Abram's Deception

The Cost of Deceit

 11  When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,   12  and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.   13  Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”  - Genesis 12:11-13 ESV

After the death of his father Terah, the Lord God appeared to Abram and told him to leave Haran and travel to a land He would show them. God promised to make Abram and his descendants into a great nation and through them to bring blessing to all the families of the earth:

 1  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.   2   And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.   3   I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - Genesis 12:1-3 ESV

Abram obeyed God and arrived in Canaan. It does not appear that he was there long before a great famine forced him and his wife Sarai to go to Egypt. Despite the fact that God had promised to make him a great nation, Abram feared for his life in that land. The source of that fear was in his beautiful wife Sarai. He anticipated that when the Egyptians saw her and knew that he was her husband, they would kill him and take her from him. As they neared the Egyptian border, Abram spoke to his wife Sarai and said:

 11  … “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,   12  and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.   13  Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”  - Genesis 12:11-13 ESV

Abram’s plan was to tell the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister. This way, they would treat him well for her sake and his life would be spared. 

As Abram suspected, when the princes of Egypt saw Sarai they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. Sarai was taken from Abram and placed in Pharaoh’s harem. There in his harem Sarai would undergo a series of beauty treatments and preparations to become one of Pharaoh’s concubines. 

Genesis 12:16 tells us that for his “sister,” Pharaoh richly rewarded Abram with sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys and camels. We can only imagine what it would have been like for Sarai in those days, separated from everything she ever knew, wondering what lay ahead for her future. 

Consider what is taking place here. God told Abram that He would richly bless him and make him a great nation. How would that promise be fulfilled? Would it not be through Abram’s wife Sarai? Through his deception, Abram gives away the instrument through which that wonderful purpose of God would be accomplished. For this, he was rewarded with the riches of Egypt.  Somehow I can almost see Satan smiling from ear to ear, believing that he had defeated the purpose of God for Abram, the Jewish people, and the blessing of every nation through him.

Abram’s actions did not thwart the purpose of a sovereign God. Genesis 12:17 tells us that He “afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” We are not told how Pharaoh was able to trace those plagues back to Abram but he did. This meant that Abram was called to stand before Pharaoh, who confronted him with his deception, returned his wife and deported them both from the nation.

At this point in his life, Abram appears to be living a nomadic life with no permanent home. After leaving Haran in modern day Syria, Abram settled in Bethel (Genesis 12:8). Because of the famine in Canaan, he took Sarai, and went down to Egypt (Genesis 12:10). After being deported from Egypt he returned to Bethel (Genesis 13:2-3). As we come to Genesis 20:1 we now find him in the Philistine town of Gerar. The king of Gerar was Abimelech.

Notice what took place in Gerar. 

 2  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. - Genesis 20:2 ESV. 

Understand here that Sarah was not innocent in this matter. Genesis 20:4 tells us that she also participated in the deception by telling Abimelech that Abraham was her brother and hiding the fact that they were married.

 5  Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”  - Genesis 20:5 ESV

Abimelech’s intention was to add Sarah to his harem and make her one of his concubines. We are not told how long Sarah was in Abimelech’s home, but it was long enough for his household to understand that something was wrong. Genesis 20:17-18 tells us that during this time, God “closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah.”  None of the women in his household could get pregnant. To understand that this was taking place would have required a significant number of months. 

After closing the wombs of the female members of Abimelech’s household, God appeared in a dream to the king and revealed the reason for this. He told Abimelech that Sarah was Abraham’s wife. He threatened to kill the king if he did not return Sarah to her husband. When Abimelech protested and reminded God that he had not touched Sarah, God told him that He had been protecting her. God preserved Sarah for Abraham and the purpose he had for them as a couple.

The truth revealed, Abimelech wasted no time calling Abraham into his presence and rebuking him for his deception. The Philistine king offered sheep, oxen male and female servants to Abraham as well as a thousand pieces of silver as compensation for taking his wife from him. 

God protected Sarah these two times. Abraham became a wealthy man through his deception. If God protected Sarai and Abram was enriched, was the deception worth it? Did everything turn out for good in the end? To answer these questions we need to look more closely at the result of Abraham and Sarah’s deception. 

Consider first the effect of Abram’s deception on his marriage. While the Bible does not speak about this, unfaithfulness in marriage is a serious matter. Sarai was taken by two men who wanted her to be their concubine. This was a direct result of Abram’s deliberate deception. What wife could seriously respect her husband’s relationship with her if he was willing to give her away to spare his own life, not once but twice? There had to be a price for this deception in Abram’s relationship with Sarai.

Next, consider the cost of Abram’s deception on his relationship with God. He conceived of this idea to say Sarai was his sister because he did not trust God to protect him, despite the fact that He had promised to make him a great nation. He did not honour his wife through whom that nation would come. He willingly put her in a situation where she would be guilty of adultery. He purposely deceived two kings about his relationship with Sarai. Would these things not affect his fellowship with God in those days? 

Note next the effect of this deception on his family. In Genesis 12:16 we read how Pharaoh gave Abram sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants and camels for his “sister Sarai.” When the truth was uncovered, Pharaoh deported Abram and he returned to Bethel. There in Bethel, Abram's blessing from Pharaoh meant that his livestock and herds were so plentiful that there was no room in the land for him and Lot (see Genesis 13:6-7). Lot was forced to separate from Abram and chose to go to the fertile Jordan Valley and settled in the city of Sodom. That choice was a bad one for Lot and he lost everything he had in the fiery brimstone sent by God to destroy the city. How much of that loss was a result of Abram’s ill-gotten gain obtained from Pharaoh by deceit?

As we consider the effect of Abram’s deceit on his family we can’t help but take note of what took place with his very own son Isaac in Genesis 26. Because of a famine in Canaan, Isaac went with his wife Rebelaj to the Philistine city of Gerar where Abram had deceived king Abimelech in Genesis 20. Notice what Isaac told the men of that city when they took note of his beautiful wife:

 7  When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.  - Genesis 26:7 ESV

Isaac does the same thing to his wife as Abram did to Sarai. That deceptive nature was passed down to Isaac who followed his father’s example. Could Abram be proud of the example he set for his family? Did his example cause his son to fall into the same trap?

Beyond the consequences to his marriage, relationship with God and his family was the effect his deception had on other people. Consider what took place in the palace of Pharaoh. Genesis 12:17 tells us that “God afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” Notice the phrase, “great plagues.” We are not told what those plagues were or how many people suffered as a result. Understand, however, that this was such a serious matter that Pharoah, daring not to kill Abram, deported him and his wife from his land as unwelcomed guests. 

A similar thing happens when Abram deceived Abimelech. God appeared to Abimilech in a dream and said: “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken for she is a man’s wife” (Genesis 20:3). The king’s life was put in jeopardy as a result of Abram’s actions. This was a crime worthy of death in many countries. We learn also from Genesis 20:17-18 that God struck the slaves and women in the whole house of Abimelech with sterility so that none of them could bear children. Only when Abimelech returned Sarai and Abram prayed for him did God heal the women of that household. 

Abram profited from his deception in sheep, oxen, camels, donkeys and servants. God protected Sarai from his lies but there was a cost. The lives of two kings were put at jeopardy. Plagues and diseases afflicted the families Abram deceived. His wife was forced twice into a compromising position. We are left to wonder how much his actions impacted Lot and the loss of his wealth and family. Did his son Isaac repeat his sin because of stories he had heard about his father? His testimony before the people of two nations was tarnished and the kings of those nations distrusted him. One of those kings deported him from his country for his deception.

The question we are left to answer is this: Were the sheep and donkeys worth the price he paid for his deception in the end?  You may profit from your deception, but be assured that there will always be a price to pay.