Scripture Daily

Context No. 1636 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 12:14-20: in context

14When Abram had come into Egypt, some Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17The LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.” 20Pharaoh commanded men concerning him, and they escorted him away with his wife and all that he had.

Abram, sojourning in Egypt during a famine, fears that Sarai's beauty will get him killed, so he passes her off as his sister. The Egyptians praise her to Pharaoh, and she is taken into Pharaoh's house; Abram is treated well for her sake and grows rich. But the LORD afflicts Pharaoh's household with plagues because of Sarai. Pharaoh, learning the truth, confronts Abram: what have you done? Why did you say she was your sister? Take your wife and go. And Abram is sent away with all he had.

The striking thing in this episode is what God does despite Abram's failure. Abram, the man God had called and promised to make a great nation, acted here out of fear and self-interest, telling a half-truth that endangered his wife and, through her, the very promise God had made, for the covenant line ran through Sarai. It was a real failure, and it put the promise at risk. And into that mess God stepped, not to reward Abram's scheme but to protect Sarai and the promise Abram had jeopardized; he afflicted Pharaoh's house and got Sarai out, guarding the covenant line his chosen man had carelessly endangered. There is real reassurance in this about the faithfulness of God to his promises. God's purposes do not depend on the flawless conduct of the people he uses; Abram failed, badly, and God protected his promise anyway. The covenant did not hang on Abram's getting everything right; it hung on God's faithfulness, which held even when Abram's did not. This is not license to fail; Abram's deception was still sin, and it brought trouble. But it means that when we, like Abram, fail and even endanger the good things God is doing through us, his purposes are not thereby defeated; his faithfulness can protect his promise despite our failure. God guarded Sarai and the covenant not because Abram deserved it but because God is faithful. Our failures are real and have consequences; but they do not have the power to defeat the purposes of a faithful God, who protects his promises even from the mess we make of them.

When I have failed and even endangered the good things God is doing through me, can I trust that his purposes do not depend on my flawless conduct, and that his faithfulness can protect his promise despite my failure, as he guarded Sarai and the covenant despite Abram's?

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