Sarah: Hoping against Hope

Last week we discussed the story of Eve, her creation, her character and the “fall of man” 

We were reminded that:

• “Women were a glorious refinement of humanity itself” Oh how we loved that excerpt from the book!  Thank you John MacArthur!
  “ REMEMBER, EVE WASN’T MADE OUT OF DUST LIKE ADAM, BUT CAREFULLY DESIGNED FROM LIVING FLESH AND BONE.  ADAM WAS REFINED DIRT; EVE WAS A GLORIOUS REFINEMENT OF HUMANITY ITSELF.  SHE WAS A SPECIAL GIFT TO ADAM.  SHE WAS THE NECESSARY PARTNER WHO FINALLY MADE HIS EXISTANCE COMPLETE – AND WHOSE OWN EXISTENCE FINALLY SIGNLALED THE COMPLETION OF ALL CREATION."
  
• Her creation and specifically the method of creation show us several truths about womanhood:
• Eve’s fundamental equality with Adam – same creature, nature
• The essential unity designed for marriage relationships – Marriage is not merely a physical union, but a union of heart and soul as well, why the rib… 
• The divinely-designed role of women – subordinate yet equal
  
• Eve was tempted the same kinds of ways the enemy tries to use against us today. (Disguise, Twisting/Using the Word and Justification)
  
• In essence the 2 direct consequences deal with the two most important relationships in which a woman might naturally seek her highest earthly joy; her husband and her children.
  
• The promise that her seed would bruise Satan’s head meant that her offspring wouldn’t be subject to his domination forever.  It is truly the story of the rest of scripture:  Jesus of course being THE conquering seed!

Sarah: Hoping against Hope

Sarah – the wife of the great patriarch Abraham – the father of many nations and in fact the “father” of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – because of this, we would tend to think of Sarah with some sort of dignity.  We know her as the woman who gave birth to the promised son in her VERY old age.

How do you recall Sarah?

When you read the biblical account of her life – a model of godly grace and meekness may not be the first thought that comes to your mind.  MacArthur’s snapshot looks like this:

SHE COULD THROW FITS AND TANTRUMS.  SHE KNEW HOW TO BE MANIPULATIVE.  SHE WAS EVEN KNOWN TO GET MEAN.  SHE COULD BE IMPATIENT, TEMPERAMENTAL, CONNIVING, CANTANKEROUS, CRUEL, FLIGHTY, POUTY, JEALOUS, ERRATIC, UNREASONABLE, A WHINER, A COMPLAINER.

WHOOO!  Giiirl!  J   And this is why I love Sarah!  As we dive into her story I can see so much of me, and perhaps you’ll see some of you in her.  She was certainly all of the things MacArthur says, and in addition to that, as if it weren’t enough – he even shares there are several hints in scripture she was a classic example of a prima donna!  After all her name was Sarai (princess) before she became Sarah, and we hear often in the account of her life how attractive she was – in fact a famous Muslim tradition teaches that Sarah resembled Eve.  And as we examine her life we see that she wasn’t always the kind of woman who naturally evokes our sympathy and understanding.  Fortunately, for her and for the similarities we share with her, there was more to Sarah than that.  Despite the laundry list of negative flaws associated with her scripture actually commends her for her faith and her steadfastness.  Sarah’s life on the whole is actually characterized by humility, meekness, hospitality, faithfulness, deep affection for her husband, sincere love toward God, and hope that never died.

Now it’s really difficult to understand the full scope of her faithfulness (as that’s what she is famously remembered for – and mentioned in the “Hall of the Great Faithful” J in Hebrews – if we don’t first take a look at her background.

Sarah was married to Abraham (a 9^th generation grandson of Shem, Noah’s son)  and we don’t hear much about their life together until Abraham was 75 other than the fact that Sarai was barren,

            Genesis 11:30
            ³⁰ Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.

… they lived in Ur of the Chaldeans , which was the heart of the pagan culture, at a time when it was at its height of power and affluence (a culture that celebrated many Gods with their many temples) and Terah, Abram’s father took them to live in Cannan, but settled in Harran on the way.

THE CALLING OF ABRAM

            

             Genesis 12:1-3

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.  ² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you,  and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The trip from Harran to Canaan followed God’s calling when Abraham was a mere 75 which made Sarah 65 years old – the age that most people today consider a great age for retirement, a journey of 350 miles or so back then of course, not like hopping in a car, plane or train these days would have been less than comfortable, but Sarah was utterly devoted to her husband and off they went.  Knowing that God wanted to make him the father of a great nation, she earnestly longed to give birth to the child who would set this whole process in motion.

So the scriptures tell us that they arrive in Canaan and they settle down there and then a famine in the land would lead them to Egypt where Abraham says to Sarah, you are beautiful, if they know you’re my wife, they’ll kill me, so say you’re my sister and they’ll spare me.  Sarah agrees and despite what we might think of Abraham’s actions, God honors Sarah for the devotion to her husband.  Pharaoh, just as Abraham imagined was entranced by Sarah’s beauty and shows them both favor in the hopes of marrying Sarah, but the Lord didn’t let Pharaoh violate Sarah and in fact brought plagues on his house.  When Pharaoh finds out the reason for the plagues (the fact that Abraham was Sarah’s husband) he casts them both out of Egypt – with no harm mind you, in fact his favor of Sarah made Abraham quite a wealthy man.  And they travel back to Canaan where they settled and the Lord said:

Genesis 13:14-17
¹⁴ The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. ¹⁶ I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

There is that promise again.  A promise given to Abraham about his offspring which had HUGE implications for Sarah.  This is twice now that the Lord has spoken to Abraham about the promise of his offspring, but despite her faith, Sarah knew from a human perspective that her long years of childlessness already loomed large as a threat to the fulfillment of God’s pledge… and as the years continued without a child, the weight of her burden only increased.

But the Lord as gracious as He is, continued giving her reasons to hope.

Genesis 15:2-6

² But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

 ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

STRAIGHT FOOLISHNESS… THE WE CAN FIX THIS MENTALITY

How many times have we been given some very clear instruction and yet, we can’t help but help it along… after all, we’re just helping things along?  Let’s be honest?  Been there?   Men often get pinned with the “I can fix this” problem … but we also have it!!

If Sarah had simply realized the truth and embraced it, her whole burden would have been lifted.  But Nooo!  Instead, Sarah took it upon herself to hatch a scheme that was so ill-advised, so completely “fleshy” that she regretted it for the rest of her days. Quite frankly, some of the tensions we see in the Middle East today are rooted in Sarah’s ploy to try to concoct a man-made solution to her dilemma.   To be fair.  We get this viewpoint of Sarah’s.  She trusted God, yes.  She had faith, yes.  But aren’t there times when even the most faithful of us falter and think, well maybe this time I’m wrong about this situation.  God said he’d take care of this … but it sure has been a while… maybe I’m supposed to do something about it and he’ll bless it?  Sarah and Abraham spent 10 more childless years together after arriving in Canaan.  She was now 75 and if God had planned to make her the mother of Abraham’s heir, why hadn’t he done it yet?   It was natural for her to think that God was deliberately withholding children from her, because let’s face it… He was!  When Hist time came for the promise to be fulfilled there would be no doubt that it was God’s doing. But after considering the circumstances, Sarah concluded that a kind of surrogate was the only possible solution to her predicament. She unwittingly stepped into the role of God.  (not a place by the way we should ever want to be!)

            Genesis 16

¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”  Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.  When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.” ⁶ “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.  

Okay… let’s take a brief pause.  Sarah intervened in the Lord’s plans – told Abraham to sleep with Hagar and he “obeyed” and then after Sarah’s brilliant plan plays out, Hagar’s jealousy rears it’s ugly head and she despises Sarah.  Sarah became the other woman.  Despise is more than just hate… it’s hate and loathing wrapped up in one ugly package.  She’s so full of hate towards this woman she’s repulsed by her.  Ugh!    And then we see the puppeteer Sarah go back to the ever familiar blame game.  She turns to Abraham and says He’s to blame!  Ha!    The truth of that matter is that each of them shared a piece of this guilty pie, but nonetheless, Abraham gives permission for Sarah to do what she will and Sarah is harsh and cruel so much so that Hagar runs away.  Not a pretty picture of our faithful matriarch.  Let’s continue our biblical soap opera:

⁷ The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.  ⁹ Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”  ¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her:   “You are now pregnant  and you will give birth to a son.  You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. ¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;  his hand will be against everyone  and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility  toward all his brothers.”

 ¹³ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Wow.  Once again we continue to see the grace and favor the Lord has on His people… Even in the muck of our own mess ups and sin – he still turns to us with grace.  Back to our girl Sarah, consider this:  She never received a promise like this from the Lord.  All the promises God made about offspring and descendants were to her husband, Abraham.  Up to this point, Sarah hadn’t been named in any of the promises at all.  It was her hope and expectation, but this episode with Hagar showed a real clear picture of Sarah’s fading hope.  She was losing heart.

A PICTURE OF PERSERVERANCE

Following Ishmael’s birth, thirteen more barren years went by and we aren’t specifically told about Sarah’s hope for children at this point but Abraham was 99 years old and we can imagine that her hope would be hanging on by a thread.  Perhaps not… perhaps she was still hanging on strong to the hope that someday she would bear a child for Abraham.  Was she thinking that her “stepson” Ishmael would be the child who would carry out the promise of descendants?   We aren’t told for certain, but we are given a clue when God appears to Abraham again – this being the visit where He changed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah and He also called out Sarah by name in this promise that she would in fact bear Him a son.

            Genesis 17:15-22

⁵ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ 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.”

 ¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

 ¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.^[d] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” ²² When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Notice Abraham’s reaction – he laughed!  Probably laughter of relief and joy as much as laughter of skepticism, amazement and uncertainty but not one of unbelief.  Paul marks that very clear in

Romans 4:13-25
 ¹³ It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”^[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”^[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²²This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

The next time the Lord appeared to Abraham was expressly for the benefit of Sarah’s ears.

Genesis 18:9-15   ⁹ “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.   “There, in the tent,” he said.   ¹⁰ Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

¹³ Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

 ¹⁵ Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.   But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Sarah’s laughter (like Abraham’s earlier) seems to have been an exclamation of joy and amazement rather than doubt. Her denial was motivated by fear.  She was afraid because she didn’t laugh aloud, but “within herself”  … she knew instantly and definitely that it was the Lord.

It was a busy year for the couple, Sarah, who at the age of 90 was still beautiful enough to stir the affections of a king replayed out what had happened in Egypt 25 years before that with King Abimelech.  And immediately following all of that nonsense, the Lord did as He had said and Sarah bore Abraham a son named Isaac (meaning laughter) 

Genesis 21:6

⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ 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.”

You have to love seeing Sarah’s character when she saw the genuine humor in the way that God dealt with her.  Despite her occasional bursts of temper and struggles with discouragement.  Sarah remained an essentially good-humored woman.  Who stood by her man through it all and after long years of bitter frustration, could still appreciate the irony and relish in the comedy of being a mother at such an old age.  Her life’s ambition now realized, the memory of years of bitter disappointment quickly disappeared from view.  God had indeed been faithful.

Could we say the same for us after we look back on tremendous trials that the Lord has done amazing work in?

Yay, we like this Sarah.  We like this happy ending to a life of heartache over not being able to bear children – a natural desire from creation itself.  BUT… Sarah does play one more major role in another episode of our soap opera.

After Isaac was weaned – probably about 2 or 3 years old.  Something happened that was the final straw for Sarah in her long struggle to accept Hagar.  Ishmael was teasing Isaac.

Genesis 21:8-13  

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰ and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. ¹² But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[b] will be reckoned. ¹³ I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

Scripture doesn’t say why.  It was likely something childish but it was too much for her to endure and she immediately had them cast out.  Sarah once again acting harshly … Too harsh this time?  Weeellll?  #1, We all know, watch out for Momma Lion!    But secondly, and I think we could agree any woman forced to share her husband with a concubine would respond to a situation like this in a similar manner – she was Abraham’s true wife and had been by his side for over 50 plus years!

We can see that Abraham was devastated… Ishmael was his first born son whom he loved dearly.  He had asked God for favor for Ishmael a number of times.  But God honored this act by Sarah, knowing he would take care of Ishmael, especially since Ishmael was the oldest, he would be the heir to Abraham had he not been cast off.

SO… maybe, just maybe, God can use the hot-headed nature in us too!  (let’s be so clear.. I am not condoning any angry behavior – I’m just thinking aloud)  J 

As we look forward in scripture we see that this reference of Hagar and Ishmael and Sarah and Isaac is one that is used time and time again to relate to us this important principle:

This symbolized the important truth that the kind of religion that is dependent on human effort (symbolized by the carnal scheme that conceived Ishmael as an artificial fulfillment of God’s promise) is utterly incompatible with divine grace (symbolized by Isaac, the true heir of God’s promise).  And the two are so hostile to one another that they cannot even abide in close proximity.

Sarah went on to live the rest of her days from what we understand in joy and peace and is marked for her faithfulness to her husband and the hope for the promised heir.  She is exemplified as an example for the character and submissiveness of all wives in

1 Peter 3

¹ Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Hot headed, impatient, cruel, flighty, jealous?  Sure.  Me?  You?  Sure!  I like Sarah, because she is at the heart, every woman.  Her longing for a family, her steadfastness to God and her husband, her broken heartedness and her Ms. Fix It mentality makes us even more aware of our own qualities we see in her, good, bad and indifferent.  But God still was gracious to her through it all.

And from Sarah, we are reminded that God’s timing is perfectly fine for us.  We don’t have to try to use our own solutions to what God says is perfect timing.  If he wants us to intervene or do something about it.  We had better be on our knees before we try to fix it ourselves!

From childbearing in her 90’s to her years of faithfulness and REALNESS she was a truly extraordinary woman!

Next week is school vacation… 2 weeks from now – Rahab:  A horrible life redeemed

Please feel free to share this study with the extraordinary women in your life and invite them to join us for this exploration either in person on Wednesday Mornings at the Church of the Vine, 5 Wareham Street, S. Carver, Mass. From 9:30-11:30 (a time of prayer, study, fellowship and coffee!) or online at http://e-study-12extraordinarywomen.blogspot.com