We are noting what happened to him when he left the promise land, Canaan, and ended going all the way down to Egypt.
First reason-The closer you get to Egypt, a type of the cosmic system, the more confused you become in your thinking.
Second reason-Irrationality characterizes the believer in reversionism and the more irrational you become, the more divisive you become in your thinking.
MAT 22:32 "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
It is the same one that in ROM 4:18 we are told that In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken,
It is the same one that in ROM 4:19, the Bible says was not weak in faith.
The same one that ROM 4:20 says yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
One of the main principles concerning the dispensation of Promise is that God is faithful to man even though man was not faithful to Him.
Abram promised to always take care of Sarah and now he wants her to lie and protect him instead of him protecting her.
He begins to see her beauty as a danger to his own personal safety just like we can begin to see our prosperity as a danger to our own personal security.
When he married her, beauty was definitely one of the considerations.
Now he's coming to Egypt and all of a sudden this beauty that he has enjoyed day in and day out, this beauty that he has treasured and has been a pleasure to him, suddenly becomes a great danger.
Prin-Abram the man is disappearing and Abram the wimp is coming on the scene (that's what happens us when we go down to Egypt).
Second prin-Satan's religion produces cowards.
Cowards who are told to lie in wait and fight and slay anyone who doesn't believe in Allah, as the Muslim Bible says in Surah 9:5.
Cowards who are told that they should beat their disobedient wives, Surah 4:34.
Cowards who are told to make war on unbelievers and hypocrites, and deal harshly with them." Surah 9:73.
Cowards who are told that it is Allah's wish to scourge others for their sins. Surah 5:49.
Cowards who are told in Surah 2:191 Kill transgressors or sinners wherever you catch them.
He ran from the famine in Canaan which was nothing more than a test.
PRO 28:1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.
PSA 53:5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been;
Abraham is now living in fear and because of that his appreciation for Sarah is gone.
The phrase "See now" is the Hebrew phrase hinneh-na which means listen to me please.
That "please" part is Abram begging Sarah to lie for him and to save his life.
It's very difficult for a man to have the attention of a woman when he is a occupied with himself and operating as a wimp.
A pre-occupied man loses the attention of his woman.
Abram says "Yadha-atti ki ishshah yephath-mar-eh att" translated "I know that you are a woman of great beauty."
Because Sarah made God's hall of fame, Heb 11:11.
Heb 11:11 By faith [by means of doctrine] even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised;
Abram is given her a compliment that is true but it's a front for his cowardice.
Sarai was extremely beautiful, her problem was she had a very bad disposition at this time, she was a horsy and bossy female at times, and too aggressive.
Prin-Abram is now setting this beautiful woman up for a proposal which reveals his cowardice, his weakness and his lack of manliness.
In the gaps where doctrine had departed from his soul, he has imagination, and anticipates all the problems, all the difficulties, and of course this is the way cowards live.
She has the right to disobey here because no woman has to obey her husband when he orders her to do something against the word of God, ACT 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men.
In a Christian marriage, the husband is given the role as head of the household, and the wife is expected to submit to the husband's leadership, Eph 5:22-33, Col 3:18-19.
She is his equal in terms of social and religious status; she is not inferior to him, 1Co 11:11.
In Islam, the husband is the custodian of his wife. She is considered to be in between a slave and free.
Muhammad's viewpoint of women was that they lack self-control, and therefore for their own good, and societies' good, they must be subordinate to their husbands.
By accepting his dowry (his property and money), a woman is giving her husband the right to her regulation.
In the Muslim religion, the wife is the husband's slave.
He did not want to see them beaten without cause.
If she persists in disobedience to his wishes he has the right, even the responsibility, to beat her, to bring her into submission once again, and re-establish a "happy" marriage.
Surah 4:34. Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the man more strength than the woman, and because they support them from their means.
Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in the husband's absence what Allah would have them guard.
As to those women on whose part you men fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them first, nest, refuse to share their beds, And last beat them; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means of annoyance: For Allah is Most High, great above you all.
EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;
COL 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter against them.
The first problem that Abram faced was worry.
Worry estimates circumstances from the perspective of one who faces the future as one who does not believe in a sovereign God Who is also a loving Father.
Faith grows as it is tested.
Abram will learn that it isn't what the Egyptians see that counts, it's what the Lord saw in eternity past and what He did about it.
Gen 26:8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. (KJV)
Gen 26:8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. (NKJ)
The RSV says Gen 26:8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his wife.
The Living Bible comes right out and says it, Gen 26:8 But sometime later, King Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac and Rebekah making love. (TLB)
In GEN 39:1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt;
In ISA 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
Abram is willing to and is going to sacrifice all of those around him to protect himself.
The answer to that is simple: All believers are two different people depending on their attitude toward the Word of God.
The beauty of Sarah, which Abram has enjoyed so much, has now become a source of misery.
The weaker vessel does not mean that she is weaker mentally, physically, or spiritually.....it means that she is the responder and you are responsible for filling up her vessel.
You see, up unto this point in our passage, Gen 12, Abram always emphasized Sarah's physical beauty but he has yet to penetrate her true beauty and see what her soul is really like.
1CO 11:7, the woman is the glory of man.
When a man invests nothing in his relationship or marriage, he can expect nothing in return.