What does Genesis 12:12 mean?
Forced to immigrate with his large company into Egypt to escape a famine, Abram is worried about his safety. Why? His wife Sarai is a woman of great beauty. He is just an immigrant seeking food for his people. From Abram's perspective, this leads to a terrifying question: what's to keep the Egyptians from killing him to get his wife?Was Abram exaggerating Sarai's beauty or the potential danger? Sarai would have been 65 years old at this point, after all. And yet, as the following verses will show, the Egyptians were indeed smitten with Sarai's beauty. Abram's concern that other men would desire his wife, at the least, were not entirely unjustified.
What we will see, though, is that Abram is not justified in the fearful action he takes to protect himself. At the risk of his wife, he will tell a half-truth which winds up going wrong (Genesis 12:15–19).
Genesis 12:10–20 tells a story of Abram's fearfulness and God's faithful intervention to keep His promises. A famine forces Abram's large company to enter the land of Egypt in search of food. Pharaoh's sons quickly notice Sarai's great beauty, and Pharaoh takes her for one of his wives. This occurs because Abram, fearful for his life, has claimed that Sarai is his sister. In spite of Abram's lie and failure to trust Him, God afflicts Pharaoh's household for this dishonor, bringing the truth to light. Pharaoh, angry and fearful, sends Abram, Sarai, and the company back to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12 contains one of the key moments in the history of the world. God chooses Abram as the first step in building His people Israel. Abram obeys God's call, and heads into the land of Canaan, territory which God promises to Abram's offspring. Quickly, though, Abram fails a test of faith in the land of Egypt while seeking food in a famine. God does not fail, however, to step in to save Abram's family and protect His agenda for Abram's life.
