No 10

(Sarah)

The name of Abraham’s wife is listed in the faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11 – “Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” (v11). She believed in God but when we read the account of the promise in Genesis, we could have some doubts as to her trustworthiness in God. On two occasions, she demonstrated certain doubt as to her ability to bear children to Abram; her name at that time was Sarai. The first occasion is found in Genesis 16:2 – “And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.” She seemed to believe that God was not able to bless her with a child. The second time is in Genesis 18:12 “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” She laughed at the idea of bearing a child at her age; she even lied about laughing “Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not” Gen 18:15a; her new name means “princess” Is this the type of behaviour for a woman of faith?

God sees the heart whereas we see the exterior and because of our limited capabilities, we tend to be judgmental but God knows our thoughts and He knew Sarah’s heart and it was pure. In 1 Peter 3:6, we read “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” She is likened unto our mother because Peter’s letter is addressed to New Testament believers. Suffice to say that Sarah is one of the most important women in the Bible.