Jamin Bradley

Because Abraham is the chosen one of God, we tend to think he can do no wrong, and we remember him fondly. But his story is one of misstep after misstep. For example, sometime after God told Abraham he would give him many children, his family took refuge in Egypt during a drought. It was there that Abraham let his fears of the other run his life. To him, the Egyptians seemed like the kind of Walking-Dead-like community that would simply kill him so that they could take his beautiful wife, Sarah.

Being more concerned with his own livelihood than his wife’s, he told her to hide their marriage so things would go well for him. This dishonorable, uncourageous scheme gave way to the horrifying scenario of Pharoah taking Sarah into his harem of wives. Believing that Abraham was just Sarah’s brother, Pharoah gave Abraham a large dowry of sorts in exchange for the marriage. How disturbing that transaction must have been as Sarah glanced at him one last time, wondering if he would really go through with this.

What was Abraham thinking? Was it possible that this decision was made from more than his fears? After all, his wife was well past the point of having children, and God promised him offspring. Was he thinking that he should find another wife? After all, we know he will be open to more shortcuts down the road in attempts to get kids.

Like in The Walking Dead, the characters eventually realize that it’s not the zombies that are the walking dead, but the living people who make horrifying decisions in an attempt to protect themselves. And so God supernaturally steps in to get Sarah out of this horrible situation and the Egyptians are startled by the truth they discover. They wonder why Abraham didn’t just tell them he was married to Sarah? His fears of the other seem ungrounded.

But Abraham remains a fearful man, for he will repeat this scenario all over again when they move to Gerar—and this will happen after God has specified that Sarah will be the one to give him children. And apparently, his son will one day hear this story because he, too, will repeat this situation with his wife.

Our fears drive us to crazy things. We must learn to be centered on God, lest we get swept up in madness.