How many of us, having stepped out in faith to obey God, have found ourselves face to face with trials? Satan likes to oppose those who are following God and put temptations into their path. Even Jesus, after having been baptized, was taken into the desert to be tempted by Satan (Matt 4:1-11). Today we will see Abram, having obeyed God and come to Canaan, being faced with adversity and temptation.
What is happening in Canaan at this time (v.10)? Abram must go to live in Egypt for a time to wait out the famine. He is not abandoning the land to which God has brought him, but rather, doing the rational thing to deal with a physical necessity. The Bible does not give the impression here that it is meant to be a permanent move.
Just as he is about to enter Egypt, he makes a comment to his wife, Sarai (v. 11). Does this comment seem like it is intended as a compliment or like something is on Abram’s mind? Abram is worried about something, but rather than bring the problem before God and trust in His protection, Abram is inventing his own scheme for protection. How often are we guilty of this same thing?
Verses 12-13 tell us of his plan. Now this is a very interesting interaction. We know from Scripture that Sarai is 10 years younger than Abram (Gen 17:17). Thus, if Abram is 75+ then Sarai must be 65+. She must have been quite beautiful, to say the least, to still be attracting male attention at that age!
We must remember that this was an ancient middle eastern culture and that Abram was a foreigner in Egypt. If the Egyptians had wanted his wife, they would have needed to kill him to have her and probably would not have thought long about it. However, if she had been his sister, they would have honored him so that he would give her to them. Such was the status of women at that time being not too much different than that of property. Abram obviously thought he would be much safer if they thought she was his sister. This, however, was not totally a lie (Gen 20:12).
Verses 14-15 tell us what happened to Sarai when the Egyptians saw her. We see that they have immediately taken notice of her beauty. When those of Pharoah’s house saw her, they spoke of her to Pharoah. Knowing what we do of men discussing beautiful women of whom they do not know, I am sure they were not telling Pharoah of her wonderful intelligence nor was she brought to the palace for her mind. Abram bought his own safety at the price of Sarai’s virtue.
Verse 16 tells us what Abram received from Pharoah in return for Sarai. He was given sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants, and camels. Abram had allowed Sarai to be taken from him in exchange for livestock and slaves. Though this was probably not a voluntary transaction, it had occurred because of Abram’s deception.
Though Abram did not protect his wife in Egypt, we can see in verse 17 that the Lord did. How did God intervene? God punished not only Pharoah, but everyone living in his household. These were diseases serious enough that Pharoah knew instinctively they were a Divine punishment. We can tell from verse 18 that Pharoah had apparently investigated the matter sufficiently to determine the cause.
Verses 18-19 see Pharoah demanding an accounting from Abram. He blames Abram for bringing these diseases upon his household through his deception. What Pharoah was essentially saying was, “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?” Have you ever, as a believer, been held accountable for your sin by an unbeliever? How humbling was that? But God was using Pharoah here for that very purpose.
Then Pharoah tells Abram to take his wife and go. He does right by Abram. God was able to protect Abram and Sarai all along. Not only did Abram leave with his wife, but he also left with everything he had. Pharoah gave him safe passage under the protection of his men. Pharoah may not have known Abram’s God, but he feared Him.
Responding to God: Pray and ask forgiveness for those times you have been deceptive before others. Ask God to help you make honesty part of your character. Think of times when you have put your needs ahead of those of others and confess those times before God. Pray for faith to always trust Him. Praise Him for His loving care and protection.
Further Research: To learn more of a husband’s responsibilities toward his wife, read Eph 5:25-33.
Add comment
Comments