Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Lesson for October 24

Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Lesson for October 24

By James Riley Strange, Ph.D.
Professor of New Testament, Samford University 

CONFIDENCE IN THE FACE OF FEAR

Genesis 12:10–13, 17–13:4

At the beginning of Genesis 12, the biblical narrative becomes more coherent than it has been, tracing Israelite history from a family of Mesopotamian tribal nomads to a nation of settled city dwellers with a central government, and thence to landless exiles living shattered back in the land in which their ancestors had been born. That story takes us to the end of 2 Kings (12 books!). If we add Ezra and Nehemiah, we end with the reestablishment of these people in their ancestral home, but now horribly diminished and under foreign dominion. Some centuries later, but with Israel’s situation little changed, the Gospels pick up the story, and it comes through the years to our own lives. We are still living the story of God’s call and His children’s answer.

The story begins with a promise of a miracle to a childless couple: Despite their advanced years, their descendants will become “a great nation.” That is, Abram and Sarai will have at least one child (12:2, 7). Despite this and the attendant promises of wealth and protection (12:3), the couple will grapple with God and resist righteousness, and they will pass their struggle down the generations. We, the heirs of their victories and losses, see ourselves in these episodes.

Read chapters 12-14 for context.

Trust God despite fear of circumstances (12:1013).

Despite God’s promise of protection in verse 3, and despite the promise of wealth that is already being fulfilled, in Egypt, Abram decides to protect himself by passing Sarai off as his sister rather than as his wife (the claim in 20:12 might be another falsehood; the genealogies offer no confirmation). Abram might have been right about what the Egyptians would have done to him upon seeing Sarai’s beauty, but he puts her in jeopardy when he turns her over to Pharaoh. “And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house” is surely a euphemism for Sarai becoming one of Pharaoh’s concubines. Hence, this act also jeopardizes the promise of descendants. In this way, the story also foreshadows the sexual abuse of the enslaved woman Hagar.

Our fear can affect others (12:1720).

The plagues with which God afflicts “Pharaoh and his house” ought to have taught Abram that his deceit was unnecessary, for God would have fulfilled the promises made in Haran and at the oak of Moreh. Hence, Abram and Sarai could have sojourned safely in Egypt. Instead, because Abram’s trust failed him, Sarai must have suffered great anguish in Pharaoh’s harem. Certainly, Pharaoh’s entire household suffered harm. Did Abram and Sarai have any hope that they would be reunited? As we shall learn, Abram will repeat this sin (chapter 20), as will Isaac, the child born of the promise (chapter 26). Fear has a way of erasing lessons we have learned.

Return to confident trust and worship of God (13:14).

Abram and Sarai have grown wealthier as a result of the misadventure in Egypt, but at a dear cost to Sarai and to her relationship with her husband. Later events will reveal a great strain between the two, and the treatment of Hagar will betray the depths of Sarai’s wounds. It turns out that saying yes to God is not the first step. It is like walking: Each yes must follow the last.

For now, Abram repents by returning to the place where he first called to the Lord. Nevertheless, let us not grow cynical at Abram’s temporary penance and Sarai’s coming cruelty, for that will keep our eyes fastened on the wrong characters and our attention on the wrong deeds. Let us instead recognize the tenacity of God’s faith in Abram and Sarai, God’s repeated forgiveness and God’s refusal to call someone else. No, neither this episode nor the ones to follow will cause God to repent of choosing these two. And so it is with us. Thanks be to God.