Abraham-Following and Failing, Part 2

Today, we have a very practical lesson out of the Word of God. They're all practical. Some hit a little closer to home than others do. Today hits very close to your home, very close to your heart. Last week, we saw Abraham, a man of faith, following God, determined, dedicated, devoted, dependent upon God, willing to take a stand in the land of the Canaanites, to build an altar, to call upon the name of the Lord. But something happened that caused him to compromise his stand on truth. Something happened that we need to look at today that we'd not follow in his footsteps.

We'll look first of all at the scene. In the scene, you're going to see a famine, and with that famine, faithlessness. And we're going to move from the scene to the sin, and in that sin, you're going to see fear, and you're going to see falsehood. And we're going to move from the sin to the sequel. You're going to see failure, yet you're going to see flocks, lots of flocks for Abraham. And ask why would he receive all these flocks when he failed God so miserably? And then we're going to see God's sovereignty, and we're going to see, number one, his faithfulness, and number two, his forgiveness.

That's our outline this morning. Let's look at it together, Genesis chapter 12, verses 10 to 20. Now, there was a famine in the land, so Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there. For the famine was severe in the land, and it came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman, and it will come about when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.

And it came about, when Abraham came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful, and Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. Therefore, he treated Abraham well for her sake, and gave him sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and male and female servants, and female donkeys and camels. But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abraham's wife. Then Pharaoh called Abraham and said, What is this you have done to me?

Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 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. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that belonged to him. The first thing I want you to see is the scene.

There was a famine in the land. The text says that it was a severe famine in the land, a grievous famine in the land. I'm reminded of Peter's words when he said this in 1 Peter 1. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while. If necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. If necessary, if need be, and because you have them, then that must mean that you need them, according to 1 Peter 1 verse number six. Then in verse number seven he says, and the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter says, why is it it's necessary for you to have these various trials? Two reasons. Number one, to verify your faith.

Number two, to purify your faith. That's why. And so God was in the process of verifying Abraham's faith and purifying Abraham's faith. And the only way that can happen is through a trial or through a test that God allows to happen to come your way. Do you really believe that Satan is gonna stand by, watch God bless your life, and not do all he can to discourage you the very next day? After the triumph, after the excitement, after the joy of serving God, you be ready, because right on the heels of that comes what?

The test. So here is Abraham. In the land of promise, what irony? And all of a sudden, a famine. Within that famine, what do you see? You see faithlessness. So Abraham went down to Egypt, sojourned there, for the famine was severe in the land. How do you see faithlessness in that? Very simply this. As you recall, this man had spent his life calling upon the name of the Lord. This man had lived by faith. He followed the word of the Lord. God said, Abraham, I'm calling you out of Ur of the Chaldeans.

I'm calling you into a special land, and I'm gonna do this with you, Abraham. And Abraham followed the word of the Lord. But here, there is no word from God. He is not following the word of the Lord. He is following his own intellect. Egypt is a wealthy place. Egypt is a fertile place. Egypt is the abundant place. This is what I will do. I will go down there because there I'll be fed. There I'll be watered. There I'll be taken care of. In the land of famine, which is the land of blessing, by the way, I'm in trouble.

But if I go to Egypt, everything will be okay. God didn't tell him to go to Egypt. He didn't call upon the name of the Lord to seek God's will to see whether or not he should go to Egypt. He just thought to himself, you know what? I'm head of the household. I can make the right decisions. Egypt's the right place to go. Therefore, that's where I'm going to go. It would seem like the logical thing to do. It would seem like the wisest thing to do. After all, he is the leader of his house. He is supposed to be responsible for his family.

And so you'd think that that would be the right thing to do. But listen to the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 31, verse number one.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help. And rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many. And in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord. Now, fellows, you need to underline that verse in your Bible. Because there are many of us who like to go down to Egypt. Egypt in the Bible stands for everything that is contrary to God and trusting in God. You see, the opposite of going to Egypt is to sit down, trust God, look to him, ask him, because he is the Holy One.

He is the one we are to fear and to look to. Yet Abraham would decide to do something entirely different than seeking the Lord. He compromised the Word of God. How did he do that? He saw his surroundings and he sought self-preservation. Whenever you compromise the Word of God, it's because you see your surroundings instead of your Savior. And you seek self-preservation over God's glorification. Whenever that happens, compromise is always on the horizon, and that's what Abraham did. He saw the famine.

This can't be the right thing. This can't be the good thing. Therefore, what do I need to do to make things right? And so he sets out to make things right, and when realizing that God is the one who makes things right. And he realized his life was in jeopardy. His life was in danger. Instead of worrying about the glorification of God, he worried about the preservation of man and thought only of himself. And the story is very evident in terms of his relationship with Sarai as to what exactly happened.

Abraham could have waited upon God to do a great work. After all, God is in the business of doing great works, but Abraham did not. And before Isaiah 31 comes Isaiah 28, and in Isaiah 28, verse number 16, it says, he that believeth shall not make haste. If you're a believer and you trust God and you believe him, you shall not act hurriedly. You shall not make haste. Because you're gonna sit back and trust God and wait for him to do what needs to be done. But for those who do not trust God, who don't believe him, are always looking for answers, are always fiddling around, trying to figure out, I gotta make this under control.

I gotta bring this under captivity. I gotta make sure this happens next. And they begin to control their environment. And a lot of us as men are like that, aren't we? We love to take the lead. We love to show our wives we're in control, man. We know what we're doing. Even though it's wrong, we're in control. Next time your famine comes, don't be like Abraham and turn and run, but be like the Bible says, and trust and receive.

Don't turn and run from God, but trust and receive from God that which he wants for you in the midst of that famine. But that's a scene. There was a famine in the land. As a result of the famine, there was faithlessness on the part of Abraham. Let's now move to the sin. The sin falls into two categories. Number one, fear.

Number two, falsehood. How do you know Abraham was afraid? Look what it says down in verse number 12. It will come about when the Egyptians see you that they will say, this is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Now go back up to verse number one of Genesis 12.

Now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which, what? I will show you. Verse two, and I will make you. Verse two, I will bless you. Verse three, I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. Notice the I will do this and I will do that.

Look at Abraham's voice. They will do this and they will do that. See the fear there? The fear is based on what they will do to us. Not any consideration as to what God thinks of us, but what will they do to us? Or specifically, what will they do to me? They're gonna kill me, Sarah. Sarah, here's a man who feared his surroundings. Here's a man who feared his surroundings more than he feared his sovereign ruler. You ever been in that category? You fear that which you see, your surroundings. And so what did he do?

He sought self-preservation. I gotta do something. Things don't look so good here, so I gotta preserve my life. And so I'll take matters into my own hands and I'll configure everything around my life and make sure everything turns out for my benefit. That's compromise. And that's what Abraham did. So when he comes to Egypt, he said to his wife, see now that you are a beautiful woman. Now, Sarah was 65 years old. She was no spring chicken, but she was a babe, I'm telling you. Sarah was a babe. I mean, he knew that she was a beautiful woman.

And he knew that when they looked at her, if she was married to him, they'd kill him. So he says, this is what I want you to do. I want you to tell him that you're my sister. Now, that's a half truth because Sarah was his half sister. Genesis 20 tells us that. So Sarah was his half sister, so it wasn't totally wrong to say she's my sister. But a half truth is a whole lie in God's book. And so he would lie anyway. So Sarah, if you tell him this, you're gonna preserve my life. Listen to this man's leadership.

Listen to what he says. He says, and it will come about when the Egyptians see you that they will say, this is his wife and they will kill me and they'll let you live. God forbid that they should kill me and let you live, Sarah. So please, please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me. What a selfish man. So it goes good for me. It's all about me anyway, babe. Sarah, this is my world. You just can live in it for a while. It's all about me. It's my land. It's the promise given to me.

It's my covenant. It's all about me, Sarah. So preserve my life. Take care of my life. Lie for me, Sarah. Lie for me. I'm your man. Die for me, Sarah. I won't die for you, but you die for me. That's what he's saying, right? You know, the Bible says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not into your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. When you don't trust in the Lord with all your heart, guess what? You begin to lean on your own understanding. That's what Abraham did. But Abraham feared. He feared what men would do. And because he feared what men would do, it would lead to his falsehood. It would lead to his lies. Which leads me to number three, the sequel and Abraham's failure.

Let's know what it says. Verse number 14, and it came about when Abraham came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. See, she was a babe. 65 years of age, and man, she was looking good to the Egyptians. And so what happened? And Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. Where's Abraham at? What's he doing? I wish I'd slapped him inside his head if I'd have been there. Abraham, what are you doing, man? You can't do stuff like that.

Verse 16, therefore, he treated Abraham well for her sake and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels. Abraham said, yes, I lied and got away with it, man. I was a, I'm a smart man. I can, I can navigate everything around, man. I just am in control of my destiny. Can I just share a couple of things with you about Abraham's failure? Number one, he failed in his testimony.

Here was a man who had the opportunity to stand strong. Here was a man who had the opportunity to say, this is my bride. She's my wife and I love her to death. And God is my protector. And God is my provider. And God is my preserver. God is my God. And he will preserve me no matter what man will do to me. But he did not do that. He compromised his wife's purity. He wanted to compromise it. He was willing to compromise her purity. It really didn't mean that much to him. Do you think that affected his wife?

Oh, you bet. Cause you wait a few chapters down the road. Now she's going to take control. And Hagar, where did Hagar come from, by the way? Egypt. Everything that Abraham got in Egypt that he thought was a blessing, because he lied, came back to haunt him tremendously. Through all that, God would miraculously protect Hagar. But you know what, even to this day, we got problems in the Middle East because of the birth of that boy Ishmael. You think sin doesn't affect people? Oh, you bet. But a good note, God's sovereignty.

That's point number four. Listen to this. This is so good. But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of who? Who? Ladies, here it is. When your husband fails you, God will take care of you. Isn't that good? Boy, I should hear a lot of amens because of that one. There we go. I mean, when your husband fails you, guess what, God's going to protect you. Do you think God's going to let something happen to that womb? Not in your life. That's the womb where the seed comes from.

That's the blessing that's wrapped up in that woman's womb. Do you think God's going to let anything happen? Guess what? Plagues, rachathon, which means a debilitating sexual disease. Pharaoh was unable or unable to cohabitate with Sarah because of a physical sexual disease that God brought upon him. And he knew it. He knew it. God was going to make sure that that woman was protected in spite of her husband's sinfulness. God is so good. God is so gracious to that family. In spite, in spite of that man's sin.

And Sarah's willingness to go along with it. I don't believe Sarah was right. She should've said, honey, I'm not going to lie for you. I'm not going to lie for you, honey. I can't do that before my God. She didn't do that. She should have, but she didn't. So she wasn't completely in the right here. She was part and parcel to the sin, but God protected her because God's sovereignty rules over all. But what I'm about to tell you is so significant and so profound, yet so simple that we miss it. Go back to verse number eight of Genesis 12.

Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. Now turn with me to Genesis 13.

Verse number one. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him and a lot with him. Now Abram was very rich in livestock and silver and gold. And he went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the what? At the beginning. Between Bethel and Ai. To the place of what? The altar. And he, or which he, had made there formerly and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Here's the lesson. Whenever you abandon your altar, you will fail your father.

That's the lesson. Bethel, listen very carefully, means house of God. Between Genesis 10 and Genesis 20, you never read of Abraham calling upon the name of the Lord. He abandoned his altar. He spiraled downward quickly. But on the journey back from Egypt, when Pharaoh gave back Sarah to Abraham, I'm sure there was many a long conversation. With much silence in between those conversations as to what took place in the land of Egypt. Abraham would go back and repent of a sin. He'd call upon the name of the Lord once again.

He'd realize he did not do that, learn his lesson, and begin his journey of faith once again with the Lord. But listen very carefully to this. This is so significant. There is one thing and only one thing that God seeks from you, only one. And that is true worship. That's it. An hour is coming, John four tells us, when the father will seek true worshipers. Those who worship him in spirit and in truth. God seeks true worshipers. So much so, when you come to Philippians three, verse number three, it says this, for we are the true circumcision.

We are the true marked ones. We are the true believers, Paul says, who worship in the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Who are the true ones? Who are the marked ones? The marked ones are the ones who worship in spirits. So much so that they glory only in Christ. So much so that they have no confidence in the flesh. Translate that back to Genesis chapter 12, to a man who abandoned his altar, who did not worship his God, therefore gloried only in self-preservation, not God's glorification, and depended totally upon himself, not upon his God.

The direct opposite of Philippians three, three, is Genesis 12, 10 to 20. God seeks true worshipers. Folks, whenever you abandon your altar, whenever you abandon true worship of God, you will begin the road of compromise. I know I harpen this a lot and I think it's very important. I'm big on church attendance. I'm big on that. So much so that if you want me to counsel you, you must come on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings or I don't counsel you. That's how big I am on church attendance. I think it's very big.

Why is that? Because I believe in what the Bible says in Hebrews 10, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

Not at all. Don't do that. Does everybody know God's your priority? I trust that they do. I don't wanna be hard on you. That's not my desire this morning, but I sure do wanna be truthful with you. I sure do want you to understand the effects of compromise. You compromise in one area, it affects every other area of your life. Stand strong on truth. Get back to your altar. Don't abandon it. Honor God, serve God that you might be dedicated, determined, devoted and dependent upon him no matter what happens.

And watch God work and bless your life. Watch him work and give him all the glory. Let's pray.