| New Series: Consequence of Sin and Forgiveness: Lesson 1: Wife betrayed Began 12/30/2013 by turtle(CF) Genesis 12:1-20 KJV (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. As I begin a new series concerning sin and forgiveness I want to discuss the root of sin as well as the underlying effect of sin. Abraham here in this story is promised by God to be a great nation. The land before him would be for him and his offspring. That he had to leave the land of his father. His father was from the land of Ur/Chaldeans a place of idolatry. God spoke to Abraham about removing himself from the people he knew and was raised with, to abandon his roots. One has to remember one of chiefs sins of man was idolatry the obedience to false gods. Ur was the land of the fertile crescent down near the Persia gulf were the worship of the moon god was in practice along with other gods and goddesses that represented wisdom, knowledge and other attributes that only belong to one God, but was worship as many gods. God basically said Abram get out of land of your father’s and follow me. Upon following I give this land and so forth to you and your offspring. Abram’s beginning of faith began with a trip out away from his father. The courage it would take for him to leave what was familiar to him and trust in a God that spoke to him would take faith. Yet we see Abram had not all the faith need for his life journey at this point, for he would tell Egyptian king that Sarai was his sister. It was a true statement that Sarai was his half sister. He had married her before the incest laws of 1900’s. Yet Abram was not trusting God for the full promise of him being a great nation for he lied to the king of Egypt. The king of Egypt was forced to deal with the sin of coveting Abram wife and trying to make her his wife, because punishment of plagues came his way. In those days Sarai would of gone into the Harem and been prepared to become the king’s bride. The time period of preparation is what got the king asking question of what had he done because plagues were upon him and his house. Abram would not protect his wife so God basically did. I have to wonder what did Sarai feel of the half truth Abram told. How did she feel when God protected her from having to sleep with the king. It is a shame to a woman of stature for a husband not to protect her because of his own fear of death. His own fear of not trusting that his offspring would come through his present wife, though Abram was seventy-five and Sarai sixty five meaning the impossibility was there. It would take faith to believe children were possible, yet Abram did not question God on this yet, instead was willing to give up his wife out of fear of a king more then a fear of God. God does not punish Abram for this, but protects Sarai. What is wrong with this picture, the temptation of sin was at the door of Sarai because of Abram indigestion. Yet down the road of life Abraham would sin against Sarai with her handmaiden that Sarai would tempt him with and not be protected by God, but allowed to sin. Yet this sin would cause conflict in his marriage. A conflict that would cost his children to come for there be conflict between two nations for generations to come. Abram a man caught by a yoke of burden, yet not punish because of faith. Sarai protected by her faith, yet became like Eve tempting her husband to sin to eat of the fruit of sin. God would make Abram a great prophet to his people. A testimony of faith and trust in a God that had cast Adam and Eve out of the garden because of sin. God was not casting Abram out, but rewarding Abram for his faith to only worship Him. To worship God alone and not to obey the devil is of noble intent. This one act of dishonor his marriage had consequences. All sin has consequences. Sin against the Pharaoh of Egypt would get Abram cast out of the land of Egypt, for Egypt did not fear God, as King Abimelech in Chapter 20 did. God protected King in chapter 20 because he did fear Him. Egypt had no fear of God. The thing we must understand is a lack of faith causes conflict. If God says he will do, then we have to trust him for it despite our own understanding. It is dangerous to play God because of lack of trust. It can cause sin. Sin at the door can harm others in our path. It will effect how they view God. Dear Heavenly Father help us to follow you despite our own fears. In Jesus precious name, Amen. http://www.turtle30cshell.com _ |
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