The ‘Holy Women of Israel” – Sarah
The Holy Women of Israel – Sarah
“Many daughters have done well, with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness, but you excel them all… A woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord in wonder and awe, she shall be honored and praised!” (Proverbs 31:29-31, Amplified Version).
Did you know that the Talmud, the official rabbinic source for Judaism, includes a “Hall of Fame” that includes seven women? These are the prophetesses, the “Holy Women of Israel,” who hold places of honor and are of central importance in biblical history. These women are: Sarah (Genesis 11-23); Miriam (Exodus 2,15); Deborah (Judges 4-5); Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2); Abigail (1 Samuel 25); Huldah (2 Kings 22); and Esther.
In some cases, the Hebrew word for woman prophet, “nebiah,” was used in Scripture, which was an official title of sorts for an accepted spokeswoman for the Lord, a proclaimer of God’s word. But in other cases, the term prophetess included a woman who was divinely inspired, able to receive divine messages about the present or the future, as well as divine interpretations of the past. Prophets male and female were those who spoke what was on God’s mind, and often held up as models of personal sanctity and intimacy with God. In one way or another, during one time or another, the biblical prophetesses were honored as mouthpieces of God and vital to the history of the Jewish people.
There were other inspired women in the Hebrew Bible that deserved “Special Mention” and thus were included in an unofficial list of the Holy Women of Israel:
*The wife of Isaiah in Isaiah 8:3, for the significant name she gave her son that was actually a divine prophecy of Judah’s future;
* The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-10, for being inspired to provide housing and food for the needy prophet Elisha, an example of divine hospitality;
* Rachel in Genesis 29-35, the long-suffering wife of Jacob for giving inspired names for her two sons, including Joseph (“May He add More”) and Benjamin (“Son of my Sorrow”);
* Leah in Genesis 29-35, the wife of Jacob who bore him six sons and one daughter, and was inspired to name one of her sons Judah, “This time I will praise the Lord,” who provided the lineage for Messiah Jesus.
* Ruth, in the book in her name, a Gentile who remained faithfully loyal to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi when they traveled to Bethlehem; she was a direct ancestor of Jesus.
It is logical to consider that Solomon had inspired women like these prophetesses in his mind as he wrote Proverbs 31, as he stated that “many daughters have done well and were noble and virtuous.” But at the same time, as we read this passage, it appears that Solomon considered an unheralded woman in private life to be on a higher plane than these heroines of the faith. What makes his Proverbs 31 woman his ideal woman, “far more precious than jewels and her value far above rubies or pearls.” As impressive as this unnamed woman’s accomplishments, professional gifts and personal qualities might be, the fact is that this woman has now been renowned through the centuries for “reverently and worshipfully fearing the Lord in wonder and awe.” This anonymous woman is honored above all for her spiritual devotion to God in all the practicalities of daily life. Undoubtedly, Solomon held up all the holy women of Israel as he should. But here he is, claiming that this woman who combined impressive accomplishment with fervent and inspired faith tops all the rest of them! We will certainly witness bits and pieces of this Proverbs 31 super-woman in the lives of our seven prophetesses, and there is much we can learn from them as we study each holy woman in some depth.
THE STORY OF SARAH
“Truly, I will bless Sarah richly, and she shall become the mother of many nations; kings of nations will come from her and will be her descendants.” (Genesis 17:16).
Father Abraham casts quite a long shadow in the biblical story and in human history. He was the pioneer of Judaism, of monotheism, of the three primary religions in the world. But at the same time, we wouldn’t have Father Abraham without Mother Sarah. Unlike too many Christians, Jewish believers do not in any way neglect to honor Sarah. She has long been declared a prophetess in Hebrew history, she is the founding mother of the Jewish faith, she is the matriarch of the Covenant. Lord Yahweh gave her that special blessing in Genesis 17 that promised her a unique place in His plans for the Jewish people. Sarah wasn’t merely a dutiful wife who followed her husband away from her home to places unknown. She wasn’t just someone in the shadows of a monumentally great husband who didn’t bother to tell her what was going on most of the time. If we are to take seriously the two-as-one marital idea when Creator God anointed marriage in the very beginnings of the world, then we have to acknowledge that Sarah’s story is inextricably linked with Abraham’s story. Despite biblical evidence that Christians spiritually came through Sarah just as much as Abraham, and therefore is a mother of the Christian faith; despite the fact that Messiah Jesus was a descendant from her family tree with Abraham; despite the fact that she is the first woman mentioned in the Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11… Despite all that, Sarah tends to be a neglected and underappreciated person in our faith history. Yes, as Paul says in Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Fine, but it takes two to tango, and at the crucial time in this miraculous conception, it wasn’t just Abraham’s seed that was involved. Both Father Abraham and Mother Sarah are our spiritual forbears. Sarah was an amazing, trail-blazing saint in her own right, so let’s take her out from her husband’s shadow.
Sarah’s Early Years. With the given name of Sarai (“my princess”), she was born and raised in the thoroughly pagan nation of Ur, what is now known as Iraq. Ur was ruled by the Chaldeans, and that nation was committed to the worship of as many as 2,000 different gods. In recent archeological digs, Ur at that point was a highly educated and prosperous society, an advanced nation with lavish homes, impressive schools, and a very sophisticated system of trade and commerce. Sarai was a 10th generation descendant of Noah through Shem. When Sarai was of marrying age, her half-brother Abraham married her, and little did they know at that time what an adventure awaited them in their life together. Their common father Terah at some point, decided to pack up everyone in the family and move to Haran, now known as Turkey. Terah and his family, including Abraham and Sarai, settled down in Terah for about twenty years, until Terah died there. It was in Haran that Lord Yahweh tapped Abraham on the shoulder, or maybe it felt more like a bolt of lightning, and told him that Yahweh had special plans for Abraham and all his family (Gen. 12). Abraham was about 75 years of age, and Sarah about 65, when he got the call from Yahweh to leave Haran and go to parts unknown in the land of Canaan. Abraham was to be especially blessed, says the Lord, and his family will be a unique blessing to the rest of the world as well. Yahweh’s call was personally to Abraham, but it might as well have been to Sarai too, since marriages are a package deal. Whenever God called Abraham, Sarai was likewise expected to be there right at his side the whole way.
Sarai’s Beauty. The Talmud claims that Sarai was one of the four most beautiful women in the Hebrew Scriptures, the others being Rahab, Abigail and Esther. Her beauty was such that she attracted a lot of attention wherever they traveled. Early on when in Egypt (Gen. 12:14), Sarai was quickly noticed and asked to be in Pharaoh’s harem, and later on the same thing happened in Gerar with King Abimelech (Gen. 20). In both cases, Abraham was afraid that the authorities would kill him in order to take Sarai into the palace. Evidently murder was considered less immoral than adultery. So in both cases Abraham told the half-truth of Sarai being his sister. Both Pharoah and the king of Gerar took Sarai into the palace, only to find out that Sarai was actually Abraham’s husband. Neither ruler could countenance committing adultery, so they let her go in both cases. For some reason, in neither case did Abraham consider what Sarai might have to endure for the sake of saving his own life. Abraham was not exactly gallant in these two delicate situations, but the Lord saved Sarah’s virtue and honor both times. Between possibly compromising Sarah’s purity to save himself, and then telling a manipulative half-truth both times, these two situations were not Abraham’s finest hours.
Sarai’s Barren Womb. Sarai had to endure a terrible stigma put on women of that day, her infertility. A barren woman was covered in shame back in the day, because a woman’s barrenness was considered a punishment from God. People would look at the barren woman as somehow deserving her fate, that there must be a major flaw in her character or a major sin in her past. So the infertile woman was typically considered less than a complete woman because of her misfortune. On the one hand, then, Sarai had to be strong to make sure she wasn’t taken advantage of in light of her beauty. On the other hand, Sarai had to stay strong and not be riddled with self-doubts as she faced the social rejection of her infertility. Sarai had to learn to be doubly strong, and she learned her lesson well. There were three biblical matriarchs to the Jewish faith, and they all three were barren. Sarai, Rebecca and Leah were all infertile, and one wonders if God wanted to teach us all something with this. Perhaps the Lord reminds all of us here that every pregnancy is a miracle, every child is a miracle child, and that just as our three matriarchs of the faith, we need to depend on the Lord for every pregnancy, every child. Children are a gift, and these three mothers confirm that, don’t they?
Sarai’s Weak Moment. At this point in Sarai’s life, she had been waiting ten years for God’s promises to become reality. Three different times so far, Yahweh had promised children to Abraham and Sarai… Their descendants would become a great nation (Gen. 12:2); their descendants would cover the earth like dust (Gen. 13:6); and they would have more descendants than the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). But Sarai grew impatient with God’s timing, she struggled with trusting in His delays, and so she took matters into her own hands. Sarai had a very human failure of faith in God’s promises. Rabbi Sacks said that “her nerves were frayed by the long delayed and disappointed hope, and she acted out of character.” It’s interesting that faithful Jews continue to describe themselves as rather restless and impatient, and even the Talmud describes the Jews as “a rash people.” So here we find Sarai wanting to rush things along, and she asked Abraham to impregnate their Egyptian servant Hagar (Gen. 16). She mistakenly thought at this point that a child of Hagar’s through Abraham would be considered her child in the eyes of God and thus would have a place in God’s plans for them. This practice of having a barren wife’s servant assume this role in the making of a family was a socially acceptable and fully legal part of that culture. It wasn’t unusual for the father to produce a ‘replacement child’ when the wife was barren. This clearly, though, goes against the intentions of Creator God’s anointing of a marriage in Genesis 2:24. And sure enough, this turned out to be a tragic mistake, resulting in a feud that continues to rage even after 4,000 years. Hagar did become pregnant and bore a son named Ishmael, who eventually become the father of the Arab race in the Middle East and beyond. After Ismael was born, the domestic life of Abraham’s household went from bad to worse, deteriorating until Hagar and Ishmael were expelled from the family and left to fend for life on their own in the wilderness.
Sarai’s Laughter. When the Lord finally, in His wisdom, confirmed His promise of a world-changing family line (Gen. 17), by telling Abraham and Sarai they would have a child within a year, Sarah’s initial reaction was that the whole idea was laughable. To get pregnant at 90 years of age, and to enjoy sexual pleasure again, with a husband who is every bit of a 100, was quite a shocker. Was Sarai’s laughter one of disbelief, or the irony of it all? Was it a laugh of joyful relief, or of bewildered confusion? Was her laugh one of faith and wonder, or was it a laughter of friendly sarcasm, her thinking, “Pardon me, Lord, but isn’t this a bit ridiculous? You wait until I’m 90!” Sarai’s laughter might naturally have been a very human combination of all these emotions and thoughts. As a matter of fact, husband Abraham joined in the laughter to the point of falling on his face (Gen 17:17). It’s no wonder their miracle child was named Isaac, which is Hebrew for “laughter.” But Hebrews 11 makes a special point that sooner or later Sarah knew she could trust God with this outlandish development, and so Sarah proved to be a profound woman of faith. (Heb. 11:11). After a time, their shared laughter was now rooted in sheer joy, because, as Frederick Buechner said in his Peculiar Treasures, “… It suddenly dawned on them that the wildest dreams they’d ever had hadn’t been half wild enough.”
Sarai’s Name Change. Immediately after the Lord again confirmed His Covenant with Abraham and his family (Gen 17), Yahweh changed her name, from Sarai (“my princess”) to Sarah (“princess of all”). Whenever a name was changed in biblical times, it usually meant a change in both identity and destiny for that person. God plans on Sarah becoming the “mother of nations,” so His name change for Sarah makes complete sense. The root word for both her names meant “princes,” but now the Lord is putting a finer point on just what kind of princess God wants Sarah to become. This is the first and only time in Scripture that God has changed a name for a woman.
Sarah’s Hospitality. Abraham and Sarah were renowned for their gift of hospitality. To this day, one of the prayers of the Sephardic Passover liturgy is, “May the All-Merciful One bless this table at which we have eaten. May it be like the table of Abraham our father; all who are hungry may eat of it, and all who are thirsty may drink of it.” And according to rabbinic authorities, Abraham and Sarah were ready and available to serve visitors at a moment’s notice, and “always had all four of their tent flaps open.” So one day (Gen. 18), Abraham and Sarah receive surprise visitors, not knowing at first if they were angels or divine or just some weary travelers. Abraham and Sarah immediately sprung into action as host and hostess, with Sarah hustling away with her servants to get 20 quarts of flour to make enough bread for 100 people! This bit of hospitable extravagance continued with Abraham, who prepared the fatted calf, what was known as a feast calf, that could easily feed a small village. They took the holy virtue of hospitality very seriously, and are an example to all of us.
Sarah’s Pregnancy. So God keeps His word, of course, and returns a year later. But many have wondered at the meaning of Gen. 21:1, “The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised.” Certainly, we are in our rights to trip over that verse. The Hebrew word for “visited” is paqad, and it can mean to visit, pay attention to, interact with, to attend. Was the Holy Spirit involved here somehow? It was a physical act of procreation, wasn’t it? When Paul said Isaac was a “son of the promise, born according to the work of the Spirit” (Gal. 4:28-29), does that mean Isaac wasn’t actually a son of the flesh? On the other hand, also to be considered is the Lord’s declaration in Gen. 15:4 that Abraham would have a natural child from his physical being. How was Abraham involved in this pregnancy if God made this happen “for Sarah” and not for Abraham? The bottom line is that, since nothing is too difficult for the Lord, Abraham was enabled to perform physically, Sarah’s womb was healed, the Holy Spirit was right in the middle of things, and the result was a child of the Covenant being born.
Sarah’s Only Child. Sure enough, Sarah gave birth to her precious miracle child that was destined to continue the family line to eventually produce the Savior of the world, a blessing for all the nations indeed. When the reality hit Sarah that she would be nursing a child at 90 years of age, she laughed once again out of pure joy, saying “God has made me laugh again, and all who hear about this will laugh right along with me!” (Gen. 21:6-7). God kept His promise, they now have their destiny child that was promised so long ago, and they raised Isaac together for the next 37 years. But Ishmael was 14 years old at Isaac’s birth, and things went downhill from there on the home front.
Sarah’s Inspired Prophecy. Abraham appeared to be rather flummoxed and completely hapless as he witnessed the growing tension between Sarah and Hagar, and between Ishmael and Isaac. Abraham dearly loved his son Ishmael, to the point of asking God for a special blessing just for Ishmael. But Abraham wasn’t at all sure about where Ishmael fit into God’s plans in the covenant or the destiny of his family line. So at this point the Lord sat Abraham down, and they had a one-sided conversation, short and to the point. The word from the Lord was, “Do whatever Sarah says to you about this matter; do whatever Sarah asks you to do.” (Gen. 21:12). This is the historic moment when Sarah becomes a true prophetess, one of the inspired holy women of Israel. For she told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away for good, cut them off from the family line. Sarah’s prophetic words confirmed the Lord’s earlier words that, “in Isaac shall your posterity be called.” Maybe the Lord’s little get-together with Abraham went something like this…”Listen closely to Me, Abraham my friend. I have inspired Sarah your wife to have my divine wisdom regarding your two sons. She knows my mind on these matters, Abraham, not you. Be sure to follow her words to the letter in every way.” To Abraham’s credit, he deferred to Sarah and humbly took the Lord at His word, fully submitting to Sarah’s inspired wisdom. Abraham, early the next morning, quietly gave Hagar and Ishmael some bread and water, and sent them out into the wilderness to fend for themselves. God in His mercy protected this little family, and enabled them to not only survive but to flourish, becoming a great nation.
The Aftermath of the Mt. Moriah Incident. Let’s try to imagine the family discussion between the three of them in the tent the day after Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22). There they are, they are facing each other earnestly as Abraham tries to explain what just happened, all without her knowledge. Sarah, if we know Sarah at all by now, put on her best mother-bear persona, as is suitable in this case… offended, betrayed, incredulous, angry, and mystified. So Sarah speaks at a high pitch with a quivering voice, “What!? You did what?! You heard this word from the Lord from out of nowhere that you are to sacrifice our only son of destiny, with no divine explanation? Does this make any type of sense, Abraham? And you snuck out of the tent early in the morning without even bothering to tell me about this? For all you knew, dear husband, I would never have been able to say good-bye to my dear son! I can’t believe this! You were willing to slay our only son on an altar on top of some far-flung hilltop? After Isaac’s truly miraculous birth? Didn’t you even question Yahweh about how unreasonable His request was? Why didn’t you question or at least challenge the Lord like you did when you spoke up for Sodom, who got exactly what they deserved! Isaac didn’t deserve any of this! He’s innocent of any wrongdoing, he’s our miracle boy! What were you thinking? And why were you so sneaky about it all? Abraham, you betrayed me!” At this point, Abraham must have shifted his sitting position to get more comfortable, took a deep breath, and responded this way: “Yes, I agree this was an outlandish request from the Lord, but it all turned out okay, didn’t it? Here is our boy right here, healthy as ever! I honestly figured that if God enabled us to get pregnant with Isaac, He could just as easily raise Isaac from the dead, another miracle! Like the Lord told you, Sarah, nothing is impossible for Him!” One wonders if Abraham passed his Mt. Moriah “test,” but it nonetheless affected family relationships in profound ways. To say the least, it must have been quite traumatic for teen-ager Isaac to agree to being stretched out on an altar of burnt offering as a human sacrifice, without any idea of what he had done wrong, and then be horrified to see his wonderful father raise his knife to slay him! Did Isaac ever get over that trauma? Did Isaac heal from that horrific experience, or was there always a little tinge of mistrust of his father after that? And what about mother Sarah? Did the Lord eventually heal her sense of betrayal? Did she finally trust Abraham again and remain faithful to the Lord? Well, it’s no wonder that Scripture never reported a word said between Abraham and Sarah until her death 20 years later.
Sarah’s Death and Burial. Sarah, the great prophetess who faithfully followed her husband wherever he went, the mother of many nations, died at the age of 127 years (Gen. 23). Abraham wanted a special place to bury her, so he bargained his way into buying the first piece of land that the Jewish people ever owned in the land of Canaan. To this day, this burial ground is known as the ”Cave of the Patriarchs,” and is the famous family burial ground that includes Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah. This family cemetery plot remains the 2nd most holy place in Judaism after the Temple Mount. The Cave of the Patriarchs still stands at the entrance to Hebron, an ancient city in the southern West Bank, 30km south of Jerusalem. Logically enough, this burial site is co-owned, divided between the Muslims and the Jews.
Isaiah 51:1-2 summarizes these two pioneers of our faith, both Jewish and Christian, this way, “Listen to me, all you who follow after righteousness, who seek the Lord Adonai: Consider carefully and think about the rock from which you were cut, and the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you…”