Part Two: When God Promises the Absurd

WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ

As With Abraham, Trusting God Often Requires Us to Believe Incredible Things

We left off last week with Abraham and Sarah’s expectation of a coming heir. Yet both Abraham and Sarah are no spring chickens. They were both elderly, far past their child-bearing years. By this time, their trust in God’s promise was on life support. Though God has promised over and over that he would provide a son for Abraham, he has yet to deliver, and time is running out.

That is until one day while his tent was pitched near the Oaks of Mamre:

And the Lord appeared to him by the Oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”

Genesis 18:1-6

What a sight to behold! Abraham is visited by three men. According to ancient Christian tradition, this was none other than the Holy Trinity standing before Abraham. Here we see that Abraham knows that something incredible is happening. He bows himself before them, and his hospitality kicks in as he rushes to serve his visitors.

He runs to his wife in order to provide food for their guests:

And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

Genesis 18:6-8

After showing us a great example of hospitality, the conversation shifts:

They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

Genesis 18:9-10

Imagine the curiosity that must have befell upon Sarah. Who were these three men, and what are they here for? “We are old and can barely care for ourselves, what business do these men have with us?” It is no wonder that she finds herself eavesdropping on the conversation. She has heard the promise through Abraham, but now she has heard it from the mouth of God himself. Again, the promise is reaffirmed, and Sarah has heard about all she can handle:

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”

Genesis 18:9-12

It is clear now that Sarah has passed the age that she is able to conceive. Even after hearing it from the mouth of God himself, the only response she can muster is to laugh at the absurdity of it all. You must be joking, right?

As is often the case with doubt, the only response we can sometimes muster is humor. Some of us reach the point where a situation becomes so stressful or painful that we just start laughing at the folly of it all. Whether it is financial trouble, loss of a job, or a strained relationship, our broken heart sometimes comes out as laughter. While this can help us cope in the moment, it is often the reaction that we have when God promises the absurd.

However, what we find absurd beyond the scope of our own reason is no laughing matter for God:

The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”  But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Genesis 18:13-15

From our perspective as limited creatures, we have difficulty seeing past the scope of our own concerns. While it may seem silly to us that a barren woman should bear a son, or that a virgin should conceive, we forget that it is God himself who is the author of nature. He is the one who opens and closes the womb according to his own purposes. His gentle rebuke of Sarah reminds us that while we are bound by God’s creation, our Lord is not. It is he who upholds all creation by his word, and in his power holds all things together. 

Moreover, notice that Sarah denies that she laughed. Out of fear she doesn’t want to confront her unbelief before God. Such is the case with us as well. Fear often prohibits us from laying our doubts at his feet. We wish to come across as good and faithful servants, but, like Sarah, we are often doubting. Our doubts grate on our lives, and we can become cynical and negative. This can begin to bleed into our relationships with others as our spiritual state manifests in our lives.

Yet our unbelief does not nullify God’s promises. Our faithlessness is always eclipsed by his faithfulness as we will see next week when we explore the birth of Isaac and the fulfillment of the promise.