10.26.26 – Sarah, Part 5

Over the past week, we have been peeling back the layers of the Genesis story. Our focus has been on the emotional and psychological state of Sarai's mind and how she handles life's circumstances in lieu of God's will.

The next event within our Abram-Sarai narrative: God visits Abram and renews His covenant promise. To mark the occasion, God changes the names of both Abram and Sarai. Abraham and Sarah now carry God's name in their new names, given by God Himself. And, on top of that landmark event, God leaves another permanent mark of His covenant: circumcision (Gen. 17). It is private and intimate. Once done, it cannot be reversed. With this, Abraham obediently acts, despite the painful process.

Sarah re-enters the story during God's next encounter with Abraham. Accompanied by two angels who will soon rescue Lot from the destruction of Sodom, God accepts the hospitality of Abraham and eats a meal near Abraham's tent (Gen. 18:1–8). God tells Abraham that He will return in one year, and at that time Sarah will give birth to a son (Gen. 17:19; 18:10). Behind the tent flap, Sarah has been listening to the conversation. The account tells us that when Sarah heard this, she said silently to herself, "Now that I am worn out (balah), shall I experience pleasure even though my husband is old?" (Gen. 18:12). The sense of this statement revolves around sexual pleasure (eden). It is not only her disbelief that she will have a child, but she doubts she will experience pleasure (ednah), directly connected to the garden of delight and pleasure (Eden). Sarah reasons that she is too old to conceive and no longer able to have sexual enjoyment with Abraham. Ironically, she associates the word ednah with the fact that Abraham is old. Perhaps Abraham is not so virile either??? Her life has once more failed her. She sees nothing wonderful in her future. Ugh!

As Sarah contemplates this in her mind, she laughs (tzakhak) about her impossible situation. God (for who else can hear someone laugh silently?) questions her about this disbelief. Sarah responds with a lie: "I did not laugh" (Gen. 18:13–15). Consider how silly her attempt to cover her unbelief really is. If this stranger can actually hear her thoughts, then it is fairly obvious that he will know when she is not telling the truth. The lie that she utters is not only disobedient; it is impossibly disrespectful. In the middle of this dialogue is one of the most powerful verses in Scripture, uttered as a direct result of Sarah's disbelief: "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14). Given the circumstances surrounding this rhetorical question, we could conclude that a change in perspective about life might be evident in both Abraham and Sarah. But old mindsets die hard, and it is tough to teach an old dog new tricks... not impossible.

An honest question we need to ask ourselves is: why would the Lord get so upset about her laughing? From a "natural" perspective, it would seem as if Sarah's perspective is spot on and more than fair... think about it. But the Lord's response is not over what we would consider a good chuckle. Her laughter was not just a good chuckle; she laughed (tzakhak). The difference may seem small, but it is very big. Sarah's laugh is the same word that is used to describe Ishmael's mocking of Isaac on the day he was weaned (Gen. 21:9).

More to come...

Shalom!
Alan

www.lightintorah.org

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