As we begin this study we will really tie together what we learned about Abraham in our last study to the topic of his wife Sarah. Abraham and Sarah are the most known couple in the Old Testament by the fact that they received a child at such an old age. This will be what we see in this study but we will also look back briefly at a couple of verses from our previous study to tie all of this together so that we can get the entire picture of what was happening at this time. What we will see is that not only did Abraham have faith but his wife did as well. We will look at their disbelief of being able to conceive at an old age or the lack of understanding in how God would do all of this. This will show us many things as we dive into this portion of our study here in Hebrews 11. Let’s look now at our first point and our first verse for this study.
1.The faith of Sarah.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
This miraculous conception is not something that Sarah nor Abraham designed or planned. If they were to choose their way they would have had a child at an early age but this conception was God’s plan in the story of redemption. It was God that made Abraham righteous and it is God that makes Sarah righteous as well. How do we know that Sarah is righteous? Simply by the words we see at the beginning of verse 11 here: By faith Sarah.
As we have made clear, no one is righteous within themselves and no one has faith in God unless God draws that person to Himself. So along with her husband Abraham, Sarah is a person of faith. Here in our text we see that Sarah had faith in which she received power to conceive. At first it looks as if Sarah had faith and therefore she was given the power to be able to conceive. In other words it looks like this was something that was solely dependent on her faith but that is not what we see in the original account.
To see this account let’s look first at God’s covenant with Abraham as we looked at last time from Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
This is the promise that Abraham would have an heir of his own. We do not know for certain at Abraham’s age here but we do know that he was already over 70 by the time he leaves from Haran. This places Sarah at around 60. It must have not been outside of their thinking at this point that they were to old to have a child because Abraham does not show any signs of wonder at this point. So if you move along in Abraham and Sarah’s life we see in Genesis 17 that God makes the covenant of circumcision with Abraham. We know that Abraham is 99 at this point by what is said in verse one of that chapter.
Then God gives to Abraham the promise of Isaac down a little further, God says this in Genesis 17:16-17 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
Some see Abraham’s reaction as a sign of disbelief but we know in Romans 4:18-21 that this was not the case, it says In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
So Abraham had faith but our Hebrews text speaks of Sarah’s faith so let’s look at her reaction to this promise. Look with me at Genesis 18:10-15 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
It was at this time that God told Abraham that the time was here that his wife Sarah would conceive. Sarah’s reaction was just like Abraham’s reaction in that she laughed seeing that she knew she was beyond the age to carry a child naturally. Of course we know that all of this happened as God said but it was not ever dependent on whether they had personal faith or not. The faith they had was something they had because of the working of God inside of them. So it was by God’s power that Sarah conceived and in that she had faith in God. I want to look at another aspect of this story as we move now to our next point.
2.Having patience in our suffering produces faith.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
In order to see God work things out the way He would want for us, we must have patience and contentment. We must not lose our focus and do as Sarah and Abraham did when Abraham had a child with Hagar. That was not God’s promised child and was not the promise given to Abraham. Sometimes people wonder at how God allowed this type of behavior by still allowing Ishmael to be born. God would still allow this child to be born but it would not be through Ishmael that the promise of being a blessed nation would be. This is the tension we know that exist to this vey day between the Jewish nation and the Islamic nations. Even though the Islamic nation is descendants through Ishmael the promise was given to Isaac as stated in Genesis 17:18-22 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
So what we see is that both Ishmael and Isaac will be great nations but it would be only Isaac that would receive the promises of the land and the covenants in association to Messiah. This of course brought turmoil from the beginning between Abraham’s two sons. But as you move along in the life of Abraham and Sarah you will see Abraham tell Hagar to leave from them. I know this had to be hard on Abraham but it would be the obedience of both Sarah and Abraham that would prove their faith in God’s promises.
As they live their life they do not have a homeland but remain as foreigners in a land that was only promised to his offspring. That really takes us back to where I wanted to land in this study and that is what we see in Hebrews 11:9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
Even though both Abraham and Sarah thought that them having a child was something beyond what could happen, they both remained faithful. They may have seen what seemed impossible to them as something funny but this would continue to build their faith. I think we spiritualize the people in the Bible so much that we tend to think they were the same as they were the day they started following God, but just like us, they too would be growing more and more in their trust in God as they saw Him do the impossible in their life.
I know for me I often have seen God work in situations that I thought I would never get out of. I may not see a miraculous conception as we have studied on in this study but to see God work in my life, removing sin in my life and in the life of others, to see my mom nearly die a couple of times from her bout with cancer to living normal again, to seeing the worse person that you may think could never be saved start living for Christ is all that I need to build my faith more and more in God.
The key to each of these is the same thing we see in Abraham and Sarah’s lives which is to be patient. Even though they would never see the fulfillment of all of the promises they knew that God would do what He said He would do. This is what we see in Hebrews 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
They did become the parents, if you will, of many descendants not just from an ancestral sense but also from a spiritual sense. Romans 4:16 says That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
It was by faith that they both received the promises that went beyond any temporal blessing to a heavenly reward. We will see 2 studies from now the faith of Abraham tested once again but for our next study we will look at how we should be living our lives in obedience by faith for something beyond our hopes of seeing promises fulfilled in this lifetime.
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