Havasu Christian Church
August 23, 2026
Character Studies in Genesis
Genesis 12
“Abraham and Sarah… The early Years.”
INTRO: We are moving on this week to talk about the lives of Abraham and Sarah.
Again, we’ve skipped most of the genealogy in Genesis chapter 11. That’s because the Bible doesn’t give us enough information about them for us to do more than speculate. I’d love to do a sermon about Peleg. A guy with a name like that must have been interesting…. But we just don’t know that much about him.
Genesis 11:16–19 (NASB95) Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters. Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.
There are a couple of other interesting tidbits about him. He is in Jesus’ genealogy. And then there’s this.
1 Chronicles 1:19 (NASB95) Two sons were born to Eber, the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.
This is interesting, to say the least! Our buddy Peleg was alive when "the earth was divided." This brings up lots of questions.
- How exactly was the earth divided.
- Was it divided, like the continents moving around?
- Probably not... Imagine the chaos that would have come down on the people after the flood.
- Perhaps the earth was divided between the Nations that came from the families that we read about in the genealogy in chapter 11.
Now, back to Abraham! We’re going to break this up. Like Noah, there’s too much to get into one week! It will at least be three weeks, maybe four.
- Abram gets off to a good start.
Genesis 12:1–9 (NASB95) Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
8 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.
9 Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
- First off, why does the Bible here call him Abram?
- It IS his name!
- His name hasn’t been changed yet!
- God will change it later in his life.
- Abram: Exalted father…
- His parents may have just hoped that Abram would give them lots of Grandkids!
- Abraham: Father of many.
- God will change his name, long before he has ANY children!
- God will do this as a reminder that he WILL have descendents.
- God gives Abram instructions.
- Abram will follow God’s instructions, (reminds you of Noah, huh?) and leaves a comfortable life, to go live in the wilderness in a tent.
- I’m sure it was a very nice tent, but a tent is still a tent!
- Abram leaves, apparently choosing a destination at “random.”
- It may have been random to Abram, but it was not random to God… He had a plan!
- Abram takes everyone and everything…
- His wife.
- Did she take some convincing??
- His livestock.
- His people.
- Some servants, some slaves.
- His possessions.
- Before they leave, God makes some promises.
- LAND!!
- People have done very extraordinary, dangerous things to get it! The promise of land.
- Crossing the prairie in America
- Fighting wars for land, all over Europe.
- In this case, packing up everything and heading out!
- At least Abram didn’t have to choose only what would fit in one Conestoga wagon.
- God promises they will become a “great nation.”
- Abram is promised that he and Sarai will be the beginning of a huge nation of people.
- Yes, Sarai will have her name changed before this is all over.
- No, they have no children at this point.
- God promises that they will be a blessing!
- At this point, this promise isn’t really fleshed out very much.
- All they know is that if people treat them right, blessing will come their way.
- If people don’t treat them right, trouble will be coming at them!
- When Abram gets to “his” land, he finds it already occupied by people who don’t seem inclined to move away.
Genesis 10:15–19 (NASB95) Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth
16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite
18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.
19 The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
- The descendants of Canaan are already there!
- They don’t seem inclined to move!
- Sari will just have to keep living in her tent!
- They will be “Free Grazers.”
- They will move from place to place, finding grass and water for their livestock.
- In spite of this complication, Abram is Thankful!
- He builds an altar, and offers sacrifices to God.
- Abram fails a test.
Genesis 12:10–20 (NASB95) Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 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;
12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 “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.”
14 It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
16 Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.
17 But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 “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.”
20 Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
- Abram should have trusted God to take care of him and his people!
- Abram doesn’t consult God, he doesn’t trust God to fulfill His promise. Instead, he does something dumb!
- “Honey, you are just too beautiful!”
- “If we go to Egypt, they will kill me, so they can have you!
- So, tell them you are my sister!
- WOW! Sari was a patient woman!
- We don’t have an exact timeline on how long it was before the famine, and their trip to Egypt, but Abram was 75 when they left Haran, and later it will be revealed that his wife is 10 years younger than he is.
- Sari is at least 65. But Scripture bears out what Abram said. She is beautiful!
- We aren’t that far past the flood…
- People are still living longer, and apparently, they don’t start showing their age till later in their lives.
- Egyptian officials see Sari and recommend her to Pharoah.
- He “collects” her.
- Pharoah “does right” by Abram.
- Abram receives sheep and oxen and male donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.
- Pharoah and his household are struck with “Great Plagues.”
- What were they? We don’t know!
- Apparently, what happened didn’t kill them, but it made them miserable!
- Somehow, Pharoah figures out that this has come upon him and his household because of what he has done.
- Pharoah is “Royally ticked” at Abram!
- “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?”
- Pharoah sends Abram and his entire household away.
- Pharoah makes sure they will not be bothered on their way out!
- Abraham and company carry on.
Genesis 13:1–12 (NASB95) So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
3 He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
6 And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
- Lot, his people and possessions are with them.
- Lot is an orphan, and his childless uncle and aunt have taken him in.
- He has, with their help, become wealthy in his own right.
- He has substantial herds, and people who work for him.
- Abram and Sari have amassed a great deal of wealth.
- The have a great deal of livestock, as well as silver and gold.
- The land on which they are “free grazing” can’t sustain everyone.
- The people taking care of the animals are fighting over “grazing rights.”
- Abram offers a solution. They are going to have to go their separate ways.
- “We don’t need to fight… Our people don’t need to fight.”
- “You go your way, I’ll go mine.”
- Lot looks around, and chooses the most fertile area to go to.
- Lot chooses the land in the Jordan river valley.
- It’s lush.
- It’s well watered.
- It looks great!
- “That’s where I want to go.”
- Lot doesn’t take into account WHO lives there or what they are like.
- He just sees an easy place to do his business.
- Lot takes up residence near Sodom.
- This leaves “Uncle Abram” with the hill country.
- It isn’t as fertile.
- It isn’t as well watered.
- It isn’t “like the garden of the Lord”
- But it isn’t next door to Sodom!
This is where we are going to leave Abram, Sari, and Lot for now. We’ll visit them again next week. But in the meantime, what is there to learn from what we’ve seen today?
- Abram did what God told him to do.
- Living according to God’s expectations is important! It really matters!
- Sometimes, I think we fail to emphasize how important obedience is to God.
- Not because He has a need for control.
- Rather, He knows what is best for us, and He WANTS what is best for us.
- We are His creation.
- He made us in His image.
- He cares for us!
- Abram failed to trust God fully!
- He trusted enough to leave home, but when it came to “people problems,” he didn’t trust God enough to let Him take care of things.
- In spite of this, God blessed him anyway!
- Like Abram, we often fail to be fully faithful.
- We may do ok at times, but when “the crunch” comes, we start trying to take care of things on our own!
- Trusting God makes a whole lot more sense!
- Even when we fail, God is there to pick us up, dust us off, and help us continue! Wow! What a great God!
- Abram was rich, but nothing he owned truly satisfied him.
- He wanted a family!
- He had a wife, but no kids.
- He understood that he was missing out!
- We live in a society that tells people that children are a burden.
- They will “Cramp your style.”
- A dog or cat can be your “fur baby.”
- Obviously, there are those who like Abram and Sari, cannot have children. But many people miss out on the blessings of a family because kids just seem to be too much trouble.
- Abram did his best to “keep peace in the family.”
- He went so far to keep peace in the family, that he let Lot decide where they would go.
- Lot made a dumb choice.
- We should be people who value peace.
1 Peter 1:22 (NASB95) Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
- Real love wants what is best for the other.
- We don’t use love as an reason to excuse sin.
- But make sure LOVE is truly the motive!
- Sometimes, the best choice isn’t the best choice.
- Lot chose the fertile river valley, but this wound up costing him almost everything!
- Leave room for the will of God!
- One last thing to learn from this part of Abrams’ life…
- Don’t Ever, Ever, Ever, EVER try to pass your wife off as your sister!
- Nothing good can come from that!
