PSA: Don\u2019t model your family by Abraham\u2019s example. I\u2019m sure he was a nice guy, but still.<\/p>\n
First off, as the story begins, God appears to Abraham (still named Abram at this point), and promises to make of him a \u201cgreat nation\u201d\u2014read, \u201ca ton of offspring\u201d\u2014and a nice patch of land to call his own, presently (and inconveniently) occupied by the Canaanites (Genesis 12:1-9).<\/p>\n
Well, the ink is hardly dry on that story when a famine enters the land, thus forcing Abraham and his wife Sarah (still named Sarai) to hightail it to Egypt so they can not starve. And if that sounds familiar to you, well done: looking to Egypt for food during a famine anticipates how the book of Genesis ends, with Jacob and his sons moving to Egypt because of a famine.<\/p>\n
Anyway, all this is fine and dandy, but the problems begin when, on the way to Egypt, Abraham realizes that Sarah is a \u201cwoman beautiful in appearance\u201d (12:11), and so surmises that the Egyptians are going to kill him so they can take Sarah into Pharaoh\u2019s harem.<\/p>\n
Abraham\u2019s solution isn\u2019t to turn back\u2014since dying of starvation is still on the table\u2014but to suggest a ruse. Namely, that she present herself as his sister, for what appears to be an utterly self-serving reason.<\/p>\n
. . . and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, \u2018This is his wife\u2019; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.\u00a0<\/span>Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared<\/span> on your account.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em> (12:12-13)<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, he seems to make a profit in the deal.<\/p>\n And for her sake he [Pharaoh] dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.<\/i>\u00a0(12:16)<\/span><\/p>\n How about having some faith in God here? The same kind of faith you just showed when God called you out of your home in Haran to move to Canaan, and you simply up and left. Now, at the first sign of trouble (after all, what\u2019s a little famine to the Almighty?), you press the panic button:\u00a0Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me.<\/em><\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing.<\/p>\n While I don\u2019t think this story is all that concerned with presenting Abraham as a model of virtue, neither do I think Abraham is simply forgetting the first half of chapter 12 and kicking into fight-or-flight reptilian brain mode.<\/p>\n I actually have sympathy for him.<\/p>\n After all, God has just made two huge promises to Abraham: kids and land. Those things won\u2019t happen if Abraham and Sarah starve to death. And so, they exercise some common sense by going where they know they could find food.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think that the act of moving down to Egypt at the beginning of Genesis is any more an act of Abraham\u2019s lack of faith than is Jacob and his sons making the same move at the end. In fact, had they stayed, we could just as well imagine the Lord (or some angel) appearing to Abraham and saying, \u201cHey. You. Moron. There\u2019s a famine. Get out of here and find food. I hear Egypt is doing just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n OK, but what about Abraham passing his wife off as his sister to save his own neck?<\/p>\n Well, here we come to a crucial point of this story that if we get it, we will get better the drama that unfolds over the next few chapters. And it\u2019s this:<\/p>\n Thus\u2014and hang with me here\u2014from Abraham\u2019s point of view, all that was needed was for\u00a0him<\/em>\u00a0to stay alive in order to give God\u2019s promise a chance to be fulfilled. Seeing no other options at the moment, you might say that Abraham\u2019s ruse was an attempt to be faithful to God.<\/p>\n You might even say that Abraham was willing to \u201csacrifice\u201d his wife in order to obey God as he was later willing to sacrifice (literally) his son Isaac when God commanded it (Genesis 22).<\/p>\n Next, in chapter 15, God reiterates the promise to Abraham. At this point, however, he and Sarah had been childless for a while. Abraham figures that his slave \u201cEliezer of Damascus\u201d would be the one to fulfill the promise, to which the Lord responds,<\/p>\n This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own<\/span> issue shall be your heir.<\/em> (15:4)<\/p>\n This is great news, and at this point we might be forgiven for assuming that Abraham and\u00a0Sarah<\/em> will have this son. But that\u2019s not what God says: no one but your very own<\/span> issue.<\/em>\u00a0Abraham is the key player here.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In fact, way back in Genesis 11:30 we are already told how this story will end up:\u00a0Now Sarah was barren; she had no child.\u00a0<\/em>Actually, at this point in the story, we should probably expect that someone other than Sarah<\/em> will be the vessel through which God will fulfill his promise to Abraham. We should probably be asking, \u201cWho\u2019s the lucky girl going to be?\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah herself seems to be operating under this assumption. After living 10 years in Canaan (see 16:3), she herself comes up with a viable Plan B.<\/p>\n You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.<\/em> (16:2)<\/p>\n This is a perfectly reasonable and legal move, at least by ancient standards (or if you live in Margaret Atwood\u2019s dystopian world of\u00a0The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/i>\u2014\u201dblessed be the fruit.\u201d)<\/p>\n Even though this move will result in some serious family tensions, this too should be seen as an act of obedience. Abraham is running out of fuel, as it were (if you know what I mean). Time is of the essence\u2014go in to my slave-girl;\u00a0it may be that I shall obtain children by her.<\/em><\/p>\n And now we\u2019re getting somewhere. A child is born, whom they name \u201cIshmael,\u201d meaning \u201cGod sees.\u201d Clearly, this is the way forward.<\/p>\n Next we come to\u00a0one of the most startling verses in Genesis, perhaps in all of Israel\u2019s ancient story:<\/p>\n God said to Abraham, \u201cAs for Sarah your wife<\/span>, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her<\/strong>. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(Genesis 17:15-16)<\/span><\/p>\n We might read this news with a slight shrug of the shoulder, as if, \u201cObviously. About time. Why couldn\u2019t Abraham and Sarah just be on board with this?\u201d But no. \u00a0They had no way of knowing or even\u00a0remotely\u00a0considering this option<\/i>.<\/p>\n Their efforts to make the promise come true (\u201csay you are my sister\u201d and\u00a0\u201cgo into my slave-girl\u201d) were not displays of disloyalty to their God, but faithfulness.\u00a0<\/strong>They can\u2019t be faulted for not knowing that the story was going to take a turn like this.<\/p>\n For me, this puts a far more interesting twist on the story. It gives us sympathy for Abraham and Sarah\u2019s decision-making process when we see God\u2019s move as utterly unexpected\u2014a\u00a0surprise<\/em> move.<\/p>\n It also lends drama to what will come. Isaac is born and immediately Hagar and Ishmael are driven away (chapter 21). God is putting all the promise eggs into the Isaac basket: Plan B, Ishmael, is officially and irrevocably taken off the table.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they all lived happily ever after.\u201d No.<\/p>\n No sooner is Plan B sent away never to return that God spoke the following to Abraham:<\/p>\n Take your son, your only son Isaac<\/span>, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.\u00a0<\/em>(Genesis 22:2)<\/p>\n Isaac. Your\u00a0only<\/em> son. Kill him. And once again, Abraham responds with immediate obedience, not knowing where this would lead.<\/p>\n Let me put it this way. The story of Abraham is one of faith\u2014not perfect faith that sees the future clearly, but a faith that does its best at the moment, and that watches as God goes above and beyond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWay to go Abraham. Gutsy move. Seriously. Way to pimp out your wife.<\/h2>\n
![\"Abraham](\"https:\/\/peteenns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Abraham_and_Hagar._Genesis_Rembrandt-1024x691.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGod\u2019s promise of land and offspring was to Abraham. He never mentioned Sarah.<\/h2>\n
Finally. Problem solved. Or is it? <\/h2>\n
Faith that does its best at the moment.<\/h2>\n