Genesis 12:10-20--Abram and Sarai in Egypt

Genesis 12:10-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Gen.12.10-Gen.12.20
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Abram and Sarai in Egypt
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.

17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 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? 19 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.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

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We see in this chapter an example of Abram leaning on his own understanding, both in going to an enemy nation for shelter (remember that Egypt is a son of Ham that does not really get along with the sons of Shem) and reasoning that he must come up with a story to keep himself and his wife safe--I would assume this is because Egypt had some kind of reputation, as we'll see this same deceit employed by other descendants of Abram later in Genesis.

It appears that Abram's concerns were warranted because the conversation seems to go almost exactly as expected as they cross the border.  It seems that it was a regular practice of the Egyptians to take all beautiful women crossing their borders into the harem of their king (Pharaoh), and we can only assume he was right about the fact that they might have killed him to get to her so that in death the bond of marriage would have been broken.

We see that because Sarai was so beautiful, Pharaoh was willing to make accommodations to Abram that he normally wouldn't make for anyone else that would be a strain and drain on his economy and resources---especially in such a time of famine, as Abram came with a large number of sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants that needed to be fed, watered and sheltered.

Even though Abram lacked the faith to trust in the Lord's provision, the Lord still provided it.  The Lord made sure that the sanctity of marriage between Abram and Sarai was kept and that she would not be forced to have sexual relations with Pharaoh.  The Lord did this by sending great plagues on the house of Pharaoh (not the whole nation like in Exodus) and they seem to be able to deduce that this all started when Sarai was brought to them and they find out that she is not actually Abram's sister, but Abram's wife.

Abram is caught in a lie and that puts and end to his plans.  He is told that he should have just told the truth and he is sent on his was with his wife, servants and animals and is given an escort out of the country (and probably given an order to not return), because the people of Egypt now associate Abram and his clan with the plagues that came upon the Egyptians.  We'll see that Abram then ends up back where he should have stayed all along--in the land that God told him to go to.  He returns to Negeb (the area now called the Negev desert that lies between the desert of Sinai and the land of Canaan.  The Negev is to this day considered the southernmost part of the land of ancient Israel.