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Abram denied his relationship with Sarai as his wife, Pharaoh takes Sarai as wife and incurred the wrath of God.

We must understand that Abram and Sarai lived in volatile and ungodly environment. Abram’s statement gives us a fair idea about the type of people he and the wife were dealing with. He said to Sarai his wife Genesis 12:11-12 when they were about to enter Egypt that, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Lucky Dube in his song entitled ‘It is not easy’ wrote that “A Beautiful woman is another man’s plaything, Oh Lord I’m hurting now” Abram knew that because his wife was blessed with extraordinary beauty, any ungodly and powerful man is likely to be attracted to her and to have her as ” a plaything” at his detriment. Abram was a vulnerable man in the midst of the ungodly becuase of his wife’s beauty. In a similar situation in *Genesis 20,“…Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’(Genesis 20:10-11) Abram had to come to an agreement with the wife to deliberately deny her as his wife before pegans but rather maintain the fact that she is his sister. Indeed we live in a world where some rich and powerful men do not fear God and feel they can have any woman they desire including the wives of other men. That is an abomination before God. In Genesis 12:17 we understand that … the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” In a similar situation in Genesis 20 , God said to Abimelech in a dream when he married Abram’s wife  “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”(Genesis 20:3) My dear friend, you need not be a believer to understand this truth, God hates the habit of interfering with a couple’s marriage and consequently marrying another person’s spouse.

Did Abram’s denial constitute a lie when he denied the fact that Sarai was his wife for the sake of his survival? The answer is yes and no, Surprised?! In Genesis 20, A similar situation transpired when Abimelech married Abram’s wife believing her to be the sister of Abram. In Genesis 20:12-13 Abram told Abimelech, “Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.” In other words Abram and Sarai are half siblings at the same time husband and wife. Abram for the sake of his survival among the ungodly developed the strategy of making  known the applicable fact within his peculiar situation. In Genesis 12:10-20 he did a similar thing to Pharaoh but concealed that which is to his detriment. A very interesting phenomenon.

It is important to note that Abram’s decision to deny his marrital relationship with the wife is not God’s direction but his own thinking and decision. It is important to again make reference to Genesis 20:10-11 , “And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’The emphasis here is “I did it because I thought” The question therefore is should a believer act on what he or she thinks or act according to the will of God. In other words, what shapes our decisions, is it what we think or what God directs? Jesus tell us in John 16:13 that *“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” We must endeavour to seek the will of God through prayer and Bible studies.

From all indications, God who had called Abram was faithful and continued to be with Him. Could he not have delivered him from a situation where his life was in danger because of the wife’s beauty? We realise that fear took over Abram than faith in these situations. A Christian who reads this Scripture passage must ask a fundamental question, what will Jesus say or do in this situation? In Luke 8:17 Jesus teaches that “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” If nothing can be hidden then we are encouraged to  speak the truth. Speaking the truth may sometimes lead to our death and that was what Abram envisaged but Christ’s example teaches us to speak the truth even to the point of death.  He demonstrated this in John 18:6-8 “When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”  It is difficult when  speaking the truth will lead to your persecution but “Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” (John 15:20-21) A denial of the the truth has no place in out Christian relationship and interaction with unbelievers.

We must seize every opportunity to let pagans and the ungodly know that we are servants of the Lord, our identity must not be concealed, perhaps our truth shall awaken their conscience to respond to the voice of God. If Abram had overcome fear with faith and had told Pharaoh and Abimelech the whole truth about His relationship with his wife, they would not have taken Sarai to be their wife respectively. Pharoah and Abimelech demonstrated that they fear God when they encounter him, They quickly returned Sarai with disappointment when they had the knowledge she was another man’s wife. The lesson is that the fact that we are believers does not make our actions right before our own eyes, our actions and inactions may mislead unbelievers if we act according to our own thoughts and feelings and not according to the will of God. May we always be guided by the Spirit of God to make the right decision to enable unbelievers come to the saving knowledge of Christ.