Sarah’s Infertility and Abraham’s Folly

Another Way for December 1, 2023

Sarah’s Infertility and Abraham’s Folly

Editor’s note: Second in a five-week series on Biblical women—and their babies.

Last week we looked at Hannah’s extreme sorrow and stress due to infertility in the Old Testament book of 1^st Samuel.

This week we’ll explore another husband and wife’s same issue: “We want to have a child.” But their story plays out quite differently.

Sarah and Abraham were originally named Sarai and Abram, and the book of Genesis tells us that it was originally Abram’s lament regarding their infertility to God, not Sarai’s, although I’m sure it was as much of a concern for her as it was for Hannah. Thus she even arranged for her maid to lay with Abram in order to have children.

But Abram prayed—or had a vision, about who or how he could plan for his eventual death saying: “Since I remain childless and I guess my household servant will have to be the heir of my estate” (paraphrase of Genesis 15:3).

According to Genesis, it was God who had first promised Abram a “great nation” would come from his eventual family. Abram was already 75 when this prediction was made, including the promise his children would own a vast territory of land.

Then came a desperate famine. Abram and Sarai moved to Egypt because there was food there. But there, old Abe worries that his “beautiful wife might attract attention from the Egyptians” and they might kill Abe to enjoy Sarai.

I remember my Bible teacher at high school shaking his head at Abe’s reasoning. He used the story to illustrate to us 16-year-olds who were beginning to date and have romantic encounters—that we would be wise to treat the road to romance and marriage very carefully, especially in how far we went in those encounters. Mr. Hostetler’s emphasis was instrumental in helping me vow to wait for marriage. He chastised Abram’s thinking saying “If he worried that the Egyptians might kill Abe, what on earth would they do to his beloved wife?”

Abram’s part of the story, though, can be a reminder that we all make mistakes and there is not only forgiveness, but a promise of a wiser future. He and Sarai were both given new names (and new spellings), Abraham and Sarah.

Later they moved to greener fields in the land of Canaan. The Sarah part of this story is her laughter when she was told by three visiting strangers that she was going to have a child in her 90s. She thought her time for childbearing was well past. We don’t understand (at least I don’t) the length of life in those days but the story in Genesis is that the visitors asked Abraham where his wife was. “There, in the tent” he said, where she was fixing food for them. The Bible says Sarah was eavesdropping and heard one of the visitors say “I will return about this time next year and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah laughs in unbelief, not at the joyous prediction that she would have a baby. Sarah is caught in a paradox: she knows that from a human standpoint, childbearing for her is literally impossible. Abraham also falls to the ground when he hears the news. The visitors reminded them, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Sarah denied laughing to the visiting strangers, saying firmly “I did not laugh.”

One visitor said, “Yes, you did laugh.” At that comment, I’m guessing Sarah escaped back into the tent!

At any rate, Sarah’s dream and Abraham’s did come true when their son Isaac was born the following year, and indeed, Abraham’s family grew over many years and “prospered greatly.” The lesson here is if we’ve been blessed with the wonderful gift of children—no matter how they come to us whether through adoption or fostering—our children form the direction of our lives.

My Bible teacher clear back in 1968 gave me nuggets of truth that compel me to hold on to faith today. When times are tough, we can remember, “Is there anything too hard for God?”

***

What tough experiences can you share here?

Or, what nuggets do you glean (ah-ha, watch for that word in my column next week!) from the Abraham and Sarah history?

Comment here or contact me at Another Way, P.O. Box 363, Singers Glen, VA 22834, or email anotherwaymedia@yahoo.com.

Another Way is a column by Melodie Davis, in syndication since 1987. She is the author of ten books, most recently Memoir of an Unimagined Career. Another Way columns are posted at FindingHarmonyBlog.com a week after newspaper publication.  

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