famine
A famine was often a disciplinary testing of God's people in the land. (Cf) (Genesis 26:1); (Genesis 42:5); (Ruth 1:1); (2 Samuel 24:13); (Psalms 105:16).
The resort to Egypt (the world) is typical of the tendency to substitute for lost spiritual power the fleshly resources of the world, instead of seeking, through confession and amendment, the restoration of God's presence and favour.