Sarah Laughs

NOW Sarah hears these words of the Lord, and they strike her as very funny and utterly impossible. We read:

“Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ ” (Genesis 18:12 NKJV).

This was too much for Sarah to believe, and so the Lord comes with a rebuke, and repeats the promise again:

“And the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?” ‘Is anything too hard for the LORD?’ “ (Genesis 18:13-14 NKJV)?

Now notice God’s answer again:

“At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:14 NKJV).

For the second time the Lord says, “I will restore to Sarah the time of childbearing and the time of life, and she shall become a mother.” And God kept His promise. He brought about a transformation in Sarah which was wonderful. He took this old, stoop-shouldered, hobbling, wrinkled, gray-haired Sarah and completely transformed her. The gray hair turned black again, the wrinkles were all smoothed out, her stooped shoulders straightened up, her step became springy and youthful, the sparkle of youth returned to her eyes, and the color returned to her cheeks. This old woman became a beautiful, buxom young matron again.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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