lech lecha

It is interesting to note two conflicting stories in this weeks parsha, both involving אברהם אבינו. The first one is when אברהם is on the way down to Mitzrayim, he tells his wife אמרי נא אחתי את please say that your my sister למען ייטב לי בעבורך so that it will be good for me because of you .
Rashi says on that יתנו לי מתנות that פרעה will give אברהם presents.
Then we have the story of when אברהם אבינו went to rescue לוט, & fought & defeated the four kings, after which the king of Sodom wanted to give him all the spoils. אברהם said he wouldn't even touch a shoelace from him, for he didn't want the king of Sodom to say אני העשרתי את אברם that he made אברהם rich.
The אוצרות התורה asks, why the change of heart? Why did he want presents from פרעה, however from the king of Sodom he wouldn't touch a thing?
The ספר בכורי אברהם answers based on the רמב"ן, that everything the אבות did was a sign for what their children would go through. אברהם knew that his children would be slaves in Mitzraim, & wanted to make sure that they would go out ברכוש גדול, so he wanted to get presents from פרעה so that his children eventually would too.
But what about the king of Sodom? Why wouldn't אברהם take presents from him? Why did he care if the king said that he made אברהם rich? He knew where it really came from.
There was a simple Jew who worked for the czar,who was his sole source of income . From time to time the czar would ask him how he's doing, & he would always answer "Boruch Hashem", "everything is from 'ה". The czar would get upset thinking to himself, I'm the one who gives him his livelihood. I'm the one who takes care of him, so why does he constantly thank 'ה & not me? This went on for a while, & finally, one time, a few weeks before pesach, the czar fired him & said, let's see 'ה take care of you now. The man went home dejected, with no money for food. While everyone else was getting ready for pesach, this man & his family were starving for bread & water. Meanwhile, the czar would come by his house every few days to gloat,proving to him that it was he, & not 'ה, who supported him..
One day the czar was in his treasure house checking his gold coins to make sure there were no fakes. In order to test them, he would bite on them to see if they were real. He did this with coin after coin, reveling in his wealth. The czar had a pet monkey who liked to imitate his master. When the czar left the room, the monkey started putting the coins in his mouth too, not realizing that his master had spit them out. He kept swallowing them until he choked, & died.
When the czar saw the dead monkey, he thought, what a great way to antagonize the jew. He went with his henchmen in the middle of the night, & flung the dead carcass into the jew's house.
The jew awakened by the sound of breaking glass, ran to see what happened, saw the dead monkey & went to check it out. As he got closer, saw a glint coming from the monkeys mouth. He looked closer & saw a gold coin. He then took the carcass & cut it open. There he found enough gold to last a lifetime. He immediately thanked 'ה for saving him, went out & bought the best foods for pesach, & the most expensive clothing for his entire family. He invited all his friends and relatives for the seder, & had a seder that was truly fit for a king.
The czar said to himself, tonight I have to go see him, for by now he has surely learned his lesson. It's pesach & he has nothing. He goes to the house of the jew, & is flabbergasted by what he sees: the lavish foods, clothes, & many guests. He can't contain himself. He goes in & says, how did you get all this?? It's not possible! So the jew tells him, it's all from 'ה. He tells him the story of the monkey, & the czar saw that truly, it is all from 'ה.
Here too answers the אוצרות התורה, the actions of אברהם are to teach us, the future generations, the proper path. Yes, he knew where his wealth came from. He didn't really care if the king of Sodom would say he made אברהם rich, however, in order to teach the future generations that all that we have is from 'ה, & not to make any mistake about where your money comes from. He had to refuse to take anything from the king of Sodom so that no one could deny that it is 'ה who makes one rich & no one else!