Sarah's Faith (Genesis 22:20-23:2)

We are nearing the end of Abraham’s life. As we do so, we see the death of some and the birth of others. This is the great cycle of life: we rejoice when new life is born, and we mourn when old life passes away. Let us do so, as we read today’s Scripture passage.

Please read Genesis 22:20-24. 

While this may seem like a standard accounting of Abraham’s nieces and nephews, there is one important name to note: Rebekah. Rebekah will play a great part in God’s story of redemption that is playing out through the Patriarchs. It is important that her birth is mentioned here, because as one great woman of faith is coming into the world, so another great woman of faith is passing out of it.

Please read Genesis 23:1-2.

Sarah is a wonderful example of how Scripture depicts the honest truth about people. We have read in Genesis about Sarah’s many failures: she lied and was willing to sleep with kings while married to her husband; she laughed at and doubted God; she was bitter towards Hagar and cast her out; and more. Yet, Sarah is counted as a woman of great faith. We see in Scripture that her faith is demonstrated by…

Actually, it's hard to come up with an example from Genesis!

The list of Sarah’s failures in Scripture could be detailed quite more extensively than the lists of her faithfulness. And the same is true of most of us. There are many, many sins that each of us have committed in our life, but when we get to the end, none of them will matter. We can have sinned a million times, but so long as we made one single act of faith, we will be forgiven.

The salvation that comes through Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than any words we speak, thoughts we think, or acts that we commit here on this earth. The greatest sinner could live a life marred by sin, and at the end of his life, turn to Christ and be forgiven.

Sarah lived a life filled with instances of doubt, lying, and cruelty. But, at some point in her life, Sarah believed God, just as Abraham her husband did (See Hebrews 11:11). Sarah strived from that point on to support her husband in following God. Indeed, it is unlikely that Abraham would be half the success that he was if it weren’t for the faithfulness of his wife. This is why we see Abraham mourn her passing so deeply.

Sarah was not perfect, but she was forgiven by God. She had faith in God, and that’s what saved her. May the same be said of each one of us when we pass from this life into the next.