GENESIS CHAPTER 12: ABRAM’S DECEITFUL DECISION

Introduction: This chapter tells of Abram making the wrong decisions that gets him into consequences that lasts all though his descendants.

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 (17:6). 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. 

In this paragraph the bible says the Lord said to Abram “Get thee out of thy country…” It is not clear if the command was given before Terah (Abram's father) made the decision to leave Ur or if Terah decided to go with Abram after God gave him the command. At any rate the command was to Abram and God reminded Abram after his father died in Haran.  Abram was 75 years old when they set out for Canaan.  Abram’s faith had to be very great to leave his home in Ur, which was a very comfortable and sophisticated city, to go to a place where they would not know anyone. (In ‘Hally’s Handbook’ it states that archaeologist have found in their excavations, Ur had evidence of Libraries with thousands of books of all kinds, Encyclopedias, works of Mathematics, Astronomy, Geography and Religion. The homes there were two stories measuring about 40'x52' feet, with a total of 22 rooms. The lower level was the kitchen, servant’s rooms, bathroom, private chapel and guest quarters. The upper level was for the family.)

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. (13:4) 9. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

 After Abram enter into Canaan he built worship altars at each place he stopped. In Sichem, on a mountain on the east of Bethel and he went south from there. I cannot help but think that he was surveying the land to see what God had given him for his descendants. (But this is lonely my opinion, and is not backed by any scripture.) It also took a great deal of faith, as Abram put up the worship altars, because in the land of Canaan they were idol worshipers and putting up the altars to an unknown God to them would have been an intrusion. 

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 (26:1, 43:1) 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, (20:11) 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”. 

This is where Abram made his wrong choices, he first did not rely on God to take care of him during the famine. He decided that he knew better what to do. Secondly, he feared for his life(again here he is not trusting in God promise to protect him) and decided to deceive the Egyptians by telling them that Sarai was his sister so they would not kill him for her. Thirdly, he put his wife in jeopardy by making her lie as well and become married to the Pharaoh. God punished the Pharaoh‘s family because of Sarai. And when he found out that she was Abrams wife he behaved in a manner that put Abram to shame.The Pharaoh told Abram to take his wife and all he owned and leave Egypt, no punishment was given. The consequences of this bad decision plagued Abrams descendants for generations. Deceit played a major roll in some of the major leaders of Abrams family that lead to sin.  Decisions that we make in our lives just do not concern us only but our children as well.

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 they 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 bible does not tell how old Sarai is by this time but we do know that Abram was 75, so even at Sarai age she was still beautiful. If only Abram had have trusted in God he would not have had to lie to the Pharaoh.

The Road to Salvation (KJV)

Romans 3: 23, 24 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:15 “For God so loved the world That He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

1 John 4:9”In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

John 6: 47, 48 “Verily, verily, I say unto you He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  I am that bread of life.”

Romans 10:9 – 14 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard: and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

If you are not saved, I pray you will accept Christ as your Savior to day. We are not promised another minute on this earth. We are but on a journey, passing though this world to the next, and you have a choice of where you will spend eternity. I pray you choose to spend it in Heaven with the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and all those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and paid our sin debt for us. 

Seek out a Bible preaching church in your area, one where God word is preached and  is the center of their service, study and devotion.