In Spite Of Not Because Of

I read the story of Abraham (or in these early chapters Abram) I’m struck by how ordinary he is. He apparently does nothing that would warrant special attention from God. In fact, he appears to commit a grievous sin. He instructs his wife Sarai (later Sarah) to lie about who she is as they enter Egypt. Sarai is very beautiful and far younger than Abram who is seventy five years old at this point. However, we can also assume that as people lived incredibly long lives at this time, they also stayed young for much longer than we do. So Sarai may very well have been much older than women in childbearing years are now and retained the youthful looks of a twenty to thirty something woman. She was so beautiful that Abram fears that the Egyptian pharaoh will want her, so he instructs her that she will be called his sister. He is afraid that he will be killed if they think she is his wife.

Which, as it turns out, the pharaoh does think she is so beautiful that he takes her into the palace with the purpose of possibly becoming his wife and he rewards Abram with all kinds of riches.

This makes God angry and he punishes the court. Pharoah recognizes what is happening and is angry with Abram for lying about Sarai. But instead of taking out his wrath on Abram or Sarai, he simply kicks them out and allows them to leave with the riches he bestowed upon them.

So what do I get from this disturbing story? After all, Abram put Sarai in danger of being raped. She may have been. One could argue that he prostituted her and he received the pay for it.

It appears that God blesses people not because of their righteousness, but in spite of their lack of righteousness. That God is forgiving and patient. That whatever sins we may have done there is still hope that He will not abandon us. That we cannot thwart the plans of God through our misbehaviour.

None of that is an excuse for sin. We live in a time post Jesus and so are held to a higher standard than those who did not have the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Still it can give us comfort to read the stories of these highly imperfect people and know that in spite of our imperfections and sins, God loves us and wants to bless us. Even the most ordinary of us.