(290) – DRAGON 2

 

Jehovah called Abraham when he was 75 years old, and was living in Haram. The Bible text says: “Now Jehovah said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father’s house, into the land to which I will be your guide: And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing: To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth. So Abram went as Jehovah had said to him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from Haran” (Gen. 12:1-4).

“And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their goods and the servants which they had got in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And Abram went through the land till he came to Shechem, to the holy tree of Moreh. At that time, the Canaanites were still living in the land. And the Lord came to Abram, and said, I will give all this land to your seed; then Abram made an altar there to the Lord who had let himself be seen by him” (Gen. 12:5-7).

“And moving on from there to the mountain on the east of Beth-el, he put up his tent, having Beth-el on the west and Ai on the east… And he went on, journeying still to the South. And because there was little food to be had in that land, he went down into Egypt” (Gen. 12:8-10). “Now when he came near to Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, Truly, you are a fair woman and beautiful to the eye; And I am certain that when the men of Egypt see you, they will say, This is his wife: and they will put me to death and keep you. Say, then, that you are my sister, and so it will be well with me because of you, and my life will be kept safe on your account” (Gen. 12:11-13).

“And so it was that when Abram came into Egypt, the men of Egypt, looking on the woman, saw that she was fair. And Pharaoh’s great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house” (Gen. 12:14-15). The incredible part in this passage of Abraham’s life is that Jehovah knew that Pharaoh was going to take Sarai for his concubine, that is, a lover, and allowed Abraham to lie. This is evidence that Jehovah planned for Sarai to become Pharaoh’s lover, or else he would not have allowed that lie. Jehovah also produced that hunger that they suffered to force the coming of Abraham to Egypt. To Jehovah, in view of enrichment, the woman is an object of negotiation, and adultery was not considered as that. “And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and camels” (Gen. 12:16). Sarai’s prostitution was the plan of Jehovah as an instrument to make Abraham rich.

After Abraham became rich and Sarai was morally stained, Jehovah struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues on account of Sarai, Abraham’s wife, “And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and camels. And the Lord sent great troubles on Pharaoh’s house because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. Then Pharaoh sent for Abram, and said, ‘what have you done to me? why did you not say that she was your wife? why did you say that she was your sister? so that I took her for my wife: now, take your wife and go on your way’” (Gen. 12:17-19).

Now, if Jehovah had power through the plagues to force Pharaoh to return Sarai to Abraham, her husband, why did he allow Abraham to lie and Sarai to be taken to the house of Pharaoh as a lover? The answer is conclusive. It was his secret plan. This immoral and dishonest episode was a picture of something. “And Pharaoh gave orders to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and all he had” (Gen. 12:20). “Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:1-2). One thing was clear. Dealing with getting rich, everything is valid to Jehovah, even selling a woman to prostitution; finally gold and silver have much value to Jehovah, for he is god of the gold and the silver (Hag. 2:8). The greatest blessing of Jehovah to a man was the gold and the silver, and the glory of this world. We read about David, the chosen of Jehovah: “Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three [years] reigned he in Jerusalem. He died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor” (1 Chr. 29:26-28). We read about good king Jehoshaphat, king of Judah “Therefore Jehovah established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat tribute; and he had riches and honor in abundance” (2 Chr. 17:5). Hezekiah was a wonderful king, too, faithful to Jehovah. We read about him:  “Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all kinds of goodly vessels” (2 Chr. 32:27). Solomon declares that the blessing of Jehovah is riches without trouble. “Jehovah’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it” (Prov. 10:22). Jehovah gave and still gives everything that Jesus tells us not to seek after. “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal” (Matt. 6:19). A very rich young man once approached Jesus. He was also very religious and faithful. He continuously kept the precepts of the law. He tithed, gave to the poor and fasted, according to tradition. This young man asked Jesus: “What do I still lack [that I may have eternal life]? Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’” (Matt. 19:16-21). The young man went away.

The fact is that Jesus’ concept of richness and glory is not the same as the concept of Jehovah.

But let us return to the story of Abraham and Sarai. Jehovah caused the hunger where Abraham lived to force him to go down to Egypt and to deliver Sarai, his wife, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Jehovah created allegories and parables with live people. Paul revealed this in the epistle to the Galatians: “Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman. However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar” (Gal. 4:21-24). Jehovah also took Abraham to Egypt to give him Hagar, which is the picture of Israel, for she is the covenant of Sinai and of the Law, which begets slaves. By this he introduced in the plan of the Father, which is the celestial Jerusalem, his own plan, the earthly Jerusalem. The project of the Father was the celestial heritage. Jehovah interposed the earthly heritage. Egypt is a picture of the world, and Pharaoh is the great dragon, according to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 29:3). And the dragon is Satan (Rev. 12:9). Therefore, Sarai was a lover of the dragon, that is, Satan, the king of this world (Luke 4:5-8). And the dragon, that is, Satan, made Abraham rich for the love of Sarai. Then, Jehovah struck the dragon with great plagues as if he were not the author of the demonic event. Later, Abraham says to Abimilech, king of Gerar, that Sarah is his sister. Then Jehovah protects Sarah by threatening of death Abimelech and his house. With this he convinces Christians that he keeps his servants from evil. But he did not keep Sarai from Satan, the dragon.

by Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira

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