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“Sarah: A Hope, And Promise, Fullfilled ”
(Genesis 12:4-9 )
I. Introduction.
A. There are times in the biblical record of Sarah, the wife of
the patriarch Abraham, when she does not fit the
conception of one who should have dignity and honor.
There were times when she just behaved badly. She had
her tantrums; she knew how to be manipulative; she was
even known to get mean. She could be impatient,
temperamental, conniving, cruel, flighty, jealous,
unreasonable, complaining, or nagging. In all of this, you
get the impression that Sarah was not always the perfect
model of grace and meekness.
1. There are at least hints in scripture that Sarah might
have been a pampered beauty.
2. Her name, given at birth, was “Sarai,” which means
“my princess.” We do not find her referred to as
“Sarah” until Genesis 17:15.
3. There are more than just hints that she was very
attractive. Wherever she went, she received favor
and privilege because of the beauty. That can spoil
even the best of women.
B. We first meet Sarah when she is already 65 years old. But,
even at that age, her physical beauty was so remarkable that
Abraham assumed other powerful men would desire her.
In fact, Abraham was right. First, a pharaoh, then a king,
both of whom did not realize Sarah was Abraham’s wife,
sought to obtain her for themselves.
C. From the time she became Abraham’s wife, Sarah desired
one thing above all else: to have children. But throughout
the normal childbearing years, Sarah remained childless.
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1. This is practically the first thing scripture mentions
about her. After telling us that Abraham took her as
a wife (Genesis 11:29), verse 30 says: “But Sarai
was barren; she had no child.”
2. The fact of her barrenness tortured Sarah. Every
recorded episode of ill-temper or strife in the
household was related to this frustration in her life.
3. She finally concluded that God, Himself, was
“restraining” her from having children
(Genesis 16:2).
4. So badly did she want Abraham to have a male
heir that she devised a plan that was both immoral
and foolish. Of course, she really persuaded
Abraham to father a child by her own housemaid,
Hagar.
D. Sarah’s faults are obvious enough.
1. She was certainly, at times, weak in her faith. Her
shortcomings were conspicuous.
2. But, there is much more to Sarah than her flaws.
Equally conspicuous strengths were hers as well.
In fact, scripture commends her for her faith and
steadfastness.
3. The apostle Peter pointed to Sarah as the model
wife who submitted to her husband’s authority.
Yes, there were flashes of petulance, even of
cruelty. But, taken as a whole, Sarah’s life is
characterized by humility, hospitality, faithfulness,
deep affection for her husband, a sincere love
toward God, and a hope that never died.
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II. Contrasts And Contradictions.
A. Although in her lifetime Sarah gave birth to only one son,
and she did not become a mother at all until far advanced in
years, she still stands as the principal matriarch in Hebrew
history.
1. Her enduring faithfulness to her husband was
certainly one of the most exemplary aspects of her
character, yet the most renowned blunder of her life
involved an act of great unfaithfulness.
2. She sometimes wavered, but ultimately persevered
against unbelievable obstacles and the steadfastness
of her faith became her most enduring legacy. For
this, she receives a place in the New Testament
“Hall of Faith,” in Hebrews 11:11: “By faith Sarah
herself also received strength to conceive seed, and
she bore a child when she was past the age, because
she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
B. What makes Sarah’s faith stand out is considering the many
obstacles, some seemingly insurmountable, to that faith.
1. She was the half-sister of her husband, Abraham.
In Genesis 20:12, Abraham describes for King
Abimelech his relationship with his wife:
“. . . indeed she is truly my sister. She is the
daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my
mother; and she became my wife.”
2. Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham,
according to Genesis 17:17.
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3. Just as an aside: this kind of half-sibling marriage
relationship was not deemed incestuous in
Abraham’s time. Abraham’s brother, Nahor,
married a niece. Both Isaac and Jacob married
cousins. Such marriages to close relatives were
not unusual in the patriarchal period – nor before
extending all the way back to creation. Since Adam
and Eve were the only human beings God created
originally, it would have been absolutely necessary,
in the beginning, for their offspring to marry their
own brothers and sisters. The prohibition of this
practice by God (no doubt for reasons of the
accumulation of genetic mutations) does not come
until well after Abraham’s time (Leviticus 18:6-18;
20:17-21).
4. We know nothing through the Bible about Sarah’s
early years of marriage, outside of Sarah’s
barrenness. This one statement covers the first 65
years of Sarah’s life.
5. They lived in Samaria, in lower Mesopotamia, near
the joining of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Their
home was Ur of the Chaldeans, a great urban center
of that region.
6. Ur was a pagan city, but Abraham, and his family,
were worshippers of “Yehoveh.” His knowledge of
the one true God was probably passed down to him
by his ancestors, as he was only a ninth-generation
descendant of Shem, Noah’s son.
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C. The Lord’s purpose in choosing, and calling, Abraham was
to make him the father of a great nation that would be
God’s witness to the world. His descendants would be the
covenant people of God. Sarah obviously had a key role to
play in God’s plan. Abraham could never become the
patriarch of a great nation if she did not, first, become the mother
of his direct offspring. So long as she remained childless, she
must have felt the pressure of this great burden.
D. Abraham, Sarah and the family all left Ur to go to the land
of promise. On the first part of this long journey,
Abraham’s and Sarah’s father, Terah, was still acting as
head of the family. (Genesis 11:31: “And Terah took his
son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his
daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went
out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of
Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there”).
1. We cannot say how long Abraham and Sarah
remained in Haran (about 650 miles northwest of
Ur), but they did not move again until Terah died, at
the age of 205 (Genesis 11:32).
2. A nomadic life would be difficult for someone of
Sarah’s age (65), but she willingly goes with her
husband to this new land neither of them knew
anything about.
3. After another journey of 350 miles, on foot,
Abraham reached the area of Bethel, a fertile land
with abundant water. Here, they waited for the
fulfillment of God’s promise: “I will make you a
great nation; . . . (Genesis 12:2). To set that whole
process in motion, Sarah had to have a child.
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4. Remember, Abraham and Sarah both came from an
urban environment. Their life, now, was far
different from what they had known for many years.
Sarah had to become accustomed to this new
life-style. Despite her faith, the years of
childlessness loomed large, as a threat to the
fulfillment of God’s promise.
E. God kept giving Sarah reasons for hope. In
Genesis 15:7-21, God restated, and expanded, His promise
to Abraham, then formally made the covenant with him
(read Genesis 15:18-21). This covenant was unilateral;
God told Abraham what he would do. It made no demands
on either Abraham of Sarah whatsoever. It was a
completely one-sided covenant and, if Sarah had only
realized this truth, and yielded to it, her whole burden of
bearing no child would have been lifted.
F. Instead, Sarah took it upon herself to devise a plan that she
came to regret for the rest of her life. The consequences of
her ill-advised plan are, indeed, far-reaching, even down to
our own time. This woman of faith, submission to her
husband, took it upon herself to assist God. We, no doubt,
can understand her reasons, from a purely human point of
view, but her act of faithfulness only created a multitude of
problems for her and her husband.
III. The Fulfillment Of The Promise.
A. We can but surmise what happens with Sarah’s maid-
servant, Hagar (read Genesis 16:1-6). Here is the first
recorded case of polygamy involving a righteous man.
(The first bigamist was Lamech, the evil descendant of
Cain).
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1. When Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86 years
old. Thirteen more frustrating years passed for
Sarah after that. Now, she’d lived in Canaan for
24 years. Abraham was about to have his 100th
birthday.
2. Sarah had kept her hope for so long. But, each year
that passed must have strained that hope more and
more.
3. At the start of Genesis 17, God reveals Himself to
Abraham with a new name, “Almighty God”
(“El Shaddai” in Hebrew). This name deliberately
highlights God’s omnipotence – the fact that
nothing is too hard for God. There, God, for the
first time we have recorded for us, brings Sarah
into the covenant promises (Genesis 17:15-16;
read). From “Sarai” (my princess) her name
becomes “Sarah” (princess); now Sarah is
identified as the “mother of nations.”
4. What was Abraham’s reaction to God’s words?
(Genesis 17:17: “Then Abraham fell on his face
and laughed, . . .”).
B. There’s no indication Sarah was present to hear what God
said, but, no doubt she heard of it from her husband at the
very earliest opportunity. Certainly, we can understand
Abraham’s amazement, perhaps even uncertainty, at what
God said. We don’t know Sarah’s first reaction when
Abraham shared this news with her, but we do know her
response on the next occasion God visits them.
1. Read Genesis 18:6-15.
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2. The story continues in Genesis 21 (read
verses 1-3). The name “Isaac” meant “laughter.”
So Sarah confessed to what she had previously
denied.
C. Despise her occasional outbursts of temper, and her struggle with discouragement, Sarah was, essentially a good, and good-humored, woman. Her life’s ambition was now realized, and the past frustrations disappeared. God had been faithful to her and Abraham in fulfilling His promises.
IV. Conclusion.
A. Sarah plays a major role in only one more episode
recounted in Scripture, when Isaac was probably two, or
three-years-old. She caught Ishmael making fun of
Isaac (Genesis 21:9). Ishmael, himself was probably about
14 at the time, old enough to be responsible for his
behavior, but not old enough to be wise. But, this was too
much for Sarah to endure. Her reaction: “. . . ‘Cast out this
bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondswoman
shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.’”
(Genesis 21:10).
B. Was Sarah being overly harsh? Probably not. Any woman
forced to share her husband with a concubine would
possibly react to such a situation in exactly the way Sarah
did. She was Abraham’s true wife. And, according to
God’s promise, Isaac was Abraham’s true heir, the one
through whom the covenant blessing would find
fulfillment. What, at first, might appear to be an extreme
overreaction was in fact proof of Sarah’s belief in God’s
promise. God, Himself, affirmed the wisdom of Sarah’s
demand: (read, Genesis 21:12).
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C. After Hagar leaves, Sarah returned to a monogamous life
with her beloved husband and child. That child was a
constant reminder to them both of God’s faithfulness.
1. Sarah’s faith had been tested. She had
demonstrated her trust in God.
2. In the New Testament, Sarah is portrayed as the
spiritual matriarch and an epitome of a faithful
woman: (I Peter 3:6: “as Sarah obeyed Abraham,
calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do
good . . .”).
3. Sarah’s was a life of hope and promise fulfilled.