Genesis 12:1–20

There came the moment when God — "the God of glory" — made Himself known to a poor dark idolater, and won his heart forever. It was not a new religion that Abram learned, nor a new set of opinions, but he came to know a Person. The result was that, like the Thessalonians later, he turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

The revelation and the renunciation were as cause and effect. The second was possible in the strength and joy of the first. The glory of Ur of the Chaldees faded before the God of glory. As he eagerly stretched out his hands toward the one, Abraham turned his back on the other.

If we only look at the Hebrew, there is room for discussion. Its tenses took their sense from the context, and old and new versions differ. But God has given us help here, and all who are humble enough to value it may be glad. Stephen, in Acts 7:2-3, makes it certain that the Lord appeared and gave this call in Mesopotamia, not in Haran. The call came there. Abram carried it out only in part while Terah lived, for Terah was quite content to settle in Haran. But after his death the power of the Lord's call revived in Abram's heart.

From both these passages it plainly appears that Terah and his family moved, as Genesis 11:31 records, because "the God of glory" had revealed Himself to Abram. But it does not appear that Terah had any such revelation from God. He appears as a hindrance to Abram more than anything else. Until he died, Abram did not come into the land of Canaan — the destination God had appointed for him.

Abraham is not told to stay in the city of Ur and deal with man's wickedness. He is not told to improve its social conditions, reform its home life, or make it a better and brighter world. He is called to come out of it in every form. He is to leave the political world — "your country"; the social world — "your kindred"; and the family world — "your father's house."

It is not that we are to despise government — it is still God's appointment. Nor can we neglect family ties — they are ordered of God. Nor are we to stop being courteous and kind and doing good to all people as we have opportunity. But God calls us, as believers, away from taking part in the world's political activities, its social round, and the whole sphere where unconverted members of our families find their pleasure without God.

Later, Abram may find that obeying this command means staying in a land where nothing but starvation seems to await him. But even so, God had not qualified the command in any way. The word was simple and definite: "the land that I will show you." It should have bound Abram just as much when famine surrounded him as when peace and plenty prevailed. Famine should not have persuaded him to leave the land, and abundance should not have persuaded him to stay. The words that carried weight were, "I will show you."

To preserve a testimony to Himself, God called Abram right out of the evil, to become a pilgrim and stranger in the earth. Mankind was already divided into nations under God's government. Now it would see a division of another kind — a godly line separated from the mass of the ungodly. This was a division produced by divine grace.

The nation's history began when God called Abraham out of his old place and connections. He was to go to the land of God's choice, and there God would make him a great nation. This is shown in Genesis 12:1-3, and it was an event that opened a new age. Genesis 1-11 covers a slightly longer stretch of time than all the rest of the Old Testament. Yet it packs that time into a few chapters, while the rest is spread out over many books. The call of Abraham marked a new departure in God's ways with the earth.

Notice the Lord's word to Abram in Genesis 12:2, "I will make your name great." Compare it with the ambition of the men in chapter 11:4: "Let us make a name for ourselves." Men's schemes, whether the Tower of Babel or any other, come to an end. The names of those who plan them and push them through die with the world they belong to. But the man who ties himself to God's interests gets a name that will last for ever. Far better to let God make our name great than to seek anything for ourselves in a scene like this.

The call of God carried Abraham into a path far away from the power and fame of the men who built Babel. He started his pilgrimage with God's promise to make him a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great, and to make him a blessing. God has been as good as His word. People still honour the name of Abraham today. That, however, is a small thing. Far greater is the honour that God Himself calls him "Abraham, my friend" (Isaiah 41:8). Here is true greatness — greatness that lasts, while Nimrod's tower and city are only shapeless ruins on the plains of Mesopotamia.

Fourthly, there is great present blessing for the one who answers the call. As separated from this present evil world, God says to Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great." The men of this world seek to make a great name for themselves; they say, "Let us make us a name." But God says to the separated man, "I will bless you and make your name great."

Sixty years before this, God had said to Abraham that one result of answering the call of God, and taking the outside place, would be that God would make his name great (Genesis 12:2). Here we see this word fulfilled, for the world itself has to own that this separate man is "a mighty prince of God."

It was much for God to say, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great." But there was another word, and this was especially dear to the heart of one so blessed himself. "You shall be a blessing." This was to make him not only the object of grace, but the instrument of it. It was to give him fellowship with God Himself in the activity of His own goodness.

God says, "I will make of you a great nation, and you shall be a blessing." He puts him at the centre of blessing... and then you get the point Galatians 3 presses: "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The seed is not mentioned here: the great nation is the line of natural descendants. Abram is the root of the tree of promise.

This is above all a prophecy concerning Christ, the Seed of Abram, through whom blessing is to come to the entire world.

God's covenant set no conditions. It made no demands. It put no yoke on the neck and no burden on the shoulder. When "the God of glory appeared to Abraham" in Ur of the Chaldeans, He did not speak to him with words like "you shall do this" and "you shall not do that."... His word to Abraham was, "I WILL GIVE."

This word was especially dear to the heart of one so blessed himself. It made him not only the object of grace, but the instrument of it. It was to give him communion with God Himself in the activity of His own goodness.

No one can limit such a word as this. It shows how the heart of God went out to all, even in earliest times. Blessing for Gentiles was always before His mind. But on what ground? Certainly not the ground of law, to which the foolish Galatians were turning in vain. The law did not yet exist when God spoke this way to the father of the faithful. The promise was unconditional and depends on God alone for fulfilment. It was not drawn out by anything in man, nor even in Abraham individually; it flowed only from the grace of His heart.

Blessing marked his calling. He is blessed and a blessing. Blessing comes to others according to their attitude towards him. And he is the one source of blessing to all the families of the earth... God is blessedness in Himself. It marks Him. He is the source of it to all who have any. This was, in a derived way, exactly Abraham's place... If there was a curse, it was only for hostility to this.

Balaam therefore closes his prophecy with the words of God to Abraham: "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." Matthew 25 shows how this is fulfilled. There the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory. He separates the nations one from another by how they treated one of the least of His brothers, the children of Israel.

Abraham acted in faith in God's word, and God said to him, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." We know the use that the Spirit of God makes of this promise. He says, "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed" (Gal. 3:8). Abraham did not, and could not, foresee how far the effect of that faith would reach. He acted on it in answering the call of God. But God foresaw that faith was the one way of blessing for all the families of the earth. So now, in our small measure, only God can foresee how far the blessing to others may reach from one soul who answers the call of God in simple, whole-hearted faith.

God certainly fulfilled the first part of this promise to Abraham. But as a whole it goes far beyond him. It looks on to the Seed, "which is Christ" (Gal. 3:16). Those who bless Him will be blessed forever. Those who curse or despise Him and reject His salvation will be cursed forever. Not all Israel were blessed in faithful Abraham. But in his Seed, in the glory of His coming reign, all Israel and all the nations are to be blessed.

And all God promised to Abram He has kept. God has fulfilled every word to the letter. Nation after nation has hated Abraham's seed, his natural descendants. Each has found to its great sorrow how true Abraham's God is. These promises still hold good... The nations of the earth, all the families, are waiting, without knowing it, to be blessed by Abraham's seed.

This calling, however special and personal, however much it marked him out for favour, necessarily involved obedience. The call of blessing to Abraham was a call to leave his country for a land which God would show him. Whatever the power acting on his mind might be, obedience was the result. The very terms of the call made it clear — no obedience, no blessing.

Terah, as long as he lived, was a dead weight on Abraham's obedience. But when Terah died, "Abram went, as the LORD had told him." Then the language is pointedly different: "And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions … and they set out to go to the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came." There was no failure now, because his faith was no longer hampered by the natural ties that almost always take the upper hand. That was why the earlier move had lacked the power of God to give it effect. Once that weight was gone, the blessing followed at once.

Terah fulfills his name ("delay"), and ends his days at Haran, named after his dead son. Natural things hold him fast, though death is written on them, and memory only keeps the loss fresh. "Haran" means "parched," yet there he stays (and Abram with him) till he dies. Then we find that Terah had been holding back the very man he had led. Abram rises up in the power of a divine call — a call that had come to him, and to him alone at the first.

We are not told how long Abraham stayed at Haran. Yet God kindly waited on His servant until he was free of nature's hold and could fully obey His command. There was, however, no adjusting of that command to the circumstances of nature. That would never do. God loves His servants too well to rob them of the full blessedness of complete obedience. There was no fresh revelation to Abraham's soul during his stay in Haran. It is good to see this. We must act up to the light already given, and then God will give us more.

Lot appears as a companion who walks alongside people of faith, not as a man who has faith and acts in its energy himself. This marks his path from the beginning. So when he is put to the test, there is only weakness. In how many things do we act alongside those who have faith, before having it for ourselves! The soul will not stand when sifted by temptation, if it is walking in another's light.

In Terah we have seen the man of nature. He can make a fair profession, but he cannot take the path of faith that leads outside the world. In Abraham we have seen the man of faith. Acting on the word of the LORD, he takes the outside place, though at times he may fail in that path. In Lot we see a true believer, who takes the outside place, not in faith in God, but under the influence of man. We have already read that when Abraham departed from Haran, "Lot went with him."

The conclusion seems to be that Terah's family began when he was seventy years old. Abram was not born till Terah was a hundred and thirty. Abram is named first because Terah's other children were of small importance compared with him. These things should teach us that God cares about moral and spiritual matters, not about dates.

The word of the Lord was now fully honoured, and the result was simple, pure and bright. It was no longer man trying only to hinder: God was obeyed. It is not now "Terah took Abram," but "Abram took Sarai." It was the walk of faith, separate to the Lord, Abram blessed and a blessing.

When nature took the lead, we read, "They went forth… from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan." But under Terah's leading they never reach the land. Now, when faith takes the lead, we read again, "They went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came."

Terah, as long as he lived, was a dead weight on Abraham's obedience… God told Abraham to leave his relatives as well as his country. Until he did that, he did not reach Canaan. It would hardly have been proper for Abram as the son to take Terah his father. So "Terah took Abram…" This, however, was not at all according to God's call to Abram. That is why we read, "they came to Haran, and settled there."

Stephen speaks of the God of glory appearing to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran… As a result he left his country, and perhaps many of his relatives. But his father went with him, along with Sarah and Lot, and they settled in Haran. They stayed there long enough for people to be gained in Haran (Gen. 11:31; 12:5). Then it seems God called him to leave his country, his relatives and his father's house, and come into a land that He would show him (Gen. 12:1). The effect of this call was that he left Haran.

We only note here that Abram brought his household with him out of Chaldea and Haran into Canaan. This happened on the same principle as with Noah: the household is linked before God with its head.

Not nature now, but the man of faith leads, and they no longer linger on the road; but Lot merely follows Abram, as before he had followed Terah. Abram walks with God; Lot only with Abram. How easy it is, even for a believer, to walk where another's bolder faith leads and clears the way! He can go on without ever searching his own conscience, and without real faith about the way itself.

When Abraham first entered on the path of faith, and Lot went with him, they took "all their possessions." But it caused no strife (Gen. 12:5). In Egypt, however, Abraham gains great wealth, so that after his restoration we read, "He was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold."

He might have set out and never finished the journey. But they "came to the land of Canaan." So let us not only have a goal; let us also seek grace to reach it.

Here we have the position of the heavenly people. God's grace and power have placed them in a heavenly position, pictured by Canaan, and there they live. They have everything in promise, but nothing yet in possession.

He came to stay for a while, not to settle. He moves from place to place, and in every place it is only a tent he pitches. The God of glory had told him that He would show him the land. His descendants would have it forever, but he himself would only see it. And so we find him looking it over, but not settling on any of it. For this was the right answer to such a promise... The Canaanite was then in the land and held the soil. Abraham did not argue with him over a single foot of it. He looked it over. He owned it only as faith and hope own a thing. He looked for no inheritance of his own there and then.

We hear of the first stop at Sichem (Shechem), at the oak of Moreh. The first of these words means "shoulder," the second "instructor." It is when we bend our shoulder to carry a load that we are taught. Whoever is willing to do God's will, will know the teaching. Whoever wants to learn from Christ must take His yoke.

Shoulder speaks of bearing responsibility. This is a first step of real value for the child of God. Too many of us would rather avoid responsibility. But if we accept the place of bearing a responsible witness for the Lord Jesus, we will be well taught, as Moreh — "teacher" — implies.

The presence of the Canaanite in God's land was bound to be a trial to Abraham. It would be a demand on his faith and hope, an exercise of heart, a test of patience... But there, too, he finds the Lord... The connection between the two statements is beautiful and touching. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. So that Abraham's eye would not rest on the Canaanite, who then held the land, the Lord appears to him as the One who was going to give that land to him and to his descendants forever. So Abraham's attention was on the Lord, not on the Canaanite.

Canaanite means "trader." That reminds us there are people who claim to be Christians but only use it to make money. This is a real trial of faith for those who want to walk with God. But despite the Canaanites, Abram would take up proper responsibility and learn from God. Let us also not use the Canaanites as an excuse for failing to obey the word of God fully.

There is no ground for saying that these words, or Genesis 13:7, mean the Canaanites and Perizzites were gone from the land by the time the writer lived. They show that the first, if not the second, were in the land when Abram entered it... We can easily understand that this was a trial to Abram. But he did not have to wait for the days of Moses, or of Joshua, to know that these invaders and all the others were doomed...

They are in the place of strangers, that is clear ("at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land"). They have nothing in possession, "not even a foot's length"; everything rests on their valuing the promises. They have just two things, the altar and the tent. Journeying about, and worshipping God, they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Abram was not called to drive out the Canaanite. Yet we find his altar to the Lord, and his tent too, on the very ground of those wicked nations. He was a worshipper and a stranger in the very place where the Canaanite was doing well. The smoke of an accepted sacrifice rose from his altar right in front of the enemy. It is a wonderful sight.

His first act, on arrival at the plain of Moreh, near Shechem, was to put up an altar. At this spot the LORD appeared to him and renewed His promise: "to your offspring I will give this land." This is the first recorded time God showed Himself since Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans. It illustrates our Lord's words to His disciples in John 14:21: "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." Obedience always brings the light and joy of the Lord's presence as its reward to the soul.

"The LORD appeared to Abram" — He not only spoke but "appeared." To my mind that word is not casual but deliberate... The first time, all we read is that "the LORD had said." Now we find that "the LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land." Nothing is vague any longer. It is precise. It is not "a land that I will show you," but "to your offspring I will give this land." What is the consequence? There "he built an altar to the LORD" — and not only that, but "to the LORD who had appeared to him." So it is clear to my mind that this was what had to come before worship. Worship waits until the Lord shows Himself.

The presence of the Canaanite in God's land was bound to test Abraham. It would be a demand upon his faith and hope, an exercise of heart, a trial of patience... But there, too, he finds the Lord... "The Canaanites were in the land." The Canaanite held it at that moment. So that Abraham's eye would not rest on him, the LORD appears to Abraham as the One who was going to give the land to him and to his offspring forever. So Abraham was taken up with the Lord, and not with the Canaanite... instead of dwelling on Satan's power to keep us out of the inheritance, we should grasp Christ's power to bring us in.

Abraham had answered God's call and reached the land of his pilgrimage. Then God appeared to him and told him His purpose about his inheritance. Only then did Abram build his altar. You could say he built it in the light of God's purpose. To the Canaanite in the land, the altar was a witness that this pilgrim and stranger among them had a God he worshipped. To God, the altar was the evidence that Abraham wanted to meet His mind and will by having communion with Him.

We hear of the first halt at Sichem (Shechem), at the oak of Moreh. The first of these words means "shoulder." The second means "instructor." We find instruction when we bow our shoulder to carry the load. He who is willing to do God's will shall know the teaching: he who will learn of Christ must take His yoke.

In Galatians 3:16 the apostle is speaking of Genesis 12 and 22, but there he means one special offspring. God made the promise to Abraham alone, and confirmed it to his offspring in Genesis 22... The reasoning in Galatians is that Christ alone is the offspring meant in Genesis 22, where God speaks of the nations of the world. And if we are in Christ, then we too are the offspring of Abraham.

"And Abraham built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him." He serves God and enjoys communion with Him. From there he goes to another place and pitches his tent. He builds a new altar to the LORD and calls on the name of the LORD. He is a pilgrim in the land of promise; and that is his entire history... Abraham's tent and altar here shape his whole history, and every experience of faith grows out of those two things.

Abraham and those with him answered God's call by faith, and so became strangers and exiles. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit says that they "acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). This stands out in his history. In Haran, Abraham stayed for a time, and we read that he "settled there." Once he reached the land, we read that he "pitched his tent," like a man with no fixed home. We also read that he "passed through the land." As a stranger he had only a tent in this world. As a pilgrim he was passing through to another world.

He built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Again he built an altar, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he called upon the name of the LORD. The revelation of the LORD produces worship. The basis of worship is a conscious and precious relationship with the LORD. Abram knew the LORD's grace toward him; therefore he worshipped Him and called upon His name.

The tent and the altar clearly present him to us as a stranger and a worshipper. As such, he was a man entirely separated from the course of this evil world.

He worships in the fullness of blessing, and then his "tent" also comes into view for the first time, pitched on the mountain east of Bethel. "Ai" means "a heap of ruin." It is the city that resists the power of Israel in Joshua, after Jericho falls to the ground. It is as if the ruins of Jericho had risen up against those who had lost God's victorious presence, their strength. As a picture, Ai is no doubt the ruined old creation. So Abram pitches his tent between a judged world and the "house of God," with both in view.

Calling on the name of the LORD showed Abram's knowledge of the LORD and his dependence on Him. The altar was the outward evidence of his link with God, a testimony for everyone to take account of. But his calling on the name of the LORD was not only a profession of faith in Him. It was also the evidence of a living link formed by the call of God. Abram would never have called on the name of the LORD if God had not first called Abram while he was in Ur of the Chaldeans. God's call gave him the power to answer it. That call also gave him the desire and understanding to call upon the LORD's name.

Abram was not called to drive out the Canaanite. Yet we find his altar to the LORD on the very ground of the wicked nations, and his tent as well. Here is a worshipper and a stranger in the very place where the Canaanite was flourishing. Here is an altar with the smoke of accepted sacrifice rising in the very face of the enemy. It is a wonderful sight. We may well travel back in spirit to the tent pitched between Bethel and Ai. There we can bless the LORD, who could sustain the pilgrim father and his household in true worship in the enemy's own stronghold.

Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he had sought help and refuge, and he denies his true relationship with his wife. The world cherishes him, and God at last judges that world, sending Abram out of it again. During this whole period, and until he had returned to the place from which he started, he had no altar.

Abram had barely begun his course when he met one of those difficulties. Such trials have a special power to test whether faith is genuine, both in its quality and in its object. "And there was a famine in the land." The difficulty meets him in the very place into which the Lord had called him. It is no easy thing to keep going when we see trial and sorrow, hardship and difficulty waiting for us on the narrow way. It is harder still when we can see within reach, as Abram could, a complete escape from the very trial that is hurting us.

But he is no sooner in the land than trial comes, and his young faith is put to the proof. He had already built an altar, but worship never rules out trial. In fact, the place of worship is always where faith is tested. But faith is worth little unless it is tested. When it comes out of the furnace, it is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7).

Did he ask Jehovah before going there? Did he spread the circumstances of the land before Him? Not a word is said to suggest it... he goes unbidden into the place of the world's plenty. "There was famine in the land." Why did he not lay it all before Jehovah? Canaan was certainly not yet what it should be according to God; but had God not called him there? And could He not keep him there? Abram goes down to Egypt to stay there without a word of guidance from Jehovah. It was the direction of common sense. God records this fact openly. He never hides the truth, even when it shames those He loves.

Egypt was a snare to Abraham, and his stay in Egypt brought him only sorrow and shame. With Joseph, however, it brought blessing and glory. Why the difference? Is it not that in Abraham's case he "went down into Egypt to sojourn there" (Gen. 12:10), while Joseph was "brought" into Egypt? One went there in unbelief and self-will. The other was brought there according to the settled purpose and foreknowledge of God.

Canaan was a land entirely dependent on showers from heaven. Nearby was Egypt, with its great river and its channels cut from that river to water the farmland. It was a land watered by the foot, a place where man could manage things himself.

Egypt represents the world with its resources. Scripture does not say that God commanded Abram to go down there. Indeed, He could have sustained His servant in a famine just as well as in plenty.

Down in Egypt we have no altar, and no calling on the name of the Lord. God takes care of him and watches over him, but Abram is no worshipper there, not until he gets back. He goes down to Egypt, forced, as people say, by circumstances, not in the place of dependence or communion.

This behaviour was the result of his being in a wrong position. Had he stayed in the place to which God had called him, there would have been no need to deny his wife. But as usually happens, one wrong step led to another. He went into Egypt through fear of the famine, and there he denied his wife through fear of death.

This beautiful chapter shows us the man of faith recovering himself. He recovers through the faithfulness and loving-kindness of God, who never lets such a man wander far or stay away long. Egypt's gold and silver, its flocks and herds, could not satisfy Abram for long while he had no tent and no altar. So once more, with the renewed energy of faith, he rises from the dust of Egypt and retraces his steps to the land of promise.

In Abraham's history the test came in the form of a famine. It was a severe test, for "the famine was severe in the land." If the LORD allows the famine, the LORD can surely meet the needs of His own in the famine. However, under the pressure of his need, Abraham allows the circumstances to come between his soul and the LORD. Instead of calling upon the LORD, he followed plain reason, or common sense. For a time he stepped out of the path of faith and "went down into Egypt."

Abram felt the famine to be severe. But we find no reference to God, no turning back to Him, no directions from Him, no exercise of faith. There was no previous direction for this. The fact is all we have — Abram went down into Egypt. Sadly, all too true. But was the God of Abram near? He had not asked this, but was acting on his own prudence and reasoning. Fear of the Egyptians came upon him as he drew near their land.

How solemn it is when a saint takes the downward path and keeps to it! He has left the land that Jehovah had shown him and given to his descendants. The famine distresses him just like any Gentile. He heads for a country where there was plenty — Egypt, a picture of the world, as Canaan is of heaven — and he goes without a word from God. Now, further, having put himself into these circumstances of nature, he falls even from its ordinary decencies.

The simple trick that Abram suggested to Sarai was not an outright lie. Sarai was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it ended in disaster. It was just that kind of half-truth, or half-lie, which has so often been a snare to true saints of God. Men of the world may do such things and seem to come out ahead. But if saints of God stoop to that level, they are always losers in the end.

Had Abram intended this? No! It was an unexpected result. It was unbelief, which continually produces in judgment the evil which it seeks to avoid. The sons of men would build a tower so they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram feared that Pharaoh would take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. And so Pharaoh takes her into his house. But it was the first step that was wrong — Abram went down into Egypt.

Abram learnt that there could be no tent or altar in Egypt. Only faith can enable a man to raise an altar or pitch a tent. But in Egypt all is sight and not faith. So the moment Abram set foot there he stopped showing the genuine fruits of faith — yes, he let go of the very principle that led him to leave the land of promise. At the same time it led him to give up his character as a stranger and a worshipper.

Here is a remarkable fact, seen in the history of the greatest saints of God. Their most striking failure appears in the very thing for which they were best known. Moses, the meekest man in all the earth, spoke rashly. Job, the model of patience, cursed his day. Abraham, the father of the faithful, carried in his heart for many a long day and through many a changing scene a root of unbelief.

God had called Abram, and he was greatly blessed when he answered that call. Above all he was the man of faith, yet Scripture does not hide his times of weakness and failure from us. God had called him to Canaan, not to Egypt. Yet when the famine came, he does not seem to have asked God what to do. Down to Egypt he went. So he escaped the famine, no doubt, but he ran into troubles his faith was not able to meet.

It is true that he acted this way because he was in the wrong position. Had he stayed in the place God called him to, he would have had no need to deny his wife. But as usually happens, one wrong step led to another. He went into Egypt because he feared the famine. Once there, he denies his wife because he fears death.

The simple trick Abram suggested to Sarai was not an outright lie, since Sarai was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it ended in disaster. It was just the sort of half-truth, or half-lie, that has so often trapped true people of God. Men of the world may do such a thing and seem to gain by it. But when God's people stoop to that level, they lose in the end.

He goes down to Egypt without the Lord directing his way, since he seems not to have called on His name. And in Egypt, sad to say, the father of the faithful uses words meant to mislead. His one aim is to protect himself at his wife's expense. That is no noble place for a husband, and no worthy use to make of his wife. But this is what happens when a man who should be walking in faith slips back onto the slippery paths of his own fears and the world's favours.

He has taken a position where he can no longer count on God to keep him safe. Now he has only his own resources to meet this new difficulty. Left to himself, he sinks below the level of the world and acts out a lie.

How sadly we too can fall into deception because we are in the wrong place! Sarai pictures the covenant of grace (Gal. 4:22-28), and she belonged to Abram, the man of faith. Grace cannot belong to the godless world, though the world may admire grace as a true and beautiful principle. But when believers get into wrong company, they will always in some way deny their true relationship with God — a relationship that rests entirely on His grace in Christ Jesus. How much safer and happier is the path of simple, steady faith!

Had Abram meant this to happen? No! He never expected it. It was unbelief, and unbelief keeps bringing down on itself, as judgment, the very evil it is trying to avoid. Men once built a tower so that they would not be scattered over the earth, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram is afraid Pharaoh will take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not keep him safe. And so Pharaoh takes her into his house. But the first step was the wrong one: Abram went down into Egypt.

What wonderful grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith, and He covered His erring servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Behind that shield, which nothing could pierce, both Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were kept safe... Abraham had clearly left himself open in all this. So, although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.

But it was the first step that was wrong — Abram went down into Egypt. He went down without God, out of the land of faith and promise. He could not expect to meet God there, for God could not bless unbelief — though He might still judge the sin that acted wrongly within it. His heart did not know Him in power there. And since he had to act on something, he acts carefully on his own resources. But just as he had departed from faith in God, so he departed from guarding his wife's place with her true husband. And the world rewarded him for his unfaithfulness.

The simple trick that Abram suggested to Sarai was not a downright lie. Sarai really was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it ended in disaster. It was just the sort of half-truth, or half-lie, that has so often trapped God's true people. Men of the world may do such a thing and seem to gain by it. But when God's people stoop to that level, they always lose in the end.

He goes down without the LORD directing his way, since he seems not to have called on His name. And in Egypt, sad to say, the father of the faithful is guilty of misleading words. His only purpose is to protect himself at his wife's expense. That is not a noble place for a husband, nor a worthy use to make of his wife. But so it is when a man who ought to have been walking in faith falls back on the slippery paths of his own fears and the world's favours.

Unbelief carries its own judgment. Again and again it leads into the very evil a person is trying to avoid. As it has been said, "The sons of men would build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the LORD scattered them because they built it. Abram, feared Pharaoh would take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not protect him — and so Pharaoh takes her into his house."

What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears, as well as to answer their faith. He covered His erring servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Behind that shield, Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both kept safe, while God's righteous rod fell heavily on the house of Egypt's king.

Abraham was moving in the wrong direction when he went down into Egypt for help. So he did not show the fineness of conscience that would have told him this holding back of the truth was morally unsound… The LORD struck Pharaoh's house because Pharaoh had taken Sarah into it, and Pharaoh rebuked Abraham for what he had done. Yet Abraham said nothing at all about the deliberate agreement he had made with his wife to keep back part of the truth. He took the rebuke without a word and went on his way. But the root of the evil remained in his heart.

Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he had sought help and refuge, and he denies his true relationship with his wife… All that time, and until he had returned to the place he started from, he had no altar. When he left Egypt and returned to his life as a stranger in Canaan, he had what he had before. But he must return first to the same place and find his altar again.

But it was the first step that was wrong — Abram went down into Egypt. He went down without God, out of the land of faith and promise. He could not expect to meet God there. God could not bless unbelief, though He might still judge the sin that acted wrongly in it. His heart did not know Him in power there. He had to act on something, so he acted carefully on his own resources. But he had departed from faith in God, and faithfulness to his wife's true position with her real husband departed too. He was blessed in the world — yes, and by the prince of this world — for his unfaithfulness.

Unbelief carries its own judgment. It constantly leads into the very evil one seeks to avoid. As it has been said, "The sons of men would build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram fears that Pharaoh will take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. And so Pharaoh takes her into his house."

The consequence came at once. He denied the holy separation from the world, and the union with Christ, that belonged to the church. She was his sister, not his wife. That may be true in one sense, but it was deadly in what it really meant for the faith of God's chosen. She was very beautiful to look at, for God had put His beauty upon her. She was His daughter, the object of His love, and also the bride of Christ the Son. She was admired in the world.

The simple trick Abram suggested to Sarai was not an outright lie. Sarai really was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it worked out terribly. It was just that kind of half-truth, or half-lie, which has so often been a snare to true saints of God. Men of the world may do such things and appear to gain by it. But if saints of God come down to that level, they are always losers in the end.

We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself. He is not trying to protect Sarai. He is ready to sacrifice her to save himself. … You will find that if you come down to the level of the world, and get on easy terms with the men of the world, your lips will pick up the language of the world. Then you will be ashamed to confess your true relationship to Christ. One sad result of this denial of relationship was that Sarai ended up in the house of Pharaoh. What a difference from being in the house of God! The way to get the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ.

He had gone down into Egypt at the outset, when there was a famine in the land. While Sarah was in "the house of Pharaoh" he acquired cattle and Egyptian riches in abundance. A man may get what satisfies his nature, and seem to be doing very comfortably, while he is far from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in should have broken his heart, and made him feel where he and his wife were.

For a long time there was no clue to show which line the promised seed would come through. Then Abram was called, and Satan fixed his eye on him at once. He tried on three different occasions to swamp the separated line with the nations outside. Twice Sarah was exposed: first in the house of Pharaoh, then in the house of Abimelech. His third attempt, with the same aim, was with Rebecca… All this was to prevent the coming of the true Seed.

In Abraham's history the test came in the form of a famine. It was a severe test, for "the famine was severe in the land." If the LORD allows the famine, the LORD can surely meet the needs of His own in the famine. But under the pressure of his need, Abraham lets the circumstances come between his soul and the LORD. Instead of calling on the LORD, he followed mere reason, or common sense. For a time he stepped out of the path of faith and "went down to Egypt." Instead of counting on God to sustain him, he goes down to the world for help.

It was unbelief, which constantly produces in judgment the very evil it seeks to avoid. The sons of men wanted to build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram feared that Pharaoh would take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. And therefore Pharaoh takes her into his house. But it was the first step that was wrong: Abram went down to Egypt.

A man may get what satisfies nature, and seem to be going on very comfortably, when far off from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in ought to have broken his heart, and made him feel where he himself and his wife were.

Everything now flourishes outwardly. Abram had never been so rich… But how was it all gained? Oh, if only Abram had come before the Lord now! If he had placed himself before Him who appeared to him, every single thing he gained would have been a wound in his heart. And the wound would have been sharper still, because it came through denying his wife.

Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he has sought help and refuge. And he denies his true relationship with his wife… The world cherishes him, and God at last judges that world, sending Abram out from it again. During this whole period, until he returned to the place from which he started, he had no altar. What a warning for Christians about the relationship of the church with Christ! And however much the world may be a help to the church, we cannot keep that relationship when we seek the world's help.

The Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even thin down Abram's servants. Instead, "He afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." … The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was using his position to claim what did not belong to him. … If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to shame. The world itself reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God, and he went without honour.

Abram also finds that his fears were groundless. Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer. … While Pharaoh gives Sarai back to Abram, he does not expect Abram to stay there. He tells him to "take her, and go" (v. 19), and "they sent him on his way with his wife and all that he had" (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to this point of realisation, for it is only His working that brings about restoration.

Pharaoh enriched Abram for Sarai's sake, giving him sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants (v. 16). A believer who mingles with the world and compromises his testimony for Christ in this way may often prosper materially. But should this not have greatly troubled Abram's conscience? Was he not also deeply disturbed to have his wife welcomed into the house of another man? Here were complications he had clearly not expected, and he found himself helpless to get out of them.

He had denied the bond, and given up what was essential in their relationship. By that he gained plenty and ease from the hand of the prince of this world: "he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels." But was this any comfort to him? … Every camel, every servant, every ox passed before his eyes with the stamp of Pharaoh's kindness on it. How each one must have struck Abram's heart with the thought, "But where is my wife? I have sold my wife for this!"

But Abram leaves this land. He gives way, for the moment, to the heavy trial, and turns his steps down to Egypt, leaving behind him his tent and altar. There he obtained ease and luxury. He escaped, no doubt, the severe trial he had suffered under in the land of promise. But he lost, for the time, his worship and his place as a stranger — things that should always be dearest to the heart of a pilgrim. Egypt would give nothing to Abram unless he sacrificed his character both as a stranger and as a worshiper of God.

It was in the land of Egypt that Pharaoh treated him well for Sarah his wife's sake — a shameful affair. For her sake "he had sheep, oxen … and camels" (Genesis 12:16). Hagar the Egyptian (Genesis 16:3) later caused such sorrow and trouble in his household, and became the mother of Ishmael. Was she one of those "maidservants" given to Abraham for Sarah's sake in Egypt? It seems very likely that she was.

In the case of Abraham and Lot, their material riches became the occasion of division. We may well ask, "Where were these riches acquired?" When Abraham first entered the path of faith, and Lot went with him, they took "all their substance." But it caused no strife (Gen. 12:5). In Egypt, however, Abraham acquires great wealth, so that after his restoration we read that he was "very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold."

Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he has sought help and refuge. He denies his true relationship with his wife — just as has happened in the case of the church. The world cherishes him, and God at last judges that world and sends Abram out from it again. During this whole period, and until he had returned to the place he started from, he had no altar. … And however much the world may be a help to the church, we cannot keep up this relationship when we seek that help.

Here then is the question for the Christian. Which shall I have — the gold and silver, the flocks and herds, the present ease and wealth of Egypt, or the tent and altar of "the land of promise"? Which shall I have: the earthly ease and delight of the world, or a peaceful, holy walk with God here and eternal blessedness and glory afterwards? We cannot have both, for "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Yet, despite all failure, God is faithful to His own. God's gifts and calling are never taken back. God does not give up His people when they break down. He acts on our behalf, though in the way He governs us we have to suffer for our folly. So God acted on behalf of His failing servant.

Still, the Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even cut down the number of Abram's servants. Instead, "he plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." How striking the ways of the Lord are, and how full of instruction they are for us! The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was taking advantage of his position to claim what did not belong to him.

Marriage was God's provision for His creatures. He set it up before the Fall, and He continued it afterwards. Before the law, He upheld it as something no one may break (Gen. 12:17; 20:3). Under the law, He guarded it with direct commands (Ex. 20:14, 17). The Lord reaffirmed how holy it is (Matt. 19:3-9), and the New Testament declares it honourable for everyone (Heb. 13:4).

"And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife." What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His straying servant with the shield of His powerful protection. That shield kept both Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue safe, while the Lord's righteous rod fell heavily on the house of Egypt's king… Abraham had plainly exposed himself in all this. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.

The Lord stepped in so powerfully with the plagues on Pharaoh's house that even that pagan king woke up to the facts and acted rightly. And not only so, but he also rebuked Abram. Now it is a sorry situation when a man of the world can rightly rebuke a man of faith. But so it was here, and so, sadly, it has too often been since. Let us all be concerned that we do not find ourselves in such a situation.

But the Lord stepped in with grace and sent great plagues on Pharaoh and his household (v. 17). We are not told whether Pharaoh asked why the plagues came, but he did find out that Sarai was Abram's wife. Whether or not we are willing to confess the truth, God will certainly bring it out. This is a great mercy for the child of God.

Pharaoh gives Sarai back, but he does not expect Abram to stay. He tells him to "take her, and go" (v. 19), and sends him away with his wife and all that he had (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to see it, for only His working brings restoration.

Did Abram intend this? No! It was an unexpected turn of events. It was unbelief, which always produces in judgment the very evil it tries to avoid. Abram, afraid that Pharaoh would take his wife, says she is his sister — as if God would not protect him — and so Pharaoh takes her into his house. But it was the first step that was wrong: Abram went down into Egypt.

Let us not forget that if nature rules us, it will also expose us. We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself. He is not trying to protect Sarai. He is ready to sacrifice her to save himself. Where was the jealous care that Sarai should stay true to her relationship, and to the faithful confession of it? … The way to get the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ.

What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His failing servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Behind that unbreakable shield, Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both safe. And God's righteous rod struck the house of Egypt's king hard… Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him. When the man of God steps off the path of faith and honest living, he at once exposes himself to the men of this world… If Abraham had stayed in Canaan, Pharaoh would never have reproved him in Egypt.

The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was taking advantage of his position to claim what did not belong to him. The result is that, struck by the clear hand of God, Pharaoh calls Abram and finds out the truth. Now it was Abram's turn to feel it. If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to shame — what a humiliation for him! The world itself reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God and he went without honour.

This is another result of his failure to walk in faith: he deals unfairly with an unbeliever. So God uses the unbeliever to reprove him. How wonderfully wise our God and Father is. He did not reprove Abram Himself. He left this in the hands of the unbeliever whom Abram had wronged… Abram also finds that his fears were groundless. Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer.

Through this whole period, until he returned to the place he had started from, he had no altar. When he left Egypt and returned to his life as a stranger in Canaan, he had what he had before. But he must first go back to the same place and find his altar again.

This beautiful chapter shows us the man of faith recovering himself. He recovers through the faithfulness and loving-kindness of God, who never lets such a man wander far or stay away long. The gold and silver, the flocks and herds of Egypt could not long satisfy Abram while he was without his tent and his altar. So once more, in the renewed energy of faith, he rises out of the dust of Egypt. He retraces his steps to the land of promise. Happy recovery!

The Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even reduce the number of Abram's servants. Instead, "He plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." How striking the ways of the Lord are, and how full of instruction for us! The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well that he had no right to take the woman, even if she had been Abram's sister. He was using his position to claim what did not belong to him. The result is that Pharaoh, struck by the clear hand of God, calls Abram and finds out the truth. Now it was Abram's turn to feel. … He came without God, and he went without honour.

Unbelief carries its own judgment. It constantly leads into the very evil a person is trying to avoid. As it has been said, "The sons of men would build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram, fearing that Pharaoh would take his wife, says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. So Pharaoh takes her into his house."

He also finds that his fears were groundless: Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer.

The Lord intervened so drastically in the plaguing of Pharaoh's house that even that heathen monarch woke up to the facts of the situation and acted rightly. And not only that, he also rebuked Abram. Now it is a sorry situation when a man of the world can rightly rebuke a man of faith. But so it was here, and so, sadly, it has too often been since. Let us all be concerned that we do not find ourselves in such a situation.

When the man of God steps off the path of faith and Christian integrity, he at once exposes himself to the men of this world. He need not be surprised if they punish him with an unsparing hand. Had Abraham remained in Canaan, he would not have been reproved by Pharaoh in Egypt. It is far better to starve, if it must be so, in the path of obedience than to gain plenty by sacrificing faith and moral uprightness.

What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His failing servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both kept safe behind that impenetrable shield. … Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.

When the deceit comes out, the world dismisses Abraham. Pharaoh says, "Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go." And Pharaoh makes sure that he does go. How sad, when the world dismisses the people of God — not because of their faithful witness to God, but because of their own shameful conduct!

The king sends him away from the place he should never have gone to… The world sends him back to his true place. So God often uses the world today to rebuke the unfaithfulness of His own people. … As a result, Abram gets back "to the place of the altar which he had made there at the first; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah." He is restored to worship. In Egypt he did not call on the name of Jehovah, for he had no altar there.

When the deceit is discovered, the world dismisses Abraham. Pharaoh says, "here is your wife; take her, and go." And Pharaoh takes care that he does go, for he "gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had." How sad, when the world dismisses the people of God, not because of their faithful witness to God, but because of their own shameful conduct!

Now it was Abram's turn to feel. If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to the blush: what a humiliation for him! The very world reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God and he went without honour.

While Pharaoh gives Sarai back to Abram, he does not expect Abram to remain there. He tells him to "take her and go" (v. 19), and "they sent him away with his wife and all that he had" (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to this point of realisation, for it is only His working that brings about restoration.

What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears, just as He delights to answer their faith. He covered His erring servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Nothing could pierce that shield, and behind it Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both kept safe... Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So, although God protects him, He yet allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.

God's servant seems to have acquired riches in Egypt (Gen. 13:1). But he also had shame there in denying his wife. And he got Hagar there, who brought trouble into his home. No doubt the riches of Egypt accounted for the strife that separated Lot and Abram. God allowed the failure of His servant Abram as a lesson for us, that we might rely constantly on Him and not on the resources of this present world.

A man may get what satisfies nature, and seem to be going on very comfortably, when far off from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in ought to have broken his heart, and made him feel where himself and his wife were.

The king sends him away from the place to which he ought never to have gone... The world sends him back to his true place. So God often now uses the world to rebuke the unfaithfulness of His own people... In the end, Abram gets back "to the place of the altar which he had made there at the first; and there Abram called upon the name of the LORD." So he is restored to worship. In Egypt he did not call on the name of the LORD, for he had no altar there. The lesson taught him here is that it is not enough to leave his own country and come into a land marked out by God. He must stay there, even though circumstances and worldly caution might persuade him to leave.