What does Genesis 12:17 Mean?

Context Summary

It is a comfort that the Holy Spirit permits us to trace the successive stages through which the father of those who believe made his way to the maturity of faith. We all stumble as we step out on the difficult path. But God is patient with His dull scholars and protects them. See Psalms 105:15. It was certain that no weapon formed against him could prosper, nor God's promise fail, yet Abram meanly sacrificed Sarai with his pitiful proposition for his own safety. This doubting outbreak would never have occurred, unless the patriarch had gone down to Egypt, which in Scripture stands for creature-confidence. See Isaiah 30:1. The God of glory, who had sent him forth, was responsible for his maintenance in Canaan, even though famine prevailed. He ought to have stayed quietly in the position to which God had called him, leaving the Almighty to provide. Live with God in the heights; and do not go down into Egypt. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 12

¹  God calls Abram, and blesses him with a promise of Christ
⁴  He departs with Lot from Haran, and comes to Canaan
⁶  He journeys through Canaan,
⁷  which is promised to him in a vision
¹⁰  He is driven by famine into Egypt
¹¹  Fear makes him feign his wife to be his sister
¹⁴  Pharaoh, having taken her from him, is compelled to restore her
¹⁸  Pharaoh reproves Abram, whom he dismisses