Key to wealth - God's unusual favour
The story of Abraham’s move into Egypt must be one of the most extra-ordinary stories of the favour of God recorded in the scriptures. Abraham had gone into Egypt to escape from famine. The story is recorded in Genesis 14.
When Abraham went into Egypt, it could not have been a small entrance. Genesis 14:14 (NKJV) gives us a clue about his extensive entourage.
‘Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
He had 318 trained men in his party. These were just the military personnel in his entourage and do not include servants, wives and children, along with the cattle, tents and equipment. He must have had farmers who would have been involved in agriculture, as part of their nomadic lifestyle. He would have also had herdsmen (people who cared for flocks or herds of any domesticated animal) as well as herders (men who worked directly with the animals). It was a large and perhaps noisy entourage that entered Egypt.
Pharaoh, it seems was a collector of beautiful women, which is why the princes of Pharaoh must have commended Sarah to him. Sarah, at this stage was in her seventies and very beautiful. Abraham lied to Pharaoh about Sarah being his sister. Although we know that Sarah was his half-sister, yet in this context, this was not the relationship that was between them. Abraham only told half the truth. Abraham showed fear because he was afraid of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh took Sarah into his house and. ‘He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.’ (Gen 12:16). All these things were the symbol of wealth in those days. But when Pharaoh found out the truth about Sarah’s relationship with Abraham, he sent him away with his wife and all he had. (Genesis 12:19)
Though Abraham displayed fear and made a mistake, we still see evidence of God’s blessing. Why? To start with, God’s covenant of blessing cannot be broken. God had promised to bless Abraham but beyond that I believe that God understood Abraham’s humanity, weakness and fear. Abraham’s life was one of growing faith and dependence upon God. There were times when his faith was weak, such as when he told Sarah to tell half-truths to save his life (Gen 12:11-20 and Gen 20:1-18) , when he questioned God when he and Sarah were unable to have children (Gen 15: 2-3), or even offering God an alternative when it seemed he and Sarah were not able to have children (Genesis 17:17-18).
However God was patient with Abraham and his faith grew. The ultimate evidence of his faith was when he was ready to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice to God. God was so committed to Abraham that he blessed him in the midst of Abraham’s mistakes. God essentially covered Abraham’s worst mistake and blessed Abraham through it. God looks at the heart. That’s why in Genesis 18:19, God stated that He knew that Abraham would command his children concerning Him (God).
David understood this as well. In Romans 4:6-8, it says:
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.
Abraham was so blessed by God that everything he did was blessed. He came out of Egypt a very wealthy man. This is nothing other than the favour of God. God does not condone sin; He deals with it and then covers it. God was teaching Abraham that it was all a matter of trust. God wanted Abraham to trust Him.
The bible records that after Pharaoh commanded Abraham to leave Egypt, Abraham came into more wealth (Genesis 13:1-4). Abraham was already rich in livestock but after he left Egypt he was rich in silver and gold as well.
As men and women of God, provided our hearts are right before God, and we are quick to repent, we can expect God to cover our sins, for God is no respecter of people.
About the Author: Ola Aroyehun is the editor of ‘The Christian Business Magazine’ – a magazine dedicated to applying biblical truths to the world of business. She has a desire to see Christians be ‘students’ of the word and not just ‘readers of the world’. For more information on wealthy people of the bible, register for the free newsletter at www.christianbusinessonthenet.com.
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