For the week of November 19, 2016 / 18 Heshvan 5777

Va-Year
Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 18:1–22:24
Prophets: 2 Melachim/2 Kings 4:1–37

Download Audio [Right click link to download]

But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Bereshit/Genesis 18:15)

The eighteenth chapter of the first book of the Bible is extraordinary in many ways. Primarily that it records a visit to the home of Abraham and Sarah by God Almighty himself accompanied by two angels. Talk about “guess who’s coming for dinner?”! This blows away the popular misconception within Judaic circles that the idea that God manifesting himself in human form is idolatrous. Forbidding the manufacturing of images is one thing, that God takes on human form from time to time, and supremely in the person of the Messiah, is another. Apples and oranges.

God’s agenda for this visit appears to be twofold. First, it is to confirm his promise concerning the birth of Isaac through Sarah. Abraham already received this promise in the previous chapter at the same time as the establishment of the covenant of circumcision. The confirmation of the promise regarding Isaac recorded here may have been more for Sarah’s benefit than Abraham, which we will come back to in a second. The other purpose for this special visit is found in the following chapter, in which God reveals to Abraham the coming judgement of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where his nephew Lot was residing.

There is an interesting compare and contrast in the reactions of Abraham and Sarah to the two promise announcements, since both of them laughed, which became the basis of Isaac’s name. This is the sort of thing that keeps scholars employed as they discuss how these are likely two different story traditions that were both included in the final version of the book. We don’t know exactly how these accounts were passed on over time, but it’s not unreasonable to accept them at face value. That both parents laughed makes sense. That such a couple would have their first baby is pretty funny no matter how you look at it. It also makes sense that their laughter arose from completely different perspectives as they are two very different individuals.

Abraham’s laughter appears to be one of astonishment. He gives no indication that such a thing wasn’t possible for God to do; only that it was completely unusual. Sarah’s laughter, on the other hand, was one of incredulity, unbelief in other words. We derive this from a combination of her statement about her elderly condition, the Lord’s response to her laughter, and her denial of it. Reading this, I don’t get the impression that the Lord has a serious issue with her reaction, but rather with her denial.

God’s promise of the unexpected and the unusual, if not impossible, elicited different responses from two different people. Laughter is an emotion that doesn’t normally emerge after a long period of contemplation; it occurs in the moment. As a reaction, it reveals something about the nature of the person at that precise time. In Sarah’s case, it was unbelief. That she would deny it is understandable, especially when talking to God. But who is she kidding? Did she really think she could fool God?

And yet don’t we do the same? Don’t we try to cover up when we are embarrassed and ashamed about something? Sometimes the shame of what we have done is so great, not only would we deny it to God’s face, we may even try to fool ourselves into thinking we didn’t do what we did.

Look at God’s response to her after she said she didn’t laugh: “No, but you did laugh” (v. 15). End of scene. Did anything happen between God and Sarah on this issue after that? We don’t know. Did Sarah accept the truth of her behavior? We don’t know that either. In the way the story is presented, the reader knows the truth of the situation, and God has the final word. That’s a picture of the way life is for all of us. There is an objective truth about who we are and why we react the way we do. God, more than anyone, knows what’s going on. He will have the final word about us and our lives. We can either accept the truth and deal with it or we can keep on denying it.

All scriptures, English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible