Genesis 12

Ge 12:1-20.

CALL TO

ABRAM.

1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram--It pleased God, who has

often been found of them who sought Him not, to reveal Himself to

Abraham perhaps by a miracle; and the conversion of Abraham is one of

the most remarkable in Bible history.

Get thee out of thy country--His being brought to the knowledge

and worship of the true God had probably been a considerable time

before. This call included two promises: the first, showing the land

of his future posterity; and the second, that in his posterity all the

earth was to be blessed

(Ge 12:2).

Abraham obeyed, and it is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as

a striking instance of his faith

(Heb 11:8).

5. into the land of Canaan . . . they came--with his

wife and an orphan nephew. Abram reached his destination in safety, and

thus the first promise was made good.

6. the place of Sichem--or Shechem, a pastoral valley then

unoccupied (compare

Ge 33:18).

plain of Moreh--rather, the "terebinth tree" of Moreh, very

common in Palestine, remarkable for its wide-spreading branches and its

dark green foliage. It is probable that in Moreh there was a grove of

these trees, whose inviting shade led Abram to choose it for an

encampment.

7. Unto thy seed will I give this land--God was dealing with

Abram not in his private and personal capacity merely, but with a view

to high and important interests in future ages. That land his posterity

was for centuries to inhabit as a peculiar people; the seeds of divine

knowledge were to be sown there for the benefit of all mankind; and

considered in its geographical situation, it was chosen in divine

wisdom as the fittest of all lands to serve as the cradle of a divine

revelation designed for the whole world.

and there builded he an altar unto the Lord--By this solemn act

of devotion Abram made an open profession of his religion, established

the worship of the true God, and declared his faith in the promise.

10. there was a famine . . . and Abram went down into

Egypt--He did not go back to the place of his nativity, as

regretting his pilgrimage and despising the promised land

(Heb 11:15),

but withdrew for a while into a neighboring country.

11-13. Sarai's complexion, coming from a mountainous country,

would be fresh and fair compared with the faces of Egyptian women which

were sallow. The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was

a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than

his sister. His conduct was culpable and inconsistent with his

character as a servant of God: it showed a reliance on worldly policy

more than a trust in the promise; and he not only sinned himself, but

tempted Sarai to sin also.

14. when Abram was come into Egypt--It appears from the

monuments of that country that at the time of Abram's visit a monarchy

had existed for several centuries. The seat of government was in the

Delta, the most northern part of the country, the very quarter in which

Abram must have arrived. They were a race of shepherd-kings, in close

alliance with the people of Canaan.

15. the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house--Eastern kings have

for ages claimed the privilege of taking to their harem an unmarried

woman whom they like. The father or brother may deplore the removal as

a calamity, but the royal right is never resisted nor questioned.

16. he entreated Abram well for her sake--The presents are just

what one pastoral chief would give to another.

18-20. Here is a most humiliating rebuke, and Abram deserved it.

Had not God interfered, he might have been tempted to stay in Egypt and

forget the promise

(Ps 105:13, 15).

Often still does God rebuke His people and remind them through enemies

that this world is not their rest.