Wednesday | 27 August 2025
As they went to Egypt, which is a type of the world, Abram said to Sarai, ‘Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.’ Gen 12:13. Abram was calling his wife to stand with him in faith for God’s promise concerning their household, and to join him in the fellowship of Christ’s offering and sufferings as the context for their deliverance. Sarai did not demand the romantic fervour of Abram for her protection, expecting him to deliver her from her predicament. Neither did she use her beauty to take control of the situation and bring deliverance through her own endeavour. Gen 12:11. As a prophet, Abram foresaw that if she took either of these actions, motivated by the fear of death, his life would be lost, and their household would be destroyed. Gen 20:7.
Sarai’s obedience to her husband, in submission to the lordship of Christ, was her protection as she was taken into the harem of Pharaoh. Her chaste conduct, ‘without a word’, revealed that the fear of death had been replaced with the fear of the Lord. 1Pe 3:1‑2. A believing woman who submits to her husband in the fear of the Lord, and who forsakes the conversation and conduct that is motivated by fallen desire, is as ‘awesome as an army with banners’! 1Pe 3:1. Son 6:10. Through offering, Sarai became a comparable helper to her husband and, as a result, she preserved his life and was able to build her house, rather than pull it down. Pro 14:1.
The beginning of their marriage reformation was the establishment of their relational sanctification as ‘brother and sister’. Jesus explained that His brothers and sisters are all those who are obedient to the will of God the Father. Mar 3:35. 1Th 4:3. Rom 6:22. Relational obedience to the will of God establishes a couple upon Christ, the Rock; and thus they are Christ’s brethren. Isa 51:1. 1Pe 2:4,7‑8. It is from this foundation that they relate as husband and wife. 1Co 9:5.
Further Study:
Genesis 12
References:
Gen 12:13
Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.
Gen 12:11
And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, ‘Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.’
Gen 20:7
Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.
1Pe 3:1-2
Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.
Son 6:10
Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?
Pro 14:1
The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Mar 3:35
For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.
1Th 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality.
Rom 6:22
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
Isa 51:1
Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
1Pe 2:4
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.
1Pe 2:7-8
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘the stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone’, and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence’. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
1Co 9:5
Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?