Moms in the Bible - Sarah

Chapter 20 – Sarah

I've known quite a few women in their nineties (relatives and ladies at church). So when I think of Sarah’s story – learning that she’s pregnant at such an impossibly advanced age – I totally get her irreverent laughter. Nevertheless, she did become pregnant and she gave birth to a healthy boy that Abraham named Isaac, meaning “he laughs”.

As a mother Sarah was happy right away and said,

“God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” She must have held onto that joy for the years that she nursed Isaac, but upon weaning him Sarah became somewhat surly. She demanded that Abraham banish his other son, Ishmael, who was born to Sarah’s maidservant.  Sarah had given that servant girl to her husband precisely to bare him a child. You know what? I understand her feelings here, too. Why would she want to have a constant reminder around of her stupid mistake?

We don’t find anything else in the Bible about Sarah’s mothering, but we can infer something from Isaac’s behavior. The Bible tells us that Isaac took his wife, Rebekah, into his mother’s tent when he married her and thus was comforted after his mother’s death. I find it very revealing that he would choose to do this; Sarah was the one who would have taught him Scripture, cared for his daily needs, and supported him as he grew up. He must have been consoled and felt close to her just by living in her tent with his new wife.

Next Saturday - Tamar