Passage: Genesis 12:10-20

The Big Idea

Some people walk away from faith because of the “famines” of this world. Abram hit a famine right in the land God had promised him, and instead of trusting God’s word, he ran to Egypt and lied to protect himself. God protected Sarai anyway, and kept His promises to Abram anyway. Trials are where God writes His résumé of faithfulness in our lives. Jesus told us we’d have trouble, and He also told us He has overcome the world.

“Not One Redeeming Feature”

I once came across a blog post that brought me to tears. The writer said his biggest problem with Christianity was that God creates an imperfect creation and then expects it to live up to His standards, and damns it forever when it fails. He concluded there wasn’t one redeeming feature in Christianity.

That’s so sad. I’m not going to insult his intelligence. I just grieve, because the truth is exactly what he assumed was too good to be true.

God created a perfect creation. People ruined it by leaving the Source of perfection, the God who made them for relationship with Him.
“Expects it to live up to His standards.” Yes, that’s the Law. But would you really want it any other way? What if God’s standard weren’t perfect and holy? What if God let people like Hitler into heaven without any change or redemption? Wouldn’t there be outrage? So where’s the line? Hitler no, but Stalin yes? Me? You? Who decides? We can’t! So God sets a standard with no loopholes, one that always declares what’s right. And it happens to be His own perfect character described. It’s His heaven and His creation, with His fingerprints all over it.
“Not one redeeming feature.” The whole point of Christianity is that Christ redeems sinners by His love and sacrifice on the cross!

This writer said he used to believe in Jesus, but because of the suffering and troubles, the “famines” of this world, he chose to reject Him.

This passage teaches us not to fall away like that, but to hold on to Jesus and stay close to Him, trusting His Word and His power in our lives.

A Famine in the Land (Genesis 12:10)

There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there, because the famine was severe.

This is the land Abram was supposed to be in! So why a famine? No rain! (Why did the rapper need an umbrella? For drizzle!)

Why do we have to go through hard things when we follow Jesus? If we’ve been adopted by the King of the universe as His beloved children, why do we experience famines?

Because it’s what Jesus went through. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

Listen to how believers through the centuries have understood this:

George Whitefield said that just as our Savior learned obedience through suffering, so must we. Affliction, patiently endured and sanctified to us, is a great purifier of our corrupt nature and will teach us excellent things.
William S. Plumer said God loves His children too well to exempt them from affliction, and it’s a blessed thing when our trials cure us of our love for perishable things.
Matthew Henry wrote that afflictions are sent to bring us to the throne of grace, to teach us to pray, and to make the Word of God’s grace precious to us. Many are taught by the briars and thorns of affliction who would not learn any other way.
God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

As my dad likes to say, God is writing a résumé of His faithfulness in your life.

Why Egypt?

Why did Abram decide to go down to Egypt?

He was concerned about the famine. That’s understandable.
He doubted that God would provide for him in the land God had led him to. That’s the problem.
In the Bible, Egypt is often a picture of the world and what it offers.
God never told Abram to go to Egypt. Abram was no longer being led by the word of God. He was stepping out on his own.

God had given Abram His word and His promises to live by. Just the Word. That’s what we live by too.

“That’s it? That’s all we get? That’s not fair! That’s not what I signed up for!”

It’s okay. God has given us His Word as the way to hear His voice, connect with Him, and stay where we’re supposed to be.

The Power of God’s Word

As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him (Psalm 18:30).

If God is perfect, and He wants us to know Him, then His way of revealing Himself will be perfect too. His Word is proven, because He is perfect, and so is His Word.

Paul says the gospel came to the Thessalonians not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

The reality and power of the Word is proven in the lives of people who trust it, believe it and spend time in it. Their lives have two marks:

The Holy Spirit: power that changes our desires.
Full assurance: power that changes our expectations.

God’s Word is proven by its work in my heart.

The kingdom of God doesn’t consist in talk but in power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

God’s Word brings the kingdom of God into my life.
It isn’t that the words on the page are magical. It’s the Spirit behind those words who pours His power into my heart and changes me moment by moment.
No other book, message or religion can do what the Word of God does. It brings life to dead things.
It doesn’t just reform or suggest. It tells the truth about our condition (the Law), and then offers God’s grace (the gospel). God’s Word is power on both sides.

Grace and peace are multiplied to us through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, since His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us (2 Peter 1:2-3).

As we get to know Jesus in His Word, we discover He’s completely sufficient. He supplies everything we need.
His power is divine. His power is given, never earned.
Through His power we receive all things that pertain to life and godliness.
What is God committed to blessing? Your life and your godliness. He gives us instructions for both in His Word, and pours out power for both through the Spirit working in His Word.

God’s Word is everything we need.

Abram’s Missed Opportunity

Abram just hadn’t grown enough yet to trust God in this hardship.

Would God have provided for him in the promised land? Yes!

He could have had a heart like David’s, who sought God earnestly, his soul thirsting and his flesh longing for God in a dry and weary land where there was no water (Psalm 63:1).

And God would have used that famine to prove once again how faithful He is!

We never need to doubt whether He’ll take care of us. And our deepest need is always love. We’ll never be left alone, left to die.

So we won’t have any problems? Nope! But each one is part of learning how God wants to provide for us, write His résumé of faithfulness in our lives, and show us how He loves us.

He’s looking for hearts that will seek Him, and not run away at the first sign of difficulty. Abram bolted as soon as it got a little dry.

Your marriage gets rocky. Your husband is insensitive, or your wife seems to resent you. Will you seek Him?
Your job is a constant pain. Will you seek Him?
Your kids are breaking your last thread of sanity. Will you seek Him?
You’ve had a long week and just want to “relax.” Will you seek Him?

Get alone with your Bible. He has no problem repeating Himself if you’ve forgotten what He’s already spoken into your heart. He’ll speak to anyone who seeks Him with their whole heart. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

So Abram headed down to Egypt, the picture of the world. “I’ve got a problem, so I’ll go to the world to fix it, even if it takes me out of God’s will.” That describes a lot of the choices people make when life, or marriage, gets hard: “The world must have something better for me than this.”

And this trip would have consequences. One of them was named Hagar (Genesis 16:1).

“Say You’re My Sister” (Genesis 12:11-20)

As they were about to enter Egypt, Abram told Sarai, “You’re a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they’ll say, ‘This is his wife,’ and they’ll kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my sister, so it will go well with me because of you.” Sure enough, the Egyptians saw how beautiful she was, Pharaoh’s officials praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake, giving him livestock and servants. But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his household with great plagues because of Sarai. Pharaoh summoned Abram: “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say she was your sister, so that I took her as my wife? Here’s your wife. Take her and go!” And Pharaoh’s men sent him on his way with his wife and everything he had.

Now, my wife is beautiful, but I’ve never taken her to Egypt! Sarai, at sixty-five, must have been a knockout.

An old Jewish legend says that when Abram went into Egypt, he hid Sarai in a chest. Customs officials asked what was inside. “Barley,” he said. “No, it’s wheat,” they said. “Fine, I’ll pay the duty on wheat.” “It’s pepper!” “Fine, I’ll pay the duty on pepper.” “It’s gold!” “I’ll pay the duty on gold.” “It’s precious stones!” “I’ll pay for precious stones.” Finally they insisted on opening it, and all of Egypt shone with Sarai’s beauty. The legend says that compared to her, all other women looked like monkeys!

The father of faith, deceiving

Here’s the father of faith going about to deceive, trusting in his lie to protect him instead of trusting the LORD.

He had no need to lie. His doubt in God grew into fear and tricked him.
He could have just gone back to God’s word and remembered he was going to have a child! Until that happened, he was invincible, because God can’t lie.
God didn’t want Sarai taken advantage of by Pharaoh either. God cared for her and had a plan for her, even though her husband was being a goober.
Abram could have been a blessing to Pharaoh, but he wasn’t walking in the Spirit at that moment.
God stepped in to protect Sarai when her husband wasn’t being godly. God was so committed to blessing Abram that He didn’t abandon him even when he acted in unbelief.

That’s so good news for me. How many times have I doubted God’s word? How many times have I said, “You know there’s a famine, right?” How many times have I lied to protect something I didn’t want to lose?

God is telling us the story of how He grew Abram into a man of great faith. That requires circumstances where Abram has to trust God.

Donald Grey Barnhouse said faith isn’t a mushroom that pops up overnight in damp soil; it’s an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of wind and rain.

Does it feel like you only get the wind and rain?

Be of Good Cheer

Jesus told His disciples He had said these things so that in Him they might have peace. In the world they would have tribulation, but they should take heart, because He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

The disciples felt the wind and rain too. Jesus told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” That was the promise, the word of God. But as Jesus slept in the boat, a violent storm hit. Even these experienced fishermen were terrified, and the waves began filling the boat. They woke Jesus, and He calmed the sea instantly (Mark 4:35-41).

Did Jesus rebuke them for being afraid of the waves? No.
For not being brave enough? Nope.
For not being strong enough to get through it? No.
The only thing He rebuked them for was not having faith!

“In the world you will have tribulation.” We have a promise here. We will have storms. We can’t say we didn’t know. There’s a famine coming.

So what do we do? “Be of good cheer!” Take heart! Rejoice! Look forward to it! Why? “I have overcome the world.” Jesus will come through and calm your storm.

Every storm is just the next great display of Jesus’ victory, for the believer. If you hear the Word, believe it, and put your trust in Him alone to do it, you’re living by faith!

Abram and the disciples both failed in faith, and both were rebuked. We need to be rebuked too. That part of our hearts that doesn’t believe needs to be revealed, rejected and rebuked. Let His Word and Spirit search our hearts and blaze light into every dark corner. Let’s be honestly sorry for our unbelief and confess it: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

Are you afraid of anything? Worried? In the world you’ll have tribulation, but be of good cheer: He has overcome the world.

There’s nothing that can happen to you that Jesus hasn’t already beaten: sickness, job loss, marriage problems, even the sting of death. His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. His power will be given to you and displayed in your life. It’s a matter of His character, His love for you, and His never-ending promise to give you everything you need as you ask and abide in Him.

But do you believe it? Don’t answer me right now. Your answer will be clear in how you anticipate, respond to and trust Jesus in your storms.

Imagine how different these stories would have been if Abram and the disciples had responded with faith. Abram would have been provided for, and the disciples could have taken a nap! Both restful, wonderful blessings. That’s how grace works.

Faith in Jesus is never misplaced, even when it goes against what your eyes can see.

Because there is a redeeming feature to Christianity: Jesus. He redeems me. Even if this world is full of famines and troubles, He still saves me. He’ll save everyone who calls on Him. The Lord is good and ready to forgive, abounding in mercy to all who call on Him (Psalm 86:5).

Grace Takeaway

Famines will come, even in the place God led you. Don’t run to Egypt or lean on your own schemes. God protected Abram even when Abram failed, and He’s writing a résumé of His faithfulness in your life too. In this world you’ll have trouble, but be of good cheer: Jesus has overcome the world, and He will carry you through.

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Famines “R” Us