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Someone once said, "Behind every great man, there is a great woman."  Though we don't know all we would like to know about Sarah, Scripture has more to say about her than it does almost any other woman.  Her husband, Abraham, is the father of the faithful, but she too is a model of faith in God.  Like Abraham, she was of the Chaldeans, whom Scripture calls a "fierce and impetuous people" (Habakkuk 1:6).  The Chaldeans eventually became known as the Babylonians (modern day Iraq).  She married Abraham before the journey to Canaan began (Genesis 11:31).  They were not Israelites, for Israel (Jacob), their grandson had not yet been born.  They were not Jews; that name would come from Judah, their great-grandson.  Yet, God called the3m and they obeyed, and through them He established a new people--the people of God.  As we look at Sarah's life this week, we see, as we did with Abraham, a flawed and imperfect pursuit of God.  Yet we see a faith great enough to make it into the Old Testament "all of fame" in Hebrews chapter 11.  And we will see lessons in her life that will help to guide our own attempts to follow God.

In Sarah's life, as with Abraham, we see a flawed and imperfect pursuit of God.  Yet we see a faith great enough to make it into the Old Testament "hall of fame."

DID YOU KNOW?  "Women's Lib?"
Most people don't recognize the fact that Jesus was a great liberator of women.  When Christ came on the scene, women were hardly more than possessions.  They had no rights or identity.  Jesus valued women in a way unusual to their society.  The biblical directive for wives to submit to their husbands is often taught without the balancing truth of the husband's responsibility to sacrificially and unconditionally love his wife, and to live with her in an understanding way.  It speaks not of her being less value, but of her being given a different job description.  The teachings of the New Testament, rather than being repressive, give women many more rights and much more value than ever before.

Following In Faith
     Sarah, like most women of her culture was a follower.  She followed her husband to Canaan, then to Egypt, and back to Canaan once again.  She also followed her husband's advice.  When Peter taught on the subject of a wife's submission to her husband, he used Sarah as his positive example:

"In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe  your chaste and respectful behavior.  And let not your adornment be merely external---braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.  For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.  Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without frightened by any fear." (1 Peter 3:1-6)

Although we may look negatively from the vantage point of our culture at Sarah's submission and Abraham's authority over her, we still have much to learn about trusting God with the circumstances of our lives.  Today we will look at how God dealt with Sarah when she submitted to Abraham even when he was wrong.

Once Abraham and Sarah made it to Canaan, they discovered that there was a famine in the land (Genesis 12:10).  So they went down to Egypt to sojourn where was food.  Take a look at Genesis 12:11-20 and answer the questions below.

  What did Abraham ask Sarah to do?

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 Did Abraham's plan protect Sarah from harm?

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 How did God take care of Sarah?

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We see in the downward turn to Egypt the fledgling nature of Abraham's faith.  Instead of trusting God to protect them in Egypt, he told a half-truth---that Sarah was his sister.  She was his half-sister (Genesis 20:12), but by neglecting to say that she was also his wife, he put her in harm's way.  It is worth mentioning that of all the turns in Abraham's journey, the turn from Canaan to Egypt was the first time Abraham neglected to build an altar to see the Lord.  Perhaps Abraham was wrong to go to Egypt.  Certainly he was wrong to lie and ask Sarah to lie for him.  Though both Abraham and Sarah were wrong for not being candid with Pharaoh, certainly Abraham carries the greater guilt for their deception.  That their actions wee wrong is evident from the plague that ensued.  It5 is important though to put his event into an historical perspective.  The law had not yet been given.  Though wrong was still wrong, as far as Scripture records it, Abraham and Sarah had no revelation that it was wrong to lie.  Their accountability was to what had been revealed.  I think closer to the mark of what was wrong in this vignette is that their actions while in Egypt were not rooted in faith---they did not trust God to protect---but it was rather an expression of trust in their own striving to protect them.  Remember as well that Abraham (and presumably Sarah) have not yet been "reckoned righteous."

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