He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:10 (NIV)After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Genesis 15:1 (NIV)
If you study it from the beginning, you’ll see that Genesis 15 is speaking directly to the things of Genesis 3.
These are the first two instances of this word “afraid” in scripture.
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
Genesis 15:12 (NIV)
The rabbis say that sleep is a microcosm of death. How would Adam have known to fear death until he was terrorized with unnatural sleep?
And here in Genesis 15, we see it plainly. Darkness hasn’t been mentioned since Genesis 1. This is an echo of Genesis 2.
Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 12:14-15 (NASB)Now it came about, when mankind began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Genesis 6:1-2 (NASB)
The scriptures echo. Or perhaps a better way of describing it is that the later instances are parables to teach you the meaning of the earlier ones.
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.”
Genesis 12:3 (NASB)
As far as Genesis has taught us, you can’t curse anyone God has blessed. So what does it mean when God says “anyone who curses you, I will curse” after He blesses Abram in verse 2?
As it turns out, there are two different words being translated as “curse” in this verse!
The first is kalal, which means to revile or dishonor or slight.
The second is arar, which means to bind with a curse.
And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your [a]descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7 (NASB)
[a] Lit seed
I’m charmed by the imagery of “seed in the land” that ties us back to the third day of creation.
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:11 (NASB)
After the water was separated from land, plants began to grow.
Yes, “seed” refers to descendants and offspring, but the word choice gives us an echo.
Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:5 (NASB)
If you recall that “people which they acquired” is literally “the living souls they made,” you’ll see Abram and Sarai were given the power to be fruitful and multiply, even though Sarai is barren. Being fruitful and multiplying is a spiritual blessing, and God makes it happen, long before Sarai miraculously gives birth to Isaac.
Nothing is impossible for God.
In verse 13, Abram tells Sarai, “say you are my sister.”
In verse 19, Pharaoh says to Abram, “why did YOU say she was your sister?”
Pharaoh makes it clear that Abram is the one who said it. But did Sarai say anything? Perhaps she said nothing? Maybe she told the truth? It’s unclear.
But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Genesis 12:17 (NASB)
The rabbis note this phrase “because of Sarai” is עַל־דְּבַר שָׂרַי, which can be read literally as “at the word of Sarai,” and this changes the tenor of the story entirely.
The Midrash states, “at her orders: she said to the angel, ‘smite’ and he smote.”
This is not only a story of Abram, but of Sarai.
God has to intervene.
So many lessons here.
Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Genesis 12:9 (NIV)
There’s much being said in such a seemingly irrelevant verse.
1. “Set out and continued.” The rabbis say this describes the shepherd’s method of travel: going, stopping, going, stopping. A month here, a month there. This is a long journey for Abram.
2. The “Negev” means “south.” Towards what would be Judah. Jerusalem. This points to the place God intends to set up a Temple in the future.
There are no irrelevant verses. They all paint a picture we are meant to see.