We can consider the story of the descent to Egypt and the return from there, and the story of Lot's parting from Avram, as two halves of a single story. Are these two halves, connected as they are on the level of plot and in the common structure of the story as a whole, also connected in terms of the significance of the story? In other words, is there a unified message that arises from the greater story, and if so, what is it?
What unifies the two halves of our story on the level of its significance is tests for Avram. The events that it describes present Avram with harsh contradictions of the promise of seed and the promise of the land that God gave him in Charan, at the beginning of parshat Lekh Lekha. In each instance Avram is tested concerning his faith in both promises, but in each half the principal test focuses on one of them. In the descent to Egypt, Avram's main test comes when his wife is taken from him, and the possibility of establishing the offspring promised to him is cancelled. In Egypt the basis for a later test for Avram is also prepared – a test that started with the descent itself because of the famine – but the essence of this test lies in the story of Lot's parting from him. This causes Avram to experience grave doubts as to the promise of the inheritance of the land.
