Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris:
Welcome to the Bible, guys. We are very glad that you have decided to listen to me.

Jeff:
Yes. It’s the highlight of our morning, or day, or evening, or deep in the night.

Chris:
Which is, hey, we’ve had people literally tell us.

Jeff:
Absolutely. That you decide to join us.

Chris:
They go work out at a 24-hour gym, right? And they’re listening to me right now. 3 o’clock in the morning. Yes. Or us right now.

Jeff:
That’s right. Well, no, they’re listening to you. None of my friends are in the gym at 3 in the morning.

Chris:
None of my friends. So today we are revisiting a very familiar segment.

Jeff:
It’s the most important segment, quite honestly, in this show. It’s the reason why people tune in. That’s it. They’re just hoping.

Chris:
In fact, they just skip from Friday to Friday.

Jeff:
They’re just hoping that maybe today is the day that we get to find out what made Chris mad this week.

Chris:
None of this is true, by the way.

Jeff:
It is true. It is not true. It’s the only reason I show up. No, that’s not true. I got up and I thought, Oh, I’m going to the studio today.

Chris:
No, you you’re with me every work day. So you already know things that make me mad. So, uh, let me go ahead and say this. Um, oftentimes when I get mad, I get mad on behalf of the public.

Jeff:
Yes. It’s incredibly noble.

Chris:
Yes. It is so noble. I don’t get mad just for me.

Jeff:
Not for you. Not for you. It’s, it’s for us little people.

Chris:
You’re like,

Jeff:
You’re like, not for you, not for you. You love us. You love us and you get irate for us.

Chris:
Yes. I have two examples of one topic that happened to me back to back. just this week. And here’s the bottom line. If you’re a restaurant owner and you own a restaurant, just do better on the menu options. Do better. Just do better. Because what ended up happening was, first of all, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my son. And I’m like, Hey, can I do substitutions? I want to, I don’t want to order all three of my tacos with this meat.

Jeff:
Three chicken tacos or three beef tacos. Yeah.

Chris:
Or El Pastor or whatever it is because they still have the meats in the back. Right. So I’m like, can I just get one of each? And they’re like, no substitutions.

Jeff:
No substitutions.

Chris:
And then I tried different combos and I’m like, what about this? Like no substitutions. And you know, Mexican restaurant, it’s all the same ingredients. Right. So there’s like a billion things on the menu. So they said no substitutions.

Jeff:
A billion things. And it’s, it’s various conversations of either flour or corn. Right. Tortillas. And then combinations of beans, rice. And protein. Cheese, proteins. That’s it. Yes. And sauces.

Chris:
Yeah. And, and so, and so basically. But, but. No substitutions. No substitutions for you. Yes. And I’m just like, I’m like, just do the math. Like if you own the store, do the math. Right. That’s it. Right. Just, just say, yeah, of course we can give you three tacos. Why? Because we have the proteins in the back. We could easily do that for you if we just did the math.

Jeff:
If they said that’s a $3 upcharge, would you have still ordered it? Of course. Of course. Yes. They missed an opportunity. Yes. They’re leaving money at the table. Do you want to say the name of the restaurant? No, I’m joking. Don’t say the name of the restaurant.

Chris:
No, I will not, because that would be rude. It was Gran Azteca. I like that place.

Jeff:
Oh, I love that place. I love it. It’s our favorite Mexican restaurant to go to. But no substitutions. No substitutions.

Chris:
And then this happened to me literally just yesterday. I was with a buddy in a sushi restaurant. And this is just a side note. The server did not ask me if I wanted dessert, which, you know, just as a side note, you know, I’m thinking, Hey, if you own a restaurant, make sure you train your servers to try to upsell the person. Right. But for some reason, I don’t really get dessert, but I was in the mood and I said, can I see your dessert menu? And this is after she brought the bill. Right. And, and I’m like, can we see the dessert menu? So she brings it and here’s, here’s my complaint. There was only two desserts offered first of all. And that’s, that’s a shame. Right. But if there are two fantastic desserts. That’s a crime almost.

Jeff:
It’s in my book. Two desserts is a crime.

Chris:
Are you ready for this? They were both fried. They said, we offer you fried ice cream. We offer you fried, like, egg roll something, something, something. And I said, wait a minute, the only two desserts you offer are fried? Because there’s a lot of people that don’t eat fried stuff, right? Especially people who, in today’s day and age, there’s a lot, people are gonna shy away from that. And so I said, well, you have the ice cream in the back, because I know you do, because you fry it.

Jeff:
No substitutions. No substitutions for you!

Chris:
No, it must be fried. I’m like, I’m like, can you just, just bring me out the ice cream. And here’s what she said. She, and by the way, to her credit, she was agreeing with me. She goes, I know I keep on telling them, you know, I can’t believe everybody’s disappointed that there’s only two fried options. And I said, well, just bring me the ice cream. Cause cause that I love ice cream. And she said, we don’t have a way to ring that up. And here’s what I said. Well, then I’ll order the fried ice cream minus the fry. Right. And just charge me for it. Right. And she says, no, I don’t think we can do that. Why? Right. Exactly.

Jeff:
So this is this is what made Chris mad. Well, you need to call the manager over at that point. This is what I want to do. I want to pay you for all of it, but I want some of it. It’s not that hard.

Chris:
We only want some of it. So you benefit in this equation, right? Just give me the ice cream. Just dispatch the ice cream from the back.

Jeff:
So this no substitutions rule is you are irate about it on our behalf.

Chris:
Yes. Just do better on your menu. You know why? Because your menu should reflect flexibility based on the ingredients that you already have. Oh yes. You already have it in the back. Yes. You’re not, I’m not asking for anything extra.

Jeff:
So did you buy a dessert? No. You didn’t?

Chris:
No. The money again, left money on the table. Yeah. Right.

Jeff:
So I am angry. Thank you, Chris. On behalf of all of our listeners, I want to thank you for bearing that burden for us. Yes.

Chris:
Well, I’m angry for all the customers that want what they want. This is America.

Jeff:
We can’t thank you enough.

Chris:
Yes.

Jeff:
You’re welcome, Jeffrey. You’re welcome. Thank you. We feel loved. It’s like every Friday, you know why we love this segment? Every Friday it feels like you hug us. You just collectively hug about a thousand people and say, I love you people. And I’ve got you back. I’m protecting you.

Chris:
Every time I complain it feels like a hug. That’s a first in my life.

Jeff:
It’s because it’s not for you. That’s right. You’re not complaining for you.

Chris:
No. I’m complaining on behalf of the world. I just care about the person that comes in after me. that wants just ice cream.

Jeff:
Because you don’t care for yourself.

Chris:
No, no. I do care for me, but I get angry for the world.

Jeff:
Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Chris:
Yes. Okay.

Jeff:
Those really are my favorite segments. I love, I love just busting your chops.

Chris:
Yeah, it’s really funny. It’s a big hug. It is.

Jeff:
It’s a big, big collective hug for all of our listeners. He really loves you guys. If you’re sitting there wondering, Chris does. He loves you. I do.

Chris:
Jesus loves you and so do I.

Jeff:
Okay, so Genesis chapter 12, we’re going to get into kind of a weird story.

Chris:
So God… Yeah, it’s a little unusual, sort of like a… it’s a fallibility. It shows Abram’s humanity.

Jeff:
Well, it’s only the second story about Abram. First story is, wow, this guy must be super special. God chose him and says, I’m going to make a great nation from you, and I’m going to bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And you’re going to be a blessing to the whole world. And you go, wow, This guy must be like Saint Abram. Right? And the very next story goes like this in Genesis chapter 12 verse 10. At that time, a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt where he lived as a foreigner. As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, look, you’re a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they’ll say, this is his wife. Let’s kill him. And then we can have her. So please tell them that you’re my sister. Then they’ll spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you. And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh the king and Sarai was taken into his palace. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “‘What have you done to me?’ he demanded. Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say she’s my sister and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then here is your wife. Take her and get out of here. Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them. And he sent Abram out of the country along with his wife and all his possessions. That’s a weird story.

Chris:
Yeah. Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them. And he sent Abram out of the country along with his wife and all his possessions. He allowed him to keep his possessions.

Jeff:
Keep all the stuff he took. Yeah.

Chris:
It seems to indicate that, doesn’t it? It could be the possessions that he walked in with.

Jeff:
So if you remember, he left Ur and Haran with all of his wealth, it says that, and with all the people. So he was already a wealthy man. And then Pharaoh made him wealthier with more sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. So Pharaoh just enriched him even more. And then when he sends him away, he sends him away with all of it.

Chris:
Yeah. And what’s so interesting is that it says immediately, it never says anything about a wife until the end. It says, when the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her. It didn’t say to have her as his wife, but apparently that’s what he did. He married her. Pharaoh married her. Because he says he gave Pharaoh Abram many gifts because of her, sheep, goats, donkeys, and then at the end he says, why did you say to her she’s my sister and allow me to take her as my wife? So Pharaoh married Abram’s wife.

Jeff:
There you go, for a minute.

Chris:
For a minute. Yeah, and then and then when he found out he was like, dude, what is your problem? Yeah, you nut right because Abram was going as a foreigner into a foreign land. He’s going down in Egypt He he was scared for himself and what a weird thing line of thinking, but it turns out that Pharaoh would have thought the opposite. Pharaoh’s explaining here, that had you just told me you were her husband, then I wouldn’t have done any of these things. Right? Right.

Jeff:
So he really just believed… So he did it out of fear. He did it out of fear. Which is what we do sometimes, right? We make bad choices because we start to rehearse things that haven’t happened yet. We start to guess how it’s going to turn out. We wind up making bad choices on that, right? Yeah. And that’s what happens here. So he’s acting out of fear, and he asks her to tell a half-truth because she was his stepsister. Right. So Sarai is Abram’s stepsister. And his wife. And his wife. So he marries his stepsister. And so he’s like, hey, don’t say, cause they might kill me. They’ll kill me, they’re gonna take you anyways. So let’s not do that. And instead he winds up enriching Abram and takes Sarai. And then they wind up having a terrible plague. It says the Lord sent terrible plagues So it’s plural plagues upon Pharaoh and his household.

Chris:
Look at us breezing over that. So this is like God’s power unleashed on Pharaoh. And somehow this was a conversation that you have to sort of read between the lines. So it says God sends plagues. Well, how did Pharaoh know that the plagues were from God about Abram? Right? So there must have been some sort of like, uh, Hey, since you came into town, there’s plagues. Can you tell us about this? And Abram then probably had this time of confession because now Pharaoh knows the truth. He had to know the truth somehow. Right. And he only knew the truth through them.

Jeff:
Right? This is such a weird thing. It seems, on its face, it seems a little out of his character, because he’s very smart and he uses intelligence. So he trusts God. He’s a wealthy man. He trusts God. He packs up and leaves home and goes where he doesn’t even know where he’s heading yet. He goes to Canaan. And when he arrives there, not long after he sets up, he sets up an altar, worships God, and then a famine comes. And for a lot of people, they’d start questioning, well, maybe I didn’t hear from God. Let’s just go home. Let’s quit. And he doesn’t. And instead, he sits there, and he thinks a minute, and he goes, OK. He uses his intelligence, and he goes, there’s food in Egypt. Let’s shoot down there real quick. We’ll get some food. We’ll be OK. So he didn’t give up on his mission. He went further from home because he wasn’t going to leave God’s plan. So he has this faith God’s going to provide. He has intelligence to be able to work out a problem and solve it. And from that area, from that area down to what would be like, say, modern day Cairo, although this probably wasn’t Cairo, it was probably Thebes or somewhere, but is only like 300 miles, 300 something miles by the way that a bird would fly. Now they have to kind of zigzag in order to get where they’re going, but still, I mean, it’s just, he didn’t have to go very far. It’s a few days journey and a couple of weeks, he gets down there and then he gets scared. It doesn’t make sense. This doesn’t make sense.

Chris:
It didn’t scare you to leave home? For us, it doesn’t make sense.

Jeff:
It doesn’t scare you to leave the source of your wealth? That doesn’t make sense to me, right? It doesn’t scare you to just go for months and months and months on a journey that you don’t even know where, to Canaan, with people that are hostile towards outsiders? It doesn’t scare you to follow God there? The famine comes. The Bible doesn’t say that he’s afraid of the famine.

Chris:
Right. Right. But he could have been.

Jeff:
He’s just, well, he just, he solves the problem pretty easily. Right. But he could have been, we would, that’s us filling in the gaps there. So instead he just faces this problem as another issue and he goes on and he solves it. But then it does say he was afraid of Pharaoh, which is weird how you can sometimes have circumstances come up. You’re not afraid of circumstances, but how some people are very intimidated by other people. And that’s what we have is he’s afraid of Pharaoh.

Chris:
Yeah. So, so I have a different view of this entirely.

Jeff:
Well, then it’s probably wrong, Chris.

Chris:
Whereas like, and I know that it’s, I know that the chosen is a wonderful thing that I’ve been watching. And I know the chosen is not based on gospel. It’s, it’s almost, it’s a, what is it called? They take, they take liberties, poetic license, you know, this could or could not have happened. So there’s a lot of cool things that happens that, you know, you’re just like, Oh, that’s cool. It could have been that way. And you understand that, you know, there’s a lot of that is not based on, they just sort of suppose a lot of things anyway. But the point is this, it, one thing that the chosen did for me, uh, is that it, it, it, it inserted, uh, context and emotion to such a degree to where it was like, for instance, you don’t remember how, like when Peter threw, uh, uh, the net over the side and then, you know, it was like, yeah, So what they did was they created this scenario where he had to have fish or else he was going to be in trouble. And so then when he pulled the net in, it meant more. And all of a sudden there’s emotion attached to it. The woman at the well, when he met her, they had given a little bit of background. They took liberty to create this. Mary healed with the seven demons. They explored her. They took liberty to explore this so that when she was healed, it was so much more emotional than when you read on the text. And so it’s just unbelievable. Well, then also along with that, they created like joy and fear and frustration and crying and things like this. And so it’s easy for us to judge or look on paper and say, see, he wasn’t fearful here. Why was he fearful there? But you don’t know what it’s like when you walk into Egypt. You don’t know what he experienced. So I could just almost imagine. So this is me, you know, inserting my different perspective. I could almost imagine it like a movie, a shocker. And I could just, I could see something, him walking into a foreign land and seeing detestable practices or seeing, you know, he wasn’t, maybe he wasn’t treated well, or maybe they were looking at him. Maybe he was walking through the city and he felt them judging him. Or maybe there was something happening with the wives there where he just thought immediately, oh no, like because of my wife’s beauty, I know exactly what’s going to happen, right? Based on the rumors, based on… There’s so much there that we don’t know that, you know, if we believe in the character of Abram and we believe that he’s a good man, then we have to give him even more credit to say there must have been a reason why he went down this path. And maybe if you and I were there, we would have done the same thing. Yeah. That’s sort of what I, that’s where my brain goes.

Jeff:
Sure. Well, absolutely. It’s, you know, not unreasonable for us to say, hey, we likely would have been as intimidated as him. It’s just surprising sometimes when you see a person who has a long pattern of doing the right thing and trusting God, suddenly being overwhelmed by fear. All the other ones, they were circumstances, but this one was a person, and he was easily intimidated by this person. That’s the thing that surprises me. it seems like famine is a worse thing than coming up against a person or leaving home where you built all your wealth seems to be a bigger issue than a person. But for him, man, that’s just how intimidated he was by the power of Egypt at that time.

Chris:
And I know what you’re saying, because what you’re saying has a lot of merit in it, because if God promised him that he’s going to be the father of many nations, that means he’s going to not be killed by Pharaoh. He’s going to survive it. That’s right. Right. So why not believe in the promise that God gave?

Jeff:
Yes. All the promises led him all the way there. Yes. And then now he’s doubting the promise.

Chris:
So there is definitely that side to it.

Jeff:
That’s the weird part to me. Yeah. But then people can be scary. And when you get sucked into, you know, I was in, um, uh, what would be Thebes or, you know, I’ve been in Cairo. I’ve been in those places. Some of the ruins are magnificent. This would have been about 2000 BC. Right? And so at that time, it’s hard to name a capital like we would call a capital today. But what is modern day Cairo? that would have been a kind of a center, then Thebes and Memphis would have both been centers for government. So it just depends on what the weather was like and where they were ruling out of at the time. But all of those places were magnificent. The scale of them, the construction there exceeded anything that was being built anywhere else in the world at the time, other than maybe Ur of the Chaldees, right? Their Babylon area. but it was just magnificent. And so yeah, then you could kind of get sucked into the pomp and circumstance. We know how the Egyptians had all this formality and the gold and the 2000 years that they were, this was a really, really significant administrative center of the world at the time. So I understand that part of it, but yeah, you’re right. He went there with the promise that God was gonna make a great nation from him. Yeah. Dude, you can’t be killed. You’re literally bulletproof. Right. Do you have any kids yet? No. Guess what? You’re bulletproof.

Chris:
But listen, there’s another sermon in here though. Yeah. Because then it comes down to, maybe he thought to himself, maybe this is, maybe my cunning intelligence of saying that she’s my sister, maybe that’s the way that God’s going to preserve me.

Jeff:
Sure, sure. Because God always blesses half-truths.

Chris:
Right.

Jeff:
Right. Right. But that’s what he did. And I think sometimes we can be too slick for our own good. Yeah. Right. As opposed to just keep doing what you’re supposed to do. So it was incredibly intelligent, in my opinion, to go, hey, there’s a famine here. There’s plenty of food in Egypt. Let’s just shoot down there a little while. And he went further from home, which sent the message to God, I’m not going home. He didn’t go back the way he came. He went further south. And so he’s sending a message, I’m still trusting God. I’m going to go back to the promised land. I think he was very, very strategic there. And then in this one, he gets slick. There’s a difference. Sometimes we can be so clever, we outplay ourselves. And that’s what happens here. So there’s a really great note, Genesis chapter 12, in the Life Application Study Bible. It says, Abram, acting out of fear, asked Sarai to tell a half-truth by saying she was his sister. She was his half-sister. We know that from Genesis chapter 20, but she was also his wife. Abram’s intent was to deceive the Egyptians. He feared that if they knew the truth, they would kill him to get Sarai. She would have been a desirable addition to Pharaoh’s harem because of her wealth. beauty, and her potential for political alliance. As Sarai’s brother, Abram would have been given a place of honor. But as her husband, his life would be in danger because Sarai could not enter Pharaoh’s harem unless Abram was dead. So Abram lost faith in God’s protection even after all God had promised him and told a half-truth. When he lied, Abram’s problems multiplied. Lying usually compounds the effects of sin.

Chris:
Yeah, there’s a great sermon there, too. Isn’t that great? And it’s almost amazing that Pharaoh allowed him to live and to leave.

Jeff:
Yeah. Right? Because… Because the plagues were so bad. He’s like, hey, this guy’s got some bad juju on him. I’m not touching him. Right. Or some powerful juju. Yeah, yeah. All I did was take his wife, innocently. Right. And in their world, hey, it’s just a woman. Right. All I did was take his wife, accidentally, and all these plagues come on me, what’s going to happen if I actually kill this man? Oh, the plagues will just never end, right? I think that was it. Because the Pharaohs thought they were gods. So did the people. And here’s God squaring off with Pharaoh, just afflicting him with plagues, and he’s learning the lesson, going, well, I’m not going to mess with Abram, right? So there is that. But hey, and also, hey, let’s give it up to Abram, right? Sarah is pretty. That’s right. That’s right. He done good. That Pharaoh went, wow. Right. Right. I got to have her. Yeah.

Chris:
And, and, and, and, and Abraham knew it. Right. Cause going into town, he’s like, ah, my wife’s really pretty.

Jeff:
Yeah. I’m dating a, I’m married to a supermodel and he’s going to steal her from me. So there’s this issue, that whole idea we’re making jokes about the fact that men are trading in women. That’s a horrible thing, right? There is this property kind of mentality. From this point on, for the most part, you see Abraham and Sarah, or Abram and Sarah, they’re partners. right? Even in doing the wrong thing, this time they do it again another time later where they’re partners in this, in doing the wrong thing. But you don’t find Sarah and Abraham, like Abraham lording over Sarah, although she did call him with respect. But you see them working together. But in this one, it was almost like he shifted to the mindset of the Egyptian world, which is, she’s property. Right. Right? So don’t get me killed. You’re not worth dying for. That’s literally the message this man sent to his wife, is you’re not worth dying for. And so I’m going to go ahead and risk it. You’re going to go in Pharaoh’s harem. And that’s a pretty horrible, horrible moment in his life.

Chris:
Yeah. And so, Abraham, again, it’s one of those things where even though it’s so bad, it reminds us that God always has and always will continue to use broken people for great things.

Jeff:
That’s the whole reason why this story is in here, I think. Right. Yeah.

Chris:
Yeah, God’s going to use you. And so if you think you’re a person, you’re like, Oh, but Chris, you don’t know my thoughts. You don’t know what I’ve done or my tendencies. I’ve always failed. And I promised God and I mess up and all these different things that are so discouraging about, you know, who you are versus who you wish you could be for God. Just know this, that God never winks at our sin. He never, uh, you know, uh, you know, It’s not like sin doesn’t have consequences in God’s eyes.

Jeff:
Well, it has severe consequences.

Chris:
Abraham almost does die here because of this. God doesn’t just blow off our sins. However, God will continue to use a repentant heart from a broken person to do great things. And so Abraham goes on this journey with God, and even in the midst of this, obviously his brokenness and his humanity right here, God just still continues to bless him in spite of everything.

Jeff:
So you find multiple times where Abram does sacrifices, where he’s constantly making sure that God understands that he’s repentant of his sin. It comes up again multiple times after this, where his relationship with God was important. This was a bad moment in his life, but it doesn’t define his life. And God only has sinners to work with. And so what he’s looking for is teachable, humble, repentant sinners. not people who go on and continue to indulge in these sins, but people who repent of their sins, turn to God, and then He continues to use them. So God puts this story right at the very beginning of the story of Abram so that we can understand He doesn’t have any perfect people to work with, and He can work with us too. That’s great.

Chris:
Well, that is a great place to end. And so hopefully we will see you on Monday on The Bible Guys.