God has not kept His covenants always point to the absence of the Jewish people from the vast land which was promised in this chapter. To do this it is necessary for one to believe that God must operate upon a timeline which they have established. A very important word comes into play when discussing the land which in fact belongs to Israel but is not currently occupied by them. That word is the little three letter word, “yet.“.
God’s timing is independent of ours. He does not answer to me, nor to you, concerning when He chooses to exercise certain facets of His sovereign direction of the universe which He owns by right of creation. When the necessary preparations are made and the circumstances are aligned according to His will, what He has said He will do, He does.
In the case of Abram, it was needful that God call him out of his birth environment. One might ask why this was so and that would be a legitimate question. Consider the conditions of the world of humanity at that time. Mankind had slipped into rebellion against God once more. The worship of idols and things created in place of the Creator Himself was rampant. Lest we forget, Nimrod was on a rampage intent upon world domination during this period. Something new was called for to draw mankind back unto Himself. That something new … was the calling out of Abram through whom He could execute His Master Plan.
Those who question all the historical accuracy of these events were quieted when a Bedouin shepherd boy named Muhammed ed-Dib, who was dwelling in the Bethlehem at the time, threw a rock into a cave in the hills of the Judean desert in the year of 1947. Hearing the sound of breaking pottery, he decided to investigate, and this was the earliest discovery of what are now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the earliest of these which the scholars were able to acquire and examine is one which contains a commentary written upon chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the book of Genesis. The events which we are reading about here were confirmed by this ancient writing which God concealed for nearly two thousand years.
The truth of the covenants made herein between God and Abram have significant ramifications for the world in which we find ourselves today. The exploration of Canaan by Abram was obviously incomplete, but it is central to the narrative of Scripture. The land of Canaan belongs unto Israel and at the appointed time Israel will dwell therein. Abram, in obedience unto God, walked throughout that land. However, as I have pointed out earlier the faith of Abram, while magnificent to ponder, was at times only a partial faith.
It is written.
“And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
(Genesis 12:6-10)
[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
[9] And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
[10] And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.”
Abram DID walk to and from in the land as he was instructed. However, there came an incident that caused him to stumble a bit. There came a famine in Canaan. This must have been fairly severe, for in order to maintain the life of his herds, flocks, and his people he reasoned that it was necessary to journey in Egypt. There are two things which ought to be noted in this decision. One was that before making this choice Abram did not consult God. The second is that this man who had left all and gone into a strange land at God’s command, failed to trust the same God for the provision he needed to stay in that land.
It is a good thing to understand that Abram was very much human just as you and I are. He made mistakes and yet God was merciful and gracious unto him. What we are about to see needs to be viewed from the context of that great warfare between the serpent of Eden Satan, and The Creator and Sustainer of this universe. There is more here at stake than the immediate events which occurred. Just as Satan had tried to pervert the line of the coming Messiah before, he would attempt at this point to cause the plans for the redemption of humanity to go astray by the corrupting of that one woman who was to be the mother of Christ’s lineage, Sarai. It is written.
” And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
(Genesis 12:11-20)
[12] Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
[13] Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
[14] And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
[15] The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
[16] And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
[17] And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
[18] And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
[19] Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
[20] And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.”
The beauty of Sarai caused Abram to stumble in that he formulated a lie in which he trusted which he asked her to agree to perpetuate. Is this not the man who is renowned as the rock of faith even now all around the world? Yes, it is he, my friend. Let us not be too harsh upon him for he is human as we are. Remember also that he is in that process of learning about the faithfulness of the God whom he has trusted.
In doing what he did, Abram placed Sarai at risk. He placed Pharoah and all his house at risk. He also placed the entire design of God’s redemption at risk, in a human sense, for this woman was to be the mother of the nation through which would come the tribe of Judah out of which The Messiah was to be born. Yet God saw to it that all of this worked for the highest good of humanity. The designs of God will not be thwarted by any entity which exists. Remember this, for when it looks all is about to be lost, that is the time to expect God to show Himself in might and power.
Pharoah was not to be faulted for his actions here, for he acted in accordance with the customs of that day by bestowing upon Abram what amounted to a huge dowry for Sarai. He did not simply take her as many lesser honorable men would have done. I hold that for this reason God plagued Pharoah and his house in such manner that the cause was evident unto Pharoah.
In his discourse with Abram, once again note that Pharoah reacted with an honorable response. He could have attempted to kill Abram and Sarai and their entire party for this deception which led to the plaguing of his household. He did not, but rather dispatched them on their way while allowing them to retain all that he had bestowed upon them. This was God at work in the heart of even a heathen king. let us note that the Scriptures tell us plainly that God does do this, for it is written.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”
(Proverbs 21:1)
It is vital to not lose fact of the truth that when Abram ventured down into Egypt, he acquired among other things a certain slave girl named Hagar. While not mentioned here, she will become vital in coming chapters as we watch God work and as we watch the tendency of humanity, which will be out on display by Sarai, to desire to “help God along by use of our human reasoning and logic at times. However, that is for another time my friend.
For now, let us follow Abram as he journey’s back into Canaan and continues to follow God while he patiently awaits more direction and illumination concerning the promises, faithfulness, and very character of the God which had called him out of the world of paganism.
