a new name

Genesis 17


1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

***

I AM GOD ALMIGHTY. Here Yahweh speaks to Abram with an affirmation of his identity, his authority and a sense of command: walk before me and be blameless. 

The weighty announcement of Yahweh, God Almighty provokes a response from Abram that emphasises the authority of the speaker - Abram falls facedown.  

This is apparently 13 years after Ishmael's birth, when Abram is 99.  Yahweh, it appears, will not be rushed.

Yahweh speaks the words of his covenant, the Great Promise Maker renewing what has been said previously.  His covenant remains the same - Abram's descendants will be many.  There are extra details here - kings will come from you, a royal history to unfold.  It is a grand promise, and as a symbol of Abram's future God gives him a new name: Abraham.  The covenant is not just with Abraham, father of many, but with all his offspring in all generations.  The covenant is everlasting.

The promise of land is also reiterated - Abraham is currently a foreigner in Canaan but it shall belong to his family.  Yahweh will be their God.

the hearing, seeing God

Genesis 16

⁷ The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

   “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

 ⁹ Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

 ¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her:

   “You are now pregnant
   and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
   for the LORD has heard of your misery.
¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;
   his hand will be against everyone
   and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
   toward all his brothers.”

 ¹³ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

 ¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

***

IN THE FACE of Sarai's rough treatment, pregnant Hagar runs away.  She is found by the 'angel of Yahweh', by a spring of water in the wilderness - was she heading for Egypt, her homeland?

Yahweh knows who Hagar is, and engages her in conversation.  Where have you come from, and where are you going?

The questions evoke a simple response: I'm running away from Sarai.

And the reaction?  Go back.  And even harder for proud Hagar: Go back and submit.


But he does not leave her merely with this command, but gives her a promise of her own - she too will have numerous descendants; God will multiply her offspring.  He gives her unborn the name 'Ishmael' - God hears.  The child will not have an easy life; he will be a misfit among his family.  An odd kind of reassurance, this, but it shows one thing: God knows.  God knows who this son will be, and what he will be like.  Her son will live and grow and become a man.

After being told the name of her son, Hagar gives Yahweh a name from her own lips: El-roi - the God who sees.  God has seen her, and she him.  She was alone in the wilderness but Yahweh, who she names El-roi.  (Remember this is before Moses' encounter with the burning bush, where El-roi declares himself Yahweh, the great I AM.)

Abram is 86 years old when Ishmael is born.

it's your fault

Genesis 16

When [Hagar] knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

 ⁶ “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

***

INITIALLY, Sarai's plan seems successful - at least, it achieves the aim of Hagar getting pregnant. Alas, it also has a result Sarai does not expect. Hagar now looks at Sarai with contempt, despising her mistress. Has her pregnancy given her a superiority complex, because she could conceive where Sarai couldn't?  Does she dislike Sarai for using her as a vessel for childbearing (although as noted previously, this was not uncommon practice)? The former seems more likely in the cultural context.  (The understanding was that the male seed was inside the woman, who acted as an incubator for it.  Fertilisation was not a known concept!)

Typically human, typically flawed, Sarai goes to Abram and says: this is your fault. You are responsible for what I'm going through. She calls on Yahweh himself to underline her point: may Yahweh judge between you and me.  Yahweh, the judge, the one who knows.

In reality Sarai and Abram cannot individualise the blame for the situation - Sarai suggested it, Abram agreed and then acted upon it.  Hagar's attitude is also her own.

Abram reacts in a not dissimilar way, giving full responsibility to Sarai to deal with Hagar. He gives her complete power over Hagar, offering Hagar no protection from Sarai's treatment.

An awkward triangle instead of fulfilled hope.

taking matters into their own hands...

Genesis 16


¹  Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

***

APPARENTLY it was not uncommon in this culture for a wife to find a 'surrogate' to carry a child and have authority over them.  So perhaps Sarai's action was not as outlandish as it may seem to us.  She suggests that Abram sleeps with slave girl Hagar, so that through Hagar they may have children.

In spite of the statement in the previous chapter where 'Abram' believed Yahweh's promise of land and descendants, here Abram and Sarai attempt some D.I.Y.  Upon Sarai's request, Abram does what was culturally unremarkable - and sleeps with the appointed surrogate.

But the plan had never been meant to be unremarkable.  God was planning a remarkable thing.  But in the face of their circumstances, they try and do things their way, not God's way.  Sarai places the blame for her barrenness at Yahweh's door (v2) but seemingly does not expect him to change this.  God has made her barren, hence barren she will always be, and another woman is needed in order for a child to be born to them.

And so the plan is put into action, and Hagar conceives a child.

visual aids and vivid ritual

^{Genesis 15}

 7 He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

 ⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” 

 ⁹ So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

 ¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

 ¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

 ¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

***

HERE God makes a covenant with Abram, using symbolism and ritual - visual aids, although somewhat bloodier than we are used to in our culture.  After assuring Abram over the promise of children God reiterates his promise regarding the land - something that will assume huge importance in Israel's later identity.  Abram again responds with a question - how will I know?

God responds with covenant, in a ritual enacted out partly in 'deep and dreadful darkness'.  This is no airy fairy light in the sky but a profoundly serious experience involving fire and blood.  Fire of holiness, perhaps, symbolising Yahweh; the carcasses lying bloodied either side.  Death and life - elemental things, things real and distressing, things showing how serious all this is.

God speaks.

Know this for certain.

Yahweh specifies what will happen - including the sojourn and the slavery that is to come and their escape from it.  Exodus, another key feature of Israel's identity in her God, is still to come.   But all this would be a long time coming; the timing had to be right; waiting was inevitable.  It would not be an easy wait.  But, know for certain, says YHWH, it will happen.

But not in Abram's lifetime.  He shall live long, he shall die in peace - to his descendants YHWH gives the land, and even specifies who the current inhabitants are.  The mention of the 'sin of the Amorites' hints at the evil will later be said to have polluted the land...

God takes the long view, and it's not an easy one for us to cope with.  It is hard for us to see beyond ourselves, to balance the value God places on us with the perspective of history and the millions of others that come and go over the ages.  But God sees all of it, knows all of it.  In the end, we can only trust, on the basis of the one who guides us, the one who makes the promise.

the seen and the unseen

Genesis 15

¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

   “Do not be afraid, Abram.
   I am your shield,
   your very great reward.”

 ² But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

 ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

***

YHWH again appears to Abram, encouraging not to be afraid.  God is his shield, his protector, and he is his reward (or, Abram's reward will be very great, depending on how it is translated).  

Abram takes this opportunity to voice his doubt - he cannot understand how he will be rewarded as he has no child of his own - his current heir is Eliezer - his slave.  He has no blood descendants. Sarah is still barren.

The situation has not changed, but Abram is still called to believe.

God responds to Abram's questioning with the statement that this should not be so - no one but Abram's own flesh and blood will be his heir.  God does not adapt or change his plan.  It remains, bold and unyielding, in spite of the fact it seems contrary to circumstance.  YHWH uses the visual aids of the stars to show how numerous Abram's descendants shall be.  What a contrast - Abram stands before God childless and confused - and yet YHWH promises him such abundance.  

All this in spite of Abram's current circumstances.  But God will not be changed by these circumstances, rather it is the circumstances that will change.  God's promise flies in the face of what Abram knows, and holds out an entirely different ending to the story.

Abram's response is faith.  In spite of appearances, Abram believed what God had said to be true, and was given 'righteousness' as credit.  A link appears between faith and righteousness, one that is given great significance in the New Covenant.

Abram is faced with two things - his childless circumstances and the promises of God.  To his credit, he fixes his gaze on the latter.

the meeting in the valley

Genesis 14 

17After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

 ¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,

   “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, 

   Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
   who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

   Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 ²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

 ²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” 

***

On his return, Abram is met by the (rather surly) King of Sodom and also Melchizedek, King of Salem (Jerusalem, perhaps?).  Melchizedek is given the title of priest, the first direct mention we've had of such a role.  He brings not bread and water but bread and wine to honour Abram.  He blesses him by God Most High -
El-Elyon. (El was the 'top' Canaanite god but also a way that Yahweh is referred to in the Old Testament.)

Abram's actions are already being accompanied by blessing.

Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything as a response; does this feel like a tithe?  Another trackback?

Abram rejects the offer of the King of Sodom and swears by Yahweh, El-Elyon (more specific) that he would not accept anything from this king's hand.  The King of Sodom will never be the source of any prosperity for Abram.  He will only accept the food that the men have eaten, and asks that his allies (apparently present with him in the attack) should have their share.

Does Abram's rejection of the King of Sodom's offer signify that he disapproves of Sodom and is aware of its reputation?  Or does he not want to receive anything from an enemy, instead relying on blessing from God (which is what Melchizedek offers)?

the ears of Abram

<sup>Genesis 14

13</sup> A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. ¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. 

***

AND so Lot's capture came to the ears of Abram.  Abram here described as 'the Hebrew' - is this story coming from an external source?  Has this how Abram has become known?
One thing is clear - Abram is not alone.  He has allies.  And he is known enough for an escapee to come and let him know what has happened.  

Suddenly Abram doesn't seem like a lone wanderer any more.  He has made agreements with others.  He has 318 trained men.  Abram has an army.  

And when the news of his nephew reaches the ears of Abram, he calls the army into action.  The bond between Lot and Abram has not been broken - Lot still has importance in Abram's eyes.  The uncle comes to the rescue, pulling out all the stops, gathering all his forces and hounding Lot's captors all the way to Hobar.

His rescue is a thorough one.  He does not sneak in and get Lot out some subtle and sly way.  Oh no; he recovers everything - Lot and everything that belongs to him, the women and the 'other people'.

Abram is not one you would want to anger, it seems...

someone's in trouble

<sup>Genesis 14


1</sup> At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, ² these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). ⁴ For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

 ⁵ In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

 ⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. ¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

***

Whoosh.

Sometimes passages like this can funnel through my brain and out the other side.  All those names!  Those kings!  A war which happened thousands of years ago in which it can be hard to summon genuine interest.  I have to read it carefully - skim reading won't aid understanding!

It's a military campaign being described here.  The five defending kings are defeated by the four who go to war against them.  The additional information about the tar pits evokes an unpleasant image. In a way, it helps ground the narrative, make it more 'real' - appealing to our senses.

Among those who are defeated are the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.  We've already been warned about these cities.  We know that Lot was near ('as far as') Sodom - now we're told he's living in Sodom.  And he is not immune to what has happened - his lot (groan) has fallen in with the people he is living with, and he is in a lot (groan again) of trouble.

He's identified here by his family connections.  This is no random Lot.  He's not even simply called 'Lot'.  No, this is Abram's nephew Lot who has been carried off as a result of this victory.  Their parting does not get rid of this tie, does not break this bond.

The kings have carried off one of Abram's kin.  

This mini-story connects to the wider story of Abram, as well as to references of Sodom and Gomorrah, which are littered in various places in scripture.  (I talk about the interest of finding connections here).

look and see

^{Genesis 13}

¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 

¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

 ¹⁸ So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the LORD.

***

Once Lot has separated from Abram and the tie between them broken (for now), Yahweh speaks again to Abram and reaffirms the promise - both of land and of offspring.

This time the emphasis is on the entire land belonging to Abram's descendants - so numerous will they be that they cannot be counted. This from a man who has no children at all!

The land, so visible and tangible - Abram can walk it's length and breadth - is one part of the promise - the two halves hinged together, reliant on each other.  The land will be filled by Abram's descendants  there will be enough descendants to fill the land.  The promise filled out - it becomes a promise made for perpetuity - forever; it is personal - God gives it to Abram himself as well as his offspring.

A promise that is personal, powerful, and apparently impossible. But it is God who gives the land.  The God of the improbable and the impossible.  In fact, he specialises in just such cases!


Image: stock.xchng

parting ways

Genesis 13

⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

 ⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

 ¹⁰ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

***

Trouble in the ranks. Squeezed in and squabbling. Lot's accompanying of Abram has implied a strong bond between them, and because they are family Abram does not want any disunity or quarrelling between them. The fact that they are close relatives is important - and their relationship to each other matters.  In order to soothe the squabbling, Abram suggests an allocation of space.  Let's part ways.

The choice of left and right is placed in Lot's hands.  Abram's willingness to put Lot first in this matter seems again to imply that Lot is valued highly by his uncle.  

Lot chooses the lush plain of the Jordan - compared to the garden of the LORD - a beautiful fertile land. Like the land of Egypt - a river plain less reliant on rainfall as other areas.

So Lot heads East, like Adam and Eve, like Cain,like the settlers of Babel, but Abram settles in Canaan.

Sodom and Gomorrah - their reputation precedes them - we are told here of their future destruction. Here and now we are told unequivocally that the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against Yahweh. They have set themselves in enmity with Yahweh, and it is ominous that Lot should choose this place to pitch his tents. Does Lot know of this reputation before he makes his choice? Or is it something he discovers later?

retracing his steps

<sup>Genesis 13


1</sup> So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

 ³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

***

On travelling back up from Egypt, Abram eventually returns to the place where he had built an altar to Yahweh.  After the faithlessness witnessed in chapter 12, he returns to the place of commitment.  It in this place that Abram again calls on Yahweh's name.

Is this an act of penitence or a request for guidance?  Is Abram trying to repeat his experience - the appearance, the revelation from God? Does God respond or is it a one way thing?

In the face of his mistake and his humiliating retreat from Egypt, Abram returns to the place he has known before.  Retracing his steps, reforming his starting point.  Reminding himself of the place of his encounter after his unfortunate detour into Egypt. Last time he'd been here, he'd just come from a meeting with God where he was shown the land he has been promised.

Perhaps he needs to revisit such things, to be reminded of his purpose.

why didn't you tell me?

Genesis 12


¹⁷ But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. ¹⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

***

Oh dear.


It appears that Sarai's inclusion at the palace has had some nasty consequences.  Pharaoh is justifiably annoyed.  

Why didn't you tell me?

Telling lies just dug the hole deeper for Abram.  By pretending that he was not married to Sarai he started a lie that he believed he needed to maintain (presumably because of his fear for his own safety).  The longer a lie lasts, the harder it is to tell the truth.  Pharaoh has short shrift for Abram and his dishonesty.

Take your wife - and be off with you!

Abram is shooed out of Egypt.  He went there to preserve himself - initially for relief from the famine.  Then he deliberately disowns Sarai - demoting her to his sister.  It does no good.  It's 'fortunate' for Abram that Pharaoh doesn't respond more angrily than he does - off with his head?!  But Abram obviously has some kind of divine help on his side (though he hardly seems to deserve it).  

Sarai is rescued - by God, not by Abram - and the whole lot of them are seen off, out of Pharaoh's sight.

Abram trusts in his own methods and deceit instead of relying on Yahweh who has called him to follow.
  
Not the wisest of moves.

In this story, Pharaoh shows more concern for morality than Abram does.  Abram is not being a 'blessing' to other nations but here brings curse upon another.  His behaviour does not reflect his calling.  Are there times in our lives when we try and rely on our wits and cunning instead of witnessing to God's truth?  When we compromise the message and give a bad impression, a murky reflection of a beautiful reality?

every man for himself...

Genesis 12


10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. ¹³ Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

 ¹⁴ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. ¹⁵ And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

***

Why did Abram go to Egypt?  Well, the text gives the answer - because of the severity of the famine in the land.  Those of us familiar with Egypt references will feel inclined to disapprove, but the Israelite's oppression by Egypt, and later warnings not to rely on Egypt's help have not occurred yet.  The narrator makes no comment or judgement.  Was it weakness or necessity? We're not told.

The following events are rather ironic.  Abram, fretting over his own safety - a selfish motive - decides that Sarai should act as his sister. (She was, in fact, closely related - but this is not what motivates Abram here.  There is no doubt he is in fear for his own life and acts accordingly.)  She is beautiful.  What this would mean for us today I cannot say.  She's not young. Different cultures value different things, see beauty in different ways.  But there is no doubt that Sarah was incredibly attractive - a fact that sent Pharaoh's officials running to their king, eager to describe this gorgeous woman.

Abram's pretending that Sarai was not his wife led to her being taken from him and into Pharoah's palace.  Oh dear.  The mother of the promise in a harem - it doesn't look good. Here is another threat to the promised blessing, a compromising situation if ever there was one. 

Abram didn't seem to complain!  He did well out of it - treated well as Sarai's family and not only does he preserve his life but he gets a load of other benefits - marks of wealth and status.  At what point did Abram intend to intervene?  Was he too cowardly?  Or did he rather like the perks of the situation?  Had he dug himself a hole and couldn't work out how to get of it?  Did care for his own wellbeing outweigh his care for his wife?  It certainly seems that way.
  

It's not Abram that comes to Sarai's rescue.  He is no white knight; no protector.  It is Yahweh himself who intervenes.

setting out

Genesis 12

 ⁴ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

 ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring [seed] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

 ⁸ From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and 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.

 ⁹ Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

***

So Abram went.

There's no comeback from Abram, no details of his departure. No grand farewells or descriptions of their packing (a mammoth task, by the sound of it). The verse portrays simple, uncluttered obedience, a bit like Noah.

God's call demanded a response, and Abram obeyed, just as Yahweh had told him.

Although Terah's death has been recorded in 11:32, it doesn't necessarily mean that Abram's story did not begin until after his father's death. In other OT narratives and genealogies one person's story is often told and 'completed' before starting another. Events may still have overlapped.

Abram is not alone - he is accompanied by Sarai, whom we know to be barren, and his nephew Lot. Did Lot go of his own volition or because Abram asked it of him? There seems to be a close relationship between the two - a tight family bond.

And they arrived there. An uneventful journey - at least, any eventfulness is unrecorded.  But although they reach the land, it does not belong to Abram yet. It is still a far off promise. A promise of offspring - but Sarah is barren.  Still that huge obstacle. But Abram responds in faith, building altars to Yahweh, who has 'appeared' to him.

The fact that Sarai is barren doesn't trouble Yahweh, God over all. He can do all things.

Further reflections on my main blog: the impossible child