Guided by Hunger

According to the relief organization Oxfam, one definition of famine is when one out of five households experience an extreme lack of food resulting in starvation, death, and destitution. The most destructive feature of famine may not be starvation but the disease and poverty that accompany it.

Given its destructive power, we may be surprised to see how often God used famine to guide His people in the Old Testament. Today’s reading tells how Abraham was diverted from his journey to Canaan by famine. He went to Egypt, where he asked his wife, Sarah, to tell a half-truth about her relationship to him.

Abraham was motivated by fear, despite God’s promise to bless him and make him a great nation. That fear is understandable—Abraham appeared to be caught between the danger of famine and the danger of Pharaoh’s power to enslave or kill him. But this fear forgot God’s promises, faithfulness, and power. This fear blinded Abraham to the third choice: trusting in God to provide. In the end, God protected Sarah’s virtue and Abraham’s life by inflicting serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household (v. 17).

Here is another strange account of God’s servants. Was Abraham being wise or foolish when he asked Sarah to withhold the full truth about her relationship to him? Was this an example of his faith or faithlessness? The text renders a judgment through the lips of Pharaoh (vv. 18–19). Abraham’s salvation didn’t come from his lies but from the powerful work of God.

The story makes clear that God will make good on His promises. This incident also gives us a hint of the significant place Egypt will have in the life of God’s people and the role that God will play as their deliverer.

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BY Dr. John Koessler

John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the “Practical Theology” column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor. An award-winning author, John’s newest title is When God is Silent: Let the Bible Teach You to Pray (Kirkdale). Prior to joining the Moody faculty, he served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years. He and his wife, Jane, now enjoy living in a lakeside town in Michigan.