One of the most intriguing (and disappointing) themes of Israel's past that biblical authors emphasize is God's people's failure to fulfill the bottom line of the Abrahamic covenant--"I will bless all nations through you." Instead, they were what we call in modern terms "a bad testimony", and the pagans they encountered are ironically portrayed as more righteous in their dealings.
A perfect example of this is Abraham's encounter with Pharaoh in Genesis 12:10-20. To make a long story short, Abraham is afraid that Pharaoh will kill him and steal his wife Sarah, so he passes her off as his sister. Pharaoh brings Sarah into his household and loads Abraham down with gifts, but soon begins to suffer God's judgment in the form of diseases and discovers Abraham's cowardly lie. Sarah is returned to Abraham and the two leave Egypt with the gifts Pharaoh had given them.
In a recent broadcast on TBN, Benny Hinn retells this story, but check out his twisted and self-serving interpretation of the account:
For Benny, this story is turned around and used as an example of how God used Abraham's trickery of Pharaoh to bless Abraham, not an example of how Abraham's cowardice brought shame on God's name. Ultimately, Benny encourages the audience that "your Pharaoh is on the way to give you that money."
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