Faith in the Famine (Genesis part 24)
Text: Genesis 12:10 – 20
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
The very first sentence of our text tells us that while Abram was living in the Promised Land, a famine struck and he moved to Egypt to escape it. Last week we read that Abram was 75 years old when he received the call from God to leave his father’s house and go to Canaan. And now; here he is – having to move yet again. Moving isn’t a fun thing to do, especially if you have a lot of stuff, and it becomes an absolute dreadful thing if you have a lot of stuff that you don’t ever use, a collection of useless items that you’ve accumulated over the years… then moving becomes a nightmare. But as bad as moving can be, put yourself in Abram’s shoes for a minute. First he had to move away from Ur to Haran, then he had to move away from Haran to Canaan, now he’s got to move again. Then when you couple that with Sarah’s barrenness, the loss of his father, and a famine, then what you’ve got is a guy who might be questioning whether or not he actually heard God. You’ve got a guy who might be saying to himself, “Now God told me that he was going to make me the father of many nations, and that He was going to give me this land as an inheritance to my children and grandchildren, and that I’m supposed to be blessed and be a blessing… but here I am living in tents, and I know that it’s God who controls the weather… so why exactly is this famine happening?” If you look at with your natural understanding it might not seem like God’s keeping His end of the bargain; but what this is – is a test for Abraham. He’s going to be tested in those three areas… in those three promises from God – that Abraham will be a father, that he will receive a land, and that he will be a blessing to the nations. And these tests aren’t just for a day or two. Some of them last a long, long time. Abraham’s wife, Sarah will be 90 years old before she ever bears him a son. Then there’s the promise of the land. He lives most of his life in a tent, moving from place to place, not settling anywhere in particular. When Sarah dies and Abraham is 127 years old, he had to buy a plot of land, because even at that time he didn’t own any land. He has to live in Egypt for a while as well. In-fact, the book of Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that Abraham died without the promise of a land being fulfilled… at least a physical land. We learn from Hebrews and Romans and Galatians that God’s promises to Abraham had a spiritual meaning behind them, but Abraham didn’t fully understand all of that at the time. And then if you look at the promise of Abraham being a blessing… in the physical world, you might read about Abraham and go, “Woah, this guy isn’t a blessing to the people he meets. He causes trouble to everyone he meets.” We see that in our text. Later on when Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah judgment falls on them. Abraham’s neighbors are going to steal his water wells later on, and his nephew is going to be kidnapped, which causes Abraham to go to war with his neighbors.
What we’re going to see in the life of Abraham is that he’s going to be tested in the areas of God’s promises to him. But what we can learn here is that our trials are God’s opportunities.
James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
And Hebrews 6:12 tells us that it’s through faith and patience that we inherit the promises. True faith is always a patient faith.
1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Trials have a purpose. They’re like polishing stones that reveal what’s underneath, and for some they reveal long lost treasures, while for others they reveal nothing but junk. And sometimes they reveal another layer that has to be removed before you can get to the real treasure. And that’s kind of what we see with Abraham; look at verses 11-13 (Read).
Now remember; we receive the promises of God through not only patience, but through FAITH and PATIENCE. If there’s unbelief, then the fulfillment of the promise is in jeopardy.
What we’re seeing in those verses we just read is either a lack of understanding, or a lack of trust on the part of Abraham, a lack of faith. God had promised him a Seed. But here in verse 12 he’s saying, “The Egyptians will kill me.” Now how could he be a father to many nations if he was dead? So… The father of our faith… this spiritual giant, has a moral failure. And we see here that Abram knows the Egyptian culture and their laws. We actually have copies of these laws from Egypt in museums now days that say that the Pharaoh had the right to take the wife and children of any foreigner coming into his land, and Abram looks at the power, the wealth and might of Pharaoh and has a faith failure. And because of that, he puts the promises of the covenant in danger of not being fulfilled.
Now before you point a finger at Abram, remember that just a short time before, he obeyed God, left his home, left all he knew, and went to a place that he didn’t even know. He exhibited great faith. But then the promises didn’t immediately materialize, and he was having to move all over the place, and his father had died, and now a famine… So we see our 2nd lesson here. And that is: be careful of your judgments of others. We don’t always know what a person has gone through, or what trials they are facing. Abram messed up, and “if not for the grace of God, there go I” as the saying goes. Even these heroes of the Bible; men like Abraham and Moses and David and Peter and Paul… they’re sinners and need the grace of God. And then we see people in our own lives, who get into sin, and into sinful situations, and we understand that they are in need of the grace of God. And lucky for them and for us, God is a God of grace. That doesn’t mean we ignore sin, or we brush it aside and pretend it doesn’t exist. We have to deal with it, we have to confront it, and we need to try and help those who have stumbled. What it means is we have to do those things with the understanding that we are sinners too, and that we could easily be in those peoples place, and making those mistakes.
That’s why it’s so important to be in God’s Word on a regular basis, and that’s why going to church is important. I hear people say all the time “that it’s not important to be in church.” You know, they say things like, “I can serve God just fine without going to church.” Let me explain this really quickly if I can, and I’ll try not to get too far off the subject. The fruit of the Spirit are grown and nurtured by a sustained interaction with God. Just like my girls pick up traits and habits by being around me and MariJo and by spending their time with us, and living with us.
Well Christians develop the fruit of the Spirit through fellowship with God, and the way we do that is by spending time in His Word, through prayer, and to a large extent, by spending time with God’s family – The Church!
Ok… let’s get back to our text.
God sees what Abram’s doing and steps in. It’s a divine intervention. Even when Abram is faithless, God remains faithful. And He sends plagues upon Pharaoh and his household. And it’s pretty amazing actually, that Pharaoh, this pagan from Egypt recognizes the hand of God is on him in judgment. Bad things start happening and he realizes that something’s not exactly right. The text doesn’t tell us if it’s Sarai that ends up telling him the truth, or if it’s God Himself that tells Pharaoh that Sarai is actually Abram’s wife, but somehow Pharaoh gets the truth of the matter and he actually shows more morals than Abram did. He even rebukes Abram for lying to him and causing all of the trouble that was going on.
The parallels to today are amazing. And it kind of goes back to what I was just saying. Pharaoh didn’t come to befriend Abram or respect him because Abram compromised and acted like the world. He lost respect for him. And let’s take it a step further. When Abram compromised, God’s judgment came upon Pharaoh. When you or I compromise, we affect how the world around us hears and perceives the Gospel. I said it last week, and I’ll say it again. We have to be salt and light. We have to be living our lives in obedience to the Lord, but not in a way that where we become ineffective in the world.
Now I want you to notice something here. In our text; we’re seeing three things that we’ll eventually see again in the Book of Exodus. If you notice; it was a famine that brought Abraham to Egypt, and later on it’ll be a famine that brings Jacob’s sons to Egypt. God brings plagues on the house of Pharaoh in our text, and He does the same in the Book of Exodus, and notice… Pharaoh gives God’s covenant people (Abraham in this case and Moses in Exodus) wealth and riches and tells them to get out of his land.
Remember it was Moses who wrote this account, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it was Moses who would tell these stories to the people of Israel, so what God is doing here is drawing a parallel for them and us, and He’s showing that He will see His promises fulfilled, not because of Abraham’s faithfulness, or because of Moses’s faithfulness, or the people of Israel’s faithfulness, but because of His faithfulness… God’s faithfulness!
And that’s lesson #3. Some people read this and they say, “Well if it’s all about God’s faithfulness, and if God is going to do whatever He wills regardless of what I do, then why should I even bother?” But that’s not the lesson that’s being taught here. We should take into account what we do with God’s promises, but we should also remember that ultimately it’s all about Him and His glory. Every good thing we see in Abraham’s life is the result of God’s grace, and that’s ultimately what it all boils down to.
The grace of God and the glory of God.
How are those things manifesting in our lives? Or are they?
Are we glorifying God by living out the covenant we are in with Him through Christ, even through the times of famine in our lives? Or are we glorifying Him by showing the world He is just when we reap what we’ve sown?
LET’S PRAY
