Genesis 12:1-2 says: Then the LORD told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others." If I'm reading this right, God means to take care of Abram and his family in the land that He shows to them. But, Abram doesn't trust God in the right now...a theme we see played out in Abram's life numerous times. In Genesis 12:10, we are told that a famine came to the land where Abram had settled. Rather than trusting God to take care of them in the right now, Abram takes things into his own hands and travels with his family out of the land he'd been shown and into the land of Egypt. This is where things get really weird. Scripture tells us that Sarai (Abram's wife) was "a very beautiful woman." (Genesis 12:11). Abram fears that should the Egyptians find out this beautiful woman is his wife, they will have Abram killed. So, Abram hatches a plan wherein Sarai poses as his sister. We find out in Genesis 20:12 that this actually half true: "Besides, she is my sister—we both have the same father, though different mothers—and I married her. " I can almost hear the words, "Well...it is partly true." rolling through Abram's mind as he tries to justify and rationalize his plans. But, a half-truth is still a whole lie! The Egyptians are indeed taken with Sarai's beauty and she eventually is given to Pharaoh to be his wife. What on earth was Abram thinking? If he'd only stayed in the place God had led him. If only he'd trusted God's promise. If only he'd practiced patience. In the short-term, this did play out well for Abram (vs. 16): "Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female servants, and camels." Perhaps this allowed Abram to continue thinking he'd made the right choice. How often does this same scenario play out in our own lives...thinking for the short-term, not allowing the movie in our minds to play all the way the end before making a decision.
Well, as do all such not-so-well-thought-out plans, this one ends up falling apart and creating baggage. God sends great plagues to the house of Pharaoh because of Abram and Sarai. I find it really interesting that Pharaoh discerns these plagues are directly connected to the "sister" lie. With all that goes on in the daily life of a Pharaoh, how did he determine that Abram & Sarai were the source of the plague? Did God speak to Pharaoh in order to protect the family line? After all, this is the line of David and the lineage of Jesus Christ. God needed to protect it. The NKJV leads me to believe that Pharaoh and Sarai never consummated their marital relationship: "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." (Genesis 12:19) Here comes the baggage. Remember all those gifts Pharaoh had given to Abram? He had Abram, Sarai and all those gifts escorted out of his land. More on that tomorrow...
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