Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Gen 12,10)

It was Abram's experience that since he had followed his new God, the things only got better. But this all ended when the famine arrived in the land.

So far, God has led him (by voice, vision, or strong consciousness — whatever we call it, it was a form of "revelation") where to go. But now when Abram experienced that following God's guidance did not necessarily mean that he would not have problems, he decided to react to the unfavorable situation himself. He did not ask God what to do, and if so, he received no answer. If he had already been a man of faith, whom he later became, he would have waited and not acted hastily. But he was gripped by inner restlessness, and so were the other members of the caravan, who insisted that something be done now.

Abram did not yet understand that the land God had given him had significance in God´s sovereign plan for the world, and that God wanted to lead him to a special way of grasping his gift. It is the same with his gifts up to this day. Abram's faith had not yet reached the necessary level to be able to face difficulties of this scope, let alone others. In response to a critical situation, a person usually descends a level lower and reacts with shortcuts (the people around wonder: what has only happened to him that he is like that?). Which, of course, is the beginning of a fall on the path of following God.

And so the caravan began to pack up to leave the place where God had brought them.