This is especially true with the women of the
Bible. The women had to be extraordinary
individuals to be recorded at all—which is a real shame, but you can’t change
time. There are some who really stand
out to me, and my favorite woman of the Old Testament is easily Sarai, or as
she would later be called, Sarah.
Sarai’s father was Terah, who was also the father of
Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We know that
Sarai and Abram had different mothers (Gen. 20:12) and those two were married
while they lived in Ur. Even a
half-sibling marriage feels off to our modern sensibilities, but the laws
against incest have always been pretty loose in the early portions of the
Bible. The scripture makes a point early
on that “Sarai was barren; she had no child.” (Gen. 11:30)
Abram and Sarai did a lot of traveling in their
time. First, they traveled with Terah
from Ur to Canaan, in a land they called Haran, which is where Terah died—at
age 205, I might add (Gen. 11:32). I
want to know what dietary and exercise routine they followed.
They left Haran toward Canaan, with their nephew,
Lot, and “the souls they had gotten in Haran.” (Gen. 12:5) (I’ve been given to understand that the word
“gotten” in that sentence can also be interpreted as “made” or “converted.” This would imply that the couple had done a
fair amount of missionary work in Haran and won the souls to the gospel. This would also fit with Latter-day Saint
scripture, from the Book of Abraham, where Abraham says he took “the souls we
had won in Haran.” (Abr. 2:15))
There’s a bit of a travelogue from here as they went
several places within Canaan, although it is mentioned that they “journeyed,
going on still toward the south.” (Gen. 12:9)
Although the destinations continually change, the direction stays
consistent. And here’s where the story
gets interesting.
“And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went
down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to
enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that
thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the
Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will
kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for
thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.” (Gen. 12:10-13)
Abram has been regarded by some as a trickster
because of this. When they entered Egypt
and the Egyptians and princes of Pharaoh saw her, she was brought into
Pharaoh’s house. While Pharaoh treated
Abram very well for Sarai’s sake, (there is some implication that Pharaoh gave
Abram a lot of wealth in cattle and servants), the Lord sent a plague on
Pharaoh and his house because he took Sarai away from her husband. As a result, Sarai was returned to Abram and
they left, taking all their wealth with them.
When they left Egypt went “into the south” (Gen. 13:1) it’s stated that
“Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” (Gen. 13:2)
The argument I’ve heard about Abram being sneaky is
an fascinating one. I mean, he goes to a
kingdom, lies about his relationship, makes a lot of treasure, and when his con
is exposed, he leaves with his victims (the Egyptians) suffering while he comes
out a very rich man. It’s like Abram had
this idea on his own and the Lord supported him in that endeavor because of
their covenant together. The Book of
Abraham, though, adds a unique perspective to this story:
“And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards
the south; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I,
Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine
became very grievous. And it came to
pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold,
Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon; Therefore it shall come to
pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they
will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this
wise: Let her say unto the Egyptians, she
is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.
And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the
Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister,
that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of
thee.” (Abr. 2:21-25, emphasis added)
Looking at this passage, it shows that going to
Egypt was entirely Abram’s decision,
but when he was about to cross the boundary, the Lord warned him of danger and
told him how to avoid it. It wasn’t
Abram’s plan to deceive the Egyptians, but he was obeying a commandment from
the Lord.
It also tells me a great deal about Sarai’s her
relationship with her husband. It says
that Abram told her everything that
the Lord had told him, making them both completely honest with each other and
they were equal participants in their endeavors. After all, it wasn’t Abram commanded to tell
the others she was his sister. She was the one who did the
speaking. She actually took an active
role in following the Lord’s command.
And because of their obedience, they were blessed in abundance.
Also, we can learn a great deal about faith from
her. This was not any easy thing they
were doing, keeping their marriage secret from the most powerful man in that
country. Yet she didn’t shrink from that
task, even though she surely could not have known how the story would end. Not only was she successful in keeping her
husband safe, keeping her faith increased them through that dangerous period.
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