Now here is a woman in the
Bible that I feel as though I have a connection to, at least in name. When I
begin to think about Sarah (the one from the Bible, not myself), immediately I
think of the woman who gave birth to a child at a really old age because God
had said it would happen and therefore she was part of a miracle. Immediately
this makes me think of her as this idealistic person whom God chose to use in
this amazing story. Sort of the very Sunday School idea of Sarah. Then I dig a
little deeper into who she was and I begin to see her in a different light.
Yes, God gave her and Abraham a son in their old age, which was a miracle that
only He could make happen, she was a woman of God, but she had faults too.
Sarah was a liar, she doubted God, she tried to make things happen her own way,
she was jealous, she scorned her servant, or you could say she was a normal
person with faults. And yet, in spite of all these things, God still chose to
use her and bless her.
When we first see Sarai in
the Bible (Gen. 12:4) it is when God tells Abram to leave his home land and
move. Today it isn’t uncommon for people to move away from their homeland, but
back then it didn’t happen very often. Moving away from the homeland would have
been a big deal. They followed God’s leading though and did it. Soon after this
we see the first promise that God gives Abram about his descendants. Remember,
they didn’t have any children yet though.
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I
will give this land.” Genesis
12:7a
Then, soon after this, we see
them both caught in a lie. Abram, trying to protect himself and Sarai, told her
to say that she was his sister. Abram was afraid that because of her beauty
Pharaoh would want her for himself and have Abram killed in order for that to
happen. Sarai must have been a very beautiful woman indeed for Abram to be
worried about this. She went along with the plan though and they lied. Sure
enough Pharaoh tried to take her as his wife. The Lord brought a disease on
Pharaoh and his household for this, so he knew something was not as it seemed.
Abram and Sarai were then sent on their way out of Egypt. Abram assumed that
Sarai’s beauty could get him killed. We see though that even when Pharaoh found
out that Sarai was really Abram’s wife and not sister, he didn’t kill them, he
only ordered them to leave. So, instead of just trusting God that He would
protect them, they took matters into their own hands and lied.
After this we see several
times where God again tells Abram that he will have an heir (Gen. 13:15,16;
15:3-5; 15:18). It says that Abram believed the Lord. I’m sure as the years
went on and Abram and Sarai grew older this promise was harder and harder to
hold on to and believe. They both knew that they were well past the normal
childbearing years. Here Sarai goes taking
matters into her own hands and trying to make that promise happen in her own
way and her own timing. Sarai decides that she will give her servant Hagar to
Abram in order to produce an heir.
The
Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I
can build a family through her.” Genesis
16:2
I’m not sure when this would
have ever sounded like a good idea to me. To me all this seems to do is ask for
drama. In those days this wouldn’t have been uncommon though if a wife was
barren. There was great importance put on having a child to be an heir to the
family. To be barren was considered a shameful thing. God had promised an heir,
a son specifically, to Abram and Sarai though, and this isn’t how He meant for
it to happen.
Hagar, Sarai’s servant,
becomes pregnant with Abram’s child. When Hagar knew she was pregnant she began
to despise Sarai (Gen. 16:4b.) So, Sarai, of course not happy with this, goes
to Abram about it. She tries to blame him for Hagar despising her.
Then
Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put
my servant into your arms, and now that
she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and
me.” Genesis 16:5
Abram turned it back on Sarai
though and told her to do with Hagar as she wished. Instead of Sarai accepting
the consequences for what she had caused and dealing with Hagar in a Godly way,
she chose instead to mistreat her. This caused Hagar to flee. Through God’s
leading Hagar returned though and bore Abram a son, Ishmael.
Now, my favorite part of
Sarai’s life story, the name change. God appears to Abram and establishes a
covenant with him. Again God promises to make him the father of many nations
and changes his name from Abram to Abraham (Gen. 17:5.) Then God changes
Sarai’s name to Sarah and again told Abraham that he would bless her and give
her a son.
God
also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her
Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son
by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of
peoples will come from her." Genesis
17:15,16
A couple months ago in my
Sunday School class we were talking about covenants and this story came up. It
was there that I learned the significance in the change of names for Abraham
and Sarah. In those times when a person would make a covenant with someone else
they would take part of that person’s name and put it in their name. This would
show to everyone else who they were in covenant with. So, by God changing their
names it showed that they were in covenant with Him. Abram to Abraham, that was
an AH inserted into his name. The AH stood for Yahweh (the name that they often
used for God.) Sarai to Sarah, the AI is dropped and AH is added. Now, everyone
who knew Abraham and Sarah would know that they were in a covenant with Yahweh.
Wow! I can’t think of a better way to have a name change.
Despite the mistakes and sins
that Sarah had already committed, God still chose to bless her and use her for
His greater purpose. Not only use her, but use her in a miraculous way. And not
only was He going to bless and use her, He chose to change her name in such a way
that would show others that she was in a covenant with Him. What an act of
grace from a God who always has a plan and a purpose.
But then, after the name
change Sarah returns to her lying ways. Ugh, she just doesn’t learn! Three
mysterious men visit Abraham and they again repeat the promise that God had
given Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. This time it came with a
time frame of one year from then. Now Abraham and Sarah were really old and
well beyond the childbearing age at this time. Sarah overheard what these men
told Abraham, because she was listening at the door to the tent. This is
Sarah’s resonse:
So
Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is
old, will I now have this pleasure?” Genesis
18:12
Since God is all knowing,
Sarah’s moment of laughter wasn’t overlooked. The Lord asked Abraham why she
laughed at what was said. Then He reminds them that He can do anything.
“Is
anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next
year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis
18:14
Here is something that we all
need to remember, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” What a great question to
ask yourself when faced with a trial, a hard decision, or the biggest mountain
you have ever seen. The answer is always NO!
Sarah was afraid though, and
responded out of this fear. She said she didn’t laugh. Of course God knew she
did. I love His response to her lie. “Yes, you did laugh” (Gen. 18:15b.) He
just calls her out on it. Now days we would call this a “white lie” or a “fib,”
it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but a lie is a lie and it is a big deal when
God gives us the commandment, “Thou shalt not lie.”
Later we see Sarah and
Abraham once again dong the sister brother thing. You would think that they
would have remembered what happened the last time they tried that, but no. Like
many of us they too repeated the same mistake over. This time the victim was
King Abimelech. God protected him and revealed to him the truth of the matter.
In the end it all turned out ok and God was glorified. No matter what the
situation, God can be glorified. Even when we don’t see how that would be
possible. When reading this part of the story, glorifying God is not the first
thing that comes to my mind, but in the end that is what happens.
Finally, we see the promise
of God to Abraham and Sarah that they will have a son come to fruition.
Their precious son, Isaac,
was finally born to them. Why? Because God was gracious and fulfilled His
promise to them, and in His timing. Sarah rejoiced in the birth of her son.
Sarah
said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will
laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:6,7
As Isaac grew, Sarah once
again resented Hagar and her son. Sarah didn’t want Hagar’s son to receive the
family inheritance that she thought should be Isaac’s. An inheritance was a
huge deal in those days. It still is today, but back then the first born son
would most likely be the one to receive everything or the best of the father’s
possession. A family would pass on land and wealth from generation to
generation. Sadly that isn’t as common in the world we live in today. Back then
it was a honor to be able to pass down to your children the things that you had
received from those before you or that you had worked for. They wanted to be
able to leave an inheritance for their children. We need more of this today.
Instead of just thinking of what we can get for ourselves, we need to look
beyond that and think of what we can leave for the generations after us.
Anyhow, back to the story.
Sarah decided that she doesn’t was Ishmael to get what she thought should be
Isaac’s. So, she has them sent away. Now, technically Ishmael was Abraham’s
first born son. He should receive an inheritance. God took care of Hagar and
Ishmael though. Abraham was worried about sending Hagar and Ishmael away, but
God told him that it would be ok. God saw the bigger picture that Abraham could
not see.
The last we hear of Sarah is
her death. She lived to be 127. Abraham mourned the death of Sarah and made
sure that she received a proper burial. Sarah was a woman, though she had flaws, who served a gracious God. She was far from perfect, but God used her to show future generations that He is capable of anything.
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