Sarah 1 Meaning of her Name: Sarai Sâray (Hebrew) dominative, princess Sarah Sârâh (Hebrew) mistress, lady, princess, queen Notes: Barrenness [was] a condition considered a curse in the ancient world. (Hayford 28) Following a practice common in the ancient world, she gave Abraham permission to sleep with her Egyptian maid Hagar. Sarah s slave would become a surrogate mother for the promised child. (Spangler 26) Infertile women urged their husbands to take their maidservants in order to gain a child and heir for the family their children became the property and sometimes the heirs of their masters. (Spangler 35) Women who couldn t bear children were considered subfemale, unable to fulfill their divine purpose on earth. (Spangler 147) Barrenness in early Eastern culture was considered much more than a matter of regret, much more than a cause of heartache; it was a matter of reproach and a cause for divorce. (Syswerda 20) Sarai gave Hagar to Abram as a substitute wife, a common practice of that time. A married woman who could not have children was shamed by her peers and was often required to give a female servant to her husband in order to produce heirs. The children born to the servant woman were considered the children of the wife. (Life 32) Quotes: Sarai s name change to Sarah served to bring her into the covenant in her own right. (Hayford 30) God s harsher reaction with her [in Genesis 18:14] indicates that Sarah was in persistent unbelief, not mere astonishment. (Hayford 30) Leaving behind their homeland, she and her husband Abraham moved hundreds of miles south to Canaan, a land fertile with the promises of God but barren of everything cherished and familiar. (Spangler 25) Sarah was a risk taker of the first order, a woman who said goodbye to everything familiar to travel to a land she knew nothing about. A real flesh and blood kind of lady who lived an adventure that began with a promise and ended with laughter. (Spangler 27) We d like to believe that Sarah acknowledged her bitterness, which extended even to the Lord Himself, that she decided to stop doubting and to stop trying to be in control. She gave the Lord room to work a miracle in her life. (Syswerda 67) Sarah appears in the Bible as God s paragon of a married woman. Two notable characteristics mark her life: beauty and barrenness. (Patterson 27) [What] sets her apart is her unique and unequivocal devotion toward her husband Abraham. She shared not only her husband s challenges and heartaches but also his dreams and blessings. She did not waver, she stood by his side through good choices and bad decisions,
Sarah 2 adversities and blessings, in youth and old age. She is a fine example of a woman who loved her husband unconditionally and tenaciously. (Patterson 27) More space is devoted to Sarah than to any other woman of the Bible Sarah is the only wife named in the heroes of the faith (Patterson 27) Sarah is one of only two women mentioned in faith s Hall of Fame [in] Hebrews 11 (Richards 33). Sarai s new name added to the dignity of the occasion when God openly and publicly declared Sarah s part in the covenant. (Patterson 35) Every time Sarah looked at Ishmael she was reminded of her failure to provide an heir and of her slave woman s disdain [for conceiving quickly]. (Richards 37) Themes: Sarah is an illustration of the dangers of taking God s promises into our own hands. (Hayford 28) God accomplishes His purposes despite our frailties, our little faith, our entrenched self-reliance. (Spangler 27) How hard it was for Sarah (and is for us as well) to remember God s promises and to wait for Him to fulfill them. God s promises are revealed and fulfilled in His timing. (Spangler 30) God protects His own, even when they act foolishly sometimes we make fear-based decisions but God takes care of us, sometimes going to extraordinary lengths to assure that His plans are not disrupted. (Syswerda 21) Even our lack of faith doesn t prevent God from keeping His promises and accomplishing what He plans. God is bigger than the weaknesses of men and women. (Syswerda 67) When we ask God for something and have to wait, it is a temptation to take matters into our own hands and interfere with God s plans. (Life 32) Focus on God s commitment to fulfill His promises to you, and then continue to obey. (Life 35) Questions (all answers found in Genesis unless otherwise noted): 1. Who is Sarai? (11:29,31; 16:1) 2. What is her condition? (11:30; 16:1a) 3. Where does her father-in-law Terah move his family? (11:31b) a. Where does God call her husband after Terah s death? (12:1) b. Where do they go? (12:5) c. Why do they eventually leave? (12:10) d. Where do they go? (12:10)
Sarah 3 4. What does 12:11,14 reveal about Sarai? 5. Genesis 12 in Egypt a. What does Abram fear about the Egyptians? (12) b. What does he ask of her? (13a) c. Why? (12b,13b) d. What happens to her when they enter Egypt? (15) e. What happens to Pharaoh as a result? (17) f. What 2 things does Pharaoh do? (19b) 6. Genesis 16 Hagar a. Who is Hagar? (1b) b. How does Sarai view her condition? (2a) c. What is her solution? (2b) d. What happens? (4a) e. How does Hagar react? (4b,5b) f. Who does Sarai blame? (5) g. How does Sarai treat Hagar? (6b) 7. What does God do in 17:15? 8. What 4 promises does God make concerning her? (17:16) 9. How old is Sarah at this point? (17:17b)
Sarah 4 a. What does this mean? (18:11b) b. What is Abraham s status? (17:17) c. What does Romans 4:19 say about them? 10. What does God repeat and then add to in 17:19a? a. How does God specify more of His plan? (17:21; 18:10a,14) b. How does she hear about God s plan? (18:10b) c. What is Sarah s reaction when she hears this? (18:12a) d. What does God tell her? (18:14) 11. Genesis 20 in Gerar a. What does Abraham say about Sarah? (2a) b. What happens to Sarah? (2b) c. What happens as a result? (18) d. What had she told the king? (5a) e. Why did Abraham and Sarah do this? (11) f. What do we learn about them in verse 12? g. How is she rebuked by the king? (16) 12. What 3 things happen to Sarah in 21:1-2?
Sarah 5 13. What is her response? (21:6) 14. How long has Sarah waited for this moment? (Subtract Abraham s age in 21:5 from 12:4) 15. What does she ask of Abraham in 21:10? 16. What happens to Sarah in 23:2? a. How old is she? (1) b. Where does Abraham bury her? (23:17-20) 17. What does God tell Israel (Zion) to remember in Isaiah 51:2? 18. What does Galatians 4:23 say about Sarah? 19. Hebrews 11:11 a. What does Sarah receive? b. How? c. Why was she able to bore a child? 20. What does 1 Peter 3:6 say about Sarah? Going Deeper: A. How might Sarai have felt in Genesis 12 at being with Pharaoh s harem? B. How might Sarai have felt about being asked to lie TWICE about her relationship with Abram?
Sarah 6 C. What does Sarai s agreement to Abram s plan in Genesis 12 reveal about her? About their relationship? D. What does 16:2 reveal about Sarai s relationship with (faith in) God? E. Why does Sarai use Hagar to solve her problem? F. Why do Sarai and Hagar not have compassion for each other? Why is there such animosity and cruelty between the two women? G. Why might Sarai have blamed Abram for Hagar s attitude? H. Why does Sarai reciprocate Hagar s rotten attitude? What does this say about her character? I. Why might God have chosen Sarah to be part of His plan/covenant? J. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed at God s plan of Isaac. Why is God harsher in His response to Sarah?
Sarah 7 K. Why is Sarai s name change significant? L. How do you think Sarah reacted to and thought about her name change? What might it have meant to her? M. Why has God waited until Sarah had passed the age of childbearing to start His plan? N. Why is Sarah eavesdropping in Genesis 18:10? O. Why might Sarah have agreed to their sister story again in Genesis 20 after their experience in Egypt? What does this reveal about their relationship? P. How does Genesis 20:12 expand upon Abraham and Sarah s relationship? What additional or deeper perspective do you realize about their relationship? Q. How are Genesis 12:10-20 and 20 similar? What are the common details of Abraham s deception? R. Why did Sarah have to wait 25 years for her child?
Sarah 8 S. How might Sarah have felt about her pregnancy and then Isaac s birth? T. What does Genesis 21:10 reveal to you about Sarah s relationship with Hagar? Do you think anything s changed since chapter 16? U. Why was Sarah so hostile in Genesis 21:10? V. What does Hebrews 11:11 tell you changed in Sarah between Genesis 16 and 21? W. How might Sarah s relationship with God changed when she realized she was pregnant? X. Why did God talk to Sarah about the promise/covenant through Abraham? Y. What picture of Sarah and Abraham s relationship does Sarah s story paint for you? How would you describe it? Z. How do you think Sarah s experiences shaped and changed her?
Sarah 9 AA. How do you think Sarah would have summed up her life? What 3-6 words would she use? BB. How would you describe Sarah after reading her story? What is her opinion of her? Getting Personal: 1. What are you waiting for God to fulfill in your life? How long have you been waiting? 2. How do you usually wait for God? Are you more likely to patiently wait or impatiently help? 3. How many times have you moved in your life? How did you feel about it? 4. What is the latest miracle God has done in your life? 5. When was a time someone asked you to do something strange? What did you do? 6. Who is your best relationship with? How did it become your best?
Sarah 10 7. How have your experiences (specifically your waiting times) shaped you into the person you are today? What have been the 3 main aspects of your journey? 8. How do you normally react to God s BIG promises to you? 9. What is an Ishmael (God s plan by your hand)? How has it effected your life? Bibliography Hayford, Jack, editor. New Spirit Filled Life Bible. New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002. Life Application Study Bible. New American Standard Version. Zondervan, 2000. Patterson, Dorothy Kelley, editor. "The Woman's Study Bible. New King James Version." Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. Richards, Sue and Larry. Every Woman in the Bible. Nashville, 1995. Spangler, Ann and Jean Syswerda. Women of the Bible. Zondervan, 1999. Syswerda, Jean, General Editor. Women of Faith Study Bible. New International Version. Michigan: Zondervan, 2001.