Behold Abram

BEHOLD, therefore, poor Abram. He resorts to lying when he could have been trusting. He succumbs to fear when he could have been confident. He makes excuses when he could have been resting. But worse than that, he was even willing to give his wife, Sarai, to become an adulteress to save his own skin. Believing Sarai to be Abram’s sister, the King calls for her and would make her his own wife. How perfectly awful the situation becomes! Is it possible that a believer can fall so low? Yes, indeed it is, and what a price such a believer too must ultimately pay.

Now comes the most wonderful exhibition of the grace of God in behalf of those who belong to Him, even though they are disobedient. While Abram was unfaithful, God remained faithful. We might expect God to say, “Well, Abram, you got yourself into this mess, now you can stew in your own fat. I am going to give you up. I’m all through with you. I’ll call somebody else.” Did God do anything of the kind? Listen to the record:

But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. – Genesis 12:17.

God plagued Pharaoh—not Abram. To be sure, God would deal with Abram also as we will see later, but He would not forsake His child even though the child was living in doubt and disobedience. He does not cast the disobedient, sinning believer away, but seeks to bring him back to forgive him and cleanse him. So God plagues Pharaoh’s house instead, until Pharaoh drives Abram and Sarai out of Egypt. God would not leave Abram there, even though He had to use this unbelieving king to drive him back to the place of obedience.

Adapted and Excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.