How should we understand the idea that Abram left the land of promise to go to Egypt? Certainly, many scholars view it as backsliding and an expression of unbelief, or at least it expresses a weakness in Abram’s faith. Nevertheless, the Lord neither warned him against going to Egypt, nor did he rebuke him, upon his return to the Land of Canaan. We need to keep in mind, as we consider these things, that it is possible to go too far in our interpretation of the text (1Corinthians 4:6). What is written in scripture, cannot be broken (John 10:35), vis-à-vis it cannot be made to contradict itself. If we think one text contradicts another text, it is probable that we are misunderstanding what’s written. Likewise, if we add to the text, what isn’t there, the text is no longer the word of God (cp. Revelation 22:18-19). Therefore, it is with fear and trembling that we approach the word of God (cp. Philippians 2:12).
Later, we can see, clearly, that Abraham understood that the Lord did not want him or his descendants to return to the land God called him out from (cp. Genesis 24:4-8). Therefore, it seems safe to assume the Lord didn’t forbid Abram to go into Egypt to avoid the famine in the land. Either way, whether he stayed in the land or went to Egypt, Abraham would have trouble. Famine meant that the Canaanites would preserve more of the land for themselves, and Abram would have nothing or close to nothing for his family. Nevertheless, traveling to Egypt would also put his family at risk, but he seemed willing to trade one set of problems for another. There is no such thing as a trouble-free life for the people of God. The Lord wants us to make decisions for our lives, while keeping him in mind. I don’t believe Abram left the Lord in the land of promise, while he went to Egypt. It is evident that the Lord went with Abram, and there is no reason to believe that Abram wasn’t mindful of his presence.
In the Garden of Eden, nothing was restricted from man except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17), and in the context of Abram’s call, Ur in the land of Mesopotamia represented the Tree of Knowledge. Returning there, would have been rebellion. In fact, isn’t that where the Lord put Israel, when they rebelled? Their captivity in Babylon represented their returning to the land of Mesopotamia (Babylon), because they had rebelled, vis-à-vis eating the forbidden fruit. As for Abram, going to Egypt, that would be a learning experience, not rebellion or even a lack of faith. It was a life decision, and Abram discovered, first hand, what the Lord meant by saying, he would bless them who blessed Abram, and curse them who cursed him. Pharaoh thought he was king, but in the end, he trembled in Abram’s presence.
I don’t mean to imply that national leaders will tremble in the presence of God’s people, but I do mean to say that the Lord will be with us in the decisions we make. In a sense, there are no bad decisions (except rebellion),[1] because we learn from every decision we make, even our mistakes are okay, if we make the Lord a part of what we do. The Lord blessed Abram, while he was in Egypt, which implies that Abram wasn’t doing anything wrong by going down to Egypt. Therefore, there is no reason to condemn ourselves, for the decisions we make, as long as we know what we do isn’t forbidden by God. Even if what we do isn’t wise, the Lord will be with us, and we’ll learn to be wise, as well as learning more about God and our relationship with him from the experience.
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[1] Rebellion for the believer is to return to the world in an effort to get what we want and to solve our problems. We can’t physically leave the world. However, it would be rebellion to go to the world to give us what we pray to God for.
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