Abram and Sarai headed to Egypt when a famine hit Canaan. This devotion looks at the success or failure of Abram’s deception.
Nuggets
- Sometimes, what we are afraid of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- God didn’t like how things were going down and stepped in.
In the last devotion, we left Abram’s family on the way to Egypt. They left Canaan because of a famine.
Abram had a strange request of Sarai. He wanted her to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister, not his wife.
Well, Sarai technically was his sister. But that was a lie and a deception because she was his wife.
I am not sure that Abram thought through the practice of passing Sarai off as his sister.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Abraham the Emigrant series
Arrival in Egypt
And sure enough, Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their 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” (Gen. 12: 14-16 NLT)
Sometimes, what we are afraid of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It turned out that there was reason for Abram to be fearful. “… Sarai was taken into his palace” (Gen. 12: 15 NLT) seems like an innocuous statement, but it really means she was kidnapped.
But Abram set Sarai up for the kidnapping. He lied. He didn’t have faith that God would protect him.
Remember, Abram didn’t tell a total lie. Sarai was his stepsister.
What Abram did was mislead everyone.
Think of the position Abram put Sarai in. When they took her into the palace, was she just supposed to sit back and let whatever happened to her happen?
Pharoah married Sarai. Was she supposed to commit adultery because her husband sanctioned it?
Sarai sure got the raw end of the deal.
But Sarai did agree to go along with the lie and followed through. Maybe she didn’t think she had any choice; but in the end, she chose to go along with the ruse.
Did Abram get a conscience once they were separated? Was he remorseful for the situation that he put Sarai in?
Consequences of the Kidnapping
“But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of 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 is 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” (Gen. 12: 17-20 NLT)
God didn’t like how things were going down and stepped in.
When we tell a lie, we tell ourselves that no one will know. Well, maybe no human will know.
God always knows. God is all-seeing and all-present.
He knows.
God stepped in the situation to put things back to right.
Yes, Abram had sinned. He didn’t trust God.
That didn’t stop God.
Remember when God came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they had sinned? “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden …” (Gen. 3: 8 NLT).
God came to Adam and Eve. He stepped in for Abram.
We aren’t told how Pharaoh figured out that it was because he was messing with Abram’s wife. Yeah, this may be Moses picking and choosing what to tell of the story. What is important to know is God instigated the tell-all, and Abram’s secret was made known.
The Pharaoh found out that God is all-powerful. Pharaoh may have thought he was, but he was no match for God.
If Moses did write this chronologically, the trip to Egypt would have happened somewhere between 1885 and 1880 BC, according to the Old Testament Timeline. Jacob’s family emigrated to Egypt in 1680 BC.
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We aren’t told here what the plagues were and how many (since it is plural). I doubt that they were to the level of the plagues Moses saw God do.
This time God didn’t send a Moses-type to warn the Pharaoh the plagues were coming. We aren’t told how Pharaoh figured out that it was because he was messing with Abram’s wife.
Yeah, this may be Moses picking and choosing what to tell of the story. What is important to know is God instigated the tell-all, and Abram’s secret was made known.
Think about Abram. Yes, he was concerned for his life. Instead, his integrity took a hit. He probably would have used the word dishonored instead of integrity.
What the Egyptians saw was Abram was not, in God’s terms, pure and righteous. They probably would have just said he was a liar and untrustworthy.
Did you see the Egyptians’ response? They were quick to point out that Abram caused the problem by not telling them Sarai was his wife.
And they would be right. But … “When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace” (Gen. 12: 15 NLT).
Yes, Abram told a lie. That lie did not force them to take Sarai into the palace. That was their choice alone.
This is just another example of deflection of sin. Pharaoh said, “I did it, but it isn’t my fault.”
But the Egyptians were done with Abram. In fact, he and his family were escorted out of the country of Egypt. “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” (Gen. 12: 20 NLT).
Making the Connections #1
Part of us wants to say that we shouldn’t bite too hard on Abram. His fears came to fruition.
But this was an intentional sin. If we were to look at the Book of Leviticus, all the sacrifices there were for unintentional sin. The purpose of the first three offerings is to restore our relationship with God. Period. It isn’t until those have been offered and accepted that God would even consider forgiving us of our sins.
Not until Jesus came was there a sacrifice that even touched intentional sins. That is why we say that the law – and the sacrifices – cannot save us. We must be saved through the blood of Jesus.
Bottom line is that Abram should have trusted God. We can’t let our fears run roughshod over us.
Because of this lie, Abram and Sarai had to leave Egypt. We don’t know how long they had been there. We don’t know whether they smoothed over their relationship with the Pharaoh.
Making the Connections #2
This whole incident came to be because Sarai was a beautiful woman. We don’t know exactly how old she was. Since the biblestudy.org website says that the events of Genesis 14 probably took place around 1880 to 1875, Sarah was probably 65-70 tops.
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Sarah may have been an ageless beauty. Beauty may have been in the eye of the beholder.
We do know Satan is going to try every trick in his arsenal to get us to turn a blind eye toward God. He is going to find the shiniest, most beautiful thing to tempt us. We can’t let him succeed in getting us to cave.
Making the Connections #3
I feel like I have to bring it up again. Abram – a righteous, blameless man – sinned even though He loved God.
Making the Connections #4
Yeah, we may say Abram only lied, but it was more than that. Abram wrecked his witness with the Egyptians.
It was even more than that. The Homilist wrote in Abram in Egypt that “… THE DIVINE IS THE ONLY STANDARD WHICH DETERMINES THE VALUE OF LIFE.”
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Disciples have to live by God’s standard – His laws and commandments – His Will.
We are nothing without God. Our very existence depends on Him.
The laws and commandments show us the moral character by which we are to live. He gives us strength to live as He wants.
Let’s think this through. We don’t know if Abram was called when he was still living in Ur. All we know is that he was when he was in Haran.
Abram left Haran in 1885 BC. This is between 1885 and 1880. Let’s cut it in half and say this is 1882.
Abram has only been a disciple for around three years. He is still a milk baby (Heb. 5: 13).
Satan would have really been working on Abram. He would have been throwing doubts and temptations at him right and left.
Abram probably didn’t have any idea what spiritual warfare was. If he did know spiritual warfare was going on, that it was an internal battle may have been outside his understanding.
Truth be known, it is outside of our understanding sometimes.
Think of it this way. Just like us, Abram would have hit potholes on his Sanctification Road. We just don’t get them written up in Scriptures.
The way Dods said it was this way. He wrote,
“It would seem that as yet he [Abram] had no very clear idea of God’s holiness. He had the idea of God which Mohammedans entertain, and past which they seem unable to get. He conceived of God as the Supreme Ruler; he had a firm belief in the unity of God and probably a hatred of idolatry and a profound contempt for idolaters. He believed that this Supreme God could always and easily accomplish His will, and that the voice that inwardly guided him was the voice of God. His own character had not yet been deepened and dignified by prolonged intercourse with God and by close observation of His actual ways; and so as yet he knows little of what constitutes the true glory of God. What he so painfully learned we must all learn, that God does not need lying for the attainment of His ends, and that double-dealing is always short-sighted and the proper precursor of shame.”
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Since we’ve started talking about Abram, we’ve said that he had the faith and obedience – to what God had revealed to him. God doesn’t give us a data dump upon conversion. He continued to reveal Himself to Abram throughout his life.
We also have to remember Abram didn’t have an Old Testament book which he could read by firelight. He didn’t have the internet to search when he had questions and wanted to learn.
When do we learn best? When we mess up.
Making the Connections #5
Dod’s made an interesting comment. He wrote,
“A weaker man would have shrunk from going into Egypt, and would have preferred to see his flocks dwindle rather than to take so venturesome a step. No such hesitations could trammel Abram’s movements. He felt himself equal to all occasions.”
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We bite on Abram because he lied. But he went.
Abram could have stayed – and lost his flocks — maybe his, Sarai’s, and Lot’s lives. But he knew that God was Sovereign God. He knew God could and would take care of him.
So, what happened? Abram didn’t know that lying was a sin?
Or was Abram trying to help God out?
Ooo, baby. Don’t we do that? When God doesn’t do something on our time table, He doesn’t do it the way we expect, or – worse – He tell us no, we get upset!
We take things into our own hands. Wrong move.
Making the Connections #6
Another thing Dods talked about was what Abram learned in this trial. Abram’s happiness wasn’t in his hands.
Abram’s happiness was in God’s hands.
We just have to surrender.
Making the Connections #7
The Pulpit Analyst had a great comment in their Abram in Egypt sermon. It said,
“‘O that he had died when he built the altar!’ we may be inclined to exclaim. Have there not been times in our own history when we have uttered the same exclamation? Had we been caught up into heaven in some ecstatic mood of devotion, we should have been saved from this sin and from that. Why were we spared, when God must have foreseen that our very next act was to be one of [dishonor]? Spared to sin!”
Resource
- We think failing the testings and trials will make us lose our salvation.
- We think the best thing to happen would be no testings and trials.
- We see Heaven as get-out-of-jail-for-free card.
We shouldn’t be looking for fire insurance – even looking for fire assurance.
Testings and trials are used to grow us. God wants us to be faithful to Him. He is more interested in how we grow closer to Him because of the testings and trials.
How Do We Apply This?
- Depend on God’s faithfulness and sufficiency.
- Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
- Trust God in the big things as well as the little things.
- Trust God when we don’t see how it will go.
- Understand that God will protect His children.
Resources
Father God. Forgive us when we don’t put our full trust in You. Show us again how You are always with us and keep Your promises. Help us grow through the testings and trials. Amen.
What do you think?
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