Yahweh has no sooner promised the land to Abram than we learn that there is a famine in the land (Genesis 12:10). Isaac has to face another famine later, another famine “besides the first famine in the days of Abraham” (Genesis 26:1). And of course Jacob sends his sons to Egypt because of a great famine in the land.

When Moses comes along promising to lead Israel to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8), it’s not surprising that they’re skeptical. To leave the abundance of Egypt for the land of Abraham is a risk. It’s an act of faith to leave the Nile behind and set out for a land that was once a land as barren as Sarah.