Verses 1-3 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.
The above verses clearly are a conversation between God and Abram. Now that Abram’s father is dead, God wants him to leave the familiar, to leave any family ties, and to set out to an unknown destination. If he complies with the LORD’s commandments, he is promised many things. He will produce a nation. This came to pass with the nation Israel. His name would be made great. This came to pass as all Jews and Christians today know who Abram was. He would be blessed. This happened in both his relationships with the people from the nations he passed through and in which he dwelt, and with the kings and leaders of these nations. He was blessed materially and became rich and powerful and respected. His enemies would be cursed. This happened to anyone who tried to have a relationship with Sarai, his wife, and to anyone who tried to take his possessions or his wells of water. And all families or nations have been blessed because of the LORD Jesus Christ who physically descended from Abram through the line of his son, Judah.
Application: Sometimes the Christian believer is taken by God down a path in life where the destination is unknown. It is at these times that the believer needs to have the faith of Abraham and to completely trust in the LORD. He will take care of His people. They just need to be obedient and go where He wants them to go.
Application: Verse 3 above is one of the most misquoted and misapplied verses in the Old Testament. Remember that these verses are a conversation between God and Abram. No one else. Verse 3 is used today to make it apply to the nation Israel and to all Jews today. It does not apply. God promised to bless the people who blessed Abram, not bless the people of today who bless today’s Jews or the nation of Israel. Using this verse to extract money from gullible believers so that the money can support the Jews or the nation Israel and their agenda is fraud on the part of the so called Christian pastors that are teaching this doctrine. Jews are generally not Christian believers and do not support the Kingdom of God because they do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. The promises of blessing and of cursing were given to Abram only, and as stated above, these promises came to pass. They were fulfilled in the Old Testament times. Again, they do not apply today. If a believer wants to support a Jewish organization and believes the LORD wants this support to be given, then it should be done. But not because there is a promise of blessing and cursing attached to it. Again, this is not anyone’s promises. They belonged to Abram and to Abram alone. In case the reader is thinking that this writer is against Jews, it will be shared that this writer supports the organization called Jews for Jesus and has done so for a very long time because this writer wants all Jewish people to know the true Gospel and the love of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verses 4-5 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.
Abram was obedient in that he packed up and left Haran as instructed by God. The question is whether he was being obedient by taking Lot with him since Lot was part of Abram’s father’s house and was definitely Abram’s kindred or relative. The land of Canaan was the land west of the Jordan river that had been settled by the descendants of Ham’s fourth son, Canaan.
Verses 6-7 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.
Sichem, or Shechem as it became known, was thought to be an area that later was settled by descendants of Manasseh, Joseph’s son and the grandson of Jacob, and it was located north of the city of Jerusalem. Here the LORD promised to give this territory to Abram’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled when the territory was settled by the Hebrew people who came out of slavery in Egypt. Note that here Abram builds an altar unto the LORD after He appeared to him. The first recorded building of an altar was back in Genesis 8:20 when Noah built an altar unto the LORD and offered burnt sacrifices. Where the practice of building altars came from is not explained in Scripture. From this point on, however, altars and offerings or sacrifices became a way of worship by the people of God.
Application: Today, the Christian believer does not offer material things or animals on a physical altar. The practice of offering animal sacrifices ended when Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, offered Himself a living sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. No animal could do this and no animal can do this today. Only Jesus. So what is the believer instructed to do. Romans 12:1 states, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Why did Paul command this and how does a believer comply? Because the Holy Ghost lives inside each Christian believer, He is holy and so should the body of the believer be holy. What is thought, what is done, and how the body is cared for should reflect the holiness of the Spirit that lives inside. How comfortable would a believer be if he/she went to an event at a theater or a stadium and had to sit in an assigned seat that was littered with popcorn, soda cups, bubblegum wrappers, sticky candy, spilled and melted ice cream, and other trash? If the expectation at a public venue is cleanliness and order, why should the Holy Ghost be subjected to dwelling in and with a believer whose life and physical body is unclean with sin and in disorder? Think about it.
Verses 8-9 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.
The name “Bethel” means “house of God”. The name “Hai”, or “Ai” as it later became known, means “heap of ruins” or “garbage dump”. Notice that Bethel was to the west of Abram and Hai was to the east. As the Scripture is studied it will be noticed that the direction of west is associated with the LORD and the direction of east is associated with pagan worship and ungodliness. When the desert tabernacle and later the stationary Temple were constructed, the priests entered on the east side of the tent or building and traveled west to the place where the ark was located, symbolically going from the heap of ruins or garbage dump to the presence of the LORD.
Verses 10-13 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.
Famines have always been a part of life on Earth. Back in the day famines were not blamed on global warming or climate change or on weather manipulation. They just happened and perhaps two conclusions can be drawn as to the causes. First, the famine was sent by God as judgement upon a nation for their sin, as a wake up call to an unbelieving nation that they needed to repent and start serving the one true God, and as a means to cause mankind to act in a way that would fulfill the LORD’s plan. Secondly, the famine was sent by the Devil to cause distress upon God’s creation and upon mankind or to interfere with a plan of God. The cause of this famine is obviously unknown, but as a result, Abram left his camp near Bethel and went down into Egypt. He was obviously fearful of the Egyptians and worried about the safety of his wife and family, so much so that he and Sarai devised a plan that was deceptive and not completely truthful. The fact that Abram believed that he could be killed because of his beautiful wife sheds some light as to the sinful condition of mankind post the Flood.
Verses 14-16 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.
The Hebrew word translated as “commended” is “halal” and it also means praise. Apparently the men of Egypt liked what they saw and were lusting after Sarai. As a result, she was taken to Pharaoh, and Abram and his servants and livestock were treated well. Although this behavior of Abram seems to be morally wrong to the reader, this may have just been the way things were done in the days of the patriarchs. Remember that there was no law given by God at this time, and so where there is no law, there is no breaking of the law. Perhaps Abram should have trusted the LORD for his safety. Perhaps Abram did trust the LORD and the LORD allowed him to pass Sarai off as his sister (she was his half sister) so that He could intervene and demonstrate His power to both the Egyptians and to Abram and his servants. What do you think?
Application: The Old Testament saints had no guide book to follow so that they would know what the LORD expected of them. The believer today needs to be very thankful for the gift of the Bible as it can be consulted at any time to find the answer to every question and every problem the Christian believer may encounter in life.
Verses 17-20 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.
The plagues that were sent to Pharaoh and his house are not elaborated on by Moses in this account. They were a fulfillment of the promise in verse 3 above to curse Abram’s enemies and they were a foreshadowing of what the LORD would do to Egypt later in defense of His people: the Hebrews and descendants of Abram. So the story has a happy ending as Sarai was reunited with her husband and family and all of their possessions were safe from the Egyptians who were too afraid of Abram and his God to bother them in any way.