Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
Why did he start with Japheth? He was the youngest… so that he could end with Shem and go into the story of Abraham.
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan – (Gawan is like Younan aka Greece). You see Tarshish which is where Jonah wanted to go (Spain)
So Japheth is father of the Europeans
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim). Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.
Meanings
Cush is Ethiopia
Mizraim is Egypt (Misr)
Put is Lebanon
Canaan is Palestine
Assyria is south of Iraq and Nineveh is in it
What do we benefit from all these names?
It’s a historical record – anyone who wants to know the origin of their people, can come back to this record. It’s important to know how different nations are related, where they came from, etc.
It’s showing the result of God’s commandment – be fruitful and multiply
Ham populated Africa and parts of the Middle East
And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.
Eber – this is where “Hebrew” comes from (3aber in Arabic – 3ebraneyan). He’s the grandfather of Abraham
Shem is most importantly the father of the Hebrews and his descendants were in the Middle East and Asia Minor
These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
Genesis 11
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech
Those who study languages are able to trace languages back – so for example they say Latin is the father language of French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese (Romance languages – come from Rome/Latin).
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
Now they are starting to have ideas for inventions – we had a sort of invention before with the Ark but that was designed and commissioned by God. This came from their own minds.
The fact that humans can invent is an indication that they are made in the image of God, the Creator
Inventions can be used for good or bad – like the cell phone
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens;
Pride – why the top of the heavens?
Many have understood it as “if God wanted to do another flood, we could escape it and be higher than any mountain.”
Or “let us go and see what God sees”
let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
“build ourselves” – “make a name for ourselves”
God is no longer in their mind or in their plans.
After the Flood, they started to go back to a life of forgetting God
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
Another human expression used for our benefits as humans to understand
And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
Does God hate building? Of course not. But man always has two options
To glorify God in all that you do
To glorify yourself or to seek out your own glory
They have one language and this is leading to one goal which is bad
“nothing they propose will be withheld” – the devil will make it easy for them
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
God wants us all to be one and in unity but in Him. As Christ says “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21)
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
When we remember this, we remember an opposite event – Pentecost. When all the nations were gathered and the disciples spoke in tongues.
Therefore its name is called Babel
Babel in the Bible is going to be a symbol of evil – Babylon. We’ll keep hearing about Babylon until the end of Revelation.
because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth;
Many times people live in the same house but don’t know how to communicate with each other. Most of the problems we have in the world come from miscommunication – a husband and wife can’t communicate: marital problems; a manager and an employee can’t communicate: work problems; a father and his son – father says “when I was your age” and son is thinking “that was 30 years ago! What do I care!” (speaking different languages).
Confusing the language or miscommunication can destroy a relationship
The same thing can happen in my relationship with God. If I am not listening to the Word of God, I am lost. If I don’t know how to pray I am not communicating with God
Communication is the basis of love. Communication doesn’t have to be with words – when I look you in the eye, I’ve communicated to you. And you can tell through it if I’m happy or sad or mad or whatever. If I shake your hand, you can know from the shake if I like you or not. So communication doesn’t have to be with words, but it is the basis of love. We should focus on “is the meaning he wanted to convey – the same as the meaning I understood?” OR “is the meaning I want to convey – the same as what he understood?”
and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
God’s judgment in the Old Testament is in many ways
Adam was judged with dead
Noah’s generation was judged with a flood
Babel – scattering over the face of the earth (which leads them to war with one another even until today – it is the result of the evil that they chose)
Sodom and Gomorrah – fire and brimstone
This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
Notice here that the length of man’s life is starting to get lower. Noah lived 950. Shem 600. Arphaxad 438. Salah 433. Peleg 239. Reu 239. Serug 230. Nahor 148.
Many attribute this to the Flood causing a disturbance in the physical nature of the world as well as man starting to eat meat (these being ways that God carried out the limitation)
Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The whole point of this genealogy is to bring us to Abraham
This man Abram is just one of tens or hundreds of thousands – this is just one direct line of Shem – all of these had sons and daughters. And Ham and Japheth also had similar lines. And out of all of these people, the only one who we’ll see finds favor with God, is Abram.
This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Haran died early and left Lot as a child – so Abram, who didn’t have children, took Lot as his own child and his responsibility.
Ur of the Chaldeans is a place in Iraq – it is the origin of the people of Abraham or the people of Israel
Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
The first migration that we read about is the migration of Terah’s family – he took Abram and his wife and Lot and they left Ur of the Chaldeans heading for Canaan – but they didn’t get as far as Canaan. They stopped in Haran and dwelt there.
So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 12
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The Lord said to Abram – we haven’t heard this phrase in a while. Since Noah – hundreds of years before! Why did we stop hearing it? Did God stop speaking to man? No… man stopped listening. Until Abram came. And Abram listened.
The first characteristic of a man of God, or a man of faith – he listens to God.
God speaks through your conscience – do you listen to your conscience?
God speaks through the people around you – do you listen to a good word from someone around you?
God speaks through the situations in your life
God speaks to us constantly – but we may not be listening.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. IF anyone hears my voice…” – this “IF” could take years – no one is focusing on God.
The beginning of your relationship with God is when you open the Bible and read His word and say “this word is for me. God is speaking to me here.” – when you say “Lord, speak. Your servant hears.” As Samuel said. When you tell God “tell me what to do! I want to hear your voice! I want to do your will!” – This is the beginning of your relationship with God: when you focus on God and shut your eyes to what is outside.
There are three degrees of separation
“Get out of your country” – Separate yourself from your land
“From your family” – Separate yourself from the people around you
“From your father’s house” – Separate yourself even from your family
Why did God ask Abram to leave and separate from EVERYTHING he knows, and not even tell him why?
How did Abram know that it was God’s voice speaking to him? Faith
Faith is when you don’t know, but you follow anyway. You don’t know what will happen, but you have trust in God that He will take care of you.
People who keep asking God “why?” and “when” and “how” – their faith is weak
People who cannot make any move unless they know for sure and expect God to answer all their questions – their faith is weak
God’s way is to give the invitation and whoever trusts in Him, and trusts that God will take care of him and provide for him and only have good intentions for him, will follow.
It’s the same way Christ called the apostles – he went to Matthew the tax collector and said “follow Me.” He didn’t say “I will make you great”, He didn’t say how He would be able to pay him, He didn’t say that He would take care of him. All He said was “follow Me.” And Matthew – because he had faith – followed Christ and never looked back and now he is great among the apostles. Same thing with Peter – Christ did the miracle with the fish in Luke 5 and then told Peter “come with Me. I will make you fishers of men.” – Peter didn’t ask “what will I get paid” he didn’t ask “what about my wife or my mother in law.” He had faith and he followed. And look at him now.
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)
“I will make you a great nation”
This doesn’t just mean the nation of Israel – but it refers to a spiritual nation – those who have faith are of the nation of Abraham, the man of faith.
Remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus – Christ mentions Lazarus’ spot in heaven is in the bosom of Abraham
“I will bless you”
“I will make your name great”
Abraham’s name is great now – “Abraham your beloved” as we say in Tasbeha and the Agpeya
Abraham could have lived like the people around him… not following God, but their names are not known.
“And you shall be a blessing.”
Not just I will make something of you, but the more you follow Me, you, YOURSELF will be a blessing to those around you
It’s like when a bishop visits us and we say that he has blessed us – because he is walking in the way of God, when he visits us, we are blessed. Same as Abraham
“I will bless those who bless you”
See how big this is - those who say a good word to Abraham or about Abraham, even THEY will get a blessing
Those who follow Abraham – even THEY will be blessed
“And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
You don’t have to be Jewish to be a son of Abraham… this is why we call him “Father Abraham” – because we are his sons by being of faith
Blessing
Anyone who follows God gets all these same blessings – I will bless you, you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”
What is blessing?
It does not mean you will have no worries on earth, or you won’t have tribulation. God has never made such a promise to anyone in the OT or NT. Even to His closest disciples He told them “in the world you will have tribulation.”
It means that you will go to heaven and you will be a source of good to those around you
The idea of intercession is related to blessing – the saints followed God and had blessing. I will bless those who bless you – in this way, when we venerate the saints, we receive blessing
So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him
“As the Lord had spoken to him” – we will see this a lot with Abraham. Everything God told Abraham, he did it.
And Lot went with him
Lot represents a sort of half-way point between Abraham who was a man of faith, and the rest of Abraham’s family (i.e. the ones that didn’t even come)
Lot shows us that by Abraham’s faith, Lot receives blessing and Lot is influenced. So Lot had some of the faith of Abraham – but we will see that Lot stops halfway and separates from Abraham. Because he only had a part of the faith of Abraham – not as much as Abraham.
Lot did not hear God’s voice like Abraham, but Abraham would tell him “God said xyz” and Lot would say “ok let’s do it!” – but he himself, did not really hear God
He was righteous by acquaintance, but not righteous in the true sense
And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan.
Haran was the place they stopped on the way to Canaan
Abram’s father (Terah) was the one who said they should stop there – but that was not what God wanted. And they were stuck there for almost 15 years until Abram’s father died. But God gave him the calling again.
This is why in the Gospel we read “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
It does not mean an actual hatred of family members, but rather to love God more than men. If God says something and someone says something else – we do what God wants
If you compare Ur with Canaan, it’s as if someone left a rich populous country and went to a poor land in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Hearing God say “go to Canaan” he might think that God is taking him to a place better than where he is… and then he reaches Canaan and sees what it is, what would he think? He might think “doesn’t God want what’s best for me? Doesn’t he want me to live in higher standards?” God wants us to live in higher standards in our spiritual life. Many people think that once they increase in their relationship with God, they will get everything they want in the world – more money, nicer house, etc.
So they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were in the land.
He also found that there were already people living there and kingdoms and nations living there? Abram might think “what am I gonna do about these people? I don’t even have a son or an heir” – but Abram didn’t think any of that. He moved according to the way that he knew: “The Lord said – so Abrahm did as the Lord had said”
Then the Lord appeared to Abram
This is the first time we see this word – The Lord appeared to Abram. This means Abram saw Him. The Lord said – Abram heard. Now the Lord appeared and Abram saw.
The Lord appearing is the next level above or past the Lord speaking. Seeing God is higher than hearing God. This is why in the Litany of the Gospel we say “blessed are your eyes for they see and your hears for they hear” – why don’t they just say ears/hear? We are going to listen to the gospel. Because the more someone hears God and listens and walks in God’s way, they will start to see God
When you see “appeared” – you should immediately recognize this as the Lord Jesus Christ; the Word of God; God the Son. Because God the Son is the One who appears in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Any prophet or apostle who has seen God has seen Him as Christ. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:9)
And said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”
Only after Abram followed God’s commandment until the very end, did he see God
If we follow God’s commandment until the end of our life, we will see God with our eyes
And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Where did Abram get this idea of building an altar? Remember that Noah built an altar immediately after leaving the ark – and Abram is the tenth generation grandson of Noah – so this idea of an altar must have been passed down from generation to generation.
Altar
An altar is used to give thanks to God – every time God gives you something good, don’t forget to come to the Church and worship before the altar and offer thanksgiving.
An altar is also used as a place to make your request to God
The altar becomes a witness between man and God. And we will see it in Isaac, Jacob and Moses and David, etc.
Our Liturgy (work of the people) revolves around the altar – giving thanks to God, and requesting from God
Abram built altars before making for himself a habitation… the Church should come before your home. Your prayer should come before your work. Your spiritual life should come before anything else. What is due to God is before what is due to you or those around you
Abram does not really build himself a habitation, but is always on the move
And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel
Why did he move again? This was probably from God
The place was later called “Bethel” (house of God) – we’ll keep seeing this place throughout the Old Testament people keep going and coming from it, and it kind of reminds us of the Church (house of God) and how we might sin but then come back and sin and come back.
And he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
So what does it mean that Abraham called on the name of the Lord? What was he saying? What is the name of the Lord? Abraham doesn’t know a name for God, but he has heard his voice and seen him. In the New Testament we know His name “our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
And we won’t see a name for God with Abraham, or with Isaac. And when Jacob wrestles with God, he will ask him “what is Your name?” And God says “why is it that you ask about My name?” and doesn’t give a name. So He’s always just called “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” – and then Moses has to go to Egypt and tell them God sent him and they ask “which god?” (because they are polytheistic) – so he tells God “all of their gods have names – I need to tell them Your name” and God says “tell them YHWH sent you” – YHWH (four consonants that cannot be pronounced in any language) and that mean “I AM” – the Being – the One who Is. “I AM” And God’s name becomes YHWH or “I AM” all the way until we find out His name is Emmanuel – God with us.
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32), (Acts 2:21), (Romans 10:13)
So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
So Abram (according to what God told him) kept on moving
Now there was a famine in the land
Imagine God told him “blessing I will bless you” and all these nice things, and Abram listened and left his land, and his family, and his father’s house and was obedient and built all these altars and finally gets to this land and what happens? A famine.
And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land
And here we see one of Abram’s weaknesses
It’s so important to learn from the weaknesses of the saints, just as we learn from their virtue. Sometimes when we focus on their virtues, we may not be able to relate “how can I relate to a saint” – but when we remember their weaknesses, we feel they are so close to us
His weakness was a fear of famine, or worrying about what would happen if the famine reached him. And this weakness comes when one’s eye is looking at the world too much.
He didn’t see the famine and ask God “is this famine coming for me or not?” Maybe God would have told him “no the famine is for the Canaanites to repent – it won’t touch you” – but in this case, Abram was scared. We don’t hear that in this situation Abram prayed or talked to God or thought in a spiritual way. “There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down” – it is written geographically, of course, but the word “went down” indicates to us a spiritual decrease
“for the famine was severe in the land”
It is as if Moses wanted to explain to us – that we should understand it was really hard on Abraham
Tests of Faith
This is the first test of faith for Abraham
He’s building altars, obeying God, and then he’s hit with a famine. To put it in other terms… he’s attending liturgies and Sunday School and Bible Study and Praises and Vespers and suddenly, he’s hit with a famine. When hit with a famine, do we attach ourselves to God? Or to men?
A young woman who isn’t married finds herself needing love – is she to attach to worldly desires, go out and try to marry just anyone, etc. Or attach to the altar and let God choose for her?
Someone is getting older and feels that no one asks about him – does he search among the people for someone to ask about him, or attach to the altar and let God ask about him?
And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
Sin begets sin. Sin leads to sin. When he was close to entering Egypt, he found out the Egyptians were brutal and might see that Sarai is beautiful, take her and kill him. If you knew that, would you continue your journey? Or turn around?
Abram is starting to think in the wrong way – not praying
Abram starting with “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance” – he’s almost trying to appease her with these first words. Like when a man wants something from his wife so he gives her a few good words first. And she thinks it’s so nice – but really what he’s saying is not nice.
And Abram tells her “listen… these guys are pretty terrible. They might kill me and take you.” And you can imagine Sarai asking “okay should we go back?” and Abram says “nah let them take you as long as they let me live” – WHAT?! Abram!!!
This is not the personality of Abram! Lying, fear, worrying, earthly thinking
“Please say you are my sister”
Sarai was related to Abram – like the daughter of his father but not of his mother. A half-sibling. So you can imagine him convincing her like “we won’t really be lying” or calling it a “white lie” or a half-lie. But in the end, the cause is fear and because it is fear, it is a lie and a sin
“that it may be well with me for your sake”
As if “if I live I might be able to get you back”
“that I may live because of you”
Where is God in this? Abram’s thinking is completely off here
So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
He who is scared of ghosts will always see them – Abram through fear gave himself in to the devil, and now the devil is taking advantage
Many times we make all the wrong decisions and take all the wrong paths and then say “why is God doing this to me” – you did it to yourself!
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh.
And the situation blew up – not just Egyptians it went all the way up to Pharaoh. As if God is trying to REALLY teach Abram a lesson.
And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
I wonder what Abram felt that day. A man without children, and his wife taken from him. And taken to Pharaoh’s house – who can speak up against Pharaoh? And he is probably too embarrassed to even talk to God. He knows that it’s his fault.
And what would he do? He can’t go back to Canaan without Sarai – God’s promise was for him to have descendants – how can he have descendants without Sarai? So everything God said came to a pause – not because God paused it, but because Abram paused it.
The devil plays games with us when we fall into a big sin or a big mistake or make a bad decision, the devil will whisper in our ear “can you really stand in front of God right now?” when in reality that is the time you most need to stand in front of God. To go and tell God “I am terrible” “I made a mistake” “Fix it for me” “I’m sorry”
He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
What profit is the sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants and camels without Sarai? What’s the point of them if you’ve lost your wife, your children of promise, your land of Canaan, your altar?
“What profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
The people here are not sinning knowingly – they think she is his sister. And they are even giving him so many gifts. They did all of this in peace.
But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Who deserved this plague? Pharaoh? Or Abram?
God in this moment cannot leave Abram to be lost nor Sarai to be hurt – why? Because they are His children.
And we see this in our life – in the times when we have done everything wrong, and we aren’t praying or fasting, we are surprised to find that God is there ready to take care of everything for us
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife.
Pharaoh’s words to Abram were probably the most effective – because who is Pharaoh? He did not hear God’s voice, he did not see God, he did not know God – and yet he was rebuking Abraham.
Many times, we are rebuked or even feel rebuked, but people who do not know God – like Jonah when he told the mariners “I am running away from the God of heaven and earth and the sea and all therein” and they were like “seriously? Why would you do that?”
A wake-up call
In the beginning of the chapter, God told Abram he will be a blessing to the other people – and at the end of the chapter, Abram is the source of a curse for Pharaoh. And you can imagine what’s going on through Abram’s head – “if I had only gotten permission from God, the whole land of Egypt would have been blessed by my present.”
Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
Another message for Abram – Go back to Canaan! Go back to the way of the Lord.
Many times these messages may come to us from those we least expect them.
So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
