Read with Me
Genesis 12:10-20 (HCSB)
There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.
Listen with Me
Abram was not in the Promised Land for long before a severe famine struck. Famines were and are still quite common all over the world, coming with the cyclical droughts that were and are part of the normal weather cycles. Because of that, Abram didn’t think too much about it. He simply follow the other people of the area as they moved west into Egypt until the drought had passed – usually a few months to a year. Then they would all move back.
Abram’s instructions to Sarai seem horrific to modern readers. But they were going into a pagan land and Abram was completely unaware of what the customs might be there. He assumed that there was some commonality among the people throughout the area, and the normal custom was that a single woman, whether unmarried or widowed, was under the protection of her father or an older brother. Any prospective suitors would approach the man and try to present themselves as a good prospective husband, bringing a substantial enough bride price to prove that they would be able to provide well for her. While someone might kill a husband to take his wife for himself, a prospective suitor wouldn’t kill the brother or father of a woman he wanted.
Since Sarai was Abram’s half-sister (Genesis 20: 12), this was not really a lie in his eyes, but only a half-truth. It was specifically designed to protect both himself and Sarai from the violence he feared that they would face otherwise. He figured that it was a safe enough ruse, that he could reject any suitors, or that he could ask for such an unreasonable bride price that it would discourage them.
But what he didn’t count on was Pharaoh himself becoming a suitor for Sarai. Even though Sarai was sixty-five years old, she did not look like most women in their sixties. She would live to be 127 years old (Genesis 23:1), so she looked more like a woman in her late thirties or early forties. The men of the area praised her beauty to Pharaoh, and he sent his envoys to Abram to make a deal for her.
As usual, Abram proposed an unreasonably exorbitant bride price, to be paid for in sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and slaves. But to his surprise and dismay, Pharaoh said yes, greatly enriching Abram, but losing his claim to his own wife in the process. Pharaoh was one of the most powerful men in the world at that time, so Abram couldn’t renege on the deal without incurring harsh penalties, or even death.
But thankfully, God was with him and intervened before Pharaoh could defiles Sarai, striking Pharaoh’s whole household with serious and painful diseases. Pharaoh’s seers identified Sarai as the source of the problems, and even inferred that she was Abram’s wife.
Pharaoh was angry that Abram would put him in his household into that kind of danger. But he also realized that there was a great supernatural power present in and around Abram protecting him, so he didn’t retaliate. Instead, he led Abram go with a scolding, and he expelled him from the country. He also didn’t demand the return of the bride price, hoping to appease the God who was protecting him.
Pray with Me
Father, Abram still had no idea of who You truly are and what You can do to protect those who are on Your mission. But this one event went a long way to help him to understand. In his ignorance, he made several missteps along the way. But at each stage of his growth, You helped him to learn more and more about You. We are so fortunate to have Your complete revelation of Yourself in our Bibles so that we don’t have to learn about You through trial and error, feeling our way to the next revelation. And we have Your Holy Spirit to live in our hearts and to apply that word so that we can see You even more clearly. Lord, help us to continue to live in Your truth and to grow in our knowledge of who You are and what You have done, as well as what You can do in our lives today. Amen.