Abram Tells a Fib
- Famine strikes, and Abram has to go down to Egypt to survive.
- Check out the tension with the deity's promise in 12:7. Did God give Abram a bum land? It's like being sold a car that's a lemon. This is the first hint that God's promises do not always come about in a way that is easy or straightforward.
- As they arrive near Egypt, Abram tells Sarai that she's such a catch that the Egyptians will try to kill him and let her live.
- The best strategy is to tell them Sarai's his sister.
- And guess what? Abram is right. The Egyptians think Sarai is a total babe. Even the higher-ups are telling the Pharaoh (a.k.a. the absolute ruler of Egypt) about this new supermodel in town.
- Pharaoh lets her hang in his court, and Pharaoh treats Abram very well. He even gives him a bunch of cool stuff: sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.
- Abram's loving it, but the deity has other ideas.
- The Lord unleashes devastating plagues upon Pharaoh and his whole household.
- A bell is ringing. It's telling you that this sounds an awful lot like the first twelve chapters of the biblical book of Exodus. Right?
- Pharaoh somehow realizes that the plagues are caused by the fact that he's harboring Abram's wife in his court. But the narrator is mum about how he figured it out.
- Pharaoh tells Abram to take his wife and get out of his face.
- But Abram gets to keep all his stuff. So he keeps his life and wife and gets a brand new Mustang, all while there's a famine in his own land.
- Abram's a crafty guy.