Abram & Sarai Abraham & Sarah Part Three

You will know the love of the Messiah — which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesans 3:19

To A Young Man of God, Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ by whom we have eternal life  #BeBoldBelieveBig

Your Question
Why in Genesis does Abraham and his wife keep going into kingdoms and saying they are just brother and sister?   Zeb 11/8/16

Part One: As a background
Brief outline of the life of Abraham
Take a look at the first part summarizing the chapters in Genesis that have to do with Abraham's life.   

Part Two: 2 Chapters you refer to in your question
Genesis Chapters 12 and 20 in two columns

Part Three: Below the 1st Song 
A Brief Commentary 
Man's Fallen Condition
God's Continued Love & Grace
Before the Law of Moses,
During the Law of Moses and finally
in the days of God's love shown in the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the full day.

Part Three:
​Commentary
​
Your Question
Why in Genesis does Abraham and his wife keep going into kingdoms and saying they are just brother and sister?   Zeb 11/8/16


Abraham was called by God to become the father of His Holy People Israel. He did this by Agreements He made with Abraham. His intention was to have a people for His name that would have an eternal relatonship with Him. The Trinity of God is Love because God is love and He needed to extend the object of His love so He made man in His image. Man fell but God's love or him never failed. (The word "Man" is inclusive of all mankind; ie., men and women, mankind and womankind).

Man had to be given the free choice to love Him back but that did not change His eternal love for His created family. Man fell pray to the serpent's cleverness who manipulated Adma and Eve into thinking God's command not to eat from one tree He created, The Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil.

God said they would die if they disobeyed this one little demand among the thousands of blessings, trees, produce and great provision He created for them to live in free of labor and filled with the presence of His love.

So for the next era of generation from Adam to Noah there was a progression of children, Cain and Abel on through to Enoch,  Methusela, Lamech and Noah. (10 generations Genesis 5)

Father Adam actually lived almost to the days of Noah's flood so that he saw most of those ten generations.  Then the earth was destroyed by a global flood and Noah began where Adam and Eve left off by his 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth to create a people for His name. Now man was fallen and corrupt by the serpent's deception of Eve and Adam and Eve's disobedience. So, God created a covenant with Noah (the rainbow) to assure them he would not destroy the earth by flood ever again.

So from the sons of Shem came 10 genrations to the birth of Abram. By that time another set of fallen humanity had evolved through the sons of Ham and Japheth. God was preparing through Abram's seed to create then next event of the Patriarchs of the Hebrew people.  This would lead to the advent of Joseph and benjamin the first and the last of the sons of Jacob, who both shared the same mother Rachel, Then through a series of events came 400 years in Egypt, the miracle preservation of Moses and 80 years later the release from slavery and Egypt of a nation of people destined to inherit the promised land establiished by the Patriarchs 440 years earliier. 

So in the days of Abraham God gave him power to conquor the inhabitants of the land God promised to him. After defeating the enemies of God, Melchizzadek the High Priest and King of Salem brought bread and wine and Abraham dd war nomore. This advent of peace meanth that God would protect and battle for Abraham and Sarah, nomatter what the situation. Abraham was suspicious of everyone and knew that if he was killed Sarah would not survive and God's plan for a nation that would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth would perish. So Abrraham to protect himself and the promise of God took it upon himself to insure a future.

The first threat came from Pharoah's request to have the 65 year old "sister" of Abram, Sarai become a part of his 'harem'. God intervened and told Pharoah he could not have Sarai because she was married to Abram. So he dealt with Pharoah and Pharoah came to Abram and said, "Why did you decive me and compromise me with your God?"

Abram got his sister/wife Sarai back, plus slaves, livestock and treasures. Abraham points out that Sarai is the daughter of his father but from a different mother. So, in his mind, he was protecting the future of a promised people and a covenant with God. He no longer did war so he offered Sarah in place o taking up arms with Egypt.

The second threat came from King Abimalech of Gerar of the Negev. Abraham convinces himself that he needs to protect God's covenant and his life and the life of Sarah and leave the rest up to God. So he aske Sarah to go along with him and say that she is his "sister"! She goes along with him and, again, God intervenes. This time through a series of supernatural events that included an encounter with God by Abimalech, Sarah was returned to Abraham from a terrified king who met God. He blessed Abraham 

So why did Abraham do this?

1) He was not Adam - He was a man whose faith counted as righteousness but still bound by the same fallen condition and sin of Adam + 20 generations of people who did not know God personally like Abram. 

2) Though a man of faith, Abraham had been an undefeated warrior, and for lack of military tact reacted in despration to a circumstance he was ill- equipped to deal with.

3) The situaton with Pharoah, God directly intervened and for all he knew, was surprised that somehow Pharoah figured out that Abram and Sarai were married. There were no 'laws' of marriage in those days... but God made it clear that Pharoah's desire for Sarai was unacceptable.

4) With Pharoah Sarai was 64-65 yeas old and Abram was 75 years old. Somehow grandmom was still so beautiful that Pharoah wanted her for his harem. 25 years later Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 99 years old. On top of that Sarah may have been pregnant with Isaac when they faced off with King Abimalech, because Isaac was born when Sarah was 91 and Abraham was 100 years old. So at 90 years old she was still so beautiful that the King wanted her for his harem!

It is the failing of Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah to understand the eternal scope of God's covenant promise so they reacted to their situation without 'violence' and not knowing what to do relied on their own intellect to 'handle' both situations 25 years apart from eachother. But The Lord did not hold it to their charge but to the natural appetite of those that had the power to separate and kill them before God could fulfill His promises to them. The enemy is always trying to distract God's family by twisting the situation n such a way we try to solve things ourself instead of trusting the Lord, His promises and the great love he has for those He covenants with.  

5) How do we see Jesus in all of this? It is during their lives that Abraham meets King and High Priest Melchizzadek (perhaps an OT appearnce of 'the Word of God') alone, bringing Abraham bread and wine (the law of first mention for Communion as seen in the upper room with Jesus!

6) Then after that there were the three angels for whom Abraham provided bread, wine and meat in addition to supplies. 2 of the angels leave for Sodom and the other Angel (again a type or forshadow of Christ - and perhaps was another OT appearance of Jesus) is negotiated with by Abraham to 'save' Sodom. Are there enough righteous to make it worth saving? When the Angel said no, then Abraham interceded for His nephew Lot and his family to be delivered from Sodom before the fire fell. 

7) What do we learn about the nature and character of God here? Abraham becomes the friend of God and they become "blood brothers" by virtue of a covenant that God outlines in Chapter 12. So in effect Abraham grows in his relationship with God and God makes him victorious over all the power of the enemy. Then, after Communion with Him in the person of Melchizzadek, Abraham gves Melchizzadek a tenth of all the spoils of war and does war no more. Now he enters another covenant when the three angels come and tell Abraham that Sarah will give birth at 91 years old! Sarah laughs but God fulfills his promise and protects her through the decision of Abraham to try and help God. Before the Covenant of a Communion meal God delivers Abraham from a half truth and after the Communion 25 years later He still delivers Abraham and Sarah a scond time; from the exact same decision made by fear rather than by faith 25 years earlier!

Old Covenant or New - the only transformation that can happen is from God's end. He loves us first, cares and provides for us, protects us and gives us a peace that ony comes from Him. We see this in both Abraham and Sarah's life and then in the lives of those who are his direct descendants even if He has to show up Himself to insure the safety of His Covenant with us!

When Jesus said, "It is finished" it was. There's nothing else He can do to save you any more than that. If you believe, He promises you eternal life and that He will raise you up on the last day. When we respond to His invitation to sit down at His Table to dine with him and upon Him, He gives us daily our daily bread and drink with enough revelation or his life and love that it satisfies our hunger and thirst, igniting our heart with His fire and passion to get through each day! 

In the face of Jesus we awaken to His reality for He is truth. When we dine with Him by dining upon and drinking in His provison of Himself, it is to lead us into His presence personally so that He might fill us and flood us with the glory of His presence! Commuunion = Christ in you the hope of glory! Alleluia!


The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
(Ratified by the same meal that Melichizzadek brought to Abraham, that God provided to the 73 on Mount Sainai (Exodus 24) and by Jesus at the Last Supper or First Communon. Jesus said (John 6) if you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have eternal life and i will raise ou up in the last day!)

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 

7 Now if the ministry that brought death,
which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory,
so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 

8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 

9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, 
how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 

10 For what was glorious has no glory now 
in comparison with the surpassing glory. 

11 And if what was transitory came with glory,
how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 

13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. (The glory faded after his encounter with God) 

14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. 

It has not been removed,
because only in Christ is it taken away!

15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 
16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory (as in a mirror or glass), 

are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,

(from glory to glory to glory to glory) 

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

"Give us calendar day by calendar day our daily Communion Bread of your flesh & Wine of your blood!"

Thanks be to God for His eternally amazing gift of Himself every day!