Abram was in the land, and this was the place of blessing. God never told him to leave.

But a famine was in the land, and I think one morning Abram pushed back the flap of his tent, looked out, and said, “Sarai, it looks like everybody’s going to Egypt. There’s a famine, you know, and it’s getting worse. Maybe we ought to think about going down.” And I suppose Sarai said, “Anything you want to do, Abram. I’m your wife and I’ll go with you.”

After a few days had gone by and Abram had talked to some of these travelers (probably coming from north of where he was living and bringing the news that the famine was getting worse and was moving south).

I imagine that he said to Sarai one evening, “I think we had better pack up and go to Egypt.”

So Abram and Sarai start down to Egypt. Notice that God had not told him to do that.

When God had appeared to him the last time, He had said, “This is it, Abram, this is the land I am going to give you. You will be a blessing, and I am going to bless you here.”

But, you see, Abram didn’t believe God. He went down into the land of Egypt.

In the Bible, Egypt is a picture of the world. You will find that all the way through. I think it is still a picture of the world. But Abram went down to Egypt.