For the Genesis 18:10-15 PODCAST, Click Here!
10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!" ~ Genesis 18:10-15
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 18 where Abraham has just experienced the arrival of God, physically, with two angels. In response to their arrival, Abraham prepared for these three a meal which he served to them. But, the real reason for their arrival was revealed in the question the visitors asked of Abraham: "Where is Sarah?"
In v.10 of today's passage we read, "And He said, 'I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.' (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)"
The question of Sarah's whereabouts was followed by the reiteration of God's promise of a son that would be born to Abraham through Sarah. The promise of the Lord was to return Abraham "according to the time of life" which meant that He would fulfill the promise that He had made to him so long before.
In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?'"
Since Sarah was so old, she laughed at the astonishing announcement. Sarah "laughed within herself" and no one else could hear it but God. Then, Sarah's doubt and laughter was made clear through her words which didn’t just implicate her own barren physical state, her words also implicated her lack of trust in God. She reacted as she did because she had never experienced the miraculous power of God in her life. But that was about to change. Sarah’s doubt would shortly be replaced by real faith and she would learn firsthand that with God all things are possible.
In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 And the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.'"
YHWH spoke and there is no other possibility left in the account than that this was God incarnate; this person with whom Abraham spoke was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His words here revealed both His omniscience and His omnipotence. His omniscience was seen when Sarah laughed and spoke silently, but He heard her words. It was at that point that He asked Sarah a question that He already knew the answer for. He asked the question to give her the opportunity to confess to Him that she was struggling to believe.
Confession is a radical reliance upon the grace of God. It isn’t telling God what He doesn’t already know. That’s impossible for He knows all things. Confession is a trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God. Confession is the act of inviting God to walk with us through the stuff that is trapped in our souls. When we agree with God that our definition of life is not consistent with His, we discover a freedom that deniers of sin do not.
In 1 John 1:9 we read "If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.”
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "But Sarah denied it, saying, 'I did not laugh,' for she was afraid. And He said, 'No, but you did laugh!'"
Sarah laughed in disbelief at the promise of the Lord and then she lied. She laughed out of fear because of her sin. We are just like Sarah, we try to hide the evidence of our sin and then we deny its existence. One sin often leads to another and in this case it was because of fear. Sin always tries to live a life on our own apart from God. Fortunately for Sarah, this is how our faith in the Lord is developed. When we fail at our attempts to do life alone, we are given the option to cast ourselves upon the Lord. And, once we have cast ourselves upon the Lord enough, we find ourselves choosing to be defined by Him.
Faith looks beyond all the contrary circumstances of life to discover the character of the One who made the promise. When God has given a promise, it is the Word of God that must be trusted alone despite our circumstances, our feelings, or even our manipulative measures. And ultimately, Sarah rested upon the God who is completely trustworthy. Biblical faith in the God of the Bible is processed faith. As our faith in Him trains us to learn of and from Him, our faith will find its rest in Him. Biblical faith trains us to not rest on our own resources which are never adequate, but upon the unfailing resources of this God who is infinite in every possible way. And, with this God, nothing is impossible.
