Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #11 of Genesis, chapter 12 and we are going to begin by reading Genesis 12:11-13:

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

I will stop reading at this point. We were talking about Sarai at the end of our last study. We were giving a little time information. She was 10 years younger than her husband Abram. Abram was born in 2167BC and Sarai was born in 2157BC. At the age of 90 she gave birth to Isaac, the promised son. It was a miracle. It was unheard of for a woman of that age to give birth. Even though people at that time lived much longer than we do today, apparently the age that child birth ceased was not too different than our present day. In our present day, if a woman gives birth in her 40s, it is considered old for childbearing, so let us say that maybe at that time a woman would have been too old to give birth in her 50s or 60s. But, remember, Abram entered the land of Canaan when he was 75 years old, so Sarai was 65 years old, so she was already advanced in age and they had no “seed” or children. God worked things out miraculously to give the promise of the son to Abram and then to bring the promise to pass and fulfill His promise. We will have plenty of time to talk about that because it will be the central focus of future chapters, so we are not going to get into that right now.

At this time, we are going to look at Sarai a little closer. She is Abram’s wife. We know that Abram is at times identified as the father of believers. He is called Father Abraham and, therefore, Abram can be a type and figure of God Himself. We know that Sarai, whose name would later be changed to Sarah, is likened in Galatians, chapter 4 to “the mother of us all.” So, we have the father, Abram, and the mother, Sarai, and they are man and wife.

So, as they were coming near to enter into Egypt, Abram said to his wife, “Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon,” and because she was fair, he was afraid or, at least, he was very concerned and we are told the specific reason in Genesis 12:12:

Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

Why Abram thought this, we do not know. He may have had good reason to think this might happen. Maybe he had heard reports. Of course, they did not have newspapers and the avalanche of news we have today – online, TV and print media from all over the world. They had none of those sources, but they had “word of mouth” and “word of mouth” could travel far. It is possible that other sojourners had gone down into Egypt and something like that had happened to them, via bandits or even the official government. They may have seized the woman because she was attractive and put the man to death. Or, maybe it was speculation and it is possible it was all in Abram’s mind and he was anxious for nothing. That does happen to believers, too, does it not? Sometimes we are worried as we think about the possible negative things that might happen and it leads us to do something or make a decision based upon our fears. For whatever the reason, Abram asked his wife to do something for him, as it says in Genesis 12:13:

Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

Again, we will get into the relationship between Abram and Sarai – she was his half-sister. We will talk about that another time, but for now we are looking at Abram as a figure of God the father and Sarai as a figure of the body of believers and the “mother of us all.” They were in a marriage relationship and we know the Bible tells us that God is married to His people. Everyone that has become saved is identified as the bride of Christ. And who is Christ? He is eternal God and He is one with the Father – you cannot separate the Father from Christ. So, this marriage between Abram and Sarai does picture the marriage between Christ and His eternal church, which is made up of everyone He has saved, the elect.

The Lord Jesus is not only married to those He has saved, but there is language in the Bible that indicates we are His brethren or his family – his brothers and sisters. That idea is also in view here as Abram has a marriage relationship with Sarai, but he has another relationship as her (half) brother. So, we can see that there is this intimacy or closeness in different ways in the relationship of Abram with Sarai.

In explaining to Sarai, Abram said, “Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon,” and the Hebrew word translated as “fair” is Strong’s #3303 in the concordance. It is found in some interesting places, so let us look up this word. It is found in Genesis 29:16-17:

And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

The words translated as “beautiful” and “well” are the same Hebrew word that is translated as “fair” in our verse in Genesis 12. Also, here, there is a close family relationship, as Jacob had traveled to Haran to the family of his father – these are relatives to Abram. He found two wives, as he would marry both Leah and Rachel and then later their two handmaids. But only one of them was said to be “beautiful and well favoured,” and that was Rachel.

As we read the Bible, we might think there is a special emphasis on “beauty” and that somehow God is concerned with the appearance of people because He points it out so often. It says in 1Samuel 25:3:

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

Later, Nabal would die and Abigail would marry David. Abigail was of a beautiful or fair countenance, as were Sarai and Rachel, so this is another woman in the Bible that was said to be beautiful.

We read in 1Kings, chapter 1 that David was old and near death. He is having trouble staying warm and it says in 1Kings 1:3-4:

So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

Again, David is marrying a “fair” woman and this fair damsel also became one of David’s wives.

Then we read in Esther, chapter 2, of King Ahasuerus. He ruled over how many provinces? The Book of Esther tells us that he ruled over 127 provinces and the number “127” is only found one other place in the Bible and it has to do with Sarah and her death age; she died at age 127. These are the only two places we will find that number and, as I mentioned last time, Sarah is the only woman in the Bible for whom God gives the death age, so that number is extremely significant for that reason alone.

But, here we find King Ahasuerus reigning over 127 provinces and it points to the entire kingdom of God and all the company of believers. After putting away his wife Vashti for rebelling against him, the counselors of the king recommended that he find a new bride and that many virgins be called before him; and one of them was Esther. It says in Esther 2:7:

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

The true historical story in the Book of Esther works out in Esther becoming the new bride of the king and the king is a type of God the Father. Esther also has relationship with Mordecai and she is like a daughter to him. Mordecai has “adopted” her, just as all the elect are adopted in to the family of God. So, Mordecai is as her father, so there is a father/daughter relationship in view, as well as a husband/wife relationship, pointing to the intimate relationship that the Lord’s people have with eternal God through His salvation program.

Again, we find a woman that typifies the believers and that was the case with Sarai, a type and figure of believers. Rachel, Jacob’s wife, whose name means “ewe lamb,” is a type and figure of believers. Abagail married David and David is a type of Christ and Abigail is a type and figure of the believers. And, of course, Esther is a type and figure of believers, the elect people of God.

We find this typology in the Book of Job. We read in Job 42:13-15:

He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

Job is a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Book of Job lays out the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, Job’s daughters are a spiritual picture of those that God saves to become sons and daughters through the salvation of the Christ. Again, and again, and again, this word “fair” or “beautiful” is continually appearing.

If we go Song of Solomon, the entire Book is a love story that portrays the relationship between Christ and His bride, the “beautiful” woman that He has chosen for Himself. It says in Song of Solomon 1:8:

If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

It also says in Song of Solomon 2:10-13:

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

The word “fair” is the same word.

Also, it says in Song of Solomon 5:9:

What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

Let us look at one more in Song of Solomon 6:1:

Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.

These statements all speak of women that spiritually represent the people of God and we wonder why it is that God makes such a point to emphasize that He marries a beautiful and fair woman. Perhaps due to their own low self-esteem, some men feel that they must marry a beautiful woman. They somehow think that if you marry a beautiful woman it gives you status. The people of the world look upon beauty in a very special way, do they not? Why? It is a simple question, but I think it is a question no one really asks. Why is the world so infatuated with beauty? What is the underlying cause? When you look in the magazine, why is it always young and beautiful women that you see? Or, when you turn on the TV or look at a billboard, it features beautiful and young people, but not so much the sickly, the elderly or those that have imperfections in their appearance. You do not see that unless it is an advertisement for a hospital or something. Why is the world so intently focused on beauty? They are really obsessed with beauty. As we go on in time, the obsession is not lessening, but it is getting greater and greater. There is an incredible obsession with youth and beauty. Why is that?

I think if we try to answer that question, we will understand why God is pointing out in these verses that His bride is fair and beautiful. God certainly does not have “low self-esteem” and He is not trying to impress anyone by selecting a beautiful bride. When we look at the bride of Christ, it is more than just these few individuals. The bride of Christ is made up of people like blind Bartimaeus and he was not beautiful. It is people like Lazarus and individuals that Christ healed of many diseases and the “lowest of the low” in the world. We know God is no respecter of persons and as He said of David, He does not look upon the outward appearance, but He looks upon the heart.

But for a certain reason, God is stressing that His bride is beautiful and for some reason the world wants to put beauty before its eyes – just beauty and just the “flower of the grass.” If we think about it, we can understand the reason why. When God first created the world, God created the man Adam and then He took one of his ribs and made the woman and Adam and Eve were the first human beings. They were perfect, without spot or blemish, physically. They had no imperfections. They would not have had moles or a tooth out of place. Today it seems no one has perfect teeth unless they spend thousands of dollars at the dentist, but Adam and Eve would have had perfect teeth. Their ears would have been perfectly proportioned and their eyes would have been beautiful and sparkling with clarity. There was no sin to cloud them. Their physical bodies would have been perfect.

After many thousands of years in this world, we have people born with imperfections. All of us have been born with imperfections of our noses, ears, eyes, mouths, teeth, or even our size. Some people are too tall and other people seem too small. Others are too wide and others too narrow. There is imperfection in every human being, for the most part, even the ones that the advertising world selects, but they gloss over them and “photo shop” them and everyone seems so perfect. That is what beauty expresses, does it not. Or, at least, that is the idea and that is what the world is seeking after in their pursuit of physical beauty – it is perfection they are seeking. It is a desire to return to the Garden of Eden, in a perverted kind of way. It is a desire to return to perfection when there was the perfect man with the perfect woman.

So, men today go after the attractive, beautiful woman seeking their “Eve” and some obtain that idea but after a time they divorce. Why? It is because that level of perfection is not real; men and women are all sinners. As soon as they enter in to a close relationship, the sin starts to become evident and the “beauty” is spoiled. But on the physical level where the world operates, they plaster beauty everywhere to give the appearance of sinless perfection: “You see, there is no wrong. There is no flaw or sin. We have beauty.” They present the “flower of the grass” and they almost never show the aging and the body seeing corruption. For the most part, as much as they can they turn their attention back to youth and beauty and their hope for this world is that they can continue as “Adam and Eve” in this creation and live forever. And, yet, it cannot be true any longer. Everyone who is beautiful today will soon see corruption and they will not be beautiful for very long. That is what sin does as it works in us.

But when God saves a person, He washes away their sin and cleanses them from their filthy deeds and they become without spot or blemish. The ugliness of sin is removed from them and they become as a “fair” woman in His sight.