In fact Abraham’s thinking was so contrary to what God was saying that he tried to persuade the Lord to use his son Ishmael (who’s mother was Hagar, Sarah’s maid) as his heir rather than the unrealistic (in his mind) option of Isaac that God had proposed. God assured Abraham that he would bless Ishmael but nevertheless Isaac would be born and God’s covenant would be with him. That was the end of the conversation and God departed from Abraham. After the vision Abraham told Sarah about God changing her name but he did not tell her what God had said about Isaac. One of the reasons that Abraham did not tell Sarah what God had said, was because he was still struggling to get his mind to accept the concept of the two of them having a child in their old age. It took roughly three months for Abraham to finally become fully convinced in his mind that God’s promise of Isaac being born would come to pass. And so at the end of the three months the Lord appeared to Abraham again and this time Sarah was with him. The Lord addressed both of them on this occasion and told them that “according to the time of life” i.e. nine months, Sarah would have a son. This time it was Sarah who laughed to herself when she thought about the prospect of her and Abraham having a child together in their old age. The Lord rebuked her for laughing at what He had just said and assured her that nothing was too hard for Him. Being fearful, Sarah tried to deny that she had laughed, not realising that the Lord knew exactly what she was thinking. Sarah quickly repented after this encounter with the Lord, and as a result she too became fully convinced that God’s word would come to pass (Hebrews 11:11). And so we see that because both Abraham and Sarah had changed their thinking to become fully convinced in their minds that what God had said was real, they could therefore exercise their faith in His word. The result of their faith being activated released the power of God which strengthened both of their bodies, and shortly thereafter Isaac was conceived (Genesis 17, 18, 21). And so we see from this example that God revealed His word about Isaac to both Abraham and Sarah. We see that both Abraham and Sarah had mindsets that were completely contrary to God’s word on the subject when He spoke to them. We also see that both of them had to change their thinking to become fully convinced in their minds that God’s word was true. Once they were fully convinced that God’s word was real their faith was activated and God power was released, and Isaac was born i.e. God’s word came to pass.
Michael E.B. Maher
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