God Accepts Faith from Sinful Man! -- Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 12:17-19,

"But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. 'What have you done to me?' he said. 'Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, "She is my sister," so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!"

Here is something I wrote on this passage in September, 2007:

Abram engaged in deceit when he went to Egypt due to a famine. He hid the fact that Sarai, a beautiful woman, was his wife and told the Egyptians she was his sister (she was in fact his half-sister, Genesis 20:12) to protect himself. When Pharaoh took her into his palace the Lord inflicted diseases on Pharaoh and his household.

This is the man whom the Lord made promises to earlier in this chapter. This is the man the Lord will promise to give Canaan to in the following chapter. This is the man the Lord will bless and make a covenant with in chapter 15. This is the man God credits righteousness because of his belief in God, Genesis 15:6. This is the man that is recognized as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. This is the man Paul pointed to as our example of what faith looks like in Romans. This is a man God calls his prophet, Genesis 20:7. How can this be? How can God reward someone who demonstrated a lack of faith and resort to deceit? Not only does he do it here in chapter 12, he also repeats the same ruse in chapter 20.

Here we learn something instructive about our merciful Lord. Although he does not condone sin, lying or deceit, he does recognize faith in sinful man. Abram was in fact a man of faith, even though at times he demonstrated otherwise. He went where the Lord told him to go; he did what the Lord asked him to do; he demonstrated his faith in the things he did. He was prepared to sacrifice his only son at the Lord's command, the son of the promise the Lord had given him.

Why does the Bible provide accounts of the failures of its heroes? Because in one very important aspect the heroes of Scripture are just like you and me. All mankind is sinful and all have failed the Lord. The Lord does not look for folks who are sinless and can "earn" their way into his good graces. The Lord looks for faith, faith demonstrated in the lives of those who seek the Lord but who, like you and me are sinful. I think it is precisely that Abram exhibits sin in his life and yet is a man of faith that makes him such a wonderful example for us. Our Lord is willing to accept our faith in him and lay the burden of our sin on the back of his Son Jesus Christ as he died on that cross for you and me.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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