The Temptation of Egypt
Read Genesis 12:10–20. Why did Abram leave the Promised Land
to go to Egypt? How did the pharaoh behave in comparison to
Abram?

Ironically, Abram, who has just arrived in the Promised Land, decides
to leave it for Egypt because “there was a famine in the land” (Gen. 12:10,
NKJV). Evidence of people from Canaan going into Egypt in times of
famine is well attested in ancient Egyptian texts. In the Egyptian teaching
of Merikare, a text composed during the period of the Middle Kingdom
(2060–1700 b.c.), people coming from Canaan are identified as “miser-
able Asiatic” (aamu) and described as “wretched . . . short of water . . . he
does not dwell on one place, food propels his legs.”—Miriam Lichtheim,
Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
(Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1973), pp. 103, 104.
The temptation of Egypt was often a problem for the ancient
Israelites (Num. 14:3, Jer. 2:18). Egypt, thus, became a symbol of
humans trusting in humans rather than in God (2 Kings 18:21; Isa.
36:6, 9). In Egypt, where water could be seen on a daily basis, faith
was not necessary, for the promise of the land was immediately visible.
Compared to the land of famine, Egypt sounded like a good place to
be, despite what God had said to Abram.
The Abram who now leaves Canaan contrasts with the Abram who
left Ur. Before, Abram was portrayed as a man of faith who left Ur
in response to God’s call; now, Abram leaves the Promised Land by
himself, of his own volition. Before, Abram relied on God; now he
behaves like a manipulative and unethical politician who counts only
on himself. “During his stay in Egypt, Abraham gave evidence that he
was not free from human weakness and imperfection. In concealing the
fact that Sarah was his wife, he betrayed a distrust of the divine care, a
lack of that lofty faith and courage so often and nobly exemplified in
his life.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 130.
What we see here, then, is how even a great man of God can make
a mistake and yet not be forsaken by God. When the New Testament
talks about Abraham as an example of salvation by grace, it means just
that—grace. Because, if it weren’t by grace, Abraham, like all of us,
would have had no hope.
What should this story teach us about how easy it is, even for
faithful Christians, to stray from the correct path? Why is dis-
obedience never a good choice?