A huge portion of the book of Genesis covers the life of Abraham, Sarah, and their family.  Up to this point in the Bible (chapter 11), no other women have been named, not even Noah's wife.  

After they left their homeland, they went to Egypt to wait out a drought.  And Abraham, a man of God, did the most horrible thing.  He told Sarah that since she was beautiful, men would want her, and in turn, kill him (to get rid of him) so that they could have her.  So he told her to lie, to say that she was his sister.  Abraham trusted God enough to leave his home and go to a strange country, but not enough to protect him and his wife.   And what he feared would happen, did.

Pharaoh saw Sarah.  And took her to his house.  Because of this, God sent great plagues on Pharaoh--even though Pharaoh didn't know that he had taken another man's wife.  When Pharaoh found out what Abraham had done, he threw Abraham and Sarah out of Egypt.  You would think Abraham would have learned his lesson, but years later, he did the same thing again.  Poor Sarah.

God had made a promise to Abraham that he would have many children--as many as the stars.  Sarah told her husband, "...the Lord has restrained me from bearing...go into my maid (Hagar) that I may obtain children by her." But when Hagar was pregnant, Sarah was furious with jealously, so much so that Hagar had to flee to the wilderness.  And the entire mess between the Jews and the Arabs is a result.  Hagar gave birth to Ishmael--the father of the Arabs.  Who claim title to the Mideast as the first born of Abraham.  But God's promise was to Sarah's son, not Hagar's son.  (Eve, and Sarah, seem to share part of the responsibility for much of the world's woe!!)

God's promise was to Sarah, that she was going to have a son--a woman who was past 90 years old, married to a man who was 99 years old.  She was way past the age of childbearing, past menopause--a woman who had been barren for her entire life.  And what did Sarah think about that?  "And Sarah laughed within herself...shall I bear a son...I am old."  But she conceived, (Isaac) and said, "God has made me laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."

The world isn't laughing anymore.


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