#37 "Say Your My Sister" Genesis 12

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'this is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake." When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why 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." And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. Genesis 12: 10-20 ESV

Pretend you're my sister. Abram has entered a covenant with the one true God, and though many of the national promises look forward to future fulfillment, they're are still present implications. God has said that from Abram he will make a great nation, and Abram confirmed his belief in God through the sacrifice on the altar. Abram has yet to have children, and God has promised a nation so his life is guaranteed at least until his first born, but his faith wavers by sight of the present circumstances. God has promised his protection, but at the thought of what might happen and in the knowledge of the ways of men, Abram relies on his own understanding.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5 ESV

I don't judge Abram in this because it is difficult to see past circumstances. It is an indication of the origin of faith as not man made or man sustained. It is a gift of God's grace, and man will continue to find it nearly impossible to uphold the natural answer to equation. God is the covenant keeper, and not just in the sense that He does good by His word, but that He is also well aware of man's sinful nature and the inability of those dead in their trespasses and sin. This is a covenant of Love, and of uneven return. Man does not exist without God, has nothing to offer the Almighty and cannot save himself from his predicament. He can only deny the existence of sin, and ultimately the existence of God. Wanting something to be true does not make it so, nor does it change the outcome of the problem.

What shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trust Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Romans 4:1-5 ESV