Genesis 12:10-20

10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so Abram traveled to Egypt for relief. Sojourned means that it was a temporary stay and he was merely passing through.
Before Abram arrived into Egypt you can see fear set in on Abram, and he began to plot. He told Sarai, his wife to lie and say that she is his sister. Abram feared that the Egyptians would kill Abram because Sarai was so beautiful. When fear sets in, trusting God suffers and Abram makes a rash decision without consulting God. Here Abram relies on his wife's beauty to save his life. As Abram gets side tracked from God's path, Sarai is taken into Pharaoh's house. Pharaoh dealt well with Abram because of Sarai. But then, God afflicted Pharaoh's house with plagues because of Sarai. Pharaoh found out that Sarai was Abram's wife and became angry and sent them away.

Sometimes God causes hardship to make us move. When we lived in Bristow God was causing financial hardship on us, and we were forced to move. Matt and I were frustrated and questioning God moving us there, as we thought we would raise our kids in this great school, big house, and awesome community. We drove 45 minutes to our church every week, but the luxuries of living in that house were much to be desired and worth the drive. As we questioned God, we began to rely on our own knowledge. So naturally we looked for a smaller house in the same area. We had to take a big detour in God's plan by trusting our own instincts. We went so far as to buy this house in Gainesville. God pressed greatly on Matt's heart that this house was not His will. Matt finally listened and we lost $6,000 by backing out of this house. In obeying God, we were back on His plan and He opened up a PERFECT home in Fairfax, Virginia only 1.7 miles from our church! There was a great cost to our disobedience. However, God in His grace got us back on track in His will. Abram lost his wife for a period of time. I imagine that it was very difficult for them to live in this season of disobedience. Have you counted the costs of walking in your own ways in sin?
This passage also shows us that even Abram's faith wavered. We know Abram as a man of great faith. His faith was so great in God, that the Lord counted it as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Faith is the key to Christianity. Read Romans chapter 4 to expound on the idea of the faith of Abraham and our faith in Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) sums up "faith."
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Next week: We will study Genesis 13.
Abram and his nephew Lot will go their separate ways.

I will answer on the next lesson.

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