A STUDY IN GENESIS
If Abram and Sarai’s first faith challenge was to move, their second challenge was to trust if God was going to keep them safe in a new area. Abram is living for the Lord, his life is eternally changed and he is following God, Genesis 12:8-9 “And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent [with] Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.”
Sometimes, God will use natural causes in order to help motivate/guide/and even force us to go in a certain direction. This happened with Abram and Sarai. Genesis 12:10-16 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine [was] severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you [are] a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 “Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This [is] his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 “Please say you [are] my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” 14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she [was] very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.”
Instead of trusting the Lord, Abram believes he will be killed because of his wife’s beauty. Thus, he comes up with this idea to lie to Pharaoh. This is not the Pharaoh we see in Exodus nor is this the Pharaoh that we will see later at the end of Genesis with Joseph. Nevertheless, this Pharaoh is still a king with power. However, like any other Pharaoh, God reveals His power. Genesis 12:17-20 “17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What [is] this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she [was] your wife? 19 “Why did you say, ‘She [is] my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take [her] and go your way.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded [his] men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.”
God takes Abram’s lack of faith and shows that He as God is faithful and just to do something rather remarkable. This is a fact that we in the body of Christ need to remember. God is not done with us at salvation, but rather will continue to work in our lives and even at times use our stupid decisions for His glory. As we move forward, we will continue to see moments of faith triumphs and failures with Abram and Sarai, but the dominant lesson is who is there, it is Christ who is bigger than our victories and failures, He is God. And that should be comforting.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL