Women Of Genesis 4

You are required to read the entire book of Genesis while completing this course.

Definition:

Sarai means “Princess” and Sarah means “noblewoman.”
She went from being Sarai a "Princess," which denotes a "child of" a leader, to Sarah a "noblewoman," which denotes a "head of" a group or, if you will, a leader. This marks a new beginning for Sarah. No longer merely the child of her father and mother, she is now the co-head of the chosen line. A Matriarch to match her husband, Abraham, the Patriarch.

A.	This was before the Law against incest was given that prohibited marriage between close relatives.
B.	See Lesson One and the segment on incest concerning Cain and his wife.
	NOTE: During this time in history, in some countries, such as ancient Egypt, marriages between brothers and sisters was not seen as unusual. In fact, in Egypt such marriages, especially in the ruling class, were seen as acceptable and actually beneficial to royal families because they believed it kept the blood-line pure.⁽⁴⁾ Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh Of Egypt, by Caroline Seawright: "She was an 18th dynasty Pharaoh, daughter of Thuthmose I and Ahmes. When her father died her half brother, Thuthmose II, ascended to the throne. He was young, apparently younger than Hatshepsut herself. The Egyptian tradition of having the Pharaoh marry a royal woman led Thuthmose II to marry Hatshepsut. (The women in Egypt carried the royal blood, not the males. To become Pharaoh, the man had to marry a female of royal blood, often a sister, half sister or other near relative. Usually it was the eldest daughter of the previous Pharaoh.)"⁽⁸⁾

	NOTE: Jewish tradition, according to the Midrash, is that Avram (Abram) actually married his niece, Sarai. This was according to their interpretation of the Torah (also known as The Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament). If this were true, this would have made her not his sister as Abraham states in Genesis 20:12, according to the generally accepted meaning of the term, but rather only a close member of his family. Which is not an uncommon use of the term "sister." This tradition, that he married his niece, is predicated upon the Rabbinic commentary, a Midrash Aggadah, that equates "Iscah" with "Sarai" in Gen 11:29 and they believe that "Iscah" was the daughter of Abram's brother, Nahor. They supposedly make that connection because of the sentence structure of verse 29. This then would have made Sarai his neice and only his "sister" in the sense of her being a female member of his family. This tradition, of course, cannot be proven from the biblical references and must, therefore, be viewed and weighed as only a Rabbinical teaching and not a biblically provable fact.⁽²⁾

C.	Sarah was a beautiful woman. (Gen 12:11)
	1. She was a beautiful woman which is much prized in most cultures.
	However, we must temper this fact by noting that beauty is a relative thing and must be viewed in a cultural context. What is considered beautiful by a person raised in one culture may not be considered beautiful in the eyes of someone from another culture.
	These are all beautiful women in the context of their own cultures.
	2. So, in her cultural context, Sarah was a beautiful woman.

II. She was barren until she was old. (Gen 11:29-30)
A. B. C. D. E.	She did not conceive until she was 90 years old. (Gen 17:15-21) She did not believe the Lord when he said she would conceive. (Gen 18:1-15) She compounded her sin by denying her disbelief. (Gen 18:15) She bare Isaac at the time that the Lord had said she would. (Gen 21:1-7) Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was 9 years younger than Abraham. Therefore, she was either in the last several months of her 90th year or else she had just turned 91 years old when she gave birth to Isaac. (Gen 21:5)

III. She followed her husband faithfully in all things.
A.	She followed him faithfully to new lands. (Gen 11:31; 12:10)
B.	As the faithful wife of Abraham, the blessing bestowed upon Abraham by God was upon her also. (Gen 12:2-7; 17:7-8)
C.	She protected her husband in adversities. (12:10-13; 20:1-2)
D.	She tried to give her husband children the only way she knew how. (16:1-5)
	1. Giving her handmaid to Abraham to give him children was a common custom of that time. The Code of Hammurabi was written contemporary with Abraham. Commentary on the Code of Hammurabi: "Monogamy was the rule, and a childless wife might give her husband a maid (who was no wife) to bear him children, who were reckoned hers. She remained mistress of her maid and might degrade her to slavery again for insolence, but could not sell her if she had borne her husband children."⁽⁵⁾ Hammurabi's Code of Laws, Translation by L.W. King:⁽⁶⁾ #144. If a man take a wife and this woman give her husband a maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to take another wife, this shall not be permitted to him; he shall not take a second wife. #145. If a man take a wife, and she bear him no children, and he intend to take another wife: if he take this second wife, and bring her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed equality with his wife. #146. If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants. #147. If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may sell her for money. 2. The practice was also common among the Egyptians of that time. Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt: "Another possibility in case of infertility was the introduction of a female slave into a household to bear children to her owner; although any resulting children could then take on the status of heirs, it is doubtful that their slave-mother would have been regarded as their father's 'wife.' "⁽⁷⁾
E.	She obeyed her husband when he changed her name from Sarai to Sarah. (Gen 17:15)
F.	She was faithful to carry out her duties as a wife even into her old age. (Gen 21:1-7)
	1. She bore her first child, a son, at the age of 90-91.
	2. Her son was named Isaac Heb יצחק yitschâq, yits-khawk', def. laughter Obviously she was tying in some kind of reference back to her "laughter" when she heard, at 80 years old, the prophecy that she would have a child in her old age. Now, here is the fulfillment of that prophecy, Isaac, when she is 90 years old. "And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." She had laughed a human laughter of disbelief; but now her laughter is in response to the divine favour showed upon her by God. And Isaac must have been a reminder through the rest of her days of the laughter she felt when blessed by God in spite of her earlier disbelief. She must surely have seen the very faithfulness and forgiveness of God in the face of Isaac every day.

IV. She was faithful to carry out her duties as a wife and a mother the rest of her life. (Gen 23:1-2)
	She was faithful in all things to her husband and her family from Ur of the Chaldees unto Hebron where she finally died.

V. The shortcomings of Sarah.
A.	She was a liar. (Gen 12:13; 20:2, 13)
B.	She was led astray by flattery. (Gen 12:11-13)
C.	She was vindictive. (Gen 16:5-6; 21:9-10)
D.	She was no more consistent in her trust and belief concerning God than her husband was. (Gen 17:15-17 cf 18:10-15)

VI. She faithfully followed her husband until the day she died. (Gen 23:1-4) A. She died in Kirjatharba at the age of 127. (Gen 23:1-2) B. She was buried in the cave of Machpelah. Gen 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

The lesson from Sarah is that she followed her husband faithfully and God blessed her for it.

1. She followed him into strange territory (when they left Ur not knowing where they were going.)

2. She followed him into dangerous circumstances (when they went into Egypt and Gerar.)

3. She followed him into sin (when they both lied to the kings in Egypt and Gerar.)

4. She followed him into the promise (when she bore the promised child, Isaac, in her old age.)

5. God blessed her in spite of her sin and she received the fulfillment of the promises of God.