“Abraham – Man of Faith & Failure”

Teaching Series - “Our Family Tree–Through the Bible in 2021" 
Weekly Topic - “Abraham – Man of Faith & Failure” 
Text – Genesis 12-18, 20

Today, we are going to pick-up where we left off last week, following Abraham as he follows God’s leading, traveling toward the Negev.  The New Testament makes a number of references to Abraham, whose faith God counted as righteousness.  Without taking the time to get to know the man, one might be tempted to elevate him to sainthood—who else, after all, would simple pick-up everything he had ever known to follow God who knows where, without a second thought.  However, his story isn’t quite that straightforward.
 
God called Abraham at the age of 75 and the Bible records various ‘snapshots’ of his life including his death at the age of 175 years.  While definitely a man of faith, Abraham was not a man of infallible courage, he was known to become impatient and at one point appears to work against God’s promise of a son through Sarah, almost sabotaging God’s plan.  God’s chosen man of faith was not without his failures.  Today, I want us to get to know Abraham beyond his initial calling and belief, to become better acquainted with both his moments of tremendous faith…and dismal failures.
 
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THE FEARFUL MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 12:10-16
“10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
14 And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. 15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. 16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.”
A famine forces Abram to relocate to Egypt; but he is fearful.  What does he fear?  That because of his wife Sarai’s great beauty, the Egyptians will kill him to get to her.  So, what does he propose?  Sarai is to tell everyone that he is in fact her brother and not her husband.  What does this tell us about Abram?  He didn’t trust these people.  He feared for his life.  He valued his life over his wife’s honour.  Not a stellar moment in the life of Abraham.
 
Now, in the day that Abram lived, what he feared held a real possibility.  The easiest way to get something you wanted from another was to defeat them either in battle or by killing them (Abram as a foreigner would have had very little recourse) and take what you wanted.  And Abram wasn’t lying.  In fact, we know from Genesis 20, that Sarai was in fact his sister, but through another of his father’s wives.  We don’t know how Sarai feels about this arrangement, but she does go along with his wishes.  And as feared, Sarai catches the eye of the Egyptians and Pharaoh pays the bride price to him.  Abram literally hands Sarai over to become part of the Pharaoh’s harem, to suffer the indignities of being used as another man’s wife and property in order to save her husband from potential harm.
 
We don’t know how long Sarai remained in Pharaoh’s harem; now that Abram has given her away, there is no way for him to reclaim her, until God intervenes.  God sends a number of plagues on the Egyptians and, by some means which the Bible does not reveal, Pharaoh discovers Abram’s deception.  Pharaoh makes it clear that Abram has done a terrible thing, gives him back Sarai, and then has his army escort Abram and everything that belongs to him out of the country.
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THE GENEROUS MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 13:5-9
“5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. 6 But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. 7 So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
8 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
Traveling with Abram’s household was his nephew Lot. After leaving Egypt they continued to travel in stages toward Bethel.  But both Abram and Lot had become quite wealthy and the land just wasn’t big enough for the two of them.  Trying to find pasture for all their herds and flocks was becoming a point of contention. 
 
Abram doesn’t want to allow this friction to be the source of bad blood between them and makes a proposal.  What is his solution?  He proposes that they part ways and he gives Lot first pick.  As the elder patriarch, Abram was fully within his right to make his choice and Lot would simply have to settle with what was left.  But Abram is generous and his offer would have been considered quite magnanimous.
 
Lot gives his options consideration and quickly settles on claiming the lush area of the Jordan Valley to the east and settles near Sodom and the cities on the plain.  Abram heads in the other direction and occupies the land of Canaan, settling in Hebron.
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Even though Abram and Lot had parted ways, Abram continued to show loyalty to his nephew, coming to his defense on at least two occasions.
 
THE LOYAL MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 14:14-16
14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.”
 
Lot found himself caught between two powerful alliances.  The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela had for twelve years paid tribute to King Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth they rebelled.  King Kedorlaomer and the allied kings of Babylonia, Ellasar and Goiim attacked and overtook the rebelling kings.  Lot, caught in the middle, found himself captured as a prisoner of war along with everything he had.
 
What did Abram do when he got word?  Abram didn’t hesitate to gather together a rescue party of all the trained men in his household plus his allies, Mamre, Eshcol and Aner.  The Bible says that they rescued everyone and brought them back.  Abram could have claimed much of the recovered plunder as his own, but he refused any reward offered from King Bera of Sodom.  Abram hadn’t done it for him and was not going to allow him to take any credit for Abram’s success in the future.
 
Lot resettles in Sodom and we don’t hear about him again for a number of years, until his uncle Abram again comes to his rescue…but that’s part of our story for next week. 
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THE BELIEVING MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 15:1-6
“Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”’
2 But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.’
4 Then the Lord said to him, ‘No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.’ 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!’
6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
There is a strange story that happens in the life of Abram beginning with this vision, then a peculiar sacrifice, a terrifying dream and ending with a final vision.  God has told Abram not to be afraid, that he will protect him and reward him.  But Abram has yet to receive his greatest desire, which God had also promised…an heir!
 
God reassures him and makes a covenant with Abram.  He even provides details of the future, telling Abram that his descendants will be enslaved in a foreign land, but after 400 years He will rescue you and they will leave with riches.  Then they will occupy the land ‘from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River’ (15:18).  Abram himself will die in peace at an old age. 
 
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And Abram believes God…but in his 85th year, he grows impatient and second-guesses how this promise of an heir will ever be possible through his wife Sarai.
 
THE IMPATIENT MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 16:1-5
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.’ And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)
4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!’”
In the coming weeks, we are going to revisit this story as it pertains to Hagar, but it does shed some light on Abram as well.  Sarai, despite God’s repeated promises, has still not had a son by the age of 75…time is running out, if it hasn’t already.  No doubt she is aware of the promises that God has made to Abram.  How could Sarai possibly be a mother at her age?  What solution does Sarai propose?  “Sleep with my servant and I will officially adopt the children she has with you as my own.”  I can’t think that this was an easy offer for Sarai to make, but I wonder if she felt cornered.  She couldn’t produce a child; Hagar was her property, therefore any children she bore would also be Sarai’s; as a wife, wasn’t her duty to see to her husband’s wishes.  And his greatest wish was for a son that she herself could not provide.
 
After Hagar becomes pregnant, Sarai makes a telling accusation.  “This is all your fault!  I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt.  The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”  Personally, I’ve always been a little hard on Sarai at this point.  What did she expect?  But on closer inspection, I noticed that Sarai is laying her case before God.  She wants a third party to judge between their roles in this matter.  And it’s got me wondering if the whole idea wasn’t Abram’s all along.  Was this Abram’s idea to help out the promise of God?  It would certainly explain her level of irritation and stories that we will cover in the weeks to come. 
 
We need to remember, that Sarai and her servant Hagar were not the only women with whom Abraham had children.  After Sarai dies at the age of 127, we know that Abram remarries to a woman named Keturah and has a number of additional sons; before he dies, he sends these sons and the sons of his concubines away (Genesis 25:1-6).  Abram may have in fact had a number of concubines when married to Sarai.  This would have made her place as wife potentially tenuous, not being able to produce an heir, and jealousy is rampant in polygamous relationships; it was never the way God intended families to be formed, though many were, including Abram’s.
 
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Hagar gave birth to Ishmael when Abram was 86 years old and nothing more is heard about Abram and his family until his 99th year, when God once again shows up.  Twenty-four years after God called Abram to leave the land of his fathers, He tells Abram that the promise of an heir is now at hand.  God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai’s name to Sarah and makes the pronouncement that in a year’s time, Sarah will give birth to a boy to whom they are to give the name Isaac.  But before that happens, there is one more thing that God requires Abraham to do…
 
THE OBEDIENT MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 17:10-13, 23-27
“10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant….  On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.”
 
Can’t you just hear Abraham?  “What was that?  I’m not sure I heard correctly.”  As a sign of the covenant that God is making with Abraham, he is told that all the males of his family—children, servants and slaves—are to be circumcised or ejected from Abraham’s household and God’s blessing…even Abraham himself at the age of 99.  I can’t imagine the scene that day as Abraham informed all the males of his household what needed to be done. 
 
No matter what they thought, they all complied and that is how it came to be required that all Jewish boys at eight days old would be circumcised to provide evidence that they were part of Abraham’s family and heirs of the covenant promises.  This remained a requirement of the Old Covenant, which was later replaced by the New Covenant.  Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant does not require a physical circumcision of all males, but a circumcision of the heart for all believers—regardless of race, age or gender.
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In chapter 18, with just under a year to go before the long-awaited child is to arrive, but still prior to Sarah’s pregnancy, God once again pronounces the coming arrival…a pronouncement Sarah overhears and laughs at…imagine!  But I don’t think she’s the only one with doubts.
 
THE ‘SLOW TO LEARN HIS LESSON’ MAN OF FAITH – Genesis 20:1-7
“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
Again?!  Less than a year from now, Sarah is to be having Abraham’s son and here he is letting her become the wife of another man….again.  For everyone’s sake—Abraham’s, Sarah’s, Abimelek’s…and for the sake of His plan—God steps in.
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We may be tempted to shake our heads at this point in Abraham’s story, but I would caution against making too quick or harsh of judgements. 
 
·         Haven’t we all made mistakes and some repeatedly?
·         Haven’t we all had points in our life when being faithful was easier than at other times?
·         Stories like Abraham’s remind us that, no matter how old we get, belief in God and obedience to Him are to be daily pursuits.
·         As much as we might wish it, we never outgrow temptation.
·         It is comforting to know that God is more than capable and willing to use us despite our failures.

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For further study:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpbWbyx1008 (the Bible Project – similar, but slightly different from last week’s link)
 
Sunday, February 14, 2021- “Our Family Tree - Through the Bible in 2021"- “Lot – Choosing the Good, Missing Out on the Best” (Genesis 13,14,19) - ONLINE Only