We are noting what happened to him when he left the promise land, Canaan, and ended going all the way down to Egypt.
Abraham 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.
There is a passage found in the book of Isaiah that gives us the confidence and security that God hears us and or desires and needs way back in eternity past.
ISA 65:24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
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)
RSV 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.
Living Bible 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)
The reason why the believer should not go down to Egypt because Egypt represents the world, or the cosmic system.
ISA 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
Egypt is not the place to go to for help!
Abraham is willing to go and is going to sacrifice all of those around him to protect himself.
This is what happens to the believer when he is carnal, he doesn't care if he hurts others with his carnality.
How can a person be so spiritual and on fire for God one day and then so fearful and cowardly the next?
All believers are two different people depending on their attitude toward the Word of God.
He is noble with honor and integrity when he is positive but when he is negative then he is a weak coward wimpy type just as Abraham.
"Look I want to live so go and have sex with the Egyptians."
PRO 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
The beauty of Sarah, which Abraham has enjoyed so much, has now become a source of misery.
Did he enjoy that beauty because of self-gratification or did he enjoy her beauty because he was so in love with her?
He always emphasized her beauty and he has yet to penetrate her true beauty and see what her soul is really like.
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.
One of the reasons Sarah may have been like this is because Abraham has not been investing anything in his relationship and filling up her vessel.
1CO 11:7, the woman is the glory of man.
Many times you can tell what type of man a woman is married to before you even meet the man.
She is a reflection of him......she is a responder.
When a man invests nothing in his relationship or marriage, he can expect nothing in return.
The woman's security is in the love of her husband not in the money he earns or his social prestige.
Sarah needed what every woman needs and wants, attention and love and protection from her man.
Gen 12, Abraham has turned into a scheming, lying, cowardly, conspirator.
He's plotting to deceive the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Abraham is weak and he is appealing to the strength of Sarah.
The weak in attacking the strong always appeal to the strength of the strong.
When a strong person attacks a weak person, he appeals to their weakness but when a weak person attacks a strong person, he appeals to their strong point.
At this stage, Sarah is in love with Abraham and she will do anything in the world for him, after all that's what true love does, right, that's her strong point.
True love cannot be found where it doesn't truly exist and it cannot be hidden where it truly does.
If a woman truly loves a man, she doesn't lie to him or disobey his wishes and then come up with lame excuses as to why she didn't follow through.
In Sarah's case, = "Love is blind."
Abraham uses Sarah's love to save his own miserable hide and to be willing to sacrifice her to the sexual lust of another man, the Pharaoh.
Love is her strength and Abraham appeals to her love.
God has promised Abraham that he would be a great nation in Gen 12:2. He would have a progeny which would be a great blessing and would occupy the land of Canaan, in Gen 12:7.
"I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
All you have to do is believe what God says and don't worry about what the world or Egypt has to say.
He doesn't have any children yet so either God is lying or his fears are unrealistic.
To trust God with your whole life and then not to trust Him with one circumstance is irrationality and inconsistency.
He is not saying "Because of God I'll live and be protected," but because of you I'll live."
"Please say," it the Qal imperative of the Hebrew verb amer, which is a command meaning "please answer," "please vouch," declare, or "promise what you're saying is true."
It is a half-true which is really the most evil, heinous, odious, atrocious lie.
The real truth is that this is his half-sister but it is his whole wife.
"Do this noble thing honey, you lie and then get yourself raped by a Pharaoh so I can be safe."
Prin-Selfishness and self-centeredness rob the believer of honor and integrity.
Second prin-Fear destroys love and turns the believer into a selfish monster who's willing to sacrifice anyone for his own survival.
Sarah may feel complimented but, in reality, she is being used by someone that she loves but someone who loves himself so much that there's no love left over for her.
An insecure and frightened person will always try to use you.
Prin-Sarah thinks that Abraham loves her as she is to be sacrificed to the sex lust of a heathen king.
- Abraham is willing to betray category-two love as the means of saving his own life.
- True category two love would protect Sarah but pseudo love betrays her.
- At this time, Abraham is a traitor to Sarah, not her lover and not her protector.
- Abraham would use Sarah's beauty to gratify his own lust and then turn around and betray her by exposing her to the lust of others.
- You cannot truly love someone else and think more of your own life then you do of theirs.
- One of the great things in category two love is to think more of someone else's life then you do of your own.
- Flattery is the facade of pseudo-love.
- No real man and no gentlemen would ever compromise a woman to gratify his own lust for survival.
- Selfishness destroys capacity for love, capacity for life, capacity for happiness.
- If a person thinks more of themselves than they do of doctrine, then they will think more of themselves then they do of others they allegedly love.