Tawa Baptist

Hagar & Sarai

Scripture: Genesis 16

 

Title: Sarai & Hagar

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Hagar and Sarai
  • Hagar and the angel
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Over the past few weeks we have been working our way through the story of Abram, in Genesis

–         Near the beginning of this series I talked about Abram’s journey of faith (and ours) being characterised as two steps forward, one step back

–         Our journey of faith isn’t always linear or straight forward – sometimes we get side tracked or go in circles

–         Other times we seem to be making good progress in the right direction only to become stalled in our faith or even to regress

–         Faith is a journey – two steps forward, one step back

 

When Abram followed God’s call to leave his homeland and trust the Lord with an unknown future that was a step forward

–         Then when Abram faced famine in the land he took a step back by going to Egypt and deceiving Pharaoh

–         Since returning from Egypt Abram has been moving forward in his faith, with his amicable separation from Lot and then his rescue of Lot

–         Last week we heard how God made a covenant with Abram – another positive step

–         Today though Abram & Sarai take a step backward as they try to provide a son and heir in their own strength

–         From Genesis 16 the story of Abram’s journey of faith continues…

 

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maid servant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maid servant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6 “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Today’s chapter focuses largely on Hagar. It falls naturally into two parts:

–         Verses 1-6, which deal with Hagar & Sarai’s relationship, and

–         Verses 7-14, which describe Hagar’s encounter with the angel of the Lord

–         First let us consider Hagar’s relationship with Sarai, in verses 1-6

 

Hagar & Sarai:

The famous mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal once said…

–         “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

 

This quote is a bit tongue in cheek, but there is truth in it

–         It is our inability to sit still that gets us into trouble – we interfere where we should stay out of it, as countless land wars in Asia have proven

–         Sadly, Sarai interferes where she shouldn’t and the consequences for hostility are far reaching

 

Let me tell you a story…

 

Once there was a boy whose father died when he was 12

–         The boy had a brother and a sister, both younger than him

–         As the eldest child he was inclined to feel the weight of responsibility more heavily than most

 

His mum was pretty distraught for a number of years after his dad’s passing (she kind of checked out for a while) and so the boy took charge

–         Strangely he didn’t cry at the funeral or even in private afterwards

–         Everyone else was a mess so he had to be strong

–         Naturally, as the eldest son, he tried to fill his dad’s shoes, mowing the lawns, putting out the rubbish, washing the car, locking the house up at night and being a sort of surrogate father to his younger siblings

–         Finances were tight but they got by – he worked part time after school to supplement the family’s income

–         And as soon as he was old enough to leave school he found a fulltime job – after all, supporting a teenage family isn’t cheap

 

The years went by and the 12 year old boy was soon 19

–         All the adults around him thought he was wonderful the way he helped his mum

–         They wished their sons could be more like him and wanted their daughters to go out with him

–         But the way things appear on the outside is not always how they are on the inside

–         You see, in his rush to take care of everyone else the boy had forgotten to take care of himself

 

Grief is a debt that must be paid – the longer you leave it the more the interest accumulates

–         Sadly, in the 7 years since his father had died, the boy had ignored his grief and now the repo man was calling

–         The wound in his soul had grown hard, like a boil ready to burst

–         He had become so sensitive that no one could get near him

–         He was anxious all the time and couldn’t relax, couldn’t sit still in a room by himself – busy-ness was his sanctuary, rescuing others his comfort

 

While it appeared to everyone else like he was pure in heart, helping his family selflessly, his virtue was really a cry for someone to save him

 

Everything came to a head one day when his sister, the youngest of the three, broke curfew

–         It was a Saturday night and his little sister (who was now 14) had gone to the movies with her friends – or at least that’s what she had told him

–         They had an agreement that she would be home by 11pm – the movie finished at 10

–         It was now after midnight and the boy’s sister still hadn’t come home

 

It’s funny how it’s the little things that undo us in the end

–         An off-hand remark here or there

–         The hint of contempt in someone’s eyes

–         Not getting a reply to the email we sent two weeks ago

–         Not being acknowledged by someone in the supermarket

–         Being defriended on Facebook

–         Or, as was the case with the boy, not getting a single reply to any of the 15 text messages he’d sent his sister since 11pm

 

In hindsight he should have remained calm and simply trusted his sister but when you are in as much pain as he was, you can’t sit quietly in your room

–         The sense that he was personally responsible for the decisions his sister made was as overwhelming as it was irrational

–         As soon as she walked through the front door he started yelling at her

–         His ranting about how much trouble she was in and how ungrateful she was for all he had done for her, lasted a full 30 minutes

–         Not once did he stop to listen to her – it was a monologue of judgment and condemnation (hostility conceived in his pain)

 

At the time he felt totally justified in his tirade – after all, he had sacrificed so much for her (for them all really) – but his righteous indignation was short lived

–         Like many teenagers his sister was both sensitive and obstinate at the same time

–         Normally she would have given back as good as she got but this time her response was to run away

 

The responsible older brother was a complete wreck

–         His already high level of anxiety went into overdrive and after 36 hours with no sleep, not knowing where she was, he finally broke down

–         The boil in his soul burst and seven years of pent up grief came flooding out – the tears kept coming and he was powerless to stop them

 

The difficult truth he now faced was that all this time he thought he had been helping his family when in reality he was simply avoiding his pain and his grief

–         Worse than that, his pain was hurting those closest to him

 

Sarai was sort of like the boy in the story except her wound was not being able to have children

–         There are no words that can do justice to the pain of not being able to have kids when that’s the only thing in the world you want

–         On top of her personal grief Sarai also had to deal with the public shame that barren women suffered in her culture

–         In our culture it is not a shameful thing if you can’t have children

–         It might be a sad thing but no one blames the infertile couple – it’s just considered bad luck

–         But in the ancient near east people did apportion blame

–         In Sarai’s culture not being able to have children made people wonder what you had done wrong to offend the gods

–         This sort of prejudice only rubbed salt in Sarai’s wound and created a feeling of alienation and loneliness for Sarai

 

Not able to sit quietly in her room Sarai conceives a solution herself, out of her own hurt

–         Sarai tells her husband, Abram, to take her maid-servant, Hagar, as a second wife (or a concubine) and try to have children through her

–         God had promised Abram a son from his own body but he hadn’t, as yet, said whether that son will come through Sarai or someone else

 

Sarai’s solution probably seems wrong to us, on a number of levels

–         Obviously there’s the polygamy aspect but there’s also the question of whether Hagar had any choice in the matter (the text doesn’t say)

–         But 4000 years ago, in the ancient world, this was acceptable practice

–         In fact, one could argue that Sarai would have been considered by many, in her culture, to be doing the right & noble thing by Abram

–         She can’t give Abram children herself so she provides another woman who can. Abram passively goes along with it

 

Now just because people in ancient times did something it doesn’t automatically follow that it’s a good idea and we should do it too

–         Genesis 16 is not a license for polygamy

–         Nor is it making an ethical judgement on surrogacy arrangements

–         Much of the Bible is simply description, not all of it is prescription

–         Genesis 16 doesn’t make an explicit statement about the right or wrong of Sarai’s solution – the text simply presents the story and leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions

–         This is what they did and this was the consequence

–         Abram agreed to Sarai’s suggestion, he slept with Hagar and hostility was born

 

As soon as Hagar knew she was pregnant she despised Sarai

–         Funny how it’s the little things that undo us in the end

–         An off-hand remark here or there

–         The hint of contempt in Hagar’s eyes

–         Pretending not to hear when Sarai called her

–         Rubbing her belly in front of Sarai

–         It all gets too much for Sarai – her dream has become a nightmare

–         She blames Abram for this as many a wife is inclined to do

 

And Abram abdicates responsibility, as many a husband is inclined to do, saying, “Do with her whatever you think best.’

–         Previously Abram had stepped in when he should have stayed well clear of Hagar – now he stays well clear when he should have stepped in

–         The result is that Sarai (who is in a great deal of pain), mistreats Hagar and Hagar runs away, with the hoped for son in utero

 

Based on Sarai & Hagar’s experience we would have to conclude that polygamy is not a good idea and surrogacy comes with a pretty big emotional cost

 

In Genesis 12, Abram chose the fertility of Egypt because of the barrenness (or famine) in the land of Canaan

–         Now here in Genesis 16, Abram chooses the fertility of the Egyptian maid-servant because of the barrenness of Sarai

–         This is one step back for Abram

–         God’s promised son will come through divine miracle, not human engineering

 

Okay, so that’s verses 1-6, Hagar & Sarai’s very difficult relationship

–         Now let’s consider Hagar’s encounter with the angel of the Lord

–         How does God handle Hagar?

 

Hagar and the angel:

Well, before we get into that, let me finish the story I was telling you before, of the boy and his sister – the one who ran away

 

As you’ve probably worked out the girl was 7 when her dad died

–         At seven she idealised her father and this ideal was forever preserved with his passing

–         No man could ever live up to the photo shopped memory of him in her mind – not even her older brother

–         While her brother had an over developed sense of responsibility she was the opposite – dreamy and care free

–         Always leaving things lying around the house, never on time, always losing things

–         She just couldn’t understand why her brother was so intense all the time

 

After he had yelled at her that night she snuck out of the house and went to hide at a friend’s place

–         No way was she going to spend another minute under the same roof as her stupid family – they just didn’t understand her, they didn’t get her

–         She felt like the only one who understood was her dad and he was dead

 

Hiding at her friend’s house was never going to be a long term solution

–         After a couple of days she bought a bus ticket and headed for Auckland

–         It was a long drive from Wellington and, as she was sitting at the front of the bus, she got talking to the driver

–         Although she didn’t mean to she ended up telling him her life’s story

–         Funny how you can say things to a complete stranger that you would never say to your family

 

As the driver listened to the girl he guessed she was running away, although she didn’t say as much

 

The bus stopped in Taihape to give people a chance to stretch their legs and get something to eat

–         The driver shouted the girl some lunch since she had used all her money on the bus ticket. Then he told her straight…

–         ‘You’re a bright kid and you’ve got spunk, I can see that. It’s a tough deal losing your dad so young. But I wonder what he would think about you breaking up the family by running away like you are.’

–         The girl blushed a little – how did he know she was running away?

–         ‘This guy understands me’, she thought to herself

 

‘If you ask me’, the driver said, ‘you’re better off back at home with your family, even if your brother is a bit intense.

–         Family isn’t perfect, life isn’t perfect, and kid, you might not want to hear this but I bet your dad wasn’t perfect either.

–         Now I can take you all the way to Auckland if you like but there’s another bus heading for Wellington – it’s due to stop here in about 10 minutes. If you want I can talk to the driver and you can get on board that one, no extra charge. You decide.’

 

The girl thought for a moment

–         The driver’s words were strong but the truth of what he was saying resonated with her – she knew he was right

–         It wasn’t what she wanted to hear but it was what she needed to hear

–         He wasn’t giving her a sales pitch and he wasn’t tip toeing around her feelings either – he was showing her the respect of being honest and trusting her decision, something her brother never did

–         ‘Okay’, she said, ‘I’ll catch the next bus back to Wellington’

–         ‘Smart move kid, smart move. You have a bright future. No sense in throwing it away over wounded pride’

 

Later that evening, when she walked into the living room at home, she found her brother curled up on the couch

–         It had been 3 days since their argument – he looked terrible

–         She could see he had been crying – he never cried

–         There was no reprisal this time, no accusation, no emotional blackmail.

–         He simply said, ‘I’m pleased you’re home. Sorry for yelling at you. I can get a bit intense sometimes’

–         She smiled and said, ‘Yea, you can. But no one’s perfect. I’m sorry too.’

 

Things were different after that – better than they had been

 

When Hagar ran away, she didn’t get on a bus – she probably made her way on foot

–         If Abram’s camp was still in Hebron then Hagar had travelled about 70 miles through inhospitable territory by the time she encountered the angel

–         This means she had been on the road for at least a week [1]

 

When the angel finds Hagar he asks two open ended questions:

–         Where have you come from and where are you going?

–         By doing this the angel is giving Hagar the opportunity talk about her past and her future – like the bus driver the angel starts by listening

–         Hagar gives an honest answer to where she has come from but can’t say where she is going – she doesn’t see a future for herself

 

Then the angel of the Lord gives it to Hagar straight…

–         “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”

–         Submitting to Sarai is the opposite of despising her

–         This isn’t what Hagar wanted to hear but it is what she needed to hear

–         The angel wasn’t giving her a sales pitch and he wasn’t tip toeing around her feelings either – he was showing her the respect of being honest and trusting her decision. Hagar knew he was right

 

The angel then goes on to say he will increase Hagar’s descendants so that they will be too numerous to count

–         This is essentially the same as what God said to Abram in chapter 15

 

The angel tells Hagar to name her son ‘Ishmael’

–         Ishmael means ‘God hears’ – so every time she calls her son by name Hagar will be reminded of how the Lord heard her misery and put her back on the right track, like the good shepherd restoring the lost sheep

 

When the angel had finished Hagar gave the Lord the name…

–         “You are the God who sees me.”

–         To be seen by God means to be understood and valued by the Lord

–         Not only had God seen Hagar’s misery, he had also seen a future for her and her son

 

That God would even notice her, let alone go out of his way to restore her hope (by revealing her future) was a profound realisation for Hagar of her worth

–         Everyone, including Hagar, would have thought that God would send his angel to comfort and encourage Sarai – after all, Sarai is the first wife of Abram and she is clearly in a lot of pain because she can’t have kids

–         But the Lord plans to speak to Sarai later – on this occasion God attends to Hagar, the outsider

 

All this takes place by a well

–         In this way the angel of the Lord reminds us of Jesus who, 2000 years later, would talk to another outsider by a well, the Samaritan woman [2]

–         That woman would also come away from her conversation with Jesus knowing that God had seen her misery – that she was understood and valued by the Lord

 

Conclusion:

Who is it that you identify with most in this story?

 

Are you in pain like Sarai (unable to sit quietly in a room alone), unwittingly hurting others, even as you try to solve the problem in your own strength?

 

Or are you like Abram, abdicating your responsibility when you should be manning up and giving your family Godly leadership?

 

Or are you like Hagar, despising those in authority and running away when the going gets tough?

 

Or are you like the angel of the Lord, listening to the runaways and putting them back on the right path with words of truth & hope?

 

Questions for discussion / reflection:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    Discuss Blaise Pascal’s statement…

–         “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

–         What do you think Pascal meant?

–         Why was Sarai unable to sit quietly in a room?

 

3.)    What ‘little things’ threaten to undo you (or at least irritate you the most)?

 

4.)    What does Abram, Sarai & Hagar’s experience, in Genesis 16, show us about polygamy and surrogacy?

 

5.)    How did the angel of the Lord approach Hagar initially?

–         What difference does listening first make?

 

6.)    In what sense does God “see” Hagar?

–         (What does it mean to be seen by God?)

 

7.)    How does the angel of the Lord remind us of Jesus?

 

8.)    Who do you identify with most?

–         Sarai (in pain)

–         Abram (who abdicates)

–         Hagar (who runs)

–         The angel (who listens and guides)

 

 

[1] John Walton, NIVAC Genesis, page 448.

[2] John 4

Tawa Baptist

Abram in Egypt

Scripture: Genesis 12:10-20

 

Title: Abram in Egypt

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Famine
  • Fear
  • Freedom
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When a toddler is learning to walk, they fall over a little bit

–         No one criticises the toddler because she is just learning and needs encouragement

 

Likewise, when a child is learning to ride a bike, they fall off sometimes but no one punishes the child for this – a scraped knee is punishment enough

–         Instead we give the child confidence to pick themselves up and carry on

 

Or when a young person is learning to drive

–         They might stall a few times as they get used to the clutch but the instructor is patient with them because they are still getting the hang of it

 

Learning to trust God is a bit like learning to walk or ride a bike or drive a car

–         We make mistakes – we fall, we scrape our knees and we stall

–         But God isn’t there with a big stick ready to hit us if we get it wrong

–         He understands and gives us the grace we need to carry on learning

 

This morning we continue our series on the life of Abram

–         Last week we heard how God called Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s house

–         Abram responded by obeying God’s call in stages

–         First he left his country and then, some years later, he left his father’s household

 

When Abram finally did make it to Canaan (the Promised Land) the Lord appeared to him and said, “To your offspring I will give this land”

–         Following this wonderful spiritual experience there is a famine in the land and Abram migrates to Egypt to avoid starvation

–         While in Egypt his faith falters – Abram’s fear & anxiety gets the better of him and he trips up

–         But the Lord isn’t waiting with a big stick to punish Abram

–         Rather God is patient and gracious as Abram learns to walk by faith

 

We pick up Abram & Sarai’s story from Genesis chapter 12, verse 10…

 

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Today’s Scripture passage conveniently divides into 3 parts…

–         Famine, fear and freedom

–         Famine in the land, fear in Abram’s heart and freedom by the Lord’s hand. First let us consider famine in the land…

 

Famine:

I remember when I was about 13 or 14 going to an Anglican youth group camp

–         To teach us what the journey of faith is like they had us all line up one behind the other and then told us to take two steps forward and one step back, two steps forward, one step back and so on

–         It was frustrating in a way but it was also effective in teaching the point

–         This is often how it is in our journey of faith

–         Things are going along fine, we feel close to God, and then we go through a famine experience

–         We might sustain some kind of loss – perhaps the death of a loved one or the loss of a job or the breakdown of a marriage

–         Or maybe we experience some kind of disappointment – either with another person or with God

–         Or our prayer life becomes stale and dry

–         Or we might suffer a famine of meaning, where we struggle to find purpose in life – somehow the things we once valued no longer seem so important

–         Whatever form or shape the famine comes in, it feels like we are taking a step backwards and it tests our faith

 

After making two steps forward (leaving his country and his father’s house to enter the Promised Land), Abram now takes one step back as he faces a literal famine in the form of a severe food shortage

–         God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Abram’s offspring and then, sometime after he gets there, Abram discovers the land is not a reliable food source

–         It’s sort of like being given a car with no petrol in the tank

–         Or a cell phone with no battery

–         Or a pair of shoes with a hole in them

–         The famine calls God’s faithfulness into question

 

On the wall here is a diagram of what to do if you are caught in a rip tide at the beach

–         A rip is a current of water on a surf beach which is moving out to sea

–         You can identify a rip by the relative calmness of the water – ironically the rip is where the water is flat (that is, where the waves aren’t)

–         If you are caught in a rip and feel yourself being taken out to sea you basically have three options:

–         Wave out to a life guard to come to your rescue

–         Or, try swimming against the current

–         Or, go with the current and swim sideways till you come out of the rip

–         Once you are out of the rip you can swim back to shore

 

Swimming against the current is probably the worst thing you can do – it will simply make you exhausted and you’ll get nowhere for your efforts

–         Waving for help and swimming to the side are better options

 

A famine is sort of like a rip tide – it’s one of those circumstances you don’t have control over

–         Abram was caught in a severe famine and he had three options:

–         He could call out to God for help

–         Or, he could try and swim against the famine by staying in the land

–         Or, he could let the current of the famine carry him to Egypt, where the food was, and then swim out the side later

 

As far as we know Abram did not call on the Lord for help or ask his advice

–         Instead he thought he would take care of it himself

–         Maybe he didn’t realise that the fulfilment of God’s promise depended more on God than it did on him

–         In any case Abram doesn’t try to swim against the famine (he doesn’t stay in the land) but rather he lets the current carry him to Egypt with a view to returning to Canaan once the famine has finished

 

Interestingly God is silent – he doesn’t say anything to try and stop Abram

–         The Lord let’s Abram make his choices and then works with the choices Abram gives him

 

Fear:

Okay, so that’s the first point, famine in the land

–         Now let’s consider our second point: Abram’s fear

 

About 6 months ago we bought a new car – a 2008 Nissan Tiida

–         The car we traded in was a 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer, so the Tiida is about 13 years newer than the Lancer

–         Consequently the Tiida has a lot more technology built into it

–         One of the things with the Tiida is that talks to you

–         There is literally a voice which says ‘konichiwa’ when you turn it on

–         Not only that but the car is covered in sensors so whenever you get a bit close to something it beeps at you to warn you to stop

–         Or, if you leave your lights on, it beeps at you when you open the door to remind you to turn your lights off

–         It even has a little display estimating how many more km’s before you run out of petrol

–         The point is the new car has all this warning technology built in to it

–         You can turn the volume down though and drive old school if you want

 

Fear is a bit like warning technology built into our brain and nervous system

–         A little bit of fear can be a good thing – it warns us when danger is imminent so we can take corrective action to protect ourselves

–         Sometimes though the volume of our fear is turned up too high so that the warnings our fear gives us is all we can hear and we end up over-reacting

–         Other times our fear malfunctions – it starts beeping when it’s not supposed to, warning us of imminent danger when none exists, so that we end up anxious over nothing

 

A little bit of fear is a healthy thing but when fear has too much influence in our lives it distorts our thinking

–         It makes us forget the bigger picture and deceives us so that we feel like we have no other options than the one presented by our fear

–         Too much fear is like a cruel tyrant living in our head – it bullies us and makes us do things we don’t want to do

 

Turning the volume of fear down, in our brains, is more difficult than turning it down in a car. Verses 11-13 describe how fear affected Abram

 

11 As Abram was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

 

The first thing to say here is that Abram’s fear was not unfounded – his fear did have some basis in reality

–         Pharaoh was a dictator with a reputation for taking whatever he wanted and disposing of whoever got in his way

–         So Abram was being sensible in heeding the warning his fear gave him

–         Unfortunately the volume of Abram’s fear was turned up too high and that prevented him from thinking clearly

–         With fear calling the shots in Abram’s mind it seemed that deceiving Pharaoh was his best option, perhaps his only option

–         Apparently it didn’t occur to Abram to enquire of the Lord

–         Just as he had left Canaan without asking God for help or advice he now also excludes God in dealing with Pharaoh

–         It’s like Abram thinks the fulfilment of the promise depends on him rather than God

–         Fear has temporarily disabled Abram’s faith in God’s promises

 

A couple of other minor technical points that this passage raises…

–         We know from other parts of Scripture that Sarai was 10 years younger than Abram and that Abram was 75 when he left Harran to go to Canaan

–         This means Sarai must have been at least 65 when she entered Egypt

–         If the genealogies in Genesis are to be accepted at face value then it appears that people 4000 years ago lived longer than we do today

–         In other words they might have aged more slowly – so their 65 may have been more like our 35 [1] (which would make sense in light of Abram’s concern about Pharaoh wanting Sarai because of her beauty)

 

The other minor point to be aware of is that Sarai was Abram’s half sister

–         We know from Genesis 20:12 that Sarai & Abram had the same father but different mothers

–         So by today’s standards their marriage would be considered incestuous,

–         But in that time and culture marrying your half-sister was acceptable – in fact it may have even given more status to the marriage [2]

 

We shouldn’t get hung up though on Sarai’s age and relationship to Abram, they are minor curiosities in the context

–         The main point is that on this occasion Abram acted out of fear, not faith

–         Fear can be a ruthless dictator – not unlike Pharaoh

–         It can distort our thinking and cause us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do

–         Fear turned Abram into a con man and it made him use his wife, Sarai, as a shield to protect and enrich himself

 

Now on the one hand we don’t want to condemn Abram for his actions, he was in a difficult situation

–         But on the other hand we can’t condone what he did either

–         We human beings are a mixture – capable of both fearful deceit and faithful courage

–         Abram is not perfect at this point – he is still learning to walk by faith and part of learning to walk by faith is learning to manage our fear

 

Fear and anxiety plays a big part in our lives these days – more than it did 20 or 30 years ago

–         I don’t think shame or guilt over our fearful responses is helpful

–         Learning to manage our fear, learning to walk by faith, is like learning to ride a bike or drive a car

–         There is no shame in falling over or in stalling – it’s part of the learning process

–         God is not standing over us with the big stick waiting to wallop us the moment we make a mistake

–         He is standing alongside us, encouraging us, helping us to find our feet

–         If you suffer from anxiety or fear then take heart by Abram’s example

–         Abram was overcome by fear at times too and yet God used him to bless many

 

As I said before, Abram’s fears were not unfounded

–         Pharaoh did in fact hear of Sarai’s beauty and took her into his harem, treating Abram well for her sake

–         Sarai and Abram didn’t get a choice in the matter – Pharaoh was a dictator. What Pharaoh wants, Pharaoh gets

–         The text doesn’t say whether Pharaoh actually slept with Sarai or not

–         We the reader are left hoping he didn’t, for Sarai’s sake at least

 

This is a picture of men behaving badly

–         Not only did Abram act out of fear to save himself

–         Pharaoh acted out of his lust to have Sarai

–         And so God intervened to set Sarai & Abram free

 

Freedom:

Jesus said, “The truth will set you free”

–         In the context Jesus was talking about holding to the truth of his teaching

–         The principle is, when we believe what is true our minds are set free

–         But when we believe what is false our minds are bound in fear

–         It appears Abram believed that God couldn’t help him with the famine or with Pharaoh and that false belief created a fear which led him to deceive Pharaoh and that deceit resulted in Sarai becoming a captive in Pharaoh’s harem

–         Consequently God intervened to set her free, not by force but by revealing the truth

 

Verse 17 tells us the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh because he had taken Abram’s wife

–         We might look at this situation and think – that doesn’t seem fair, Abram tells a porky (a big fat lie) and Pharaoh gets punished for it

–         Well, I don’t think the Lord is punishing Pharaoh, so much as trying to communicate with him

–         The message was, ‘Pharaoh, your attitude to women is sick and your whole regime is diseased. Your behaviour Pharaoh is as repulsive to me as this illness is to you’

 

I’m not sure whether Pharaoh interpreted his sickness in this way but he certainly realised something was wrong and after investigating what it might be he learned the truth, that Sarai was actually married to Abram

–         We are not told exactly how he learned this but that doesn’t matter

–         The main point is that Sarai was set free when Pharaoh learned the truth

 

When Pharaoh learns the truth he confronts Abram, saying, ‘What have you done to me?’

–         Apparently Pharaoh wants to blame Abram for his predicament

–         Now while it’s true that Abram did deceive Pharaoh, the Egyptian king is missing the point

–         Abram didn’t do this to Pharaoh – Pharaoh brought this on himself

–         It’s not okay for the king to take women against their will to use as objects for his own pleasure

–         Pharaoh has been abusing his power for quite some time it seems

–         He clearly has a Harvey Weinstein reputation, otherwise Abram wouldn’t have felt he needed to deceive Pharaoh in the first place

 

God is love – he doesn’t just love Abram & Sarai, he loves Pharaoh and the Egyptians (and Harvey Weinstein) too, even if he hates their behaviour

–         I believe the sickness God sent on Pharaoh’s household was a message of truth intended to set Pharaoh free from his own sin

–         Unfortunately the Egyptian king didn’t want to face the truth about himself – otherwise he would have said, ‘What have I done?’ rather than ‘What have you done?’

–         He repented in part (by returning Sarai to Abram) but it appears he didn’t go far enough – what about all the other women he had used?

 

The dictator is reaping what he has sown – now it’s Pharaoh’s turn to be afraid and he manages his fear by sending Abram and Sarai away

 

In many ways, God’s deliverance of Abram & Sarai from Egypt foreshadows Israel’s exodus experience

–         Just as Abram & Sarai were forced to migrate to Egypt due to a famine, so too Abram’s grandson, Jacob, moved his family to Egypt because of famine

–         Just as Sarai was oppressed by the Pharaoh of her day, so too the people of Israel were oppressed by the Egyptians some centuries later

–         And just as God intervened with diseases so Pharaoh would set Abram & Sarai free, so too the Lord sent plagues on Egypt so another Pharaoh would let the nation of Israel go free

 

Conclusion:

There are parallels here between Abram and Jesus too

–         After the joy of Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary are forced to flee Israel to find refuge in Egypt because Herod is out to kill the new born Messiah

–         Unlike Abram though, Joseph makes the journey to Egypt, not out of fear but in faith, because an angel of the Lord instructed him in a dream

 

Another connection between Abram & Jesus…

–         After his baptism in the River Jordan, God said to Jesus – ‘This is my beloved Son with whom I’m pleased’

–         And then, straight after that wonderful (two steps forward) spiritual experience, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness (one step back) to be tested by Satan

–         And what’s the first temptation?

–         Famine, hunger. ‘If you are God’s Son, turn these stones into bread’

–         Forget God and rely on yourself

–         Unlike Abram, Jesus passed the test

 

Where you are at in your journey of faith at the moment?

–         Is this is a two steps forward or a one step back stage for you?

–         Are you walking confidently in faith or ducking & diving under that cruel dictator we call ‘Fear’?

–         Either way, the Lord Jesus is faithful to his promises

–         He does not promise us an easy ride – we all face a famine of sorts at some point

–         What Jesus does promise is to never leave us or forsake us

–         And when our journey on this earth has finished he promises heaven

–         Those two things, his presence and heaven

 

Reflection / discussion questions:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    Can you identify with your journey of faith being two steps forward, one step back?

–         If yes, what have the forward and backwards steps looked like for you?

–         If no, how would you describe your journey of faith?

 

3.)    What is your best option if you get caught in a rip at the beach?

–         If being caught in a famine is like being caught in a rip, what option did Abram go with?

 

4.)    How did Abram’s fear of Pharaoh affect him – what did his fear make him do?

–         How does fear affect you?

–         When is fear a good thing?

–         How might we know when fear is having too much influence in our life?

 

5.)    How does God set Abram & Sarai free?

 

6.)    How does Abram & Sarai’s sojourn in Egypt foreshadow Israel’s exodus experience?

 

7.)    Reflect on /discuss the parallels Genesis 12:10-20 raises between Abram & Jesus

 

8.)    What does Jesus promise us?

–         What does he not promise?

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/22-oct-2017-abram-in-egypt

 

 

[1] Derek Kidner, Genesis, pages 116-117

[2] Ibid