GENESIS 12
10 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. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 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.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. – Genesis 12:10-16
GENESIS 12 ABRAM DECEIVES PHARAOH
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
When a famine threatened Abram and his entire clan
He decided to use his wife’s beauty as a shield, that was his plan
Abram thought that because of Sarai’s exquisite beauty
He will be killed by the Egyptians and take Sarai as Pharoah’s wife.
To spare his own life, instead of trusting the Lord, he plotted
If he says to Pharoah that Sarai was his sister, he would be spared
And his plan worked because he was spared his own life
He was also treated well including his animals and servants.
In this story Abram was being threatened by famine as they were passing through Egypt. We witness another side of Abram that was not spoken of earlier. We know how obedient and trusting he was to follow God’s lead towards Canaan, the promised land. Because Abram is still human like all of us, his sinful nature is still inherent in him. The desperate need to save his entire clan, servants and animals was so imminent in this time of famine. He suddenly took upon himself to take care of the situation instead of continually trusting God. The deception worked because not only was he spared from being killed, he and his entire clan was also treated well by Pharoah.
REFLECTION
- Share a time when you took matters into your hands instead of trusting God and the result of such act.
