August 13, 2024 • 13 mins
In this episode, Abraham and Sarah have to go to Egypt because Canaan has been afflicted by a famine. When they get there, Abraham urges Sarah to tell everyone that she is his sister rather than his wife. He was worried that the Egyptians would kill him to get to her. Sure enough, Sarah was whisked off to Pharaoh’s house. At that point, the Lord afflicted Egypt with plagues. An irate Pharaoh demands that Abraham take his wife and leave immediately. In the meantime, Abraham is greatly enriched because of all the presents that the Egyptians had given him.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The Bible is full of stories that we all know
and love, But how well do we know?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
That the answer might surprise you.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Bible you thought you knew is going to dive
deep into the exquisite details of the Biblical stories that
make them fascinating and transforming.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
In last week's podcast, we dealt with how the Epistle
to the Hebrews saw Christ in the light of Melchizedek.
Of course, that story features the time when Abraham Melchizedek.
That account is found in Genesis fourteen. This week we
will treat another episode involving Abraham and Sarah. This story
(00:46):
is narrated in Genesis chapter twelve. This particular episode comes
on the heels of God's astounding promises that were made
to Abraham and Sarah. After the initial call found in
Genesis twelve verses one through three and the first promises,
(01:06):
the story continues by describing Abraham's journey, which included not
only Sarah, but Lot, his nephew. Of course, this was
an extended family that also had considerable possession possessions. That's
in verses four through five of chapter twelve. When the
party arrived at Canaan, the Lord showed up again this time,
(01:31):
God promised that Abraham and Sarah's descendants would one day
have the land of Canaan to call their own. A
promise like that calls for worship, which explains why Abraham
built an altar and called on the name of the Lord.
That's in verses seven through eight of chapter twelve. So
(01:51):
far in this story, Abraham and Sarah encountered only blessing,
promises and enhancements. Life was good, to say the lead yeast.
Then a famine hit. That's in verse ten. Not just
any run of the mill famine, if there is such
a thing, but a severe famine. In an apparent attempt
(02:13):
to survive this catastrophe, Abraham decided to go to Egypt.
Though the text does not say so, the implication is
that Egypt was not being afflicted with the same famine.
From Abraham's point of view, Egypt spelled survival. When they
were about to enter Egypt, Abraham had something to say
(02:36):
to Sarah. He pointed out to her how very pretty
she was. Obviously, she did not interrupt her husband. As
it turns out, though Abraham was doing more than complimenting
his wife. Had he done that, we would have given
him credit. But he had another reason for bringing her
(03:00):
beauty to her attention. Her attention, Abraham is worried that
the Egyptians will be struck by how gorgeous she was.
If these Egyptians conclude that Abraham is her husband, they
will have no compunction in killing him to get to her.
Whether Abraham was being completely paranoid or made a fair
(03:24):
assumption of Egyptian behavior, we have no way of knowing,
But in this episode, he is obviously fearful. He went
to Egypt to avoid starving to death. It would be
the ultimate irony to be killed instead because he happened
to be married to such a good looking woman. Abraham
(03:46):
was trying to prevent this unthinkable circumstance. Because of his concern,
Abraham wanted Sarah to tell everyone anyone who asked, that
she was his sister. The Egyptians would surely think that
a woman traveling with her brother was single and therefore available.
(04:07):
Abraham made no bones about what he was asking his
wife to do, having told her that he would die
and she would live if the Egyptians figured he was
her husband, So he lays his cards on the table.
If she is willing to pass herself off, as his sister,
(04:29):
it would go well for me, meaning that he would
live by her doing that, there is no question that
she would be saving her husband's life. Sure Enough, when
Abraham and Sarah entered Egypt, her beauty was immediately noticed.
Egypt's princes saw how beautiful she was and straightway told
(04:53):
the Pharaoh about her. Indeed, they praised her to Pharaoh.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Now, anyone who knows anything about ancient Near Eastern kings,
or kings generally for that matter, realize that a king
is always.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
On the lookout to add to his harem. Being beautiful
makes a woman go to the front of the line.
This was no exception. Once Pharaoh heard the report about Sarah,
we learned that she was taken into Pharaoh's house. No
other details are provided. Everything is left to our imagination.
(05:34):
As this unfolds, Sarah has not said a word. Are
we to think that by saying nothing, the Egyptian simply
inferred that Sarah was Abraham's sister. Not only did Abraham
manage to save his life with this ploy, but he
made out like a bandit, since he had brought such
(05:57):
a beautiful woman to Egypt, and more specifically, to Pharaoh's house.
He was richly rewarded. The Egyptians saw to it that
Abraham was lavished with sheep, oxen, he asses, men, servants,
made servants, she asses, and camels. Abraham's coffers were considerably enhanced.
(06:21):
In the meantime, Sarah languished in Pharaoh's house. That's in
verse sixteen. Then the Lord intervened because of what had
happened to Sarah. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house
with great, great plagues that's in verse seventeen. What plagues
(06:43):
are not specified. Nevertheless, this got the pharaoh's attention in
a hurry. Somehow, the pharaoh concluded without any trouble the
reason that God had taken this action. So he calls
Abraham on the carpet by asking, one what did you
do to me? And two why did you say that
(07:04):
Sarah was your sister, therefore leading me to take her
myself as a wife. Clearly, an unreported conversation had taken
place previously between Abraham and the pharaoh, and just as clearly,
the pharaoh had every attention intention to regard Sarah as
(07:25):
a new wife based on what Abraham had told him. Curiously,
one of the first lectures on ethics in all of
scripture is addressed by an Egyptian pagan king to the
great patriarch and ancestor of Israel. The pharaoh was livid.
(07:46):
He wanted Abraham to take Sarah and leave. Abraham did
leave with Sarah and all the goods he had acquired
because of the pharaoh Pharaoh's generosity. Nothing is said about
Abraham's and Sarah's having survived the famine. When he left.
We learned that soon he was in negive the southernmost
(08:08):
section of Canaan. That's in verse one of chapter thirteen. Clearly,
this little story adumbrates the plague stories in the Book
of Exodus. Two things happen there that are similar. One is,
plagues afflict Egypt until the land is ruined, and secondly,
(08:29):
all of Israel is able to impoverish Egypt by barring
everyone's jewelry just before the exit itself. So this is
a very very interesting adumbration in this little story in
Genesis twelve. In any case, the very next thing we
are told is that quote Abraham was very rich. He
(08:52):
had cattle, silver, and gold. Doubtlessly he had become even
wealthier because of the presence given to him by the pharaoh,
so he not only survived the famine and returned with
his wife, but had increased his holdings. At the same time,
the poor pharaoh, who had done nothing wrong, had to
(09:15):
endure God sent plagues because he had mistaken Sarah as
Abraham's sister instead of his wife. My students had a
typical response to this story. They wanted to know whether
Abraham in fact lied. The text is clear Abraham told
a bold face lie. He meant to deceive, and he
(09:39):
was successful. In short, he lied through his teeth. He
seemed not to concern himself one whit about what might
happen to Sarah. He did not protest when she was
whisked off to become part of the pharaoh's herab He
did not say a word until the pharaoh confronted him.
(10:00):
How long would he have been willing to keep his
mouth shut? Regardless, the great Patriarch did not distinguish himself
in this episode. My students also did not like how
unfair the whole scene was. Egypt was a sanctuary for Abraham, Sarah,
and their extended family, Plus the pharaoh had given a
(10:23):
considerable bridal price to Abraham for her. Yet Pharaoh was
punished while Abraham was rewarded. This was hardly fair, and
that was the point. My students always wanted fairness. In
certain contexts. That is understandable, but fairness sometimes means that
(10:47):
everyone gets what everyone deserves. When it comes to God,
all take grace over fairness any day of the week.
Keep in mind that the people God elected as the
Chosen People were not better than anyone else. On occasion,
they were worse, but because the God who was doing
(11:09):
the electing was a loving and gracious God. The story
shows that God works through ordinary flawed people. As it
turns out, those are the only kind of people with
whom God has the work. Abraham was flawed, Sarah was flawed,
Lot was flawed, Isaac was flawed, Rebecca was flawed, Esau
(11:33):
was flawed, Jacob was flawed. The less goes on and
on and on. This is precisely how even Jesus' own
disciples are depicted in the New Testament. They were not
moral and religious stalwarts. Often they did not understand what
Jesus was teaching. They slept while he prayed. They shoot
(11:56):
off children who Jesus wanted them to welcome. They betrayed,
They doubted, and so forth. This biblical story is about
God doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people. The story
when Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt to escape the
effects of a famine is one of those stories. Abraham
(12:21):
got off scot free. That is the way election unfolds
from time to time, and I'm so thankful for it.
Let me encourage you to go to my website Faspina
dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let me know what your email is. If you like
me to answer a question and a Q and a session,
email me at f Spina one zero six at gmail
dot com. I want to thank you so very much
for listening to the Bible You Thought you Knew. I
have a question for you. Do you have a question
or topic that you'd like me to cover on the podcast.
(12:58):
If so, all you need to do is head over
to Apple Podcasts and do two simple things. One, leave
a rating and review, telling me what you think of
the podcast. Two in that review, ask anything you want
related to the Bible. That's all you have to do.
(13:18):
Then listen in to hear your question answered on a
future episode.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Join us next
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Time on the Bible You Thought you Knew when we
discuss Jesus' personal Bible God, bless
The Bible is full of stories that we all know
and love, But how well do we know?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
That the answer might surprise you.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
The Bible you thought you knew is going to dive
deep into the exquisite details of the Biblical stories that
make them fascinating and transforming.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
In last week's podcast, we dealt with how the Epistle
to the Hebrews saw Christ in the light of Melchizedek.
Of course, that story features the time when Abraham Melchizedek.
That account is found in Genesis fourteen. This week we
will treat another episode involving Abraham and Sarah. This story
(00:46):
is narrated in Genesis chapter twelve. This particular episode comes
on the heels of God's astounding promises that were made
to Abraham and Sarah. After the initial call found in
Genesis twelve verses one through three and the first promises,
(01:06):
the story continues by describing Abraham's journey, which included not
only Sarah, but Lot, his nephew. Of course, this was
an extended family that also had considerable possession possessions. That's
in verses four through five of chapter twelve. When the
party arrived at Canaan, the Lord showed up again this time,
(01:31):
God promised that Abraham and Sarah's descendants would one day
have the land of Canaan to call their own. A
promise like that calls for worship, which explains why Abraham
built an altar and called on the name of the Lord.
That's in verses seven through eight of chapter twelve. So
(01:51):
far in this story, Abraham and Sarah encountered only blessing,
promises and enhancements. Life was good, to say the lead yeast.
Then a famine hit. That's in verse ten. Not just
any run of the mill famine, if there is such
a thing, but a severe famine. In an apparent attempt
(02:13):
to survive this catastrophe, Abraham decided to go to Egypt.
Though the text does not say so, the implication is
that Egypt was not being afflicted with the same famine.
From Abraham's point of view, Egypt spelled survival. When they
were about to enter Egypt, Abraham had something to say
(02:36):
to Sarah. He pointed out to her how very pretty
she was. Obviously, she did not interrupt her husband. As
it turns out, though Abraham was doing more than complimenting
his wife. Had he done that, we would have given
him credit. But he had another reason for bringing her
(03:00):
beauty to her attention. Her attention, Abraham is worried that
the Egyptians will be struck by how gorgeous she was.
If these Egyptians conclude that Abraham is her husband, they
will have no compunction in killing him to get to her.
Whether Abraham was being completely paranoid or made a fair
(03:24):
assumption of Egyptian behavior, we have no way of knowing,
But in this episode, he is obviously fearful. He went
to Egypt to avoid starving to death. It would be
the ultimate irony to be killed instead because he happened
to be married to such a good looking woman. Abraham
(03:46):
was trying to prevent this unthinkable circumstance. Because of his concern,
Abraham wanted Sarah to tell everyone anyone who asked, that
she was his sister. The Egyptians would surely think that
a woman traveling with her brother was single and therefore available.
(04:07):
Abraham made no bones about what he was asking his
wife to do, having told her that he would die
and she would live if the Egyptians figured he was
her husband, So he lays his cards on the table.
If she is willing to pass herself off, as his sister,
(04:29):
it would go well for me, meaning that he would
live by her doing that, there is no question that
she would be saving her husband's life. Sure Enough, when
Abraham and Sarah entered Egypt, her beauty was immediately noticed.
Egypt's princes saw how beautiful she was and straightway told
(04:53):
the Pharaoh about her. Indeed, they praised her to Pharaoh.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Now, anyone who knows anything about ancient Near Eastern kings,
or kings generally for that matter, realize that a king
is always.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
On the lookout to add to his harem. Being beautiful
makes a woman go to the front of the line.
This was no exception. Once Pharaoh heard the report about Sarah,
we learned that she was taken into Pharaoh's house. No
other details are provided. Everything is left to our imagination.
(05:34):
As this unfolds, Sarah has not said a word. Are
we to think that by saying nothing, the Egyptian simply
inferred that Sarah was Abraham's sister. Not only did Abraham
manage to save his life with this ploy, but he
made out like a bandit, since he had brought such
(05:57):
a beautiful woman to Egypt, and more specifically, to Pharaoh's house.
He was richly rewarded. The Egyptians saw to it that
Abraham was lavished with sheep, oxen, he asses, men, servants,
made servants, she asses, and camels. Abraham's coffers were considerably enhanced.
(06:21):
In the meantime, Sarah languished in Pharaoh's house. That's in
verse sixteen. Then the Lord intervened because of what had
happened to Sarah. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house
with great, great plagues that's in verse seventeen. What plagues
(06:43):
are not specified. Nevertheless, this got the pharaoh's attention in
a hurry. Somehow, the pharaoh concluded without any trouble the
reason that God had taken this action. So he calls
Abraham on the carpet by asking, one what did you
do to me? And two why did you say that
(07:04):
Sarah was your sister, therefore leading me to take her
myself as a wife. Clearly, an unreported conversation had taken
place previously between Abraham and the pharaoh, and just as clearly,
the pharaoh had every attention intention to regard Sarah as
(07:25):
a new wife based on what Abraham had told him. Curiously,
one of the first lectures on ethics in all of
scripture is addressed by an Egyptian pagan king to the
great patriarch and ancestor of Israel. The pharaoh was livid.
(07:46):
He wanted Abraham to take Sarah and leave. Abraham did
leave with Sarah and all the goods he had acquired
because of the pharaoh Pharaoh's generosity. Nothing is said about
Abraham's and Sarah's having survived the famine. When he left.
We learned that soon he was in negive the southernmost
(08:08):
section of Canaan. That's in verse one of chapter thirteen. Clearly,
this little story adumbrates the plague stories in the Book
of Exodus. Two things happen there that are similar. One is,
plagues afflict Egypt until the land is ruined, and secondly,
(08:29):
all of Israel is able to impoverish Egypt by barring
everyone's jewelry just before the exit itself. So this is
a very very interesting adumbration in this little story in
Genesis twelve. In any case, the very next thing we
are told is that quote Abraham was very rich. He
(08:52):
had cattle, silver, and gold. Doubtlessly he had become even
wealthier because of the presence given to him by the pharaoh,
so he not only survived the famine and returned with
his wife, but had increased his holdings. At the same time,
the poor pharaoh, who had done nothing wrong, had to
(09:15):
endure God sent plagues because he had mistaken Sarah as
Abraham's sister instead of his wife. My students had a
typical response to this story. They wanted to know whether
Abraham in fact lied. The text is clear Abraham told
a bold face lie. He meant to deceive, and he
(09:39):
was successful. In short, he lied through his teeth. He
seemed not to concern himself one whit about what might
happen to Sarah. He did not protest when she was
whisked off to become part of the pharaoh's herab He
did not say a word until the pharaoh confronted him.
(10:00):
How long would he have been willing to keep his
mouth shut? Regardless, the great Patriarch did not distinguish himself
in this episode. My students also did not like how
unfair the whole scene was. Egypt was a sanctuary for Abraham, Sarah,
and their extended family, Plus the pharaoh had given a
(10:23):
considerable bridal price to Abraham for her. Yet Pharaoh was
punished while Abraham was rewarded. This was hardly fair, and
that was the point. My students always wanted fairness. In
certain contexts. That is understandable, but fairness sometimes means that
(10:47):
everyone gets what everyone deserves. When it comes to God,
all take grace over fairness any day of the week.
Keep in mind that the people God elected as the
Chosen People were not better than anyone else. On occasion,
they were worse, but because the God who was doing
(11:09):
the electing was a loving and gracious God. The story
shows that God works through ordinary flawed people. As it
turns out, those are the only kind of people with
whom God has the work. Abraham was flawed, Sarah was flawed,
Lot was flawed, Isaac was flawed, Rebecca was flawed, Esau
(11:33):
was flawed, Jacob was flawed. The less goes on and
on and on. This is precisely how even Jesus' own
disciples are depicted in the New Testament. They were not
moral and religious stalwarts. Often they did not understand what
Jesus was teaching. They slept while he prayed. They shoot
(11:56):
off children who Jesus wanted them to welcome. They betrayed,
They doubted, and so forth. This biblical story is about
God doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people. The story
when Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt to escape the
effects of a famine is one of those stories. Abraham
(12:21):
got off scot free. That is the way election unfolds
from time to time, and I'm so thankful for it.
Let me encourage you to go to my website Faspina
dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let me know what your email is. If you like
me to answer a question and a Q and a session,
email me at f Spina one zero six at gmail
dot com. I want to thank you so very much
for listening to the Bible You Thought you Knew. I
have a question for you. Do you have a question
or topic that you'd like me to cover on the podcast.
(12:58):
If so, all you need to do is head over
to Apple Podcasts and do two simple things. One, leave
a rating and review, telling me what you think of
the podcast. Two in that review, ask anything you want
related to the Bible. That's all you have to do.
(13:18):
Then listen in to hear your question answered on a
future episode.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Join us next
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Time on the Bible You Thought you Knew when we
discuss Jesus' personal Bible God, bless
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