And it came to pass when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Abram enters Egypt, and the very thing he feared begins to happen: the Egyptians notice his wife. Commentators trace the trouble back past this moment, to the step into Egypt itself.
One writer traces everything back to the first step.
But it was the first step that was wrong — Abram went down into Egypt. He went down without God, out of the land of faith and promise. He could not expect to meet God there. God could not bless unbelief, though He might still judge the sin that acted wrongly in it. His heart did not know Him in power there. He had to act on something, so he acted carefully on his own resources. But he had departed from faith in God, and faithfulness to his wife's true position with her real husband departed too. He was blessed in the world — yes, and by the prince of this world — for his unfaithfulness.
Abram's plan aimed to keep Sarai out of danger. It delivered her straight into it. One commentator sets this beside the tower of Babel, where the same reversal happened.
Unbelief carries its own judgment. It constantly leads into the very evil one seeks to avoid. As it has been said, "The sons of men would build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram fears that Pharaoh will take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. And so Pharaoh takes her into his house."
One writer reads the couple as a picture of Christ and the church. The denial of that bond is the heart of the failure.
The consequence came at once. He denied the holy separation from the world, and the union with Christ, that belonged to the church. She was his sister, not his wife. That may be true in one sense, but it was deadly in what it really meant for the faith of God's chosen. She was very beautiful to look at, for God had put His beauty upon her. She was His daughter, the object of His love, and also the bride of Christ the Son. She was admired in the world.
Abram had not made up the word "sister". That is what made it so dangerous.
The simple trick Abram suggested to Sarai was not an outright lie. Sarai really was his half-sister, as we find in Genesis 20:12. Yet it worked out terribly. It was just that kind of half-truth, or half-lie, which has so often been a snare to true saints of God. Men of the world may do such things and appear to gain by it. But if saints of God come down to that level, they are always losers in the end.
Abram's plan protected him and exposed her. Another writer follows that self-protection through to any believer who blends in with the world.
We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself. He is not trying to protect Sarai. He is ready to sacrifice her to save himself. … You will find that if you come down to the level of the world, and get on easy terms with the men of the world, your lips will pick up the language of the world. Then you will be ashamed to confess your true relationship to Christ. One sad result of this denial of relationship was that Sarai ended up in the house of Pharaoh. What a difference from being in the house of God! The way to get the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ.
Abram came out of Egypt richer than he went in. That is the warning.
He had gone down into Egypt at the outset, when there was a famine in the land. While Sarah was in "the house of Pharaoh" he acquired cattle and Egyptian riches in abundance. A man may get what satisfies his nature, and seem to be doing very comfortably, while he is far from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in should have broken his heart, and made him feel where he and his wife were.
One writer sets this scene inside a longer conflict. The promised line itself was the target.
For a long time there was no clue to show which line the promised seed would come through. Then Abram was called, and Satan fixed his eye on him at once. He tried on three different occasions to swamp the separated line with the nations outside. Twice Sarah was exposed: first in the house of Pharaoh, then in the house of Abimelech. His third attempt, with the same aim, was with Rebecca… All this was to prevent the coming of the true Seed.
- Step. The failure did not start with the Egyptians' stare. It started at the border, when Abram went down into Egypt without God.
- Fear. Unbelief produces the very danger it schemes to escape — the plan to save Sarai is what put her in Pharaoh's house.
- Denial. The way to the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ. A half-truth is enough to do it.
- Gain. Egypt paid well and left him with no altar, so that every new possession should have been a wound.
- Target. Sarah in Pharaoh's house was one move in a longer conflict, aimed at the line through which the promised Seed would come.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Abram's half-truth now bears fruit: the wife he called his sister ends up in the king's house. What happens when a step taken for safety hands the thing we love most to the world?
Verse 15 is not where the trouble started. Commentators trace it back to a famine, and to a decision made without reference to God.
In Abraham's history the test came in the form of a famine. It was a severe test, for "the famine was severe in the land." If the LORD allows the famine, the LORD can surely meet the needs of His own in the famine. But under the pressure of his need, Abraham lets the circumstances come between his soul and the LORD. Instead of calling on the LORD, he followed mere reason, or common sense. For a time he stepped out of the path of faith and "went down to Egypt." Instead of counting on God to sustain him, he goes down to the world for help.
Abram called Sarai his sister so that this would not happen. One writer sees the same pattern in an earlier story.
It was unbelief, which constantly produces in judgment the very evil it seeks to avoid. The sons of men wanted to build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram feared that Pharaoh would take his wife, so he says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. And therefore Pharaoh takes her into his house. But it was the first step that was wrong: Abram went down to Egypt.
The next verse records that Abram was treated well and grew wealthy. That prosperity is read here not as approval but as an accusation, because in Egypt he built nothing to God.
A man may get what satisfies nature, and seem to be going on very comfortably, when far off from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in ought to have broken his heart, and made him feel where he himself and his wife were.
Another writer weighs the same gain against the shame attached to it:
Everything now flourishes outwardly. Abram had never been so rich… But how was it all gained? Oh, if only Abram had come before the Lord now! If he had placed himself before Him who appeared to him, every single thing he gained would have been a wound in his heart. And the wound would have been sharper still, because it came through denying his wife.
One writer reads Abram and Sarai here as a picture of Christ and the church. The husband hid the true bond, and the wife ended up in the world's house.
Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he has sought help and refuge. And he denies his true relationship with his wife… The world cherishes him, and God at last judges that world, sending Abram out from it again. During this whole period, until he returned to the place from which he started, he had no altar. What a warning for Christians about the relationship of the church with Christ! And however much the world may be a help to the church, we cannot keep that relationship when we seek the world's help.
God does not leave Sarai there. He acts, but in a way that spares Abram nothing.
The Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even thin down Abram's servants. Instead, "He afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." … The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was using his position to claim what did not belong to him. … If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to shame. The world itself reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God, and he went without honour.
Abram feared Pharaoh, and one writer points out how needless that fear turned out to be.
Abram also finds that his fears were groundless. Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer. … While Pharaoh gives Sarai back to Abram, he does not expect Abram to stay there. He tells him to "take her, and go" (v. 19), and "they sent him on his way with his wife and all that he had" (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to this point of realisation, for it is only His working that brings about restoration.
- Step — The famine was the test. Abram never asked whether God could keep him there. Verse 15 is the fruit of that first wrong move.
- Fear — Unbelief hands over the very thing it tries to protect. He lied to keep his wife, and lost her to Pharaoh's house.
- Gain — Egypt paid him well, and he had no altar there. Prosperity gained away from God should have wounded him, not comforted him.
- Shame — God shielded Sarai and struck Pharaoh, yet let the king deliver the rebuke. He came without God and went without honour.
- Return — The world sent him out; God was behind it. Restoration is His work, and it leads back to the altar he left.
And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels.
Abram's detour into Egypt ends with him richer than he has ever been. Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants and camels, because Sarai was now in the royal house. One uncomfortable question hangs over the verse: what does it mean when a believer's wealth grows at the very moment his faith has failed?
The gifts came out of the half-truth Abram and Sarai had agreed on. Wealth like this says nothing about the state of a man's soul.
Pharaoh enriched Abram for Sarai's sake, giving him sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants (v. 16). A believer who mingles with the world and compromises his testimony for Christ in this way may often prosper materially. But should this not have greatly troubled Abram's conscience? Was he not also deeply disturbed to have his wife welcomed into the house of another man? Here were complications he had clearly not expected, and he found himself helpless to get out of them.
The list of livestock and servants is not a reward but a receipt. Each item bore the mark of who gave it, and of what Abram gave up to get it.
He had denied the bond, and given up what was essential in their relationship. By that he gained plenty and ease from the hand of the prince of this world: "he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels." But was this any comfort to him? … Every camel, every servant, every ox passed before his eyes with the stamp of Pharaoh's kindness on it. How each one must have struck Abram's heart with the thought, "But where is my wife? I have sold my wife for this!"
Before Egypt, Abram had a tent and an altar — the marks of a man passing through and a man who worshipped. In Egypt he keeps neither.
But Abram leaves this land. He gives way, for the moment, to the heavy trial, and turns his steps down to Egypt, leaving behind him his tent and altar. There he obtained ease and luxury. He escaped, no doubt, the severe trial he had suffered under in the land of promise. But he lost, for the time, his worship and his place as a stranger — things that should always be dearest to the heart of a pilgrim. Egypt would give nothing to Abram unless he sacrificed his character both as a stranger and as a worshiper of God.
Verse 16 does not close the account. What Abram gathered in Egypt travelled back with him and shaped his household for years.
It was in the land of Egypt that Pharaoh treated him well for Sarah his wife's sake — a shameful affair. For her sake "he had sheep, oxen … and camels" (Genesis 12:16). Hagar the Egyptian (Genesis 16:3) later caused such sorrow and trouble in his household, and became the mother of Ishmael. Was she one of those "maidservants" given to Abraham for Sarah's sake in Egypt? It seems very likely that she was.
The same wealth later drove a wedge between Abram and his nephew Lot, who had been travelling with him.
In the case of Abraham and Lot, their material riches became the occasion of division. We may well ask, "Where were these riches acquired?" When Abraham first entered the path of faith, and Lot went with him, they took "all their substance." But it caused no strife (Gen. 12:5). In Egypt, however, Abraham acquires great wealth, so that after his restoration we read that he was "very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold."
Some writers read the episode as more than one man's failure. Abram denied his true relationship with his wife to stay safe among strangers. That denial becomes a pattern.
Pressed by circumstances, he does not consult God. He finds himself in the presence of the world, where he has sought help and refuge. He denies his true relationship with his wife — just as has happened in the case of the church. The world cherishes him, and God at last judges that world and sends Abram out from it again. During this whole period, and until he had returned to the place he started from, he had no altar. … And however much the world may be a help to the church, we cannot keep up this relationship when we seek that help.
The verse leaves the reader with a choice between two ways of living.
Here then is the question for the Christian. Which shall I have — the gold and silver, the flocks and herds, the present ease and wealth of Egypt, or the tent and altar of "the land of promise"? Which shall I have: the earthly ease and delight of the world, or a peaceful, holy walk with God here and eternal blessedness and glory afterwards? We cannot have both, for "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
- Gain. Abram leaves Egypt richer than he arrived. Wealth can follow compromise as easily as it follows obedience.
- Cost. The livestock came from Pharaoh because Sarai was in Pharaoh's house; every animal reminded him of what he had traded away.
- Loss. In Egypt he had no tent and no altar. The wealth came in where worship and pilgrim life went out.
- Carryover. Egypt's gifts followed him home — most likely Hagar among the maidservants, who later brought sorrow into his household.
- Choice. You cannot have both Egypt's ease and the tent and altar of the land of promise. The verse asks which one you are collecting.
And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
Abram had gone down to Egypt to escape a famine, passed his wife off as his sister, and lost her to Pharaoh's house. He could do nothing to undo it, so God acted — and the blow fell on the ruler who took her, not on the man who lied. (Older translations say "plagued" where the ESV says "afflicted.")
Abram had failed badly, and he had to live with what his failure cost. Commentators point to this verse as proof that God does not give up on His people when they break down.
Yet, despite all failure, God is faithful to His own. God's gifts and calling are never taken back. God does not give up His people when they break down. He acts on our behalf, though in the way He governs us we have to suffer for our folly. So God acted on behalf of His failing servant.
The blow could have fallen on Abram's own household. It did not, and Pharaoh was no innocent party.
Still, the Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even cut down the number of Abram's servants. Instead, "he plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." How striking the ways of the Lord are, and how full of instruction they are for us! The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was taking advantage of his position to claim what did not belong to him.
The reason God gives is a marriage. Commentators set this verse in a chain: God has guarded marriage at every stage of His dealings with people, long before He gave any law.
Marriage was God's provision for His creatures. He set it up before the Fall, and He continued it afterwards. Before the law, He upheld it as something no one may break (Gen. 12:17; 20:3). Under the law, He guarded it with direct commands (Ex. 20:14, 17). The Lord reaffirmed how holy it is (Matt. 19:3-9), and the New Testament declares it honourable for everyone (Heb. 13:4).
Protection here is not approval. God shielded Abram and Sarai, then let the consequences of Abram's scheme come back on him.
"And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife." What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His straying servant with the shield of His powerful protection. That shield kept both Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue safe, while the Lord's righteous rod fell heavily on the house of Egypt's king… Abraham had plainly exposed himself in all this. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.
The plagues woke Pharaoh up, and the man who did not know God ended up speaking the truth to the man who did.
The Lord stepped in so powerfully with the plagues on Pharaoh's house that even that pagan king woke up to the facts and acted rightly. And not only so, but he also rebuked Abram. Now it is a sorry situation when a man of the world can rightly rebuke a man of faith. But so it was here, and so, sadly, it has too often been since. Let us all be concerned that we do not find ourselves in such a situation.
The truth came out, but not from Abram. Commentators read that exposure as a mercy for him, not a punishment.
But the Lord stepped in with grace and sent great plagues on Pharaoh and his household (v. 17). We are not told whether Pharaoh asked why the plagues came, but he did find out that Sarai was Abram's wife. Whether or not we are willing to confess the truth, God will certainly bring it out. This is a great mercy for the child of God.
Pharaoh sends Abram out of Egypt, and that is exactly what Abram needed.
Pharaoh gives Sarai back, but he does not expect Abram to stay. He tells him to "take her, and go" (v. 19), and sends him away with his wife and all that he had (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to see it, for only His working brings restoration.
- Failure. Abram's lie put his wife in Pharaoh's house, and the trouble he caused fell on the man he had deceived.
- Faithfulness. God does not drop His people when they break down — He acted for a failing servant.
- Justice. This was God's righteous government, not favouritism. Pharaoh used his position to take what was not his, and God guards marriage as something no one may break.
- Rebuke. A shield is not a pardon. God let a man of the world tell a man of faith the truth about himself.
- Restoration. God brings hidden things into the open, and He sent Abram out of Egypt — the mercy that set him on the way back.
And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Abram lied about his wife to save his own life. Now the king of Egypt questions him about it, and the rebuke comes from the man Abram wronged rather than from God.
Pharaoh's question lands on the lie. But the lie was not where the trouble began.
Did Abram intend this? No! It was an unexpected turn of events. It was unbelief, which always produces in judgment the very evil it tries to avoid. Abram, afraid that Pharaoh would take his wife, says she is his sister — as if God would not protect him — and so Pharaoh takes her into his house. But it was the first step that was wrong: Abram went down into Egypt.
Pharaoh names the hidden marriage. Abram hid the one bond he should have guarded, and he hid it out of fear for himself.
Let us not forget that if nature rules us, it will also expose us. We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself. He is not trying to protect Sarai. He is ready to sacrifice her to save himself. Where was the jealous care that Sarai should stay true to her relationship, and to the faithful confession of it? … The way to get the world's admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ.
God had already acted before Pharaoh spoke. Two things are true at once: God shields Abram, and Pharaoh shames him.
What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His failing servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Behind that unbreakable shield, Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both safe. And God's righteous rod struck the house of Egypt's king hard… Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him. When the man of God steps off the path of faith and honest living, he at once exposes himself to the men of this world… If Abraham had stayed in Canaan, Pharaoh would never have reproved him in Egypt.
Pharaoh had a real grievance, and Abram has no reply.
The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well enough that he had no right to take the woman, even if she were Abram's sister. He was taking advantage of his position to claim what did not belong to him. The result is that, struck by the clear hand of God, Pharaoh calls Abram and finds out the truth. Now it was Abram's turn to feel it. If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to shame — what a humiliation for him! The world itself reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God and he went without honour.
The rebuke carries a second surprise. The danger Abram feared was never there.
This is another result of his failure to walk in faith: he deals unfairly with an unbeliever. So God uses the unbeliever to reprove him. How wonderfully wise our God and Father is. He did not reprove Abram Himself. He left this in the hands of the unbeliever whom Abram had wronged… Abram also finds that his fears were groundless. Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer.
Egypt made Abram rich. His worship, meanwhile, stopped.
Through this whole period, until he returned to the place he had started from, he had no altar. When he left Egypt and returned to his life as a stranger in Canaan, he had what he had before. But he must first go back to the same place and find his altar again.
The way back is God's work as much as Abram's.
This beautiful chapter shows us the man of faith recovering himself. He recovers through the faithfulness and loving-kindness of God, who never lets such a man wander far or stay away long. The gold and silver, the flocks and herds of Egypt could not long satisfy Abram while he was without his tent and his altar. So once more, in the renewed energy of faith, he rises out of the dust of Egypt. He retraces his steps to the land of promise. Happy recovery!
- Step — The lie was not the first mistake. Going down to Egypt was, and unbelief brought about the very danger it was trying to dodge.
- Silence — Abram denied the bond he was meant to guard. He thought only of himself, and had no answer when the truth came out.
- Shield — God protected Sarai and Abram anyway. Failure did not cancel His care — but it did not cancel the consequences either.
- Shame — God handed the rebuke to the man Abram had wronged. Pharaoh proved more honourable than the man of faith.
- Return — Egypt gave riches but no altar. The way home led back to the exact place where Abram left his worship behind.
Why didst thou say, She is my sister, so that I took her as my wife. And now, behold, there is thy wife take [her], and go away.
Famine drove Abram down to Egypt, where he asked Sarai to say she was his sister. Here the cover story collapses: a pagan king summons the man God had called, hands back his wife, and tells him to leave.
What God did to Pharaoh's household forced this question out of him. God struck the king, not the man at fault.
The Lord dealt in His own wonderful way. He did not strike Abram, or even reduce the number of Abram's servants. Instead, "He plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." How striking the ways of the Lord are, and how full of instruction for us! The righteous government of God was at work. Pharaoh knew well that he had no right to take the woman, even if she had been Abram's sister. He was using his position to claim what did not belong to him. The result is that Pharaoh, struck by the clear hand of God, calls Abram and finds out the truth. Now it was Abram's turn to feel. … He came without God, and he went without honour.
The half-truth was meant to keep Sarai safe. It did the opposite, and that pattern is not unique to Abram.
Unbelief carries its own judgment. It constantly leads into the very evil a person is trying to avoid. As it has been said, "The sons of men would build a tower so that they would not be scattered abroad, and the Lord scattered them because they built it. Abram, fearing that Pharaoh would take his wife, says she is his sister — as if God would not preserve him. So Pharaoh takes her into his house."
Pharaoh's own words show how needless the whole scheme was.
He also finds that his fears were groundless: Pharaoh had a proper respect for the marriage bond, as many unsaved people do today. This is a case of an unbeliever acting more honourably than a believer.
God did not deliver the reproof Himself. He let the injured party do it, and that carries its own sting.
The Lord intervened so drastically in the plaguing of Pharaoh's house that even that heathen monarch woke up to the facts of the situation and acted rightly. And not only that, he also rebuked Abram. Now it is a sorry situation when a man of the world can rightly rebuke a man of faith. But so it was here, and so, sadly, it has too often been since. Let us all be concerned that we do not find ourselves in such a situation.
The exposure traces back to a decision made long before the interview with Pharaoh.
When the man of God steps off the path of faith and Christian integrity, he at once exposes himself to the men of this world. He need not be surprised if they punish him with an unsparing hand. Had Abraham remained in Canaan, he would not have been reproved by Pharaoh in Egypt. It is far better to starve, if it must be so, in the path of obedience than to gain plenty by sacrificing faith and moral uprightness.
Pharaoh says he took Sarai as his wife. Yet two things happen at once here: her honour stays safe, and Abram walks away humiliated.
What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears as well as to answer their faith. He covered His failing servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both kept safe behind that impenetrable shield. … Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So although God protects him, He still allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.
The command that ends the verse is a dismissal. Abram leaves Egypt not as a witness but as an embarrassment.
When the deceit comes out, the world dismisses Abraham. Pharaoh says, "Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go." And Pharaoh makes sure that he does go. How sad, when the world dismisses the people of God — not because of their faithful witness to God, but because of their own shameful conduct!
Yet the expulsion serves God's purpose. Leaving Egypt puts Abram back on the road home.
The king sends him away from the place he should never have gone to… The world sends him back to his true place. So God often uses the world today to rebuke the unfaithfulness of His own people. … As a result, Abram gets back "to the place of the altar which he had made there at the first; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah." He is restored to worship. In Egypt he did not call on the name of Jehovah, for he had no altar there.
- Downward — the rebuke began with a step: leaving Canaan for Egypt uninvited. Stay in the place of obedience and there is no Pharaoh to answer to.
- Backfired — unbelief walks into the danger it plans to escape. The story invented to keep Sarai safe is what put her in the king's house.
- Reversed — a pagan king respected marriage more than the man of faith did. The rebuke came from the man Abram had wronged.
- Shielded — God guarded Sarai's honour and Abram's life. He still let Pharaoh shame him in front of the world.
- Homeward — being thrown out of Egypt was mercy in disguise. Abram had no altar there. Back in Canaan, he called on the name of the Lord again.
And Pharaoh commanded [his] men concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Abram had gone down to Egypt to escape a famine. There he passed his wife off as his sister and grew rich by it. Now the king he deceived hands her back and posts an escort to march the whole household out of the country. What does it mean when the world shows a man called by God the door?
The escort is not an honour guard. Pharaoh makes sure Abram leaves, and the reason for the exit is nothing to be proud of.
When the deceit is discovered, the world dismisses Abraham. Pharaoh says, "here is your wife; take her, and go." And Pharaoh takes care that he does go, for he "gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had." How sad, when the world dismisses the people of God, not because of their faithful witness to God, but because of their own shameful conduct!
Abram has no answer to give. He came into Egypt by his own choice, and he leaves it humbled.
Now it was Abram's turn to feel. If Pharaoh was plagued, Abram was put to the blush: what a humiliation for him! The very world reproaches Abram. And what can he say? He came without God and he went without honour.
Pharaoh gives the command, but he is not the one moving Abram. Another hand is at work behind the order.
While Pharaoh gives Sarai back to Abram, he does not expect Abram to remain there. He tells him to "take her and go" (v. 19), and "they sent him away with his wife and all that he had" (v. 20). By this time Abram would surely realise that Egypt was not the place for him. God had brought him to this point of realisation, for it is only His working that brings about restoration.
God corrects Abram, yet He does not abandon him. The protection and the humbling come from the same hand.
What marvellous grace to Abraham! God always delights to rebuke His people's fears, just as He delights to answer their faith. He covered His erring servant with the shield of His powerful protection. Nothing could pierce that shield, and behind it Abraham's life and Sarah's virtue were both kept safe... Abraham had clearly exposed himself in all this matter. So, although God protects him, He yet allows Pharaoh to rebuke him.
"All that he had" is more than he brought in. The extra turned out to be a cost, not a gain.
God's servant seems to have acquired riches in Egypt (Gen. 13:1). But he also had shame there in denying his wife. And he got Hagar there, who brought trouble into his home. No doubt the riches of Egypt accounted for the strife that separated Lot and Abram. God allowed the failure of His servant Abram as a lesson for us, that we might rely constantly on Him and not on the resources of this present world.
Comfort and profit are no proof that a man is close to God.
A man may get what satisfies nature, and seem to be going on very comfortably, when far off from God. But he had no altar in Egypt. Every camel and ox that came in ought to have broken his heart, and made him feel where himself and his wife were.
Being sent out of Egypt is not the end of the story. The road back has one more stage.
The king sends him away from the place to which he ought never to have gone... The world sends him back to his true place. So God often now uses the world to rebuke the unfaithfulness of His own people... In the end, Abram gets back "to the place of the altar which he had made there at the first; and there Abram called upon the name of the LORD." So he is restored to worship. In Egypt he did not call on the name of the LORD, for he had no altar there. The lesson taught him here is that it is not enough to leave his own country and come into a land marked out by God. He must stay there, even though circumstances and worldly caution might persuade him to leave.
- Departure. A king he deceived escorts him out. The world dismisses him for his own conduct, not for his witness.
- Discipline. God does not scold Abram Himself. He lets the king Abram wronged do it, and He shields His failing servant at the same time.
- Deliverance. The expulsion is God's work, not Pharaoh's. Only His working brings a wanderer to the point of restoration.
- Debt. He leaves richer than he came, and Hagar comes with him. That gain later breeds strife and sorrow at home.
- Destination. Leaving Egypt is only half the journey. Abram is not restored until he stands again at the altar he built at first and calls on the name of the LORD.