Gen. 12, The Man Abram

Let’s make a few observations about Abram.

·       12:4: Abram obeyed the Lord.  According to Joshua, “Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods” (Josh. 24:2).  This refers to the place (Haran) where Terah and the family moved from Ur of the Chaldees.  After Terah died Abraham, with Lot, moved to Canaan.  Abram’s great nephew Laban, who stayed in Haran, (whose daughters Leah and Rachel became Jacob’s wives) worshiped “other” gods as Gen. 31:19,30 indicates. 

o   The thing I wonder is, how did God communicate with Abram?  And why was Abram disposed to obey YAHWEH?  Not only did Abram obey; he also built altars to YAHWEH to worship Him.  The LORD had “appeared” to Abram (Heb. ra’ah, meaning God was seen in some form by Abram).  As Heb. 12:1-3 says, God spoke in different ways to the “fathers.” 

o   So what we appear to have is this.  Abram grew up in a home that worshiped other gods.  But the true God, the LORD, spoke to Abram, and then appeared to Abram, telling him to go to Canaan, a land that God would give him.  He was led to obey the LORD and to trust His promise.  Undoubtedly, Abraham was seeking the God who promised to send a Savior (Gen. 3:15).  He would eventually be declared righteous by that God.  For now, Abram is learning who this God is and what He desires of him.

·       12:13: The NKJV translates Abram’s request of Sarai with a “please.”  He used the same term twice with Lot in 13:8-9.  Is Abram really that polite?  The Hebrew term is one of entreaty.  It is not a command or demand but a polite request, giving the person the option. 

o   Now you might want to claim that the option Abram gave Sarai was to protect his life by putting herself in the dangerous situation of being kidnaped off the street by an immoral dictator.  I will not defend Abram as doing the right thing.  But it is not what you may think.  To be taken into the household of Pharoah was to be taken into a situation where you were cared for generously.  But it also meant moving into an idolatrous religion and being separated from the line of Shem.

o   What happened in 12:17 might have been the point at which Abram realized there was something significant about Sarai and her body as being reserved for Abraham alone.  What Abraham did was common in the day.  He did it twice and Isaac also did the same later.  Again, there are no justifying arguments intended here; only trying to put it in some context.

o   A related question has to do with 12:18 and why Pharoah called Abram when the plague hit the palace.  Perhaps the LORD communicated in some way with Pharaoh as He did in the later incident (Gen. 20:3).  But it is also possible that Pharaoh deduced that, since bringing Sarai into the household was the latest event, the plague must have something to do with it.  Remember from 12:16 that Pharaoh had come to have some kind of relationship with Abram.  All this comes before Gen. 15:4 (Abram believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness) and Gen. 17:1 (I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.)

o   The last thing to say about the adventure in Egypt is that, undoubtedly, Satan was at work.  He was seeking to destroy the plan of God that would result in the Savior.  If he is not involved in this event, he is certainly involved in the later event which occurred at the very time, according to the word of God in Gen. 17:21, that Sarah would be ready to conceive. 

It may sound like we are just making one conjecture after another.  I don’t like that.  What we are doing is trying to paint an accurate picture of Abraham.  He lives at a time when there is no “Law of Moses.”  You can see some of the “world” in Abram’s thoughts and actions.  But you also see a humble man, a kind man, and a man who desires to obey the God he is just getting to know.