Genesis 18:1-14
Think of some men who are 100 years old. You’d be rather surprised if you heard they were going to be a father soon! A woman who is 90 years old becoming a mother would make the news headlines! Both Bob Hope and George Burns lived to be 100. Imagine if after their 100th birthday they cradled a newborn child of their own in their arms. Though she’s over 90 now, how surprised would we all be if Betty White had announced a few years back that she was going to be a mother! Impossible! In the natural, yes, but not with God. In our Scripture passage today, we will see just such a scenario.
As our passage opens, Abraham is sitting underneath some trees outside his tent door. As he looks out he sees some men coming by. As was the custom of the day, he goes to greet them and offer them hospitality. Abraham invites them to come and refresh themselves by his tent, offering them food and drink (vs. 1-8). Little did Abraham know, as is alluded to later in this chapter, that these are two angels and a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord God, also called a theophany.
Many years earlier God had promised Abraham a child, which we read about in Genesis 12:2, 13:16, and in 15:4-5. That was many decades earlier, and he only had the child he had fathered off of a slave girl, no child from his true wife, Sarah. At the time God had first made the promise of a child to Abraham and Sarah, it still would have seemed highly unlikely, as Sarah was past the usual age for having children. Now it was not only unlikely, it was outright impossible. However, as Abraham and his guests sat beside the tent, the Lord asked Abraham where his wife Sarah was. Abraham answered that she was in the tent, and then God told him that his wife Sarah would have a son (vs. 9-10).
Sarah, just inside the tent, heard this conversation, and she laughed (vs. 11-12). Imagine, a 90 year old woman having a child. She had long since passed the age of childbearing. That was passed many decades earlier. Abraham was an old man, too. He was 100. Even when Sarah was young enough to have children, she had never been so blessed. She had been barren. Sarah probably remembered back to hearing Abraham tell her of what God had promised many years ago, that he would have children, many descendants. That was years ago, as well, and still no children. Sarah had given up hope. Now this guest of theirs, sitting outside their tent, goes and says that by this time next year they would have a son! Ha! That’s a laugh, she thought, and proceeded to laugh out loud. The Lord God then asked Abraham why his wife laughed at this. Embarrassed, Sarah denied it, but God knew, and He corrected her, telling them both that nothing is too hard for Him (vs. 13-14).
Is there anything that is too hard for God to do? A woman bearing a child at age 90! Who designed and constructed the human body? God did. So if He decides He wants to make an adjustment in Sarah’s body so she will be able to conceive at this advanced age, He is quite able to do so. Who made the molecules that make up water? God did, so He is able to make water part on two sides so a group of people can walk across on dry land (Exodus 14:21-22). He can also make it possible for Jesus or Peter to walk across water (Matthew 14:22-33). The Lord God created the stars and planets, laying them out where He wills in the heavens. If He so chooses, He can stop the earth’s rotation with no ill effects so that it seems the sun and moon are standing still (Joshua 10:12-14). God also created all of the animals, so if He so chooses to give a donkey speech one time (Numbers 22:28-31), or a fish to swallow a man whole (Jonah 1:17), or a hungry lion to not harm a man (Daniel 6:22) He can do just that!
What major difficulties are you facing today? Is there some problem or health concern looming as large as a mountain in your life, one for which there is no answer that seems humanly possible? Go to the Lord in prayer, believing that He can do the impossible. One year after the events in our Scripture today, Sarah, at age 90, was holding a son of her own in her arms, one that she, herself, had given birth to! God asked Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” The answer, of course, is No!
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