This chapter speaks a great deal about faith and honesty.
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt… he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’ But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. ‘What have you done to me? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Take her and go!’ ” (v1,2a,3b,10,11b,13,17-19 abr)
We know that later in his life, Abram (Abraham) becomes a pillar of faith, however, what jumps out at me in this passage is Abram’s lack of faith.
God promises Abram that he will become the patriarch of a great nation. Since Abram doesn’t have any children yet, it stands to reason that God is promising to make him a father, yet when he goes into Egypt, he fears for his life. If God promised to make him a father, why would he fear for his life, won’t God preserve his life?
How many times have I doubted/disbelieved a promise of God? Probably too many times to count, especially in my younger, less experienced years. Abram is in a similar situation at this point – he is inexperienced in his walk with God. We learned that “Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive” (Gen 11:30), so it’s entirely possible that Abram doesn’t believe he will ever have children, and so he doesn’t trust God. It’s also possible that he thinks he must take matters into his own hands in order to fulfill God’s promise to him (more on that theme in ch16).
Either way, the consequence of Abram’s lack of faith is Pharaoh takes Sarai (whom he was told was Abram’s sister) to be his wife, and God brings “serious diseases” on his household as a result. Abram’s lie to Pharaoh actually harmed Pharaoh (and Sarai), not Abram directly. Pharaoh didn’t actually do anything wrong, yet he took the brunt of the punishment for Abram’s sin.
My takeaway is that even though my sins may not harm me directly, they may have consequences to those around me. My prayer is that I continue repenting of every sin, and praying for deliverance for those around me, that they may not suffer the consequences of my sins. More importantly, I pray that my heart continue to be renewed/transformed, so that in my core I am more Christlike – behaviors (actions and ways of thinking which may be sinful) are carried out through my mind and body, and they are an extension of my heart’s beliefs. If my heart is in alignment with God’s heart, I am less likely to to have sinful behaviors that may hurt the people around me.
Father God, please renew my heart, may it be fully devoted to You. Change it to be in alignment with your heart, so I build up those whom you love, rather than tearing them down. Please help me to fulfill these two greatest commandments. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training