Learning about God’s grace that overrules (Gen 12:10-20)

Have you ever faced momentous decisions and wondered, what if I make a mistake? What if I get it wrong in my choice and I mess up God’s plan for my life? What if I marry the ‘wrong’ person, choose the ‘wrong’ job, participate in the ‘wrong’ ministry? These are the kind of questions that Christians sometimes ask as they assume that God’s plan is set in stone, down to its fine details. It may be more helpful and less anxiety-inducing to think of God’s will in terms of shaping our character towards godliness (i.e., God’s will as sanctification cf. 1 Thess 4:3) rather than micro-managing our every move. Nevertheless, sinful inclinations, lack of faith and choices flowing out of these can jeopardise our development and stunt our spiritual growth, so our choices do matter.

When trouble comes

After the heights of Abraham’s faith to follow God, we come down to earth with a thud in the next episode. As so often, a promising start does not mean smooth sailing all the way. The land of Canaan was dependent on rainfall for crops and after an extended drought scarcity of food was common in the region and would be experienced not only by Abraham but Isaac and Jacob as well. Just like in our lives when circumstances call for a response and we do not necessarily hear a word from God, so Abraham faces severe famine and has to make a decision to preserve his family (Gen 12:10). The Nile provided Egypt with more reliable source of water that was less likely to dry up, so it was common sense to go there for a time. In fact, there is no indication that such a choice was wrong. Nevertheless, it must have been worrying to hear God’s grand promises of blessing and then face a famine and be forced to leave the Promised Land. It is in such moments that we are reminded that walking with God is by faith and not by sight and that, despite appearances, when difficulties come, God is not absent and will not fail us.

Abraham’s attitude

However, anxiety overwhelms Abraham and he tries to ward off potential trouble by deception. To be fair, he is only just beginning to learn about his new God’s power and faithfulness and the threat he fears is real. In the ancient world, life was precarious and a stranger in a foreign land without his clan to protect him was vulnerable to mistreatment. Thus, given Sarah’s beauty,[1] Abraham is concerned for his life, but his strategy sounds utterly distasteful to modern ears (Gen 12:11-13). Although technically true that Sarah is his half-sister (Gen 20:12), he exposes his wife to just the kind of vulnerability that he wanted to avoid for himself.[2] In the end, his very deception creates the scenario in which abuse becomes possible. In contrast, Pharaoh’s outrage at Abraham’s behaviour highlights that the former would never have brought Sarah into his harem had he known that she was married (Gen 12:18-19) and this underlines Abraham’s guilt. Together with his silence at Pharaoh’s rebuke (he has no defence), these aspects point to Scripture’s negative estimate of Abraham’s attitude here.

God to the rescue

Nevertheless, despite the patriarch’s less than honourable behaviour, God comes to the rescue. Plagues (the same word that is used in the exodus story) indicate the gods’ displeasure in ancient cultures, though how Pharaoh discovers the cause is not mentioned (perhaps Sarah told him who she was). Abraham is too small and too weak to resist mighty Pharaoh, but God will stand up for this couple when they are in trouble even when Abraham’s attitude landed them there. Abraham and Sarah will learn that in their weakness God cares for them and will not abandon them. As ancestors of Israel, their story foreshadows the people’s story. Jacob’s family will likewise settle in Egypt because of a famine (Gen 45:9-11), Israelites will be mistreated (Exod 1:8-11) but come out with great possessions after the plagues – Exod 3:20-22). Although God does not always stop us from making mistakes, His grace can and does overrule for those who seek Him.

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[1] Sarah’s beauty at 65 (she was 10 years younger than Abraham; Gen 17:17; 12:4) need not be doubted. It is not just the biased view of a husband but is acknowledged by the Egyptians, as well (Gen 12:14). Ancient ideals of beauty are likely to have been different from today’s pursuit of a youthful skin and slim shape, so that even if Sarah had a fuller figure, this may have appealed to ancient tastes. Facial features, a dignified appearance, even certain character traits that shone through could have contributed to the impression of Sarah’s beauty.

[2] Gordon J. Wenham points out that adultery was a serious matter, and it is unlikely that Abraham envisaged trading his wife off to benefit. Rather, he agrees with medieval interpreters who argued that as a male relative, he would have been in the position to bargain or stall negotiations if someone wanted to marry Sarah. Genesis 1-15, WBC 1 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987), 288. This is possible and it puts Abraham in a slightly better light. Nevertheless, if he feared being killed as a husband, would he not worry about his life equally as a brother if he foiled Egyptian efforts to marry Sarah? Of course, a fearful man’s reasoning is not necessarily logical. While we should not whitewash Abraham, our sense of the wrongdoing is intensified by modern examples of women being abused and by the understanding that a man and a woman in marriage are equal partners of dignity and worth, a view that ancient contexts did not generally envisage.

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