Episode 262 - "Abram's Bad Idea" - Genesis 12:10-20

Gen. 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Gen. 12:17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

We’ve come to this point in the Genesis story where the focus is primarily on two characters: God and Abram. I would contend that the Bible as a whole is a story about God, and Genesis just gives us some early but essential information about who the God of the Bible is and what he is like. This is important for the reason that there are many views about things like the age of the earth, the flood story, and so forth. Even among Christians, disagreements exist on how these stories are to be rightly interpreted. I will be the first to assert that my treatment of these stories may not be entirely accurate concerning historical facts of the events. I’ve read other views with compelling evidence supporting interpretations that are different from mine. The critical point is that regardless of nuances and variations of how we understand, the theological message remains the same among these views. The point of the Creation narrative is the eternal nature of God, the power of God, and the goodness of God. The account of the Fall of Man and later the flood narrative is that disobedience to God brings death and judgment. Yet, God is still merciful, and humanity's actions do not limit God. He will accomplish what he wants. The last point seems evident in our text for this week. Let’s break this down.

In verse 10, it is said that there was a famine in the land. This established the cause for Abram’s movement to Egypt. This is purely conjecture. But I find it interesting to consider that the original audience of this writing is the Israelites who came out of bondage in Egypt. The cause of their presence in Egypt was a famine that led to Jacob sending his sons to Egypt to acquire grain. But we’ll get to that later. Does the mention of this famine that leads Abram to Egypt and gets him into trouble evoke the thought in these peoples’ minds: Note to self, stay out of Egypt? I don’t know. It’s just a thought.

The real story is Abram’s fear of the Egyptians, believing they will kill him to acquire his wife, Sarai. Is it just me, or are you wondering, “Why didn’t he have this fear of entering into the land of Canaan?” Perhaps the more obvious question is, “After God had safely delivered him to Canaan and made a promise to Abram that he would make his name great, why is he now afraid?” It would seem that his faith is waning. Before I come down too hard on Abram, I find myself reflecting on how easily and even quickly my faith is suspect within a short time after the Lord has made himself evident in the life of my family. All of a sudden, Abram looks very human, doesn’t he? I would like to think I would not try the scheme he did. Yet, I can identify with the struggle between trusting in the Lord and trusting my own plans.

What happens next is significant on two levels. First, God’s promise to make Abram a great nation is in jeopardy. How can this happen if his wife has been married to the Pharoah of Egypt? If she should conceive, it would not be by Abram.

The second thing that happens is that the Pharoah of Egypt “blesses” Abram by giving him many things in “exchange,” as it were for Sarai. Despite Abram’s poor decision in this faithless effort to spare his own life, God uses it to provide wealth for Abram. Again, I suspect there’s a sense in which this is understood as a foreshadowing of the wealth the Israelites would later receive from the Egyptians as they finally left Egypt after the tenth plague. This is likely pushing the interpretation too far. But I can’t help but notice the parallels.

We are not told how Pharoah came to understand Abram’s true relationship with Sarai. We are just told, “the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” (Another parallel with the Exodus account. The LORD afflicts Pharoah and all Egypt with plagues for improper treatment of a Hebrew(s).)

If Abram responded to Pharoah’s question of why he did this, it’s not recorded for us. Pharoah just sends Sarai back to Abram and instructs his staff to send them away. It concludes that he went away with his wife “and all that he had.” That sounds like Pharaoh didn’t revoke his gifts. He just wanted Abram and whoever was with him to leave Egypt.

What we see in the full story is that God was not going to let Abram, in his moment of weakness in his faith, compromise what God had promised he would do for Abram. He protected Abram and Sarai. God is in control, and neither Abram nor Pharoah would nullify God’s promise and plan. This is a good lesson for us. If we believe the God of the Bible is good and has made promises available to us that are for our good, we can trust that he will fulfill them.

Another lesson is that the LORD often blesses people he loves even when we do not always act in faith. Reflecting on my own life, I believe this has been true for myself. Why would God do this? I believe it’s to teach us his love for us. He will give us what we need to show us that unconditional love he has for us. In turn, when we observe that, the result should be growth in our faith and trust in the LORD.

Episode 259 - The Descendants of Shem - Genesis 11:10-32

Our last episode was the story of the dispersion of the nations, commonly called the Tower of Babel. God confused the languages of the rebellious population so that they would spread out and “fill the earth” as he had commanded them. We now return to walk through the rest of chapter eleven, which is another genealogical record. I’m going to read it this time. While genealogical records may not give us outright profound theological truths, I do believe there are things we can observe and learn that help us appreciate the greater narrative that is unfolding and our ongoing expectation of the “seed of the woman” who will crush the head of the serpent.

Gen. 11:10 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen. 11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

Gen. 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And 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 Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Gen. 11:31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

What we have here is a genealogy from Shem. Who was Shem? He was one of Noah’s three sons and the one who Noah specifically blessed for honoring Noah and covering Noah’s nakedness. If you recall, Ham saw his father’s nakedness and told his brothers. Noah pronounced a curse upon his descendants through Canaan. If we get nothing else out of this, we should at least think to ourselves, “Ah! Yes! It makes sense that the promised “seed” would come through the son who does the right thing.” We should expect it to be a descendant of Shem. The narrative is leading us in this direction.

An interesting fact about this genealogical record is that it matches the form of the genealogical record between Seth and Noah. As you may recall, Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice to the LORD, but his brother Cain’s sacrifice was rejected. Instead of making it right, Cain murdered his brother Abel. God gave Adam and Eve Seth to be the righteous line through whom the promised seed would come. In each record, there are ten generations listed, with the tenth generation listing three sons. Beginning with Seth, the tenth generation listed is Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Here, in chapter eleven, the record starts with Shem and ends with Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Scholars like to debate whether these genealogical records are historically accurate or if some generations were left out to get this match. I think it’s best to take these at face value. Whether both these records are precise in detail or descendants selectively chosen or excluded to arrive at this parallel form, the vital point that is being communicated is that God is sovereignly working to effect his plan. This is an important truth for us today. Some people might give ascent to the idea of a god or gods. But often, they are deists. The god or gods they believe may be out there certainly don’t care about the events that unfold from day to day. They are simply the force or cause that brought about life. That view and the God of the Bible are incompatible. The God of the Bible, as we are witnessing throughout this book, cares deeply about people and people following his words and will. God is active throughout the Bible and is active today.

Another observation from this record is the ever-decreasing lifespan of each generation. This reveals that God’s prophetic promise in Genesis 6:3 that mankind will only live 120 years is coming true. That was neither a promise that everyone would live as long as 120 years or that some could not live longer. It was a declaration of a new standard at a time when people had been living for hundreds of years. This record helps us see that God’s word is coming to fulfillment with each generation.

In verses 26-27, Terah is the ninth generation from Shem, and he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We are quickly informed that Haran was the father of Lot. Then, we are told that Haran died “in the presence of his father Terah” in his homeland. This indicates that Haran was relatively young. It should also make the reader wonder, “What happened to Lot?”

Before we find that out, we’re told that Abram took a wife named Sarai, and Nahor took a wife named Milcah. Milcah, the author continues, was Haran's daughter. Wait a minute! Isn’t that Lot’s dad? Nahor married his niece? Yep. Therefore, Lot has two sisters, Milcah and Iscah. But Sarai was barren. This last detail is another crisis. The reader who’s not read or heard this story might write off Abram and Sarai as descendants through whom the promised seed would come in light of this fact.

In verse 31, Terah took Abram, Sarai, and Lot from present-day southern Iraq toward present-day Israel. There are reasons why some argue that Terah took the rest of the family as well. But, as we’ll soon see, the narrative shifts to these three individuals. Why Terah leads them in this direction is not revealed. We only know that he planned to go to the land of Canaan. That should build some suspense for the reader since descendants of Shem were moving toward the land of Canaan’s descendants, where there would surely be conflict. For another unknown reason, they stopped in Haran and settled there, where Terah would later die.

The primary function of this section is to carry the story from Noah and his son Shem down to Abram, Sarai, and Lot. As mentioned earlier, this story lends itself to our seeing that God is active and purposely carries out what he says he will do. I hope you find this truth as encouraging and hope-giving as I do.

Episode 257 - Table of Nations - Genesis 10

Gen. 10:1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

Gen. 10:2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.

Gen. 10:6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

Gen. 10:15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

Gen. 10:21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

Gen. 10:32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

I believe this is the first time in the five year history of this blog and podcast that I’ve covered an entire chapter in the Bible. I think it’s also the first time I’ve elected not to provide an audio recording of my reading the section of Scripture. My choice is based largely my desire to draw your attention to the purpose of why this “Table of Nations” or this genealogy is included in this story. That purpose is largely informed by the context and not so much by the text itself. With that said, let’s begin. I would highly encourage those listening to this to read Genesis 10 for themselves.

First of all, this text clearly gives us a genealogical record of Noah’s sons. It is not an exhaustive list. In fact, it looks a bit strange. In this table are names of people, groups of people, and places associated to people. This tells us that the purpose of this record is not simply to give us a record of descendants of Noah but to give a list of people, groups, and geographical regions of people that are important to the audience of this record. Certain information is included, and much information is excluded due to what the author considers crucial for his audience.

Who is this audience? If Moses wrote this, as I accept he did, the original audience is the Israelites who came out of Egypt. Imagine what it must have been like for such a group of people. They knew nothing about the land of their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, except what may have been passed down in a story. But the LORD was leading them there. They were to take possession of a land that had been taken over by many people who exemplified immorality, idolatry, and violence. The LORD instructed them to not adapt the ways of the people, but to drive them out. The LORD wanted the Israelites to understand Abraham's identity and faith, embody the same faith as Abraham, and be a “Kingdom of Priests” to the world, pointing them to their God. This genealogy helped them understand that the descendants of righteous Noah did not follow in Noah’s faith and righteousness.

Furthermore, it helped them understand that Ham’s offense against his father, bringing the curse upon Canaan and his descendants, led to the gross sins of the various groups now dwelling in the land where God was leading them. The effect of this understanding should have helped these Israelites stop and think, “We don’t want to bring a curse upon us. We don’t want to worship the gods of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and others. We must obey the LORD like Noah and Abraham, whom we will soon learn about.”

This genealogical record also shows that God’s command to be fruitful and multiply is being followed. Next week, we will read about how the increasing descendants from Noah’s sons were not completely obedient and the LORD would need to help them disperse across the earth.

This record helps advance the story from the flood to the LORD’s next step in fulfilling his promise of a coming seed. We find in the genealogy of Shem, who was blessed by his father for honoring his father by covering up his nakedness, that the LORD will choose a man named Abram (Abraham) to follow his instruction as Noah had.

This leaves us with the question, “Is there something in this record of Noah’s descendants that is helpful for us beyond advancement of the story?” I would suggest there are a few theological principles that come forth from this account in its context. It shows us that God is all-knowing. Ham made an unrighteous choice with respect to his father and it had consequences through his son Canaan. This is not all that different from Adam’s sin and what happens with Cain. I don’t think the LORD is at fault for what happens. I think he foresees the ripple effect of Ham’s sin, and the curse upon Canaan is in the understanding of the course that it will take through Ham’s descendants. We need to understand and value that God knows all things, and we need to take serious consideration about our thoughts and actions. They affect other people.

Another principle that arises out of this is God’s providence. God has a plan, and some of that will be accomplished through the rebellious actions of others. That doesn’t mean God causes them to be disobedient. People have already demonstrated they are quite capable on their own for their defiance against God’s ways. But God will not allow people to thwart his ultimate plan. We can trust that God will fulfill his promises.