August 1996
Genesis 12-15, 20
The story of Abraham in the Book of Genesis is an important one. It is through Abraham that we gain our knowledge of the background of the Lord's plan for man and how the Lord established the descendants of Abraham as a chosen people.
After Abraham was directed by the Lord to leave his homeland with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, Abraham (then know as Abram) had a number of experiences involving Sarah (later called Sarah) and Lot. While these matters are not always the subjects of a lot of biblical teachings, discussions, or sermons, they are important in the development of Abraham and the establishment of him in Canaan.
Abraham, Sarah and Lot had left Ur at the instruction of God and journeyed to Canaan where Abraham had set up an altar to praise the Lord. (Gen. 12:8)
As Abraham journeyed he encountered a great famine in the land, so he continued south past Canaan and went as far south as Egypt. At the time Abraham arrived in Egypt, it is speculated by today's archaeologists that the time frame was such that Abraham first arrived there some 500 years after the completion of the famous Egyptian pyramids. The Egyptians were said to have been an advanced society for their time with advanced culture in architecture, agriculture, music and military sophistication.
The book of Genesis then describes the actions of Abraham in relation to the beauty of his wife Sarah. Beginning in the 12th chapter at verse 11, we first learn of Sarah's apparent beauty, and begin to learn of the relationship of Abraham and Sarah.
As he entered Egypt, Abraham expressed the fear that his life was in danger because of the beauty of his wife. He feared for his life because he was concerned the Egyptians would kill him in order to have Sarah. Abraham told a lie to everyone about Sarah and also instructed Sarah to tell everyone in Egypt that she was his sister. We learn later that Sarah actually was a half-sister to Abraham (they had the same father, but different mothers Gen. 12:20). Abraham refused to let anyone know that Sarah was his wife.
Similar instances with Sarah happened first with the Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen. 12:11-20), and then later with Abimelech, the king of Gerar, located in then southern Canaan.
In Egypt, the princes of Pharaoh did indeed find Sarah a very beautiful woman and commanded she appeared before the Pharaoh, and she was taken into the Pharaoh's house. It is said the Pharaoh treated Abraham well because of Sarah, as he presented to Abraham wealth in the form of sheep, oxen, camels and servants. Gen. 12:15-16.
However, the Lord sent great plagues upon Pharaoh because of Sarah. Thus, Pharaoh learned he had been deceived, and Abraham explained why he had lied. Pharaoh instructed Egypt to not harm them, and sent them out of Egypt with the wealth he had presented to them.
A similar incident is described in Chapter 20 wherein Abraham encountered Abimelech, king of Gerar, a land apparently located between Canaan and Egypt. Abraham lied that Sarah was his sister and the king took Sarah into his house.
But the Lord appeared to the king in a dream and warned the king not to touch Sarah, but to restore her to Abraham. Gen. 20:6-7.
The next morning the king immediately called Abraham and presented Sarah back to him along with gifts of wealth in the form of livestock. The king allowed Abraham and Sarah the honor of living on land in his kingdom, and presented them with a thousand pieces of silver. 20:14-16. Because of his actions, the Lord blessed the king by restoring the ability of the king's people to produce children. 20:17-18.
Thus the Lord continued to protect Abraham and Sarah in order to soon fulfill his covenant to Abraham that they would be the parents of "a great nation" even though they were both beyond what we know to be child-bearing years.