Endeavoring Women of the Bible: Sarah
As we are working through the women of the Bible, we see Noah’s wife follow him through the flood and then we encounter the next major woman in the Bible: Sarai or Sarah. She is someone who struggles with getting pregnant, who moves away from everyone she knows to an unknown place, and has to trust in God’s timing. Lot’s of stuff, so let’s take a look!
SARAH
Location: Canaan, Egypt
Time: 1986 BC to 1859 BC
Context: God is establishing fulfilling his promises through Abram/Abraham
Passage: Genesis
So as I’ve mentioned before, I’m in my twenties and I can’t tell you the number of friends who are named Sarah. As my name is Kaitlin… I’m not really one to talk on overused names. But I think there is something significant about looking at the story behind one of the most common names. So I was pretty excited about looking at Sarah. Sarah is a well known Bible character and one of the women in the Old Testament with more content and information in the passages about her than most. So I’m gonna try to do a quick overview of her lengthy story and although her story is commonly known, I hope we can look at it with an open heart today. So let’s jump in.
We find Sarai (as her name was originally) with Abram in the middle of Genesis 11. It is going through the account of Terah and the significance is that they are coming from the line of Shem’s descendants who were blessed (as seen in Genesis 9:26). This is after the garden, fall of man, the flood, and the tower of Babel. At this point people are “scattered … over all the Earth” (Gen 11:8).
The first thing we learn about Sarai is that
“[She was] barren; she had no children” (Genesis 11:30.)
Although David and I haven’t tried to have kids yet, we have had a lot of friends who struggle with getting pregnant. It is something I am pretty passionate about, and I think it is something so many people take for granted. I think language around this topic is significant and I think it is something deeply connected to what we often place our identities with. Sarah could have let this define her, and think about this… it is like literally she is defined as in this first verse about her! But what is beautiful about this story is that it isn’t over. This is just the start of her story.
So as Sarai and Abram’s story sets off in chapter 12 we see The Lord say to Abram:
Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you”.
Ever moved? From the packing to the relationships it is difficult. Sometimes we know God’s calling for our lives and sometimes we feel him pluck us right out of our comfort zone and move us somewhere new. This can be a really difficult thing but it is were we Sarah’s endeavors start off trusting in God’s faitfhfulness.
In the next passage we learn about a famine that entered the land. This leads to Abram taking them to Egypt. We then learn that Sarai was not only barren but she was actually a beautiful woman. Abram says to her in verse 12-13:
“I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you. “
So we learn Sarai is beautiful. In this time, this certainly was something that was valued and although the Bible doesn’t go too much into it… I wonder how this affects her. Her decision making, her relationships, and later events. This is just my personal opinion, but I think that beauty can be a deceiving stumbling block. It is something we all think we desire, but I think it can actually be twisted very easily. I think some people who are externally beautiful can let that weed into their thinking and their hearts. Letting comparison and external things become their value. I’ll come back to this later.
So we’re in Egypt. And Abram’s saying “half-lie and just don’t say you’re my wife”. In this section, we don’t know Sarai’s response. Did she fight Abram’s suggestion? Did she think it was best? We don’t know. But what we know is that they go forward with this plan of calling Sarai Abram’s sister and not mentioning that they’re married.. and it is a wreck. At first it seems to work well as Pharaoh brings Sarai into his palace and Abram is treated well. However, it says
The Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai” (Genesis 12:17)
We again don’t know what Sarai’s thoughts were during this time but we know that God brought the diseases because Abram and Sarai didn’t trust Him. After all of his faithfulness, they decided out of fear to place matters into their own hands and half-lie. Note this, because we will see this theme laced through Sarai’s story later.
So at this point they’re sent out of Egypt and they go to Negev. We don’t hear from Sarai for a few chapters, and in the meantime Lot (Abram’s nephew) and Abram have some tiffs. And ultimately we see that through various situations, Abram is reminded of God’s faithfulness.
We then meet back up with Sarai in chapter 15 after God has made the following promise to Abram:
“A son coming from your own body will be your heir” [God] took him outside and said, “Look up at hte heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be”. (Genesis 15:4-5)
Now keep in mind, Sarai is like 80 ish and um, barren. Talk about feeling impossible. Can you imagine Sarai hearing this news? Do you ever feel like God is nudging you towards something impossible. Out of reach without his intervention? Well that is where Sarai was at. She knew that God was introducing this promise but she couldn’t see the road and timeline to get there. She felt stuck.
So Sarai hears this promise and what does she do? Trust God, like she didn’t do in Egypt? Nope! She says to Abram:
“The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her”. (Gensis 16:2.)
Now as weird as this sounds, it was actually a common practice at that time. Children born to servant women were considered the children of the wife. Now, don’t think I’m affirming this practice (I mean, does it seem to work out for them?!) , but it is important to understand the context of that time.
Rather than trusting God’s timing, Sarai thinks “the Lord has kept [her] from having children” and again takes matters into her own hands. So Abram lays with the servant Hagar.
This feels so relatable to me to a certain extenet. After 80 years, I definitely think I would feel safe labeling myself as barren and I think ultimately I would think God has given up on me. As this is such a part of her identity. For us as readers, we also can feel like those patterns we have lived with for years define us. But God is a God of miracles “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37).
But Sarai doesn’t see this. And so out of fear she tries to take control and gives her servant woman to Abram. So Hagar bears Abram a child. But we see following this in that same chapter that
“Sarai mistreated Hagar” (Genesis 16:6")
And wouldn’t you be tempted to? I think this shows that this practice of bearing children this way was a difficult and ultimately a fallen one. Sarai thinks she is following God’s will but in her lack of faith she has chosen to do things her own way, and now has to live with her decision. There are consequences when we don’t follow God’s plan and we can encounter difficulty. But it also does not excuse us to sin. We can see that Sarah isn’t at a spiritually healthy point of her life, and that she is now encountering pain because of her decision.
So as you may know from the story, Hagar tries to run away because of Sarai’s behavior but the Lord has her stay. The Lord then appears to Abram in the next chapter, when he is 99. He changes their names to Abraham and Sarah, introduces his covenant, and reminds them of His faithfulness by emphasizing that Sarah will bear a son (17:16). Abraham laughs but implements the covenant. God appears again then in chapter 18 through 3 men that visit Abraham. They again tell Abraham Sarah will bear a son. However, this third time, Sarah is sitting outside the tent eavesdropping.
It says in this passage that she is advanced in years, and past the age of child bearing.
“So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my [husband] is old, will I now have this pleasure?”. Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh”.
In Sarah’s defense… this does sound like an impossible thing. But praise God that we have an impossible God.
Fast forward, and we enter a part of Sarah’s story that I think can often be forgotten about. And it’s kinda honestly probably because it is a little shady!
While they Abraham and Sarah are moving around, at one point they stay in Gerar. Remember when Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister and not his wife? We he does it again! Does he ever learn?! And what happens this time? Well Abimelech, the king of Gerar sends for Sarah and takes her. But luckily God talks to Abimelech in a dream telling him what has happened, that he shouldn’t touch her, and if he takes action he won’t die because of it. When Abimelech asks Abraham why he did this, what does he say?
“I said to myself, “There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘ This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go , say of me “He is my brother “.
Here we see the fallen-ness of Abraham, but also see how twisted this is! Abraham is justifying his fear and actions with excuses and brings Sarah into it. It shows how broken we are without God.
After this passage we see that:
“The Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son” (Genesis 21:1-3).
So years later Sarah has a child. Talk about a long term plan.
So from there Sarah still struggles with the comparison between herself and Hagar, and remember she’s alive when her husband almost sacrifices their son. Considering all this, we can see that Sarah has a long journey. She ultimate dies after living 127 years and Abraham deeply mourns her showing his love for her.
OKAY. So long story I know. Looking back through her story, I think there are a few different big take aways.
Beauty
As I mentioned earlier, I think the element of Sarah being beautiful is significant. The Bible doesn’t necessarily connect her beauty to any outward implications, but I don’t know that it is too far of a stretch to connect them. We do see that it ends up really being a problem when they lie about it, but I also believe maybe it played a part into her character and how she faced events. It seems like fear and bitterness were woven into her story. From choosing to have Hagar sleep with her husband, to the mistreatment of her, to still issues with Hagar after having the baby. And I really think that is it too.. that she gets her dream (having a kid) but still compares him to Ishmael (Hagar’s child). I think if beauty is something you struggle with a lot, I challenge you to see if that effects how you approach difficulties and decisions. Do you think a lot about your looks? Do you also compare a lot? Just something to consider.
Timing
A classic lesson from her story, but one that still rings true is timing. Sarah is told she is going to have a child when she is o-l-d. Seemingly something that is totally out of her grasp. Seemingly impossible. Is there something in your life that seems impossible? Well let me tell you we serve an impossible God. Sarah’s story shows us that his timing is different than ours. We may laugh at what He has planned, but he reminds us nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Forgetting
So both Abraham and Sarah are so guilty of this. Looking at their stories overall, they like screw up … and like the same screw up.. multiple times! Like, did they not learn?! Is there something God is repeatedly teaching you? It can be hard to see the big picture and what God is leading you in you but don’t forget of where God has worked and what He had taught you. Sarah repeatedly questioned God’s ability and faithfulness and took matters into her own hands or made the same mistakes over and over again (like not telling people that Abraham is her husband!). This week think of where God has been faithful and move forward trusting he will be faithful again. Even when it may seem like it has been awhile (um, Sarah was like in her 90’s when she had Isaac… talk about the long game), God isn’t concerned or intimidated by time or circumstances.
Trust
Time and time again, Sarah and Abraham took matters into their own hands. They didn’t trust that God would be faithful. Even in impossible things, know that God is a faithful God who cares deeply for you.
Thinking about her story, I was like … what is a word or a primary lesson we can learn. For her I’m choosing trust and perseverance. This is not on Sarah’s part, but on God’s. That even when we screw up over and over He fulfills His promises. His timing is bigger than ours. He doesn’t see things like we see them. Don’t be like Sarah and Abraham and try to take control into your own plans. Even though this can be so tempting. When God sets something on your heart know he is faithful to fulfill it. Maybe just not in the timing or way you expect.
Lord, I pray this week for endeavorers reading this that you will remind them of your faithfulness. That in our doubt and forgetfulness, you don’t change. Even when we lose sight of who you are and what you are capable of remind us that you are a miracle working God. That you work in ways that only you understand and in your timing. Give us rest as we walk in your way and trust that you are a mighty and loving God.
SOURCES
Life Application Study Bible - NIV. Zondervan, 1997.
“Sarah or Sarai.” Amazing Bible Timeline with World History, amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/sarah-or-sarai/.
