The book of Genesis is one of the most fascinating books in the Bible. Not only is it filled with stories about great heroes of the faith, it contains the story of creation and those early generations of people, from Adam and Eve, through to Abraham’s great-grandchildren, who became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. This book literally provides the foundation for everything else that happens in the Bible.
The Story Starts Before Sarah
One of the key characters found in the book of Genesis is Abraham, along with his wife, Sarah (sometimes spelled Sarai). He is called “the father of our faith” for a good reason, as he was the first person recorded in scripture to truly believe in God, to the point of obedience, after the flood. As we will see in a moment, God proved his faith in a most extraordinary way. We find Abraham introduced to us through his father Terah, who quite possibly believed in Jehovah God as well, but didn’t have the faith to fully obey Him.
Terah is introduced in the later part of Genesis, chapter 11. There are only a few verses talking about him, but along with what it says about the early days of Abraham’s life, they are significant verses, which had a profound impact on his son’s life.
Terah had three sons, Abrah (later to become Abraham), Nahor and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot (Genesis 11:27). But Haran died before his father, in the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:27). It tells us in verse 30 that Sarah was barren and had no child; at least, she didn’t have a child while they were living in Ur. God miraculously gave her a child many years later. The important part for us, is what it says about Terah in verse 31.
And Terah took his son Abrah and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. – Genesis 11:31
There are a couple of key things I’d like to point out from this verse. First, it mentions that Terah left Ur to go to Canaan. Although God never told Abraham where He was taking him; He did in fact take him to Canaan. That makes it seem like Abraham might have finished something his father started out to do, which makes me wonder if God had first spoken to Terah, telling him to do a task that he never finished, but was, in fact, finished by his son.
The second key thing ties in directly to the first. That is the place where Terah stopped his journey, which is mentioned as being in Haran. This is not a city in Canaan, as it would be easy to suppose; but rather in modern-day Lebanon, far to the north. So, why did he stop there?
If we look at a map of the Middle East, we find that the area once known as Ur is located near the mouth of the Euphrates River, just north of the Persian Gulf. Haran would have been located alongside the same river, in what would be modern day Turkey, some 1,200 kilometers away. Traveling from one to the other is fairly easy, requiring nothing more than following the Euphrates River; having water the whole way. But to get from Haran to Canaan, one must be willing to leave behind the river and cross the desert. That may be why Terah decided to stop where he did.
Adding to that, we find that the town he stopped in was called “Haran,” the name of Lot’s father, Terah’s son who had died. The Bible doesn’t say so, but it is possible that Terah founded that city, naming it for his dead son. Throughout the world, towns were often named for their founders or a family member of the founder. Again, we don’t know that this is what Terah did, but it fits with what we do know.
The Torch is Passed to Abraham
It isn’t until after Terah dies, that God speaks to Abram for the first time, telling him to leave his country, his family and the home of his father, to go to a place that God would show him. Interestingly enough, God doesn’t mention Canaan, although that is where God takes him (Genesis 12:1). This can be seen as God’s first test for Abraham, to see if he had enough faith in God to cross the desert and go to Canaan.
I have to wonder how many times God tried to find someone who would believe Him enough to follow His directions, including with Terah. Why else would Terah have left Ur, heading to Canaan? God had great plans for Abraham; but needed for him to be a man of faith, for those plans to come to pass. If Abraham passed this test, God could move on to greater things, including greater tests.
Some time later, God establishes His covenant with Abrah, changing his name to Abraham. As part of that, God promised him an heir.
Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now towards heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. – Genesis 15:3-6
This promise is ultimately why God gave a baby to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, but there were a few more steps to go through, before they got there. While Abraham believed God, Sarah struggled a bit with her faith. This led to her offering her servant girl, Hagar, to her husband, that he might have a son with her (Genesis 16:1-4). The child would then be raised as the child of the couple, not the child of the servant girl. While that is not something common in society today, during that time, it was not unusual, especially for the wealthy.
The only problem with that, was that it wasn’t God’s plan. Abraham did lie with Hagar and she bore a son, who was named Ishmael. This happened when Abraham was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16). This ultimately led to Hagar despising her mistress, Sarah. When Sarah complained to her husband, he reminded her that Hagar was still her servant and that she could do as she wished. Ultimately, Sarah also bore a child, when she was 90 years old and Abraham was 100 (Genesis 17:17). Once Sarah had born her son, Hagar and Ishmael were sent out of the camp.
How did Sarah Get Pregnant at 89 Years of Age?
It’s amazing to us that Sarah could have gotten pregnant at 89 years of age. The modern record for a woman getting pregnant is at 66. Such pregnancies are extremely rare. So how, and why, did Sarah get pregnant at that age?
First, we need to understand that people lived longer lives back then. Abraham was supposedly 175 when he died. While Sarah died considerably younger than her husband, she still lived what we would consider a long life. Not only that, but she was still beautiful at 90. We know this, because of the events that happened around that time of her life.
About 25 years after He had first spoken to Abraham, God again appeared to him and renewed the covenant that they had made (Genesis 17:1-14). Abraham was 99 years old. At that time, God also promised that Sarah would give birth to a son. This became part of the promise of God’s covenant with Abraham. I won’t get into detail, as that would require going through the entire 17th chapter. But in the next chapter, Abraham is visited by three angels, who tell him that Sarah, his wife, would have a child at the same time the next year (Genesis 18:8).
Two chapters later, Abraham journeyed to Gerar. Being fearful that he would be killed, because of the beauty of his wife, Abraham told the people that Sarah was his sister (Genesis 20:2). Based on this, Abimelech brought her into his haram. Fortunately for her, God protected her, not only keeping Abimelech from laying hands on her, but also in exposing to Abimelech the truth, so that he would release her back to Abraham. While I cannot agree with Abraham’s actions in this, I recognize God’s hand at work, protecting Sarah. I only bring this event up to show that Sarah was still beautiful at 90. Kings don’t bring wrinkled up prunes into their harams, but only the most beautiful women they can find. The next chapter starts out:
And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. – Genesis 21:1-2
Notice that it says “the Lord visited Sarah as He had said.” This does not negate that Abraham and Sarah had sexual relations. It merely adds to that, God’s action in making it possible for her to conceive, even at such an advanced age. This was clearly a miracle, bringing glory to God.
Isaac was the child of the promise. It was through him that the descendants of Abraham would be counted. That’s why it was necessary for him to be born of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. While God did bless Ishmael and multiply him, that child was not part of God’s plan. We don’t know why; we just know what the Bible tells us.
It should be noted that many of the nations in the Middle East are populated by the descendants of Ishmael. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, multiplying the offspring of Ishmael as well. At the same time, much of the political struggles in the Middle East can be seen to be a family feud, with the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael fighting.
God Did Something Amazing Through Isaac
I called Abraham obeying God and going to Canaan, even though it required crossing the desert, God’s first test for Abraham. There was a second one as well, and it involved Isaac. In the 22nd chapter of Genesis, God tested or proved Abraham once again. This time, it was critical that he passed the test.
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” and he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” – Genesis 22:1-2
There’s no two ways about it, this is extreme. But there was a purpose behind it. Had God not made it possible for Sarah to have a baby, this could not have happened. Notice that God said “your only son Isaac, whom you love” – this is important. Ishmael was gone, so Isaac was Abraham’s only son. Had he not obeyed and offered him, as God commanded, the result would have been catastrophic.
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. – Genesis 22:3
Abraham obeyed God and he didn’t waste time in doing so. It was a three day journey to the mountain, giving him plenty of time to have second thoughts. But before any of them, Abraham remembered that he was in covenant with God, so whatever God required of him, he had to give to God, even if that was his son. Hebrews, chapter 11, tells us that he “concluded that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19). Fortunately for Abraham and Isaac, God had other plans.
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. – Genesis 22:8-10
Theologians tell us that Abraham was about 125 years of age when this event happened, which would have made Isaac about 25. Yet we see no sign of struggle between them. The Biblical narrative simply states that Abraham bound Isaac and placed him on the altar. Had Isaac wanted to, he could have wrestled with his father or simply ran. I doubt that a 125-year-old man could have beaten a 25-year-old one.
The important point is that Abraham obeyed God. God had put a covenant requirement on Abraham and he followed through. The covenant was intact. Therefore, God could have His angel stop Abraham from killing his son, providing a ram to take his place.
But why do all this?
It all goes back to the covenant. One of the central principles of covenant, is that what belongs to one, belongs to the other. So when God told Abraham to offer up his son as a burnt offering, he couldn’t refuse. To do so, would be to break the covenant. He obeyed, at least until God stopped him, keeping the covenant in place.
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son – 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” – Genesis 22:15-18
It’s easy to miss, but the term “In your seed” is critical. This is making reference to a single seed or offspring, not seeds. That single seed was Jesus Christ. Because Abraham obeyed God, passing the test and not breaking the covenant, he placed a burden on God to maintain the covenant and offer His Son to the children of Abraham in return. In other words, Sarah’s baby was what made it so that God had to send Jesus to die on the cross.
You might ask, why God couldn’t send Jesus, without Abraham having to offer Isaac on the altar. That would be a reasonable question; and God could have done it. But God did things the way that He did, primarily so that Satan couldn’t accuse Him of acting “unfairly” or “unjustly.” Because God was responding to the covenant in the same way that Abraham did, Satan had no grounds for any accusation. In the celestial court, if there is any such thing, Satan’s case would be thrown out.
God gave Sarah a baby not only because she asked Him to, not only because He was in covenant with Abraham and had promised Abraham that his offspring would be as the stars in the sky and the sand along the seashore; but because it was a necessary part of God’s plan for salvation.
Could God have sent Jesus without Abraham offering Isaac on the altar? Of course; He’s God and can do anything He wants. But that’s not the point. He chose to act in this manner, so that all things would be done in righteousness. That included giving Sarah a baby boy, who would one day be offered on a stone altar and then rise up from that stone altar, having his life redeemed by the slaying of a ram. Even in that, we see a parallel between Abraham offering his son, his only son, whom he loved, Isaac, on the altar and God offering His only begotten Son, on the cross; the perfect lamb, slain as the Passover lamb, for the sins of the world. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth… 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. – Revelations 5: 6, 9