The Imperfect Faith of Abraham

Is This Faith?

Scripture
Genesis 16-21

Observation
In chapter 15 we read that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness, yet it is surprising how immediately in the next chapter he demonstrates a lack of faith by following Sarah's suggestion and sleeping with her maidservant.

This apparent lack of faith is also evident when he is in Gerar, in the land of the Philistines. As he did in Egypt, Abraham asks Sarah to claim that she is his sister. Of note here is the fact that generations later the Israelites were severely oppressed by both the Philistines and the Egyptians, not to mention the Arabs, the children of Abraham's illegitimate son.

I can't help but wonder, however, if the powerful prayer of Abraham that reopened the wombs of the women in Abimelech's household, overflowed to his wife, because in the very next verse we read that God's promise to Sarah was fulfilled and she became pregnant.

Interpretation
The law of sowing and reaping is evident here. In these chapters I am reminded of how critical it is for us to be honest and upright in our dealings, or the consequences of our sins may come back to haunt us.

The story of Abraham asking Sarah to pass herself off as his sister lodged itself in my mind today, particularly since he did this twice. I believe that Abraham was genuinely afraid for his life, but did he not care about his wife? What did he intend to do if the king slept with her, live complacently beside him? Was he expecting God to intervene? Did he have a back-up plan of maybe destroying the king if he violated his wife? This does not seem consistent with the man of faith.

We know that the evidence of Abraham's faith was in his willingness to leave his homeland, his willingness to believe that God would give him an inheritance through his blood line when he was past child-bearing age, and his willingness to sacrifice his son if necessary. He put his life on the line for Lot and he gave up the superior land to his nephew. I just do not understand his giving up his wife, so to speak, to preserve his own life.

All I can conclude is that fear and deception plagued the great men of the Bible and today these two faults still trip up leaders. God chose to Abraham to be the father of a great nation despite his human imperfections. It is striking to think how the course of history can be affected by the actions of one man! We can never tell what influence our choices may have.

Prayer
Father, you intervened in Abraham's life. I thank you that you have intervened in my life so many times, when I was inclined to speak or act inappropriately. I thank you for fixing my mistakes. I thank you for the numerous times you have guided me. I thank you that I am able to respond to you in faith, although sometimes imperfectly. I thank you that faith is our ticket to righteousness. I thank you that at one point in history you chose a man named Abraham to be the father of the nation through whom you would unveil your loving plan of redemption.