Sarah’s character and faith were going to be put through several severe tests over the course of her marriage, trials that would include long years of travel, homelessness, risk to her life and to her honor, turmoil in her home, even internal soul-searching.
As middle age became old age, the heavy burden of truth bowed both Sarah’s shoulders and her will. Finally, she capitulated to the Law of Ur-Nammu’s clause, and offered her husband a surrogate to have their child. Yet God had so much more planned for Sarah! In a jaw-dropping twist to the tale, the Lord infused new vitality and whole new chapters into what would have ordinarily been the last, golden years of Sarah’s story. From barren to birthing nations, from contentious to courtly, at ninety years old, Sarah’s life had only just begun.
I Background on Sarah
II Betrayal of Marriage Vows
III Bad Decisions
IV Baby Isaac
Through Sarah’s story we remember that our culture and law does not look to God but to earth for answers. Often, living out our faith will look foolish and impractical through the eyes of our culture. But Faith in God requires resisting cultural and social pressures.
Often fear is what drives us to be faithless—fear that is translated into self-protective ways. Often, faith will require us to live out integrity and fidelity even though it feels unsafe, trusting that God will prevail and be glorified in the end. Faith in God requires faithfulness to God and to others and Faith in God requires trusting God, God’s word, God’s timing, and God’s ways, God’s character and attributes, who God is, God’s love and faithfulness.
Finally, Sarah and Abraham both learned that The Lord values and honors every person who puts their faith in God.
Each video is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study.
The “Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful” series is a companion to the book, available on Amazon, and published by Wipf and Stock.